Would you relocate West?

[ski_resort_observer]

When I took my first ski trip out west I was 19 it was so incredible I knew I wanted to move there. After college I worked for a year and figured the easiest way to get out west would be grad school. I really was planning to stay for only a few years but somehow it ended up being 23 years.

When I finally left, it was several reasons, one being that my father was getting on in years plus I had this dream of owning my own home which in a place like Jackson Hole would be impossible.

When I returned to Vermont 10 years ago and it did not take long to realize that I should have moved back years ago. I hardly miss the west, for me northern New England is the coolest place on Earth. I am still in wonderment over the greenery here and the lakes and rivers.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

I am still in wonderment over the greenery here and the lakes and rivers.

I totally agree with you about that statement..

 

[NYDrew]

Alpine Extreme inspired me to become a ski instructor. The prophecy is not complete until im making boatloads at aspen and hooking up with the local billionairs.

There is only one way to do that, and it answers the thread's question.

 

[RISkier]

Difficult question. I'm a transplanted midwesterner though my wife is from New England. I'd consider it but t would depend on where. I think the culture in the North East has a vibrancy that is hard to find elsewhere. I love the lush greens in summer and the color of fall. I like being close to the ocean. The west can be dang dry in the summer. It's nice to not have the humidity in the air, but I sure like what it does for vegetation.

 

[Sky]

Bottom line up front...No, I wouldn't move out west.

I wouldn't move anywhere for "one" thing, like skiing. I would probably never have left New England ever had I not been in the Army. Lived in VA, Italy, Fla, KY....spent lots of time in NC, OH, Louisiana, MD.

When we lived in KY and it was time to move...I would have moved to almost anywhere (wasn't skiing at the time). Got a big (sort of) break and moved back to MA. Like many of you....all (or a substantial amount) of extended family is close. Now that I'm here...the roots have gone deep. Although I must say some of the reasons to stay are gone....my parents are passed, my wife's parrents are now passed. We're (it's still hard to say/write this) selling the lake house.

I love the colors in the fall...I love the four full seasons. Summers in KY are hot/humid and lengthy.

Plus-ups for NE.....everything is within a few hours drive. Conversely, when you get out to KY and beyond....everything is an oasis.

I'd love to visit Idaho, Montana...New Mexico....etc to see if I could retire out there (although I expect I'll be working for another 10+ years).

 

[Razor]

Thought about this a lot. Our son went to CU Boulder, came home for grad school, and moved to Ft. Collins four years ago. He wouldn't live anywhere else. We've been out there many times and it's real nice, especially the weather. But skiing is still a ways off. We live south of Boston. Being retired we have much free time. In the past 3 weeks we have boogie boarded at Horseneck Beach, rode the canal bike path to Scusset Beach for the day, biked Ocean Drive in Newport, roller bladed along Carson Beach out to Pleasure Bay in South Boston, taken several 2 hour bike rides along back country roads from our house, and spent 3 days at Sunday River hiking and mountain biking. (Of course the weather has cooperated lately, which doesn't always happen.) Sunday night we're going into Boston for a feast in the North End. We're within an hour from Boston, Newport, Cape Cod, and Providence. Family considerations aside, that would be a lot to give up as much as we like skiing. We have friends who bought a condo in Midvale, UT and live there all winter, but they come home to Maine in the summer. I might be able to handle that, but the wife would never do it. If I moved out west, it would have to be someplace with water, like Sandpoint, ID or Nelson, BC. Colorado is nice, but the commute from the Front Range to the mountains is a horror show.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Thought about this a lot. Our son went to CU Boulder, came home for grad school, and moved to Ft. Collins four years ago. He wouldn't live anywhere else. We've been out there many times and it's real nice, especially the weather. But skiing is still a ways off. We live south of Boston. Being retired we have much free time. In the past 3 weeks we have boogie boarded at Horseneck Beach, rode the canal bike path to Scusset Beach for the day, biked Ocean Drive in Newport, roller bladed along Carson Beach out to Pleasure Bay in South Boston, taken several 2 hour bike rides along back country roads from our house, and spent 3 days at Sunday River hiking and mountain biking. (Of course the weather has cooperated lately, which doesn't always happen.) Sunday night we're going into Boston for a feast in the North End. We're within an hour from Boston, Newport, Cape Cod, and Providence. Family considerations aside, that would be a lot to give up as much as we like skiing. We have friends who bought a condo in Midvale, UT and live there all winter, but they come home to Maine in the summer. I might be able to handle that, but the wife would never do it. If I moved out west, it would have to be someplace with water, like Sandpoint, ID or Nelson, BC. Colorado is nice, but the commute from the Front Range to the mountains is a horror show.

