Suitable Western towns/cities

[BigPig]

Wifey and I are looking at a long term plan. I can't handle the rat race forever. We have specific tastes and requirements. Given the following considerations and suggestions, where should we look?

No too big but not too small. Don't want to deal with traffic jams but will need jobs and ample services.

Ability to buy nice home with a few acres land without breaking the bank, as in <$5-600K ish.

Within 100 miles of a major carrier airport.

Seasons, but not too much snow.

Good public school system.

An educated community with some refined culture, nice restraunts, theatre, concerts, shopping etc.

A strong middle to upper middle class.

Not too many liberal hippies, but not too many right wing extremists either.

Availability of easy to draw or OTC tags so I can hunt nearby every year.

 

[TAGATTRACTER]

I had you down for Prescott Arizona until the last request of easy to draw tags.

 

[Hardway]

N.E. Ca, somewhere ne of sacramento.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

 

[BigPig]

I live in CA. No thanks, I want to get out.

Prescott is interesting. There are OTC archery deer tags there. Is it at all similar to Sedona? I've been there and it's beautiful but the spiritual wierdness turns me off. I believe in Jesus, not rocks.

 

[BoneJunkie]

Thats a tall order! Are you ok with Mormons? If so there are some great cities in Utah. Not sure how big or small but you may look at St. George or even Cedar City?

 

[BeanMan]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-14-09 AT 12:52PM (MST)[p]BigPig,

Welcome to the Grand Valley of western Colorado. The big town is Grand Junction, it has an airport with two major carriers, Mesa State College, and four distinct seasons. The population of the Grand Valley is around 130,000. The Colorado River flows through it and we are 30 miles from Utah. We are high desert and average about .70 inches of precip a month, very little snow but you can be at 10,000 feet in 40 minutes if you want snow to play in. Summers are a bit hot sometimes hitting 100 degress but nothing like Arizona. I live in Palisade which doesn't have a stoplight, has a brewery, a distillery, and many wineries. We are surrounded by public land and have OTC elk tags and deer units you can draw fairly easily.

Looking towards Utah from the side of the Grand Mesa. Palisade is in the mid right hand corner, Grand Junction is in the background left.

http://www.townofpalisade.org/

Check it out.

 

[4000fps]

Grand Junction = meth capital of Colorado, lots of whitetrash, and a bunch of $8 an hour jobs. And...home prices that are even more expensive than nice areas like Fort Collins.

 

[nenevada]

Look no further BigPig, Montello Nv has it all. It's not too big, and it's not too small. Not too much traffic either, more trains go through town than cars. One of the great things about the area is you don't have to buy land, you just find a piece and squat like everybody else, you get to keep ALL your money. There is an international airport just two and one half hours away, so that shouldn't be a problem. They have a great, fun loving community also. The drunk locals will tell you all about hunting and all the best places to go that nobody knows about. If things get really bad on drawing a tag from Nevada, no problem, you just buy one from Utah and your only a few miles from the Utah border. Yep Montello is the best kept secret in Nevada!

 

[life2extreme]

I'd take a look into Cheyenne Wyoming. You are an hour to hour and a half away from anything your little heart desires. Growing community, instate Wyo hunting. Colorado hunting next door. Nebraska waterfowl and pheasants right near by as well. You don't have to be in the boonies either. Saratoga fly fishing and endcampment elk hunting within two hours. Fueled alot by the Airforce base there and I don't see the US military going anywhere any time soon. There is alot of building going on in that area and Wyoming is a very rich state so the taxes are nil compared to most. It'd be worth looking into!

Aim Center Mass

 

[TAGATTRACTER]

BigPig, Prescott may fit the bill then. The Spiritual wierdness is pretty much only in Sedona or Jerome. Prescott is a nice high Desert Western type of town with all that you asked for. And even OTC Deer tags.

 

[BigPig]

Nice, you guys are all mentioning areas (Prescott, Grand Junction/Montrose, Cheyene/Laramie, and Ft. Collins) I've already considered and need to look into further. Thanks for confirming.

 

[TripleK]

>Welcome to the Grand Valley of
>western Colorado.

Fred, the Chamber of Commerce and Tourist Bureau should pay you. Great promotion, pic and spiel!

 

[kilowatt]

Twin Falls, Idaho

 

[BeanMan]

4000FPS,

Bullcrap.

I grew up in Fort Collins and lived there for 30 years. I've been in the Grand Junction area for 20 years. I would never move back to that stoplight and vehicle infested town. A total lack of planning on the city's part for traffic movement. Nor anywhere on the Front Range.

If you want to see Meth Heads just walk through old town FTC, I guarantee you there are more of them in FTC.

BeanMan

 

[NevadaBadger]

Just stay away.

We don't need any more prune pickers around.

Live Free or Die - NevadaBadger

 

[Feleno]

my vote is for Gallup, NM

 

[bigandtasty]

Check out Seattle, you can visit Bruce Lee's grave everyday...

