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I work from home and i've been researching for some time to find a new location
to live in. I'd probably buy a small 3BR home with a 2 car garage.
I am done with heat, humidity, mosquitos, traffic, crime and urban sprawl.
So far Bozeman seems like a nice small trendy location. Dry cold is no problem
for me but wet cold I prefer to avoid.
1. 50,000 to 100,000 people
2. Northern City so I can go outside in the summer without sunburning to death
3. No more humid summers
4. Lot's of nature, country, fishing, skiing, biking, lakes, and trees.
Denver suburbs have too much sun for me. I sunburned all the time when I lived there.
Rapid City SD is small and has plenty of nature but I read it has crime and drug problems.
East of Rapid City gets more humid.
Anywhere east of the Mississippi is definitely too humid in the summer
Fort Collins CO is small and visually attractive but still too much sun and too hot in the summer.
I probably want to be north of Casper for cooler summers and lower levels of UV.
East of Rapid City gets humid in the summer.
Washington and Oregon have damp cold winters. I prefer the dry cold winters of the front range.
I've never been to Bozeman so all my impressions are from reading online and looking at the
nice pictures.
Should I be consider any other areas other than Bozeman?
Thanks for reading my post..
Bozeman is nice but becoming a bit elitist in my opinion with many well-off folks from big cities moving in driving trendiness and increasing real estate costs. I would instead recommend Billings which is more "every day" and as state capital employs a lot more regular folk in a slightly less trendy yet still vibrant environment. While slightly larger than your population limit (around 110K) would feel it's necessary as unlike other towns of 50K for instance in other parts of the US, consider the next sizable town could be hours away which can feel very isolated after a time.
Grand Haven-Holland Michigan seem to hit all your points. Trendy cities that sit on Lake Michigan, the lake breezes tend to lessen humidity (Michigan humidity is rarely as unbearable as the Floridian kind anyway.) Plus they sit in the sphere of the million person Grand Rapids metro, so they are accessible to more amenities like health care, and entertainment, that might be somewhat prohibitive in a place like Bozeman. Western Michigan is known for its recreational amenities and is the gateway to the Michigan northern country. They are also 2.5hrs in either direction from Detroit or Chicago should you need major market items. They are pleasant and can feel off the beaten path, but without being truly isolated.
Though if you were looking for more isolation I’d check into Traverse City as well. On paper it’s a city of 15,000, but it’s really the core of a 70k person urbanized area, but with the shopping and entertainment options of a half million person metro. It’s the core of Michigan’s wine country. Lower humidity, great summers, and abundant recreational opportunities.
Perhaps a city like Logan UT, which is home to Utah State University and in the northern portion of the state would be another city to look into.
There’s also Pocatello ID, which is home to Idaho State University, which also has similar metrics.
Even within Montana, Missoula, which is home to the University of Montana, is another place to consider. Helena, Montana’s Capital is in between Missoula and Bozeman, with Great Falls also the same distance away as those other 2 cities could be a happy medium.
Bozeman is nice but becoming a bit elitist in my opinion with many well-off folks from big cities moving in driving trendiness and increasing real estate costs. I would instead recommend Billings which is more "every day" and as state capital employs a lot more regular folk in a slightly less trendy yet still vibrant environment. While slightly larger than your population limit (around 110K) would feel it's necessary as unlike other towns of 50K for instance in other parts of the US, consider the next sizable town could be hours away which can feel very isolated after a time.
You are so right about elitist syndrome. It has happened to every nice area of the US. Seattle suburbs used to have $300,000 houses in 2000. Now these houses are 1.2 Million with $1,000 a month property taxes. The same thing has happened to Denver, Portland, etc. Everywhere houses are unaffordable. I was thinking a small city without a tech center like Bozeman would have affordable homes but I was wrong. I saw nothing having 1/2 Acre that I would want to live in within my budget of $400,000.
To make it worse, homes built after 2010 and sit on 1/2 Acre start at $470,000.
$500,000 buys you this boring cookie cutter home in Bozeman.
You have to spend $900,000 to get a non-cookie-cutter home that doesn't look like a cheap box.