The population growth along the front range from Ft Collins to Colorado Springs in the past
30 years has been amazing. When I was a grad student in Laramie just 60 miles north Ft Collins was one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

Boulder is an amazing place which I loved hanging out in but I wouldn't want to live there.

On the flipside...if your young, moving out west for a ski season is reletively easy. The hardest part would be picking out which one to go to. Most ski resorts/towns have tons of jobs, doesn't matter if most of them are service related, housing is the biggest challenge but not insurmountable.

 

[wintersyndrome]

Did it once, moved to Dillon Colorado (Summit County) in Dec. 2001 was there for Opening Day at Blue Sky Basin at vail, it was great. Personally I very quickly got settled in, landed a job that let me work on weekends so i could have a day of mid-week riding, but then before my Health insurance kicked in I made the dumb mistake of playing hockey and thinking I could still play like my days of yore (it had been over 8 years since i played on ice at that point) long story short, i spiral fractured my ankle and tore a ligament. I could deal with it I though until I found I I needed surgery or my ankle would never work right, so without insurance, i quickly became about 20K poorer...so much for savings, moved back home (being 26 at the time was a crappy place to be) until i healed, found lucrative East coast employment, and got my own place...I look back at those few months out there and still wonder if I'd be there if I had not played hockey at Keystone. Probably, but then again, Im a New Yorker at Heart and as a good friend told me "Anything New York, comes back to New York"...
so here I am, rockin like a hurricane...ws :dunce:

 

[wintersyndrome]

to further develop my saga, when I came back east I realized how much I loved it here, out west is good for one thing...skiing/Snowbaording....other than that it smells like cow dung and is so dry you need to drink more water than can be found.
Our East Coast has so much more to offer if your like me and spend your summers sailing. (and working as little as possible)
Since ive gotten back east Ive sailed over 3,500 miles delivering sailboats from Halifax to NE, Bermuda to Mystic,CT and across the caribbean, not to mention all the racing (I race sailboats at a frequency that creates havoc with the rest of my life) but I love it dearly and find even more addictive than snowboarding because of the mental challenges it presents.

Ive always felt a connection to the sea but never realized its importance in my life until I left. and when I got back to Long Island after being out west (I drove there and back) I made it a point to take Ocean Parkway along Long Islands South Shore, to those that dont know Ocean Parkway is a 20-30 mile stretch of highway running the length of one of the Fire Islands From Jones Beach all the way to Robert Moses State Park, Its beautiful, and compelling to know that beyond those sand dunes lies thousands of miles of water and the opportunity to go anywhere in the world.
There is nothing like the combination of LI, NY and NE: all within a days drive and accessible for all seasons...

I know its lengthy but thanks for reading:
rocking the east coast...ws

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Boulder is an amazing place which I loved hanging out in but I wouldn't want to live there.

I loved boulder, up and down walking on Pearl St is great.. You should see it now from Denver To Co Springs theres a constant traffic jam everyday, and thats a 60mile stretch.. Granted we have serious traffic problems here too but the growth and Cranes putting up houses all over the place is amazing. There was no C-470 ten years ago for those of you that know that road, i was also told when i was there that it is now the most expensive toll road for miles travelled in the US..

