Have lived in Texas my entire life but I don't feel it's long for me and the family forever

I love the outdoors but living in DFW sucks. I try ti go skiing 2x a year and do our summer vacation in CO, OR, MT every year.

My wife works in education and I do accounting/consulting. I could find a full remote job if it was right.

We'd love to start looking and getting ideas of western mountain areas.

Would love some suggestions and ideas of start a general discussion of where to consider.

I've thought about Bend, OR, Boise, ID, Bozeman (probably too expensive), Glenwood springs or Pagosa Springs, CO. Maybe Gunnison? I think Utah is out because of LDS. Maybe even around Tahoe area.

What say ye? Xposting to travel board

All depends on personal preference. We love it here in Monument, CO.

All the places you mentioned sounds great (been to/thru most), but in the West you'd better do some homework on water availability/rights. It's about to become super precious.

Agreed. Have looked at buying land around South Fork and I've read the San Luis is running out of water. Kinda crazy given that valley hasn't changed much at all in 50 years.

We had a similar situation last year and decided to move from TX to Fort Collins, CO.

We had the situation of needing a good school district, which is why FoCo topped out list (Great access to outdoor activities, good schools, great college town and community). We have loved the change. We go hiking nearly every weekend, have quick access to RMNP, and still so much more to explore.

My very biased opinion....East Tennessee.

We moved here in June 2009 due to the Financial Crisis.

To our surprise....

Conservative Christian values (Woke is something we read about elsewhere)

Low cost of living.

Low property taxes.

Our lot is not measured by square footage...but by acreage.

The only kicker....there's a sales tax on food.

And we're about 2 hours from skiing in North Carolina.

I absolutely love and miss Texas a lot. But I don't see us moving from here at all. Just my opinion.

I was in a similar situation about 9-10 years ago. I was in Houston and the heat and traffic was starting to get to me. And with young kids at the time, school choices were on the horizon. Sure, we could live in Katy and have great schools, but the traffic/commute situation would have been worse.

The company I was with at the time had a facility in Billings MT that had a large project coming up. I worked to get on the project and eventually did, and then relocated to Kansas City in March 2015 and finally to MT in April 2016.

I do not miss the heat and humidity and the traffic of Houston. But I've traded obnoxious summers for obnoxious winters, but I feel I do better in the long winters than never ending humid summers.

I am a huge fan of Whitefish, Montana - moved here this past summer. In the short time I have been here, I have been impressed with the Flathead Valley. It is very low cost of living still - homes are less expensive than Utah and Colorado and I love the no sales tax, low property taxes and overall cost of living. There is the income tax but it really isn't that bad. It is a great town with tons of outdoor living from fishing, boating, ski resort, golfing (great courses that cost nothing to play), hiking, snow shoeing, etc... It is one of the most beautiful places in the US as essentially at entrance of Glacier National Park. They have some seasonal direct flights to major cities; however, I do find myself having more layovers - the positive is the airport is 10 to 15 miles from most places in the upper Flathead Valley and takes no time getting through security, etc.. The negative is the winter can be pretty gray as there is substantial cloud cover - not many bluebird days like you get in Park City. However, the summer is awesome as usually clear skies and stays light well into 10:00PM.

I lived in Park City, Utah for six years and it was a great place, too. We decided to move as it was getting pricey ($1,300 PSF - those prices have pulled back now) and the town had lost its charm as so many people have moved there and it has primarily become a nightly rental town. I am still a huge fan of SLC as the people were great. I was more afraid what happens when the Salt Lake dries up and the chemicals blow more and more into they city - this will be an issue.

We have really liked living near Mountain Home, Arkansas.
We have previously lived near Missoula, MT, Belize and north of Tyler, TX.

Lots of public land, great scenery, fishing, hiking, kayaking and four seasons. Regional hospital is highly rated and has attracted specialists who want the recreation opportunities.

We also looked at moving back to Montana or Durango, CO. We could afford to buy a whole lot more house and land in North Arkansas.

Please continue to avoid Utah. We don't need any more people and we have the equivalent of 2.25 years of snow in the mountains right now. You'd really hate it.

