Thinking of Places to Move to – Colorado, Utah, Oregon,…?

In looking at a map of the west, the Great Salt Lake is almost right in the middle. Ogden, UT could be a good place to look. It would be one days drive to anywhere in the west.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/us/utah-a-nature-lovers-haven-is-plagued-by-dirty-air.html

Before deciding, think about what happens if Yellowstone erupts.

Boise is pretty nice if you have a job. The economy here is pretty strong, but not as many jobs as a place like Seattle. Population is about 400,000, plenty of companies here, depends on what kind of work you are looking for. Idaho is a lot like California of the 1950s, a paradise, in other words.

smog not too bad
traffic not too bad
crime not too bad
weather not too bad (2 weeks in winter are darn cold, 2 weeks in summer are darn hot)
access to outdoor recreation: diverse and plentiful

As far as Mormons, Boise is about 20% LDS. Two of my hiking partners are LDS. FYI: LDS and vegans make the best hiking partners. The LDS don't mooch your beer, alcohol, or coffee, and don't eat mocha anything. Vegans don't bum your beef jerky, bacon, or cheese, and they bring alcohol.

Seattle is a wonderful place if you can get a short commute, reasonable priced house, and if you can tolerate months of overcast, and the threat of rain on every outing.

some trip reports on Idaho backpacks are here: http://backpackingtechnology.com/

+1

Boise is wonderful!

The inversions can get pretty nasty here in Utah. It's 100% a result of the topography that traps smog and dust in the air. Google it.

http://air.utah.gov/forecast.php?id=slc

http://www.airmonitoring.utah.gov/dataarchive/archgraph.htm

I've never experienced any problems, even when the inversion is bad and air quality is deemed unhealthy (the ratings were recently changed making previous levels that were "ok" now hazardous). If you have sensitive lungs then it can be a problem, especially for small children with respiratory issues. Bad air is more prevalent during the winter because of the inversions but sometimes gets bad during the summer when high pressure keeps storms from moving in and blowing things out.

Most of the time the air is great and I love living here, the inversions bring the gloom and I try to make it up into the mountains as much as possible to escape.

Have you ever considered Anchorage, Alaska? My partner and I moved here recently after spending a few summers up here. So far I am loving it. It's proximity to remote, unpopulated wild spaces is absolutely unmatched in any other city in the country. In certain parts of town (Hillside) you can walk into the backcountry from your front door. In others parts it's never more than an hour. It seems to have a very healthy and exciting outdoor community. A lot of great events and classes going on in town, and people up here seem to be doing some really interesting and exciting things, not just the same old loop hikes. I find myself extremely inspired to try new things and expand my definition of backpacking.

The major downside is how short the hiking season is, but I suppose that's where winter activities come in. Also, going to see friends and family in the lower 48 is not easy and can be really expensive. Anyways, I just thought I'd chime in for what I think can be the greatest outdoor city in the country.

The inversion can be bad, the Mormons not so much, at least in Salt Lake. For someone that likes the outdoors it is hard to beat the location. The Wasatch range is right above the city, a half hour from my house and I am at an alpine trailhead for hiking, scrambling, climbing,snowshoeing or backcountry skiing, not to mention the possibility for lift served skiing at several resorts nearby. For backpacking one to three hours put you in the Uintas, a large open range with miles of wilderness to explore. Next closest is the Wind River range with trailheads within six hours of town. Yellowstone and Colorado are both within a days travel, then there is the canyon country of southern Utah; Moab, Zions, Bryce, San Raphael, Escalante, etc. You get the idea.

I moved to Seattle (Sammamish, about 20 miles east) February 2014 after spending my whole life in SLC, UT. I am married with three daughters and this was the best move of my life. We LOVE it here. I haven't hiked, camped, and mountaineered this much, ever in my life. I am addicted to the beauty and the fresh smell of the outdoors here. The inversion in SLC is really bad and you don't get used to it. You can't see the sun or sky and it also drops the temperature 10 degrees. Don't move to Ogden liked someone above mentioned. Not knowing anything about you or your family, I would recommend Seattle over SLC in a heartbeat.

Consider Reno, NV… not California and great access to the entire Sierra driving down scenic Hwy 395… the canyons of SE Utah are about an 8 or 9 hour drive to the east… there are lots of great mountain ranges in Nevada, including Wheeler Peak… and the Sawtooths of Idaho are maybe and 8 hour drive as well as the Wind Rivers.
In addition Mt Shasta is withing driving range.

I doubt it meets the OP's jobs requirement, but other than that how is the Carson Valley area? I hear it is quite nice, and it does have even better access to the high Sierra than Reno has.

–MV

If you're talking Carson City, it's just 30 min south of Reno… pretty much the same access.

billy

I was more thinking Minden / Genoa / etc

IS it nice down that way?

Are you committed to staying in the US? I could suggest New Zealand which is fabulous for hikers, or the UK for the same reasons. Here in the UK we have a good range of temperatures and weather conditions and stunning scenery. And if you like history we can do that. What we don't have is desert, not even a little bit.

Or Ireland :-)

"I was more thinking Minden / Genoa / etc

IS it nice down that way?"

