Want to move to ped/bike friendly area w/decent climate
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Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone have any suggestions for researching a place in depth? So far I've used this site and wikipedia, which is good for some general info, but I need more. BTW, I've got a 56Kb modem, so any book suggestions are REALLY appreciated.
And how do I find out information about significant statutes, like curfews or illegalizing purebred dogs or minimum wages or other stuff that might possibly have an effect on my decision? I'm sure I could find info on ALL statutes somewhere, but that would be too much information to sort through.
I would like to visit some places before moving, but I'm not sure how. I've got an 18 month old who nurses and a guy who works, and I have no driver's license (yet). Anyone have any suggestions? I *just now* thought that maybe a guided tour like one of those vacation things would work, but I know nothing about them.
I guess I should be more specific about my SAD. If there's not enough light I have no energy and such. But the real problem is when the intensity of light rapidly increases, as it does here in Alaska during the spring. It's not that I can't handle bright light, it's going from no light to bright light that's the problem- I end up with insomia, euphoria, and other problems.
I don't know how much of a change I can handle, or if going from bright light to twice as bright would be less problematic than going from no light to bright light. But I figure the less of a difference between winter and summer, the better. And if you could point me to info on this aspect of SAD, that would be great.
Do hours of daylight correlate to the intensity of the light? I mean, I know they do, but how much so? Like if the number of daylight hours is the same, would the light intensity be the same? And does anyone know of any charts that list winter and summer solstice number of daylight hours at different latitudes.
I'll look into all those cities you gave me. Right now I'm collecting a portfolio of places to sort through on my hard drive.
I don't know if it's a 1:1 way of looking at it but I would look at UV Index to determine light abundance at different locations. Here is a good article. (Skim over and read the "figures" if you are feeling lazy). The Ultraviolet Index: A Useful Tool
I'm no earth scientist and I'm not sure if this is the info you're asking about but...
My understanding is...if, for example, you lived on the equator, you'd basically have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night all year long. Since the sun is more or less centered on the equator all year, the intesity ("directness") of the sunlight is also more consistant throughout the year there than it is at higher or lower latitudes. Thus, the further you are from the equator (north or south), the bigger the discrepency between summer and winter daylight hours as well as the "directness" of the sun's rays throughout the year.
So in your case, it sounds as though you'd want to move as close to the equator as possible
Of course while the daylight HOURS will be the same at any given latitude anywhere in the world (i.e., Duluth, Minnesota and Pairs, France are, surprisingly, at roughly the same latitude) the number of days you'll actually SEE the sun varies considerably depending on the local climate, elevation, pullotion, etc. Paris, of course, enjoys a milder climate (and more sunny days) than Duluth.
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As far as visiting some places w/o a car, perhaps you might consider taking the train (amtrak). Probably cheaper than a guided tour and still allows you to see the countryside, as opposed to flying to different cities (not to mention it's much more comfortable/safe than the greyhound!) Plus you have the flexibility of stopping for a while to check places out at your leisure, then hopping back on the train when you're ready to go. Go to amtrak.com, click on "hot deals" and browse their train pass programs. The only drawback to amtrak is their routes are somewhat limited and may not include every place you want to check out.
Otherwise if you do want to do a tour, try a site like tourvacationstogo.com. Click on the "USA tours-continental" button on the left and it will give you a big list of different tours. Some only concentrate on one city, but there are some nice regional tours if you want to see a few places in one trip.
I generally second the idea of moving as far south as reasonable. One thing I noticed about overcast days is they are always so dark in autumn (Toronto is 43.5 degrees north) but in the middle of summer they are a lot brighter. I was wondering why this was but then I realized when the sun is at a lower angle it has longer to travel through the low, thick cloud cover that causes the overcast. So the higher the sun is for the same overcast cloud cover, the brighter it will be, since it has less distance to pass through the thick cloud cover.
What might also be nice for you is moving somewhere that doesn't have cloudy winters. Surprisingly, the lower Atlantic coast (or anywhere east of the Appalaichians) is sunnier than areas further west. (but still east of the Mississippi) Perhaps they get more storms from the Gulf of Mexico. Starting in southern Virginia and heading south, their cloudiest time of year still averages less than 50% cloud cover or put it another way, Virginia Beach averages 5-6 hours of sunlight or more year-round; even though their shortest day length is only 9 hours long.
