# Family towns?



## mtmed (Mar 26, 2017)

Hey all,
Wife and I have been chewing on the idea of relocating for a bit now. Currently live in Eastern Washington sort of doing the lots of land, animals, homestead thing. With 3 kids getting to the school age, we are prioritizing other things, maybe things that a bigger city may have. Would love some input about towns you like that fit some or most of the following criteria. 

1. Good public schools or a variety of alternative schools to choose from and kids classes/activities (dance, sports, etc)
2. Easy walkable or bike able with kids.
3. Nice parks and trails
4. Trail running or mountain biking real close
5. Nice downtown
6. Friendly community with other young families
7. Close day runs or chill multi day floats do do as a family, fishing, etc. class III and below.
8. Weird one. Indoor pool? 
9. Mountain west. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon.

Ok. Long list. Going to get flamed im sure. Don’t hold out on me. We are not Californians trying to steal your tranquility. Just a nice fam looking for a cool spot to settle down and be involved. Getting a job shouldn’t be a huge issue for me in most places. Let’s not worry about cost of living right now (except Jackson level madness). Just give me your top choice! Send it in a PM if you don’t want to out your town to the world. We will be friends, promise.


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## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

This is going to get interesting....

Have you thought about Jackson?


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## mtmed (Mar 26, 2017)

Blade&Shaft said:


> This is going to get interesting....
> 
> Have you thought about Jackson?


Once the trust fund cashes out I’ll be heading straight there.🤠 🍆


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## Katz (Aug 2, 2021)

Boise


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## mkashzg (Aug 9, 2006)

Topics like this that caused me to cancel my subscription to Outside Magazine many years ago. Good luck!


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## mtmed (Mar 26, 2017)

mkashzg said:


> Topics like this that caused me to cancel my subscription to Outside Magazine many years ago. Good luck!


Laborious, indeed. Not for the faint of heart. Back to schralping the grundlethunder for you, my friend.


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## Pinchecharlie (Jul 27, 2017)

Revelstoke
Jackson is nice...
Christchurch 
Boise??? Naw to many momos 
SALIDA! Right next to mnichols! 
Bozeman sucks salty chocolate balls 
If your rich you can anywhere!
If your not your kinda f'd
Maybe bend or hood?
Maybe....go east ? Like way way east to Maine or something?
Or alaska!!! 
I heard people where moving to Butte and I thought "well shit were all fucked now " 
Unless tour rich just stay home. Remember what the wise man said..." stop having what you want and start wanting what you have" 
Think that's what he said...
Buy a big stupid Mercedes van thing and hang shite all over it with bicycles and hang gliders and water jugs and just drive around owning everywhere you go? You can give the locals stink eye when your big pos is taking up the coffee hut parking lot!!! And when the hoping gets tough you can get going!!
Ohhhhhhh.......sailboat!!!! Go to Louisiana next week and buy someone's broken dreams for cheap and piss off to destinations unknown!! You could ditch the family and run guns or be a pirate if it gets boring!


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## T.O.Mac (Jun 6, 2015)

it depends on what you do for work...I am partial to the western slope of colorado, but it's not for everyone for sure.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

The more boxes you check off, the more expensive the real estate.

Your list pretty much encompasses the classic "mountain/river" towns. Ft. Collins, Boulder, Missoula, Jackson, Bozeman, Bend.

Get out your checkbook or decide what criteria are more or less important.

One note:
7. you can drive anywhere for an annual multiday. I'd lean toward more accessible day runs.


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## Blade&Shaft (May 23, 2009)

On the real - I like the San Juans. If money wasn't an issue and/or you could work "anywhere" - I'm sayin Rico, Stoner, Ridgway, Sawpit, Ophir, Naturita, Gateway, Ouray....

And Paonia, Crawford, Somerset. Off radar shit. Lake Irwin. Crystal. Gettin weird.


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## wharf-rat (Jan 29, 2019)

Kimberley, BC… kootenays baby 😎


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## Bleugrass (Feb 5, 2018)

wharf-rat said:


> Kimberley, BC… kootenays baby 😎


I hear Skookumchuck is cooler these days...


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## nervouswater (Jun 3, 2008)

We’ve had a similar list over the years and the only place we’ve ever found that checked all the boxes is Eagle, CO. Specifically, the neighborhood of Eagle Ranch. Great neighborhood elementary school, tons of young families, mountain biking literally out the back door, and the Eagle and Colorado rivers within 15-20 minutes (with the Colorado flowing year round.) There’s even an indoor pool in Gypsum which is 10 minutes away.