 

[jack97]

Spent a year in California, San Jose area. My wife hated it, no change of weather. Also, I have several friends that had dads working in the oil business or in the military. Both professions mandate transitory lifestyle; seems like their families are scattered all over the country, no firm roots to settle in while the kids grew up.

So the answer is no.

 

[loafer89]

Because I am involved with a family owned business, we had the chance to move anywhere this spring, and it became a toss up between Pennsylvannia and Connecticut.
Honestly the Poconos are just too rural for me and the skiing is much better in New England so Connecticut won out. Either way I am just happy to be leaving Long Island even though it has been my home all my life.

If I had to move out west, Denver would be choice #1 as I love Summit County and the skiing there is really good with a 8 month season. I have only been skiing on the West Coast during the summertime, but the Mount Hood/Portland area seems nice with near year round skiing. I really liked Mammoth, but the place is fairly isolated being located in the Eastern Sierra. I hope to visit the resort again next February when I have a trade show to attend in Las Vegas. I am really looking forward to skiing in the Sierra in Winter.

 

[mattchuck2]

So let me get this straight . . . you're asking me if I could keep my job, health insurance, retirement and benefits, but move it all to Breckenridge, Bend, or Bozeman, would I do it?

Two words: HELL YEAH.

My family is here, but my parents are retiring and moving to North Carolina, I'd move out west in a second.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

before everyone jumps ship, check this out. interesting.
http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/ar...e=news&article_path=/news/06/news060820_3.htm

 

[mattchuck2]

Yeah, but if it's that bad in Colorado, imagine how bad it'll be here . . .

Besides, 2085? I'll be 105 years old at that point. I hope I'll still be skiing, but I'm not going to make any plans to meet up then.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

are u kidding me, im gonna be an Xanadu next year in Jersey with Greg and the rest of the crew for the 1st dome AZ Trip, who cares about the weather outside.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Seriously though doenst anybody else notice these changes? IM only 30 but i remember very much i used to have at least 10days of school cancelled eachyear due to snow and would be making up the days until the end of June, i remember if it snowed pretty good in December you woudlnt see the Grass again until the end of march, i cant say ive seen that in the last 10yrs at all, not good

 

[Grassi21]

While the conditions out West are consistent, do you get the same breed of people as we have in the East? I went to a pig roast and met a good bunch of hippies this weekend (Austin forgive me, I know how you feel about hippies). We had a blast, met some great people, and scored a new place to crash in VT. Anyway, the more I start to appreciate skiing here in the East and meeting different people like those hippies I'm staying put for awhile. I can't remember the name of the town. We were off of 91 in VT. Exit 3 to 5 North and then bang a left on East West. East or West Dunerston?

Now, don't get me wrong. I will certainly be taking some trips out West when I have my S together and can appreciate the experience.

 

[Marc]

While the conditions out West are consistent, do you get the same breed of people as we have in the East? I went to a pig roast and met a good bunch of hippies this weekend (Austin forgive me, I know how you feel about hippies). We had a blast, met some great people, and scored a new place to crash in VT. Anyway, the more I start to appreciate skiing here in the East and meeting different people like those hippies I'm staying put for awhile. I can't remember the name of the town. We were off of 91 in VT. Exit 3 to 5 North and then bang a left on East West. East or West Dunerston?

Now, don't get me wrong. I will certainly be taking some trips out West when I have my S together and can appreciate the experience.

I think the people depend greatly on a smaller definition of "area." Can't really sum up the stereotypical western skier because there is no such thing.


I've heard the people around Tahoe are pretty laid back and cool, though.

 

[Grassi21]

I think the people depend greatly on a smaller definition of "area." Can't really sum up the stereotypical western skier because there is no such thing.

I would have to agree with you on that. But something about this past weekend really made me want to live in VT. Considering we are about to close on a house in Southbury, CT, this won't happen for some time. But who knows, we may take a trip out West and change our minds. Isn't life fun like that?