Best town to live in near sierras

[chris smead]

Not quite an ultralight discussion, but this seems like the right crowd to ask. What's the best town to live in near the sierras with the following criteria: -Close(ish) to either Yosemite, Seki, Inyo, -Good schools (we have 2 young kids) -Nice friendly community, low crime -Nice homes for under $500K(ish) We're in the bay area now…In a good home with good jobs….but traffic is driving me crazy and I'm fantasizing about other options that allow more time in the backcountry. -Chris

[Paul Wagner]

Above Sonora. I think it meets most of your criteria. And by the way I think it would be hard to find many places in the Sierra where a $500K house isn't near the top of the listings. Maybe Mammoth? But most of the housing up there is a darn sight cheaper than the Bay Area. But wages are also much lower. Twain Harte does have an excellent grocery store and good school…but you won't find many areas in the Sierra that have a restaurant scene that can compete with SF, Berkeley, NApa, etc.

[Bob Shaver]

Bishop? Mammoth?

[Billy Ray]

Terms you used in your post: near Close(ish) Good (schools) Nice These are all relative terms and leave me wondering: How near or close? How good? Now nice??? Do you want to live in the Sierra or near? (btw… it's Sierra; not multiple of Sierras) Top schools or just okay schools? And nice? One man's nice is another many's ghetto. And how do you find 'good' jobs? Pay scale? Satisfaction? And what in what field? Just Sayin'…. billy

[Billy Ray]

Oh… and just exactly what 'bay area' do you live in? There are several Bay Areas around the country. billy

[Ken Thompson]

What field of work are you in Chris? How do you feel about hot weather? Come on Billy, he gives enough to know its The Bay Area. Just Sayin'…. Take a second to look at his profile. San Jose.

[Billy Ray]

a good question should not require going to a person's profile… if you want good answers you need to be clear… When I was in Florida and they said The Bay Area… they were talking about Tampa Bay… just sayin' billy

[chris smead]

Heya, Forgive my vagueness. I'm from San Jose. (SF Bay Area) I'm in the network security field and may be able to work from home if this were to become a reality. Still dreaming here.. As for schools, a rating of 8 or above is preferred. Amenities like a grocery store and a few restraunts within 10-15 miles would be nice. I'm looking at everything from Mammoth to Shaver lake to Twain Hart and Bishop at this point. We drove through Yosemite West a few weeks back and loved it…however the schools weren't rated very well.

[Stephen M]

If you are going to be working from home be sure to test the Internet connection in any houses you look at. The reason I mention this is a colleague is moving to Idaho and they were just about to close on a rural house and it turned out the Internet was brutally slow so they had to look elsewhere.

[Ken Thompson]

nm

[chris smead]

At this point we're not huge fans of hot weather. In the actual Sierra would be nice, but within an hour would be acceptable if the opportunity was worth it. -Chris

[chris smead]

Wow good point about the internet access. Thanks for that tip!

[Billy Ray]

Mammoth is extremely expensive. A lot of the blue collar workers live in Bishop and drive to work in Mammoth. Bishop gets pretty hot in the summers… and cold in the winters. But it is close to some great stuff. Sorry for being so picky… in a bad mood as I am packing away my backpacking stuff for the winter… puts me in a down mood… enough to be channeling Bob Gross here on BPL… sorry… Billy

[Billy Ray]

I think some general questions to ask yourself are: Do you want to live in the CA central hot valley towns.. with dreary foggy cold weather in the winter with air pollution? Do you want to live in snow country? Or maybe in between in the foot hills of CA or along Hwy 395 on the east side? billy

[chris smead]

No prob at all. I personally miss Bob's interesting personality and contributions. I actually just finished an awesome trip through Hoover/Yosemite that he recommended a year ago. Anywho… I prefer the Sierra access from the east…but the western side seems to have more living opportunities so I'm guessing that makes more sense. I'd love to live in snow country….but everyone I know says it's awesome until the first time you shovel your driveway… Why can't I just build a house in Yosemite valley? Damn John Muir and his protected national parks….. **kidding ;)**

[Ralph Burgess]

Yup, internet is so critical these days that it can have a significant effect on property value. Make sure that you don't trust vague realtor bullshitting either…. "high speed" is so ill-defined that they can get away with the claim. Satellite internet is useless. Call the local providers and tell them you're moving in and ask if they service the address. Knock on the neighbors' doors to ask how reliable the service is – ask specifically if they watch movies online, that's the litmus test. And this is California, away from major cities – so make sure you understand where the water's coming from, and what's likely to happen if drought persists for another 10 years.

[Ken Thompson]

It will be hot everywhere but right on the coast. We sucked it up and moved back into it last month, to Chico. From coastal Humboldt. We waited till fall to move in hopes of acclimatizing a bit before next summer.

[Billy Ray]

You could consider the Truckee/Tahoe area… though that seems to be further north than the places you mention… More affordable than Mammoth and on Hwy 80 so good shopping in Reno… and a day trip to Sacramento and back is not out of the question. Great skiing choices and water sports and hiking/biking in the summer. Problem is it's just as long of a drive to Yosemite or SEKI… maybe even longer. billy

[Richard Lyon]

VERY good point about that if you will be working from home. I passed on one house because of limited access (and no cell phone access).

[Ralph Burgess]

There are ways around the cell phone issue, though – provided you have good internet. I use "Google Voice", where you give out one number, and it seamlessly forwards calls to any set of other numbers that you specify. The caller is not aware that the call is being forwarded. You can pick up the same call on your cell, your home, your work, the friend's house that you are staying in for the week… they all ring at the same time.

[Anonymous]

"I'm looking at everything from Mammoth to Shaver lake to Twain Hart and Bishop at this point." If you can find work there and the schools pass muster, you'd be hard pressed to beat Bishop. You'd have the cream of the Sierra at your fingertips. Decent shopping, a first run movie theater, a modern hospital, an excellent brew pub. Lots going for it, considering it's a small town.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Definitely Mammoth. Great alpine ski area and great Sierras nearby.

[Bob Shaver]

wow, rural Idaho has slow internet? That's a shocker!

[Ralph Burgess]

Let's check back in on the thread in a couple of days to see if anyone from Idaho has responded to this slur.

[BlackHatGuy]

"Let's check back in on the thread in a couple of days to see if anyone from Idaho has responded to this slur." Might take a bit longer for the reply at 5600 baud….

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