Where would you live?

Vancouver is nice – if you don’t mind rain. But it’s realy nice in the summer.

It’s pretty big, but not too overcrowded, most people here have a healthy lifestyle and there are so many different ethnics here. Lots of asian people, so you get realy good sushi here… But living is a quiet expensive here. Maybe not anymore after the Olympics :P

There are so many great hikes nearby. Even just 1h by car away and sometimes even accessible by public transit. Check out vancouvertrails Garibaldi is a nice Park and I can highly recommend Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park(about 3h away from Downtown Vancouver). I was there last August and it was the best hike in my life so far. British Columbia is pretty big and there are so many beautiful places, check
BCParks
If you like coastal hiking there is so much to do on Vancouver Island: West Coast Trail (you have to pay and prebook it – so I would rather hike the Nort Coast Trail, which is supposed to be like the wct 20 years ago), Juan de Fuca and Nootka Island are also nice…

But winter is quiet different compared to most NZ winter conditions. You can get everything from wet snow to bone freezing weather.

San Francisco is a lovely city too, and it’s not to far away from good hikes.

I am in the Boise, Idaho area, and I think we/I have it pretty good. A zillion acres of outdoor acreage, and an old school mentality of shoot first and ask questions later approach to the gov't "revenuers" and all their ilk! :)
Boise consistently ranks high up in quality of living, and with four distinct seasons we enjoy a year round activity calendar.
Work has taken a decided turn with our construction, and semi-conductor industries in the toilet, but we'll manage to get thru it!
Meanwhile, I'll patch work together, and with more time and less money, I actually have been getting out more than I have in the past. Cheap trips are a great thing! Last spring after spending a week on the Owyhee River, I was talking with others at the take out, and each of the parties was on the river because we were all unemployed! Love it!! Now, I wonder when I'll start to get that monthly check Obama promised me….. wink wink

It really depends on what a person likes for weather and the environment that comes with it.

My husband moved out here to the PNW (Washington) from the Mid-Atlantic region. He enjoys the cooler summers, the lack of real humidity and the milder winters down low. Does he dig the month long segments of gray skies in winter? Not so much. But the good things over power the negative. We don't have poisonous snakes on the West side of the mountains and things like Poison Oak is found in few areas. The hiking/kayaking/biking is plentiful and the rules are relaxed in most areas – while still we have 3 NP's in one state. Most of the Cascades is in NF land and is either permit free or only needs a free self issued permit. Of the parks you need permits but only Olympic charges money. Even then they are very flexible. And half of the Olympics is in NF that is free.

(OK outside of needing a parking pass but meh, it isn't that much!)

Lots of nerds and geeks in the area due to the larger than normal amount of tech workers. Nothing wrong with that! I am married to one!

But here is the thing…I don't live in Seattle proper and hope to never. I don't like the city itself. It is dirty, crowded and we frankly don't like the leanings of the cities politics. We do live in King County but instead live out in the Republican stronghold of South-East King County. Yeah, the area that keeps those spend-a-holics in line over in Seattle! Rural/urban living that is affordable and more so, very close to all the good stuff. We live in the foothills of the Cascades and can be to nearly anything quickly – no getting out of the city ;-)

But…if a person cannot handle drizzle and gray skies…go elsewhere. It doesn't rain like people think it does…it rather drizzles. All day long.

There are a million places in this state, and its not too far from surrounding states, including Jarbidge in norther Nevada, or central idaho- the sawtooths for example. Our economy is doing well and as far as I know we have a good computer based industry.

Earlier someone mentioned Las Vegas… My brother lives there and I have been surprised by the hikes he has found in that desert. But as the poster said, its Vegas… hes hellbound on getting out of there!

+1 on the Seattle and/or Vancouver. If I could find a job there, I'd move yesterday.