Where I am our shortest day length is 8 hours but with only 2-3 hours of sunlight on average.
It has all sorts of climate maps of the world that are colour coded. It not only includes avg. temps and precip., but also has avg. sunshine for every month and something else I saw that was neat, colour coded annual "biomass" potential for different climates.
I saw on that link that the western part of the southern and central plains as well as the eastern part of the southern and central Rockies are still quite sunny even in the winter. Denver would be in the middle of this area I'm guessing. (no state lines drawn) I also found out that despite the similar cold mountain temperature averages, Wyoming is a lot sunnier than most other places that far north.
I would say that right off the bat, the weather requirements would axe the entire Eastern half of the U.S. just out of your dislike of humidity. While I don't think there's any place that would be a perfect match, that sort of goes without saying as it's all about finding the closest TO perfect that you can. The spots that I thought that had a lot of the ingredients you specified were:
[Salt Lake City - Dry weather (although winters are cold and snowy), bike-friendly, surprisingly large art scene, decent public transit (light rail here as well), close to mountains, decent number of parks and friendly people. Pretty safe too and relatively cheap. The drawbacks would be it's cold snowy winters, and depending on your outlook, perhaps the general conservative nature of living in the state of Utah (although SLC is considerably less conservative and has much less of a Mormon influence from the rest of the state). Boise is another possibility, sort of like a smaller, more conservative SLC.
Denver (think a less dense Portland with much less rain, more sunny days and more snow), Colorado Springs and Spokane are possibilities as well. The San Francisco Bay Area actually seems like it may be the best fit were it not for that pesky cost of living situation as the Bay Area is incredibly expensive but otherwise fits all of your criteria.
I currently live in Boise and lived in SLC for over 5 years up until 2003. In my opinion SLC is a lot more conservative than Boise. Boise actually has real coffee shops, art galleries, and wine shops downtown--and there is a lot more religious diversity. Boise is great for mountain biking. We have a great climate, access to some of the nations finest outdoor recreation, and a thriving city and downtown area that is actually hip and sophisticated with a surprisingly thriving developed arts scene--there is public art all over downtown. There is the 30 mile paved Greenbelt pedestrian/bike path along the clean Boise River as well as hundreds of acres of lush parks next to downtown. There are the trails in the foothills and Boise Mountains that rise over the valley. Boise is a lot more ped/bike friendly than SLC. SLC does have some great riding in the hills and mountains around the metro but lacks the enjoyment of city riding that Boise has. Plus drivers are more courteous to bikers in Boise in my opinion. One thing that is very noticible about Boise is the amount of bikes all over the city. This is a very wellness oriented city.
Other cities I can think of which are of size and great for biking would be Spokane, Eugene, and Portland.
Like your post on bicycling........I am a long distance road bicyclist, since I grew up riding on rolling terrain on deserted farm roads.......Although I do love riding in the city also. I like to look at houses, and rivers, and parks along the way. The more greenways and bike lanes the better. This is pretty much a priority for me, so I am also looking into ID, OR, and CO...... Ideally I would like to ride 24/7 wish I lived in Holland......LOL. Wouldn't it be grand to bike and walk everywhere? LOL.
I was about to give up on Boise until I read your post........TY
Hey, I realize this is several months after your post, but when I read it, a couple towns strongly came into mind that might be almost perfect.
Namely, Eureka or Arcata, California. Two small coastal towns bordering each other in northern Cal. The weather is mild, scenery is beautiful, bike-friendly and compact downtown. There's a large university in Arcata, and the area is funky, open-minded, artsy, etc. A great place that is still kind of off the beaten path.
Also, Santa Rosa, CA. Don't know about housing costs (it's in the Bay Area so it's probably high), but good climate, near the coast, there's a nice junior college there, bike-friendly.
Ashland, OR has already been mentioned.
Sacramento, CA might be worth looking at.
I'm from Portland, and I've gotta say, while it has many awesome qualities that fit with what you want, the oppressive gray clouds are hard to deal with even if you don't have SAD.
The general area of southern OR/northern CA I think is a good place for you to look.
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Boise is the bike king with a decent climate.