In a smaller country city that more resembles a large town and limited employment, I can't understand
the pricing of homes there. $2,900 a month for Mortgage, Prop taxes, and Insurance. Add $500 for utilities and you are at $3,400 a month to live in a cheap looking cookie cutter box home. Who can afford that payment? And if they could, why are they paying so much for so little?
I work from home and i've been researching for some time to find a new location
to live in. I'd probably buy a small 3BR home with a 2 car garage.
I am done with heat, humidity, mosquitos, traffic, crime and urban sprawl.
So far Bozeman seems like a nice small trendy location. Dry cold is no problem
for me but wet cold I prefer to avoid.
1. 50,000 to 100,000 people
2. Northern City so I can go outside in the summer without sunburning to death
3. No more humid summers
4. Lot's of nature, country, fishing, skiing, biking, lakes, and trees.
Denver suburbs have too much sun for me. I sunburned all the time when I lived there.
Rapid City SD is small and has plenty of nature but I read it has crime and drug problems.
East of Rapid City gets more humid.
Anywhere east of the Mississippi is definitely too humid in the summer
Fort Collins CO is small and visually attractive but still too much sun and too hot in the summer.
I probably want to be north of Casper for cooler summers and lower levels of UV.
East of Rapid City gets humid in the summer. Washington and Oregon have damp cold winters. I prefer the dry cold winters of the front range.
I've never been to Bozeman so all my impressions are from reading online and looking at the
nice pictures.
Should I be consider any other areas other than Bozeman?
Thanks for reading my post..
WA and OR are only damp in the west, east of the cascades they are much drier and have colder winters.
Here are the largest metropolitan/micropolitan areas in Eastern WA/OR, ID, MT, and WY with the coldest average monthly low and hottest average monthly high, and annual precipitation.
Boise, ID: 709,845 | 24.0F | 91.2F | 11.73 in
Spokane, WA: 564,236 | 22.5F | 83.3F | 16.56 in
Kennewick, WA: 290,296 | 28.0F | 89.3F | 7.76 in
Yakima, WA: 250,193 | 21.3F | 87.9F | 8.22 in
Bend, OR: 186,875 | 22.7F | 81.5F | 11.21 in
Billings, MT: 170,498 | 17.8F | 86.8F | 13.66 in
Coeur d'Alene, ID: 157,637 | 25.2F | 82.5F | 25.68 in
Idaho Falls, ID: 145,643 | 12.5F | 86.0F | 14.21 in
Wenatchee, WA: 118,478 | 23.2F | 88.0F | 9.12 in
Missoula, MT: 117,441 | 16.7F | 85.9F | 14.13 in
Twin Falls, ID: 103,732 | 19.2F | 85.0F | 10.99 in
Cheyenne, WY: 98,327 | 17.3F | 83.4F | 15.94 in
Bozeman, MT: 97,308 | 12.7F | 83.4F | 19.71 in
Kalispell, MT: 94,924 | 15.8F | 81.4F | 16.99 in
Moses Lake, WA: 93,147 | 22F | 88F | 7.69 in
Hermiston, OR: 87,892 | 23.6F | 90.4F | 8.85 in
Pocatello, ID: 85,269 | 16.0F | 87.8F | 12.13 in
Great Falls, MT: 81,654 | 14.9F | 83.4F | 14.75 in
Casper, WY: 79,547 | 13.5F | 88.1F | 12.59 in
Klamath Falls, OR: 65,455 | 20.6F | 85.3F | 13.41 in
Walla Walla, WA: 64,614 | 28.5F | 89.6F | 19.69 in
Lewiston, ID: 62,920 | 28.0F | 89.3F | 12.25 in
Ontario, OR: 53,195 | 18F | 93F | 9.45 in
Rexburg, ID: 50,905 | 10.7F | 84.3F | 13.32 in
You are so right about elitist syndrome. It has happened to every nice area of the US. Seattle suburbs used to have $300,000 houses in 2000. Now these houses are 1.2 Million with $1,000 a month property taxes. The same thing has happened to Denver, Portland, etc. Everywhere houses are unaffordable. I was thinking a small city without a tech center like Bozeman would have affordable homes but I was wrong. I saw nothing having 1/2 Acre that I would want to live in within my budget of $400,000.