I only drive through those places. Don't know what it's like to live there.
My suggestion of Reno was only in that it's within a long day's drive of a lot of great places. Reno, Carson, Minden, Genoa are all Basin and Range high desert towns at the base of the Sierra… each in order of less population. If you like that sort of thing, they, yes, they are nice. But if you don't mind the snow… or if you like to play in the snow… then Tahoe is the ticket.

billy

""I was more thinking Minden / Genoa / etc

IS it nice down that way?"

I don't think I'd want to live there, but Gardnerville, right next to Minden, has a couple of really good Basque restaurants to eat lunch at on your way down from Reno.
That and the awesome drive down to Bishop and points south really has you in the mood by the time you get to your chosen trail head.

""I was more thinking Minden / Genoa / etc

Is it nice down that way?"

I don't think I'd want to live there, but Gardnerville, right next to Minden, has a couple of really good Basque restaurants to eat lunch at on your way down from Reno.
That and the awesome drive down to Bishop and points south really has you in the mood by the time you get to your chosen trail head.

Why wouldn't you want to live there? (I'm unfamiliar with the area, but curious.) I have heard that the area can get some sandstorms such that it is best to not leave your car outside — any truth to that? If you would not want to live there, where would you want to live that has good access to the Sierras?

–MV

"Why wouldn't you want to live there? (I'm unfamiliar with the area, but curious.) I have heard that the area can get some sandstorms such that it is best to not leave your car outside — any truth to that?"

Part of it has to do with my wife. She is a city girl who needs a lot of cultural amenities and ethnic diversity to thrive. I am not totally unlike her in that regard, but the deal breaker for me would be the extremely conservative politics of the area.

"If you would not want to live there, where would you want to live that has good access to the Sierras?"

In my ideal world, I would have an A-frame in the foothills above Bishop. It doesn't get much better than that. Culture, etc is only a 4 hour drive away, which would be fine for me. However, I made my choice of woman long ago, and while it has somewhat limited where I live, I have never for a moment regretted that choice. Ya can't win 'em all.

Carson City or east side somewhere along there is my dream. I'm hoping in about 12 years to semi retire there.

Politics of a region don't bother me and I'm willing to sacrifice cultural amenities for hiking and climate!

A lot of people retire to Bishop. Have a friend that retired to Big Pine… prices are right on houses down that way.

Billy

"Have a friend that retired to Big Pine… prices are right on houses down that way."

+1 and it's only 15 minutes south of Bishop. Excellent location for entry to the Sierra via Taboose, Sawmill, Baxter, and Shepherd Passes.

Not to mention that the infamous Norman Clyde used to liver there :)

My wife and I moved to Boulder, CO from Australia 3 weeks ago now. Absolutely love it. Weather is insanely good.. sunny nearly every day even in winter. So far have gotten 1 snow day every week so you get the pretty snow fix then back to sun the next day and it all melts so it's not a pain. We've even had a few 70 degree days..

Hiking trails are all within walking distance, or short drive distance up Flagstaff Mountain and countless other options. We love it, but we're renting and haven't bought. House costs are high here.

I realize this is not what the OP is interested in but if you want somewhere you can backpack 12 months a year I would argue that the mid-atlantic region of the east coast is the place. I live myself live near Washington DC and used to live in Pennsylvania.
First off within half a days drive you can access literally 5000+ miles of backpacking trails in WV, PA, VA, NC, TN and NY. That is probably an underestimation. Simply because of the lower elevations you can certainly find a place that doesn't have snow somewhere in the mid-atlantic to backpack year round. If you want snow, some place will have it, usually West Virginia at the higher elevations. If you want to escape the heat on the east coast in the summer just go to the higher elevations of Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Also the notion that there is no wilderness out East is wrong in some sense. While we certainly don't have the huge roadless areas that exist out west there is millions and millions of acres of public forest land. Other than a select set of popular places there are tons of extremely lightly used trails and there are many, many places you can go hike for days on end and probably never see anyone else in the woods. For example in Pennsylvania has several 40 to 80 mile loop trails that can be strung together to make loops of a couple hundred miles north of I-80 on state forest land. In the hundreds of miles I've hiked on the lesser known of these trail I could count the number of other hikers I've seen on 1 hand. We have elevation out here too and I guarantee we have trails that are as every bit as hard as what I have seen out west. And pretty much you never have to worry about water. I guess you do have to like forest and trees. I've done a decent amount of hiking out west but at the end of the day the eastern woodlands are still my favorite place. To each their own.

Salt Lake City really does have some of the worst air quality anywhere in the nation due to its location in the Great Basin and the inversion effect from being so close to the Wasatch mountains. There are days when visibility is only a few miles because of it.

What kind of climate do you prefer? Sacramento isn't a bad place to live, and is only 45 min from the Sierra Nevada, 1 1/2 hours from both Lake Tahoe and the coastal ranges, 45min-1hr from the mountains near Lake Berryessa, and about 2-3 hours from the mountains near Redding (Marble Mountain Wilderness, Trinity Alps, Mt. Shasta, Weaverville area, etc). It's much drier and warmer than the PNW or CO, but water is still plentiful if you go hiking, and you are close to snow 6 months out of the year.