I have investigated this and here are my top choices
1). Idaho near Boise
2). Glenwood Springs, CO
3). Suburb of SLC
4). Pagosa Springs, CO
6). Eastern Montana, no sure exactly which town yet
7). Rapid City, SD

I will probably never move, but have though alot about it as I work from home. I plan on investigating renting places for summer or winter (ski season) months

34blast said:

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I have investigated this and here are my top choices
1). Idaho near Boise
2). Glenwood Springs, CO
3). Suburb of SLC
4). Pagosa Springs, CO
6). Eastern Montana, no sure exactly which town yet
7). Rapid City, SD

I will probably never move, but have though alot about it as I work from home. I plan on investigating renting places for summer or winter (ski season) months

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Don't do it. It's horrible. I lived in Eastern MT for 5ish years. If I absolutely HAD to move back to eastern MT, I would probably look at Miles City (which is where my son was born). We lived in Glendive and I worked in Sidney for a while. That whole area has a meth problem, it's expensive, Albertsons is the best grocery store in the area, you have to drive to Billings or Bismarck to pretty much do anything (including flying somewhere unless you want to get on a puddle jumper for a stupid price out of Williston or Dickinson to get to Denver).

If you have specific questions about eastern MT,PM me. I will give my honest opinion of the towns and where/where not to look for housing in them.

Edit to add that the majority of that area looks like west Texas, but gets to -20s in the winter and pushes 100 in the summer

Now that I'm done with my most recent month long ban (thank you mods for censoring the COVID board to make it a safe place for a select few), if you have any questions about the Boise area, bring it on. I've lived in Boise for 2 and a half years now and it's a great place to live.

Tons of great and beautiful areas in Idaho I'm only hitting the tip of the iceberg on. I plan to explore more of the state this summer. Itl be hot in Boise, but perfect in the mountains, so the perfect time to explore north of here.

I have spent time in most of these and here are my opinions...

Salt Lake City area. It is nice. There is a reason it is the fastest growing city in America. Mormons don't really bother me, they generally don't push their agenda the way a Baptist does. Interesting fact, it is the number one porn watching state in America

Bend, OR - really great city, great place to live and play, but it has gotten expensive over the last 20 years. It used to be "cheap California" now it is "far northern California." I do love some Bend Oregon though.

Boise, ID - Fantastic place to live except the summers are REALLY hot and the winters are REALLY cold. You get a big mix of people... white professionals, white farmers, white rednecks, white gun nuts, white outdoorsmen, white extreme sports guys, etc.

Bozeman - Got a childhood friend who owns a burrito shop here. You get four seasons, 9months of winter, 2 weeks of mud, 2 months of hot summer, and 2 weeks of fall.

Glenwood springs - This is a great area with a serious meth and pill problem. I did some work out there and thought it was awesome. Only problem is that the population is 50% retired folks and 50% poverty stricken meth heads. Good fruit. Seriously. Pallisade peaches are incredible.

Pagosa Springs, CO. Man Pagosa is nice. But you better love it as a lot of time there is no way in or out for days. You need to be a little harder than normal to live there. There aren't Targets (the store) everywhere, bears eat your trash, snowfalls measure in feet, etc. But if you want real small town, it is nice. Real small town. Real small. And most of the houses are owned by Texans who only use them a couple weeks a year. So even if there is a lot of houses, there aren't many people.

Gunnison - That is a cold town. There isn't much there and it is always 20 degrees colder than anywhere else in Colorado. It is a real thing and due to the geography of the area. I like Gunni, but couldn't imagine living there.

Tahoe area - Good and bad there, my mom lived there for about 10 years. Reno is OK. The small towns are fine. I could live there but I would rather live other places. The California side has some good stuff. Shingle Springs to Placerville is f'ing incredible and not too expensive. We may move there when we retire and income taxes aren't such a hit. Right now I make too much to live there. Tax my income or tax my property but not both.

East TN - Lived there for 10 years. Love some stuff (Smokies, the rivers) but had to leave when we had kids as the schools are so incredibly bad. At my wife's old school they just had a 60% fail rate on the assessment of basic skills test. 60% failed. 60%. Let that sink in the next time you are basking in the glow of no state income taxes combined with low property taxes. East TN people love their pills even more than they love their meth. They used to run buses everyday from Knoxville to Broward County. You got half your pills free if you gave half to the bus organizers/pill mills. It was probably the biggest industry in the City at the time. I bet City organizers wish they had the moonshine back. Baptists control the... well everything and neighbors REALLY get into your business. If that sounds good then have at it. Taxes are low! If you go there choose Maryville, Etowah or Farragut as they have decent schools and your children will have a chance. The rest is a West Virginia wannabee.


As that other poster said you should look at Monument/Larkspur. I live in southwest Colorado Springs by the Broadmoor so I am biased but Monument is a good area with pretty much everything available. Durango and Carbondale are probably the two best places to live in all of Colorado but they are expensive. I am not a Denver fan. Too many kids trying to be cool and smoking weed. Plus I hate sitting in traffic and every road there is like IH35 in DFW (either side).

I mixed up Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction. What I said about Glenwood was meant for GJ.

