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If Austin is a mountain town, then I have some oceanfront property in Kansas to sell you
Hah-hah! Very true! Mountains and oceans tend to be mutually exclusive. There are all kinds of nice places to live in the Colorado mountains, but I'm afraid we can't offer much when it comes to lakes, never mind the ocean. We do have some nice reservoirs, though. Blue Mesa outside Gunnison comes to mind. Gunnison, Colorado is a nice small town that's close to all sorts of great things from alpine meadows and ski areas to boating and fishing on beautiful Blue Mesa.
I've lived in both Eagle's Nest, NM and near Coeur d' Alene, ID. I agree with those who suggested Coeur d'Alene. It's beautiful! Not sure why folks would suggest Eagle's Nest, though. It has a lovely mountain setting, but there's no real large bodies of water anywhere near it.
I think the two states that you should hone in on are Oregon and Washington. Both have any number of nice small towns right where the mountains do meet the ocean. If I couldn't live in Colorado, I'd choose Coos Bay or Newport in Oregon. I love the southern half of the Oregon coast.
We live in Bellingham, WA and I'd say that it fits the bill. It's the only place where the Cascades touch the sea, as the Chuckanut Mountains (a small foothill range on the south side of town) look out over Bellingham and Samish Bays. While people may not think of it as a mountain town, there are several substantial ridges and hills in town and mountains in every direction. On clear days we can see the Olympics, BC Coastal Range, San Juan Islands, and, of course the Cascades.
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