 

[NevadaBadger]

>Twin Falls, Idaho


Too many hairy women & meth freaks

 

[completesportsman]

Bozeman, MT is one of the neatest western towns I have visited.

____________________________________________________________________
"You can recover from a tough hunt, you can't recover from quitting" - Cameron R. Hanes

 

[4000fps]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-15-09 AT 07:54AM (MST)[p]"4000FPS,
Bullcrap.

I grew up in Fort Collins and lived there for 30 years. I've been in the Grand Junction area for 20 years. I would never move back to that stoplight and vehicle infested town. A total lack of planning on the city's part for traffic movement. Nor anywhere on the Front Range.

If you want to see Meth Heads just walk through old town FTC, I guarantee you there are more of them in FTC.

BeanMan"

It is an actual fact that Grand Junction is the meth capital of Colorado. There is even a nice billboard welcoming you at the Clifton exit that states "Meth Kills." Why would I make it up?

If you love monster trucks, pitbulls, inflated home prices, no jobs (even the gas patch jobs are dying), hot summers/cold winters, then Junction is a great place! And you think the traffic isn't bad in Junction? There isn't an easy way to even get across town. North Ave and Patterson are cluster-F's. Junction even has a whole park devoted to junkies and the homeless, near 1st street. People even call it Bum Park.

If I were to look at smaller cities in Colorado, I would be eyeing Loveland/Fort Collins, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs.

 

[laroo]

Las Cruces, NM

 

[HNTBIGBULLS]

I don't live there, but Bayfield, CO
outside of Durango is an awesome place,
Durango is really busy but the outskirts
aren't as bad.

 

[sremim]

I lived in Ft Collins and moved to Prescott Valley in July. Ft Collins is a nice city, but the traffic sucks big time. Prescott/Prescott Valley/Chino Valley has everything you listed. There are OTC deer tags, and just over the mountain is one of the areas they now have OTC elk tags. Do some homework for a couple years and if you don't draw get an OTC tag.

It is only an hour to Phx. If you are lucky enough to draw an elk tag, it is only an hour to units 8,9, and 10. Prescott has been considered one of the best places to retire.

















"I'll keep my guns, freedom, and money.
You can keep the "change"!"

 

[mtmuley]

Bozeman, Montana a good choice as complete mentioned. Missoula has everything you described, but a bit heavy on the libs. The outlying Bitteroot Valley is worth a look. I am 45 miles from Missoula, so I just come home after I'm sick of that town. The Root is kind of a buffer. We have the school system, laid back rural life etc. and the "big city" an hour away. For a little more privacy yet still easy city access, the Thompson Falls area is nice. Missoula is the center of 5 valleys. You could take your pick. mtmuley

 

[mozey]

Hmmmm,

Depending on your perspective, Albuquerque is either too big or too small. You'd probably only be able to get a 4,000 to 5,000 sqf home on a couple acres if you plan on trying to keep it under $500K; and besides, it would be in Albuquerque. It does have its own airport, but again, it's in ABQ. Weather sucks--not enough snow. Traffic sucks, public schools suck, people are backwards, green chile blows, too many libs, too many right wingers, hunting sucks, the draw is too hard, and you now have to go across the border to CO to get an OTC; and as a former Texan/Hawaiin/Utahn/Japanese/Californian myself, the last thing this state needs is another commie pinko Californian telling us we need to do more things like California.

 

[HillbillyNnevada]

If you are serious about hunting opportunity with OTC tags, leftover tags and great units with a few points, I would recommend narrowing your search down somewhere in Colorado. I personally like Grand Junction as has been recommended already. To address the issue of white trash, I say at least they speak English and contribute to the tax base (that is when they work, haha).

 

[bonepiler]

BigPig--

Schedule your summer vacation to Rawlins, Wyoming!!!

 

[cmhlop72]

RENO, NV

EVERYTHING youre looking for and more.

 

[2lumpy]

http://www.newwest.net/topic/articl...rankings_chock_full_of_western_towns/C41/L41/

Give this a read. They've done all the research for you. There is some pretty good data in this article. Pick a couple and get the opinions from MM crew on some of the specific towns that look good to you.

dc

 

[canyonwell]

I would vote Amarillo Texas. Very easy to get around in, good jobs. Great economy and great people.

Steve

 

[feddoc]

OTC tags is kind of a limiter...I live outside of Reno part time...not bad, but hunting is draw only.

Other times I live in Colorado. Draw for deer, but OTC for bulls.

Pueblo or Pueblo West might not be so bad. Grand Junction/Palisade is ok too. Pueblo sits on I-25, making it a bit closer to bigger cities. I did my BS degree there, went on to Fort Collins for other stuff. I liked Pueblo better.

Canon City, west of Pueblo is pretty neat too. Not too far from Pueblo/Colorado Springs.

 

[blacktailBC]

Check out Verdi, NV......Sandpointe Idaho, and Cour de lane Idaho. All have lots of your requirements met. Wyoming is way too cold and windy in my opinion.