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Hello everyone, my family and I are interested in moving from the Tampa Bay area to the mountains. We are leaving our jobs so we are looking for somewhere very cheap with mountains with a mild climate (not too cold or in the desert) and good schools. We are a biracial family (white and Asian) and we are slightly concerned about running into problems in rural communities which is where I could really use city-data's help. It's easy to find cheap homes on Zillow, but I have no idea how tolerant some of these smaller communities are.
Which mountains? The Appalachians along the east, the Ozarks in the Midwest, Rockies in the interior West, or the mountain chain along the West Coast?
I'm open minded about any of them. The PNW would be ideal, but it's not cheap enough from what I've seen. Rockies are great, but I'm not familiar with the smaller communities in ID, WY, and MT. They're probably too cold. CO is too expensive, along with most of UT, and NM isn't what we're looking for. Black Hills could be nice, but I'm not very familiar with the cities there. Southern Appalachians are a good fit, but I'm not sure about the tolerance we'd see in some of the towns. Appalachians from VA-PA could be good, NY and north are probably too cold. I haven't considered the Ozarks, but they're kind of small for mountains. Most of AZ and SW TX are too arid/hot.
It's a personal thing and nothing against NM itself. I won't rule NM out, are there any communities in particular there that come to mind?
Cloudcroft if you want to be in the mountains or Alamogordo if you're fine with being close but not directly in them. Cloudcroft is a small town 30 minutes from Alamogordo which is where you'd have to go for most things like grocery shopping and what not. It's a cheap and lovely area though. Most of the other mountains towns in New Mexico seem to be a bit more expensive, though still cheaper than Colorado. Ruidoso is nice but a bit more expensive and then Taos which is probably the most expensive. These are the only ones I have heard about from friends. I've been to Cloudcroft personally and loved it.
How small a place? Right beside mountains or is an hour away ok? How cheap is very cheap? How much snow would you take per year?
Would you consider Madras, Oregon?
Right in the mountains. I'm open minded on size, but generally larger communities are more expensive which is why I was thinking smaller would be best. A 2/1 house for <$200k, preferably <$150k. (We're not broke, but I'm building a business while my wife is out of work to raise our son so cheap housing will go a long way to keep stress levels down.) I'd think >30'' is probably too much snow.
Cloudcroft if you want to be in the mountains or Alamogordo if you're fine with being close but not directly in them. Cloudcroft is a small town 30 minutes from Alamogordo which is where you'd have to go for most things like grocery shopping and what not. It's a cheap and lovely area though. Most of the other mountains towns in New Mexico seem to be a bit more expensive, though still cheaper than Colorado. Ruidoso is nice but a bit more expensive and then Taos which is probably the most expensive. These are the only ones I have heard about from friends. I've been to Cloudcroft personally and loved it.
Awesome, thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out Cloudcroft.
Right in the mountains. I'm open minded on size, but generally larger communities are more expensive which is why I was thinking smaller would be best. A 2/1 house for <$200k, preferably <$150k. (We're not broke, but I'm building a business while my wife is out of work to raise our son so cheap housing will go a long way to keep stress levels down.) I'd think >30'' is probably too much snow.
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