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## Eagle Mapper (Mar 24, 2008)

Eagle, CO is dump. I heard crime is up and gangs are on the rise. Schools are inundated with the "Rona". Bike trails have been stomped on by cows and dirt bikes. Just a bunch of olds with no kids. Eagle river never runs and the Colorado is a boat parade. That pool in Gypsum got shut down b/c to many olds pooped in it. I'd say your better off staying where your at. The moose should have told you at the front, western slope Colorado is closed. Sorry Folks


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## nervouswater (Jun 3, 2008)

I’m just not one to hate on people moving here. I like living somewhere where other people want to live and unless you’re Shoshone Indian, no one living here is local. We all came from somewhere else and I like meeting new people and having new energy in town, especially from fellow river people.


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## gbheron (May 2, 2021)

Fort Collins is worth a serious look. Great downtown, fun river, family friendly. If you want something smaller, The Western Slope of Colorado is great! More affordable, close to the mountains and rivers, very family centric.


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## Rightoarleft (Feb 5, 2021)

Bend is nice. Don't mind the newly woke city council who instead of working the housing crisis, spend their time pushing for homeless encampments next to schools and single family neighborhoods. But don't let 'single family' fool you. The governor recently declared all single family zoning codes are now replaced with multi family zoning. She is also about to fire a significant portion of school teachers, firemen, paramedics, hospital staff, nurses, school cooks, bus drivers, it's a long list. The edict has been spoken --if you are a first responder, work in healthcare or public schools, you must be vaccinated by next month or you will no longer have a career in Oregon. Anticipating the loss of 40% of staff, some school districts have already announced they not even going to open this year. Hospitals, already short staffed, are in panic mode with about 30% of healthcare providers refusing the vaccine. Oh yeah, policemen are resigning too because they are being restricted from enforcing laws on protected classes of people... which includes pretty much everybody except straight white men and their spouses. 

Basically, that druggie transient that just set up a tent in your front yard has more right to be there than you do, and if he happens to be gay or minority, you can get charged with a hate crime for even speaking about it. Oregon is a dumpster fire so whatever cities you are looking at, I wouldn't come here. Then again, maybe you are okay with woke agenda and political persecution. In that case there will soon be a heap of choice vacancies and career openings... as long as you show your CDC papers. The climate is nice. The people are decent. There is a river. Come on down.


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## benijana (Jul 26, 2018)

Rightoarleft said:


> Bend is nice. Don't mind the newly woke city council who instead of working the housing crisis, spend their time pushing for homeless encampments next to schools and single family neighborhoods. But don't let 'single family' fool you. The governor recently declared all single family zoning codes are now replaced with multi family zoning. She is also about to fire a significant portion of school teachers, firemen, paramedics, hospital staff, nurses, school cooks, bus drivers, it's a long list. The edict has been spoken --if you are a first responder, work in healthcare or public schools, you must be vaccinated by next month or you will no longer have a career in Oregon. Anticipating the loss of 40% of staff, some school districts have already announced they not even going to open this year. Hospitals, already short staffed, are in panic mode with about 30% of healthcare providers refusing the vaccine. Oh yeah, policemen are resigning too because they are being restricted from enforcing laws on protected classes of people... which includes pretty much everybody except straight white men and their spouses.
> 
> Basically, that druggie transient that just set up a tent in your front yard has more right to be there than you do, and if he happens to be gay or minority, you can get charged with a hate crime for even speaking about it. Oregon is a dumpster fire so whatever cities you are looking at, I wouldn't come here. Then again, maybe you are okay with woke agenda and political persecution. In that case there will soon be a heap of choice vacancies and career openings... as long as you show your CDC papers. The climate is nice. The people are decent. There is a river. Come on down.


Also Eugene. Less money, same wokeness.


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## Teddy Brewsevelt (Jan 29, 2015)

Maybe look at Pocatello or American Falls? They're not super popular with the younger crowd (LDS legacy of no bars/entertainment), but have great recreation access and more affordable than most CO, OR, or MT destinations.


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## lisacanoes (Nov 6, 2012)

The town of Palisade is lovely and checks most of the boxes. We don't have a pool inside of a building (shoooeee, sure sounds fancy!), but the CMU aquatics center is very nice and a quick 20 minutes away. Don't let the real estate agents trick you into moving to Clifton, though.