Obviously I like Glenwood fine since I said such good things about Carbondale. Glenwood is Carbondale for the middle class. The schools aren't great, it is real small and it can get real hard to get in and out since you have the canyon there. We almost bought a house there on 4 mile road a few years back. I think I would have been happy but there isn't a ton to do. I bought my car in Glenwood Springs.

histag10 said:

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34blast said:

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I have investigated this and here are my top choices
1). Idaho near Boise
2). Glenwood Springs, CO
3). Suburb of SLC
4). Pagosa Springs, CO
6). Eastern Montana, no sure exactly which town yet
7). Rapid City, SD

I will probably never move, but have though alot about it as I work from home. I plan on investigating renting places for summer or winter (ski season) months

---

Don't do it. It's horrible. I lived in Eastern MT for 5ish years. If I absolutely HAD to move back to eastern MT, I would probably look at Miles City (which is where my son was born). We lived in Glendive and I worked in Sidney for a while. That whole area has a meth problem, it's expensive, Albertsons is the best grocery store in the area, you have to drive to Billings or Bismarck to pretty much do anything (including flying somewhere unless you want to get on a puddle jumper for a stupid price out of Williston or Dickinson to get to Denver).

If you have specific questions about eastern MT,PM me. I will give my honest opinion of the towns and where/where not to look for housing in them.

Edit to add that the majority of that area looks like west Texas, but gets to -20s in the winter and pushes 100 in the summer

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I remember you giving me some info on MT in general when I was exploring. My first 6 years here I never made it into eastern MT really...but I've been driving back and forth to Bismarck, ND a bit lately. Not sure how you lasted in that part of the world so long!

El Chupacabra said:

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histag10 said:

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34blast said:

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I have investigated this and here are my top choices
1). Idaho near Boise
2). Glenwood Springs, CO
3). Suburb of SLC
4). Pagosa Springs, CO
6). Eastern Montana, no sure exactly which town yet
7). Rapid City, SD

I will probably never move, but have though alot about it as I work from home. I plan on investigating renting places for summer or winter (ski season) months

---

Don't do it. It's horrible. I lived in Eastern MT for 5ish years. If I absolutely HAD to move back to eastern MT, I would probably look at Miles City (which is where my son was born). We lived in Glendive and I worked in Sidney for a while. That whole area has a meth problem, it's expensive, Albertsons is the best grocery store in the area, you have to drive to Billings or Bismarck to pretty much do anything (including flying somewhere unless you want to get on a puddle jumper for a stupid price out of Williston or Dickinson to get to Denver).

If you have specific questions about eastern MT,PM me. I will give my honest opinion of the towns and where/where not to look for housing in them.

Edit to add that the majority of that area looks like west Texas, but gets to -20s in the winter and pushes 100 in the summer

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I remember you giving me some info on MT in general when I was exploring. My first 6 years here I never made it into eastern MT really...but I've been driving back and forth to Bismarck, ND a bit lately. Not sure how you lasted in that part of the world so long!

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It was rough! Lol. We made some good friends quickly. And then as the coal restrictions hit and oil started to bust, everyone moved away. We were the last of our core group of friends to leave (none of us were native Montanans).

If you get the chance, go out to Makoshika Park for a day. It's probably the only thing worth seeing in Glendive. Or during paddlefish season- that's also pretty cool.

We moved back to College Station in 2017, and then moved out of town northeast of Bryan in 2019. We may go back and visit someday, but I don't see myself really wanting to visit eastern MT again unless it's to show my oldest where he was born and the house we owned.

I do miss Bismarck- oddly enough. We had a lot of fun there and in Rapid City over the years we were up there.

Good morning,

I'm coming into town next week to look at some lots to build on. After looking all over Colorado and Montana we've decided the NW region of Montana is the most beautiful and best fit our criteria. We currently live in East Texas and still have kids in school so this will be a second home for time being with the idea of eventfully moving there full time.

Would love to chat but it doesn't look like I can message you.

AggieIce said:

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All depends on personal preference. We love it here in Monument, CO.

All the places you mentioned sounds great (been to/thru most), but in the West you'd better do some homework on water availability/rights. It's about to become super precious.

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We just moved to Monument in January and we are soooooooo glad we did. Right at the doorstep of the mountains, great schools, military atmosphere with the airforce academy across the road, and within an hour of being neck deep in the mountains and the best trout fishing out there (per google anyways).

It's a small town atmosphere but with costco and anything else you need 15 min away.

wilhunting said:

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Good morning,

I'm coming into town next week to look at some lots to build on. After looking all over Colorado and Montana we've decided the NW region of Montana is the most beautiful and best fit our criteria. We currently live in East Texas and still have kids in school so this will be a second home for time being with the idea of eventfully moving there full time.

Would love to chat but it doesn't look like I can message you.

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Sorry, just saw this.