To make it worse, homes built after 2010 and sit on 1/2 Acre start at $470,000.
$500,000 buys you this boring cookie cutter home in Bozeman.
You have to spend $900,000 to get a non-cookie-cutter home that doesn't look like a cheap box.
In a smaller country city that more resembles a large town and limited employment, I can't understand
the pricing of homes there. $2,900 a month for Mortgage, Prop taxes, and Insurance. Add $500 for utilities and you are at $3,400 a month to live in a cheap looking cookie cutter box home. Who can afford that payment? And if they could, why are they paying so much for so little?
I guess Bozeman is out for me.
By comparison look at what your money buys in Billings in the 250K-400K bracket....there are over sixty homes listed with 3+ bedrooms/2baths with a garage on a .25 acre or larger and property taxes hovering around a reasonable 10% of assessed value. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...39_rect/10_zm/
I would instead recommend Billings which is more "every day" and as state capital employs a lot more regular folk in a slightly less trendy yet still vibrant environment.
I work from home and i've been researching for some time to find a new location
to live in. I'd probably buy a small 3BR home with a 2 car garage.
I am done with heat, humidity, mosquitos, traffic, crime and urban sprawl.
So far Bozeman seems like a nice small trendy location. Dry cold is no problem
for me but wet cold I prefer to avoid.
1. 50,000 to 100,000 people
2. Northern City so I can go outside in the summer without sunburning to death
3. No more humid summers
4. Lot's of nature, country, fishing, skiing, biking, lakes, and trees.
Denver suburbs have too much sun for me. I sunburned all the time when I lived there.
Rapid City SD is small and has plenty of nature but I read it has crime and drug problems.
East of Rapid City gets more humid.
Anywhere east of the Mississippi is definitely too humid in the summer
Fort Collins CO is small and visually attractive but still too much sun and too hot in the summer.
I probably want to be north of Casper for cooler summers and lower levels of UV.
East of Rapid City gets humid in the summer.
Washington and Oregon have damp cold winters. I prefer the dry cold winters of the front range.
I've never been to Bozeman so all my impressions are from reading online and looking at the
nice pictures.
Should I be consider any other areas other than Bozeman?
Thanks for reading my post..
Bozeman sucks. The cost of living is high, the wages are low, and there are lots of pretentious people to boot. I went to college at MSU and could not stand the attitude of the locals. If you want Montana consider Billings. Rapid City might be a good choice although I've only been as a tourist so can't give you too much detail.
I work from home and i've been researching for some time to find a new location
to live in. I'd probably buy a small 3BR home with a 2 car garage.
I am done with heat, humidity, mosquitos, traffic, crime and urban sprawl.
So far Bozeman seems like a nice small trendy location. Dry cold is no problem
for me but wet cold I prefer to avoid.
1. 50,000 to 100,000 people
2. Northern City so I can go outside in the summer without sunburning to death
3. No more humid summers
4. Lot's of nature, country, fishing, skiing, biking, lakes, and trees.
Denver suburbs have too much sun for me. I sunburned all the time when I lived there.
Rapid City SD is small and has plenty of nature but I read it has crime and drug problems.
East of Rapid City gets more humid.
Anywhere east of the Mississippi is definitely too humid in the summer
Fort Collins CO is small and visually attractive but still too much sun and too hot in the summer.
I probably want to be north of Casper for cooler summers and lower levels of UV.
East of Rapid City gets humid in the summer.
Washington and Oregon have damp cold winters. I prefer the dry cold winters of the front range.
I've never been to Bozeman so all my impressions are from reading online and looking at the
nice pictures.
Should I be consider any other areas other than Bozeman?
Thanks for reading my post..
Duluth is humidish in Summer, but our temps are easy. We are one of those cities that can actually get cold in summer. You are looking at maybe two weeks of hot and humid high 80s, maybe a day or two of 90s, but most summer days are 70s.
Other than some humidity, it perfect for all of your other requirements.
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