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## slc21 (Aug 11, 2021)

Rightoarleft said:


> Bend is nice. Don't mind the newly woke city council who instead of working the housing crisis, spend their time pushing for homeless encampments next to schools and single family neighborhoods. But don't let 'single family' fool you. The governor recently declared all single family zoning codes are now replaced with multi family zoning. She is also about to fire a significant portion of school teachers, firemen, paramedics, hospital staff, nurses, school cooks, bus drivers, it's a long list. The edict has been spoken --if you are a first responder, work in healthcare or public schools, you must be vaccinated by next month or you will no longer have a career in Oregon. Anticipating the loss of 40% of staff, some school districts have already announced they not even going to open this year. Hospitals, already short staffed, are in panic mode with about 30% of healthcare providers refusing the vaccine. Oh yeah, policemen are resigning too because they are being restricted from enforcing laws on protected classes of people... which includes pretty much everybody except straight white men and their spouses.
> 
> Basically, that druggie transient that just set up a tent in your front yard has more right to be there than you do, and if he happens to be gay or minority, you can get charged with a hate crime for even speaking about it. Oregon is a dumpster fire so whatever cities you are looking at, I wouldn't come here. Then again, maybe you are okay with woke agenda and political persecution. In that case there will soon be a heap of choice vacancies and career openings... as long as you show your CDC papers. The climate is nice. The people are decent. There is a river. Come on down.


Seems like Bend is on the up and up now that the incel crowd is getting priced out.


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## Rightoarleft (Feb 5, 2021)

slc21 said:


> Seems like Bend is on the up and up now that the incel crowd is getting priced out.


New word for me, had to look that one up. I'm far removed from that scene but can say property values are definitely pricing people out. Trends are nothing short of astonishing. Property values at times seeing greater than 10% growth PER MONTH county wide. My house has appreciated more than my mortgage payment since we bought, which is even more impressive when you consider we are at the end of a 15 year loan. It hardly matters because we don't intended to sell. Which is part of the problem, few are selling. Many listings are being bought sight unseen in bidding wars. And good luck building new. Construction costs are in the stratosphere, and that's assuming you can secure a contractor. The legislature has become hostile to landlords, and that has put a clamp on rentals as property owners seek other avenues.

Central Oregon is a tough nut to crack right now. Hopes of a correction have evaporated as people continue to flee larger cities and investors assert dominance over new construction. Locals call it Bendafornia, but stats show most are coming in from Portland... which is hardly reassuring.


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## littlefoot (Jun 30, 2018)

McCall might be right up your alley. You've got the Salmon River up by Riggins, Hells Canyon, plenty of fun day trips on the Payette (Cabarton is a popular one…there's even a great springtime McCall town run from the lower side of Payette Lake to splash around for a few miles on). Kelly's Whitewater Park is in Cascade, south of the dam for Cascade Reservoir. McCall-Donnelly school district is one of the top rated school districts in Idaho. Three ski areas (Brundage, Tamarack, Little Ski Hill)…Brundage and Tamarack have downhill mountain biking in the summer. There's plenty of other mountain biking around the area…Bear Basin, Jug Mountain, Ponderosa Park. Boise is just a couple hours south for big box store errands and an airport. 

Housing is tough (which is true for all popular mountain towns right now) and the local economy is feeling the squeeze hard, but I'm sure you're going to find that anywhere you look for the items on your list.


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## skiergirl (May 11, 2010)

Salida/buena vista?


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## robemega (Feb 24, 2013)

I would look hard at Gig Harbor.


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## Montet202 (Aug 22, 2020)

#1: Good public schools…
Whelp, I guess all of Idaho is out. We’re number one at not spending any money at all on education.


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

Chamisaville.


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## Pine (Aug 15, 2017)

mtmed said:


> Hey all,
> Wife and I have been chewing on the idea of relocating for a bit now. Currently live in Eastern Washington sort of doing the lots of land, animals, homestead thing. With 3 kids getting to the school age, we are prioritizing other things, maybe things that a bigger city may have. Would love some input about towns you like that fit some or most of the following criteria.
> 
> 1. Good public schools or a variety of alternative schools to choose from and kids classes/activities (dance, sports, etc)
> ...


What’s wrong with Eastern Washington?
If you want good schools scratch Idaho off your list. We consistently rank 49th or 50th in educational spending.


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## whip (Oct 23, 2003)

Too late for Salida...Lear jets Porsches and Ferraris have taken over


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## Wallrat (Jan 19, 2021)

You should scratch Bozeman off the list. It’s too far gone to be enjoyable. I’ve haven’t seen a town go to Hell like this since the oil boom in Williston. Maybe Livingston or Helena, but not Blowzone.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Pinchecharlie said:


> SALIDA! Right next to mnichols!


Eff you Charlie.. 

You wouldn't like it here, town is overrun with tourists, housing is ungodly expensive, the ark is dropping like a rock, bears, herds of deer have taken over the town, everything costs double of anywhere else.. And I'm not being funny.. 

I worked the oil boom in williston, that's saying a LOT..


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