I like where I live, just east of Portland, OR. One good thing about Portland (over Seattle) is that you're 1 1/4 hours or less from the mountains or the coast–that's a real ocean with sand and waves, not Puget Sound! Of course, that's from downtown Portland. What with living east of the city and having to buck traffic when I go on weekdays, I'm closer to 2 hours from the coast (still lots closer than anywhere in Seattle, though). On the other hand, I can be at many Mt. Hood trailheads in less than an hour and at most Columbia River Gorge trailheads in 20 minutes.

I don't like the wet winters and gray skies out here (less wet than Seattle, though), but the summers more than make up for them. The one big downside is the winter winds out of the Columbia Gorge, which have so far been more frequent than usual this winter. "East County" (as we call it here) tend to develop a permanent eastward lean in winter.

My favorite place in the world is Wyoming, where I grew up. I really like the people there, but there's no way I could take the brutal Wyoming winters any more!

OP, if you are not a US citizen, your biggest problem will be getting a visa that allows you to work in the US. The employer has to hire you and sponsor you for a visa before you come and has to prove to the US govnt that you have skills that are not available in the US, especially difficult in this time of high unemployment. If you're a NZ citizen, I strongly suspect that Canada would be a lot easier for you in this respect.

With 11% unemployment around here, Portland is definitely not a place to move to unless you have a job first. Seattle is a little better than the rest of the west coast in this regard, but there are plenty of layoffs going on there, too.

Ah, hikinggranny. I used to live in Hillsboro and work in Portland. I loved it there. Have always thought of moving back to the area.

Joe Clement: I can't figure out which arch that is on your avatar. Is it in NM?

Granny: One of my best friends lives @ 1 mile west of Multnomah falls. Great country…too bad the umemployment is so high. Great trails right out the back door. Hardly rains from May through September…. then drizzles without cease from November through March. There's lots worse weather in the world!

That's a tough one, especially if you need a job, have other hobbies, want to raise a family, etc.

I learned to love hiking and all sorts of backcountry pursuits living in Inyo County, California. For us, Bishop was the big city.

Inyo and Mono counties together have a lot going for them:

-Population density of around 2 persons per square mile (less than 1 per square km) (13,000 square miles combined and about 30,000 people)
-Highest point in contiguous US (Whitney)
-Two mountain ranges over 14,000' (Sierra and Whites)
-Lowest point in western hemisphere (Badwater, Death Valley)
-Highest "official" recorded temperature in western hemisphere (Maybe not such a selling point? Furnace Creek, Death Valley)
-Four epic 20 mile hikes with around 10,000 feet difference from base to summit. (Owens Valley floor to Whitney, Williamson, and White Mtn plus Badwater to Telescope Peak)
-Oldest known trees in the world. (Bristlecone Pines, White Mountains)
-98% of the land is publicly owned and undeveloped.
-Adjacent to 4 major national parks, (Yosemite, Death Valley, Sequoia, Kings Cyn) lots of national forest wilderness.
-Great skiing with total annual snowfall of around 28 feet (9 meters) at Mammoth.

In the state you add
-Biggest Trees in the world (Giant Sequoia)
-Tallest Trees in the world (Coast Redwood)
-Three more epic 10,000 (or almost) foot hikes (Shasta, San Jacinto, Mt. Baldy)
Highest waterfall in North America (Yosemite Falls)

I had a chance to move back to Bishop with a good job, but my wife voted no.

EDIT: added details

"then drizzles without cease from November through March"

I seem to remember reading somewhere that average rainfall in NYC was greater than in Portland, OR. Might rain more days in Portland, but the drizzle makes for small amounts.

Doug – yeah if you look at the weather averages for the "rainy areas" such as portland and seattle, the precipitation and cloudy days are pretty comparable, and in some cases lower, than the averages in many east coast and midwest areas. the difference seems to be that the east coast and midwest gets more snow than rain in the winter than the PacNW

Oh you poor mis-guided soul. If you think you're gonna find somewhere better to live than Queenstown, then you'd better start looking at the rest of the South Island and don't settle for anything less. What's the matter? Sandflies getting to you, or is it the tourists?

On the rain…the big difference is we don't have the rain dumpings that you get on the East Coast. I saw a good rain storm years ago on a trip back East and it was "Oh I get it now!" on what he meant.

