I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land and not have to deal with neighbors or HOA crap.
Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
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Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#52Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#53As someone who lived in a small city in the American Mountain West, the boom does have consequences. Sleepy farming towns are becoming endless suburbia, hiking up prices as developers spill over from the Lehi 'Silicon Slopes' area. Midway, for instance, a town on the Wasatch back situated in a location that feels similar to Switzerland, has gone from about 150 diaries to 2, as expanding housing developments buy out t…
> As much as I'd love to work for a FAANG, retire early, and buy a large house in an idyllic mountain town, I'd hate for that same town to loose its historical roots and what makes it that special idyllic mountain town in the first place.
It's already arguably happened; fruit orchards and irrigation turns were big part of the milieu in Orem/Provo a few decades back, and they're all but absent now, and in general the Wasatch Front has taken a dramatic turn away from agriculture in the last 30 years.
It's easy to imagine the metro areas like the Bay and Los Angeles like they've always been that way, especially if you're younger than the internet. But if you look at early/mid-century maps or pictures you realize that there was still a great deal of open space and agriculture mixed in. It doesn't take a genius to realize similar changes are coming along regions like the I-15 corridor.
California problems follow California popularity.
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
And that doesn’t even touch on the new year-round fire season normal we have to contend with. Last year was crazy and this year is supposed to be as bad or worse. Every 3rd or 4th pine tree in the hills is beetle kill. A lot of people are looking to move into mountain communities that are largely water stressed already. Adding more people, with less water, and higher fire danger and it’s going to get ugly.
Where can one find areas that are most water-abundant and don't run into the water scarcity issues?
Appalachia
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#55As someone who lived in a small city in the American Mountain West, the boom does have consequences. Sleepy farming towns are becoming endless suburbia, hiking up prices as developers spill over from the Lehi 'Silicon Slopes' area. Midway, for instance, a town on the Wasatch back situated in a location that feels similar to Switzerland, has gone from about 150 diaries to 2, as expanding housing developments buy out t…
Great post but one point, Whole foods sells 1/2 gallons for $6! I don't drink much milk but would gladly pay a premium for high quality, local, organic milk.
Depends on the brand, good organic milk is worth it. Bare minimum is Whole Foods 365 brand
In New England Organic Valley is as good as it gets for store milk,
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#56Great, you can work from. So you take your California money to middle of nowhere and buy a home for cheap. Renovate it and now it’s awesome. However, that local, who isn’t making California money, that is working a local job and making local money and is hoping to move up in housing for their family is priced out because housing pricing has doubled or even tripled. People that wanted to retire to rural or remote area…
What is your solution? Have internal passports? Government owned housing? Price controls?
Yes.
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#57For those outside of these bubbles, it’s almost unbelievable how much the housing market has completely exploded the last two years.
My family is squarely in this situation - bought our home a few years ago in an extremely fast - growing area, and watched prices climb to levels that we didn’t believe at first. Imagine purchasing a home in 2019 for $500k and selling it today for $1.2M. That’s the reality in some of these cities.
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#58There seems to be a lot of negativity in the comments so far. Is this not the dream that is often touted on hacker news? Work at a FAANG and "retire" somewhere more affordable? I'm personally doing just this. I was lucky enough to land a good job out of college, buy a house in a desired area, and see it appreciate in the last 10 years. This increase plus the birth of my kids left me wondering if there wasn't a better…
Your kids all else equal will be outsprinted by kids who live in more competitive cities. You can decide you don't care about any of that, but understand that type of that decision will ripple through to future generations, e.g. your grandkids will be less educated. The irony is that most educated people living in small towns want to get out, and a generation or two after they do they want to go back. Will the cycle…
Maybe true of typical residents of said locations, on average.
But tech transplants by and large should not be considered typical residents.
What you say definitely does have elements of truth to it, but I’d wager the effects of parenting and income are, on average, much larger than your direct setting when it comes to succeeding beyond the median of their peer group.
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#59I actually really want to move to a mountain area that is secluded and has nature with snow. The problem is, it's very hard to figure out where to go when all you've lived is in a city or one state. I've researched a lot of properties on zillow but I have no idea how to investigate the proper area. Maybe someone can give me a tip. I like snow, and I like people, I just want enough space to experiment with my own land…
> I just want enough space to experiment with my own land and not have to deal with neighbors or HOA crap.
What kinds of experiments? Depending on that answer you may want to investigate States, Counties, and Cities by their regulatory regimes vis a vis what you want to do. Make a short list of likely places and go visit them. Get a feel for these places. Does the altitude suit you? Humidity or lack thereof cause you any issues? What is the fire danger, or risk of other natural disasters? Are there sufficient ways close by to supply your lifestyle? What are the school choices if you have kids? Are there enough pursuits in the area to sufficiently entertain you? Can you adequately practice your religion in these places or withstand those that do? Are there good places to make friends? Finally, how easy will it be to recover from a mistake moving there? Answer these kinds of questions and you’ll know better what you’re getting into and you’ll know whether you really want what you think you want and you’ll know where to go.
Re: Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming
#60As someone who lived in a small city in the American Mountain West, the boom does have consequences. Sleepy farming towns are becoming endless suburbia, hiking up prices as developers spill over from the Lehi 'Silicon Slopes' area. Midway, for instance, a town on the Wasatch back situated in a location that feels similar to Switzerland, has gone from about 150 diaries to 2, as expanding housing developments buy out t…
> As much as I'd love to work for a FAANG, retire early, and buy a large house in an idyllic mountain town, I'd hate for that same town to loose its historical roots and what makes it that special idyllic mountain town in the first place. It's already arguably happened; fruit orchards and irrigation turns were big part of the milieu in Orem/Provo a few decades back, and they're all but absent now, and in general the…
I assume you know about the orchards of Silicon Valley? It's an interesting bit of history to me. I didn't realize the same thing was happening along the Wasatch Front, but it makes sense.
E: forgot the link https://www.growingproduce.com/fruits/the-last-of-his-kind-f...