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As you can see by my username, I'm from the westcoast. Due to the growth and development out here (and the type of industry that is out here now) what I loved as a child is no longer in existence.
Please don't tell me "that's progress" or that I must accept change. I can, I have and I will but I'm still looking for some connection to my +childhood memories so..............
1) I'm a single 40 year-old guy that loves the country. (ie farmland)
2) I like small town environments where I can feel a part of the community.
3) I like slow but steady growth. I don't want to be treated like an "outcast" because I wasn't raised there but...I don't want to be "one of many people who moved here" either.
4) I like mountains for hiking and camping
5) I hate HATE HATE "urban sprawl" and I really don't like the "high tech" industry.
6) I want a good mixture of people from young families to retired folks
7) I would like to be approximately 2 hours from a major metropolitan area but that's not mandatory
8) I would be ok with a low paying job as long as I'm in a low cost of living area but, of course I'll need a job
I seem to have a "midwestern" mentality but of course, no mountains out there so I'm thinking:
The western Dakota's, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, The Oklahoma Panhandle, West Texas and anywhere west of that...all the way to the Pacific Ocean
I would suggest, Eastern NM or the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, all 3 areas are pretty similar and have what you are looking for, all are rural and agriculture realted and slow growth if any, which is a good thing.
The problem is, of course, that everyone else who wants to escape Urbania is looking for the same place. And, like you, they'll find it and ruin the very things you seek. That's exactly how urban sprawl crept out of Los Angeles into Riverside, San Bernardino and now up into the high desert. Everyone wants out, but by getting out, they bring it with them. The only limiting factor is how far they're willing to commute.
You say one thing you want is to be within 2 hours of a major urban area. Sad to say, but if you find such a place, you'll just be moving into the next suburb. In order to find, and keep, that rural simplicity and pace of life, you're gonna have to cut the strings which bind you to 21st century conveniences and go farther out, so far that no one will follow you.
The 2-hours from a major metropolitan area is not a big thing really. Occasionally I would like to go and catch a sporting event but if there is nothing around the local high school/community college/small college team will do fine as well.
Really, I don't want to commute. I want to be a part of the community. I want a job in the community and even if it's low pay as long as I can afford to stay where I am I would be fine.
I guess the size of the town is a factor. I like the small town environment but being single makes it kind of difficult to meet other singles who weren't born there. Of course if they were born there that would be ok too as long as I'm not treated like an outcast. I also want a town large enough where not everybody knows my business but small enough where it wouldn't be unusual to see someone I know on the street.
It's been suggested that I probably don't want to go under 30,000. I've been happy in towns up to 100,000. Of course, numbers are approximate.
When I was younger we lived in a suburb of Seattle. It took us 45 minutes of driving to get to my cousins farm where we would milk the cows, collect the eggs from the chickens, play in the hayloft. Now, it takes about 1 1/2 hours of driving and sitting in traffic to get to the same area where the farm was but is now a school.
I have thought about the agricultural midwest such as Iowa and Wisconsin but of course...no mountains.
How about Cortez or Durango in SW Colorado? Or maybe Laramie, WY...that's only about 2 hours to Denver.
Those aren't bad suggestions, especially Laramie. It's a college town, so meeting the opposite sex shouldn't be a problem. Of course, the OP might be too old for them!
But....maybe not.
Other places which might fit his bill would be Roswell, NM or Ruidoso, Carlsbad or even Alamagordo, if he doesn't mind the heat and sand. Flagstaff, AZ is another. So is Williams, AZ but, in both places, the cold and snow might be a limiting factor.
Now that I've thought about it, I can think of a lot of places! Nampa, Burley, American Falls or Rexburg, ID; Walla Walla, the Tri-cities, Connell, Othello, WA; Eugene, Ashland, Coos Bay, Astoria or Salem, OR; Tule Lake, Redding, Crescent City, CA; Goldfield or Battle Mountain, NV; Spanish Forks and Price, UT; Livingston, Butte, Kallispel or Missoula, MT. The list goes on and on.
Payson
Wickenburg
Sierra Vista
Williams
Jerome
Even parts of Cave Creek include nice working ranches if you can stand the tourist traffic that rolls through.
We could always use another cowboy here in the SW.
Those aren't bad suggestions, especially Laramie. It's a college town, so meeting the opposite sex shouldn't be a problem. Of course, the OP might be too old for them!
But....maybe not.
Other places which might fit his bill would be Roswell, NM or Ruidoso, Carlsbad or even Alamagordo, if he doesn't mind the heat and sand. Flagstaff, AZ is another. So is Williams, AZ but, in both places, the cold and snow might be a limiting factor.
Now that I've thought about it, I can think of a lot of places! Nampa, Burley, American Falls or Rexburg, ID; Walla Walla, the Tri-cities, Connell, Othello, WA; Eugene, Ashland, Coos Bay, Astoria or Salem, OR; Tule Lake, Redding, Crescent City, CA; Goldfield or Battle Mountain, NV; Spanish Forks and Price, UT; Livingston, Butte, Kallispel or Missoula, MT. The list goes on and on.
There are several places......that is true. But many of the places you listed in WA, OR, MT and ID are growing too fast for me
I would suggest, Eastern NM or the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, all 3 areas are pretty similar and have what you are looking for, all are rural and agriculture realted and slow growth if any, which is a good thing.
I was checking out Clovis and Portales, NM. Definate possibility.
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I can, I have and I will but I'm still looking for some connection to my +childhood memories so..............
(ie farmland)