Instead it sprinkles, it mists, it might dump as a cloud blows over. But the main thing is it stays gray all day. It clouds over. So while NY might get more rain per year it has more sunny days as well.

But! Having said all that Seattle actually sits in the Banana Belt that stretches across from Seqium on the Olympic Peninsula. This region which also covers places like Whidbey Island has less rain fall per year than the rest of Western Washington. There is actually Cacti that grow in these areas due to it!

Go out to the Olympic Peninsula on tn the West side and from Port Angeles to Forks and beyond…it rains 100's of inches a year – the coastal area brings in rich fogs full of moisture. Perfect for growing rain forests ;-)

"or is it the tourists?"

Hey! I resemble that remark!

"But the main thing is it stays gray all day. It clouds over."

Actually, this is one of the things I love about the area. I'm not a sunshiny kinda guy. Bothers my eyes. I'll take a cloudy day over a sunny day any day!

Douglas…that is what I love – a misty/cloudy day in a green forest or on the beach! It smells SO good and the air is so crisp/clean tasting. The colors just pop.

I already live where I would like to live. And I telecommute, so life is good.

Not too populated and surrounded by the San Jacintos and ranges south, San Bernardinos, Litte San Bernardinos. Not often the most under-used areas, but I know there the non-peopled places are.

Sarah,
I been following this thread and just realized I love Freezerbagcooking and watching your TrailCooking series on my ITouch.
I would have used PM but yours is not up.

Yes the inches per year around here are higher than those for the "rainy" northwest. I guess the concentrated rain does conversely mean more sunny days but I'll take a misty dewey drizzly day anytime over an inch per hour dumping I mean you ever try to do anything in a downpour? other than stay kinda dry

It rains @ 80 inches per year on the southeastern facing Blue Ridge scarp. This year on the OBX we've had about 70. I've seen trails turn into mini class 5 rapids and minor one hop streams into torrents crossed at some peril.

Well its like chocolate and vanilla. I wouldn't want to live on the SE side of the Olympic but Seattle and Portland and etc get a stupidly bad rap on the rain. Like Sarah notes all that moisture makes all that green!

Ditto all the votes for the Seattle area. North is Canada, East is the Central Cascades, south is Mt. Rainier, West is the Olympic Peninsula. There are places I would like to visit and explore, but the Pacific Northwest is where my heart is.

I live half the week in Seattle (I'm down to working just 3 days a week starting this month – hooray!), and the rest of the time at the foot of Lichtenberg Mtn. Mr. B picked the Cascades to live in because, according to some websites, it gets more snow than anywhere else in the world. He likes snow. Unfortunately, he doesn't like backpacking in it. He says he bought the cabin so he wouldn't have to do dumb things like winter backpacking. I took my avatar picture by the kitchen window.

Kathleen. He loves that snow because no yard work! Smart!

I dunno. He spends an awful lot of time shoveling snow!

"I had a chance to move back to Bishop with a good job, but my wife voted no."

They sure do know how to spoil a guy's good time, don't they. ;}

"-Four epic 20 mile hikes with around 10,000 feet difference from base to summit. (Owens Valley floor to Whitney, Williamson, and White Mtn plus Badwater to Telescope Peak)"

Which route gets you up and down Williamson in 20 miles? George Creek? Or?

Actually, Seattle is my second choice. If I could talk my wife into it, I'd be in Bishop yesterday. Dave T had me pegged.

I would have to second that, esp. if you include the "greater" Bay Area. All kinds of places to go within 6 hours.

But, it is expensive.

I feel really blessed to live in Santa Barbara. There are day hikes within 10 minutes drive. There are backpack trips within 40 minutes drive (unless I decided to start at one of the day hiking places.) There's remote, rugged wilderness where you can hike and see nobody and no footprints except for bear and mountain lion for days. There are places you can hike to where you can see the ocean and channel islands looking one direction and the snowy peaks of the High Sierra looking in the other. It's expensive here, though. You have to adjust your standard of living way way down.