Single 35-Year-Old from Maine Trying To Find A Small, Funky, Creative, Friendly, Affordable Nature City/Town To Move To
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Check out cities that will pay you to move there as a remote worker. Morgantown, VA will pay up to $20,000. Find out what John Denver was making such a fuss about. Tulsa, which may be too big for you will pay $10,000.
Check out cities that will pay you to move there as a remote worker. Morgantown, VA will pay up to $20,000. Find out what John Denver was making such a fuss about. Tulsa, which may be too big for you will pay $10,000.
I'll share a post I had from this summer comparing Colorado and Wisconsin.
My hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin matches a lot of the things you're looking for. I frequent the Front Range area of Colorado multiple times a year so I can probably give a good comparison.
Every time I come out to Colorado I'm shocked by how brown and gray it is. I've been there several times in the last two years and could only see the mountains clearly 2 days of the 15. The rest of the days, pollution and wildfire smoke blocked that view unfortunately.
While the hills here cannot compare to mountains, they are very green and scenic, even in this dry summer. This area is not flat like people think most of the Midwest is. I can go hiking on a trail half a mile from my house rather than drive an hour just to get into real nature, as my Colorado relatives have to do. There is also a lot more water here. Downtown Eau Claire lies at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, both of which blow the Poudre and South Platte out of the water. The whole downtown area has come alive in the last 10 years with breweries, apartments, businesses, new pedestrian bridges, and a performing arts center. There are also bike trails along both rivers that go across town. While not as vibrant as downtown FoCo, it has a lot of upward momentum. The city is home to several music festivals and calls itself "The Music Capital of the North".
Eau Claire is around 70,000 people and the surrounding area is around 150,000 people. This is the perfect size for offering mostly anything someone would need. Minneapolis-St. Paul is also only 70 miles away for day trips or concerts. This area leans somewhat left as it's a college town, but not nearly to the extent of Boulder. More just a live and let live culture, which definitely feels more purple than both rural and urban areas. Plus people here are much friendlier and love striking up conversations with strangers. To boot, my family's three bedroom home has a mortgage about half the cost of my cousin's rent for a one-bedroom in the Denver suburbs. Also, I like the older neighborhoods with huge mature trees here, which are much more architecturally interesting than the cookie cutter earth tones on treeless tiny plots all over Colorado.
If you can handle more of a real winter, I'd highly recommend Eau Claire. Getting outside, finding hobbies, and travelling when possible are the best ways to thrive in winter. The summers and falls are absolutely gorgeous! There are plenty of outdoor activities year round. I also really enjoy camping and hiking at state parks in the area and visiting all the waterfalls along the Lake Superior shore in Minnesota, about a three hour drive north. South of Eau Claire is a very hilly region called the Driftless Area (often compared to New England), and to the north lies the pine forests of the Northwoods. So much to enjoy about this area!
Eau Claire has gotten some national recognition lately as well:
Bellingham, WA? City's just under 100K, the metropolitan area about 230K. General Pacific Northwest climate which brings with it a lot of trees and is in between Seattle and Vancouver so that's easy for you to visit if you ever feel like it (even by train!).
I'll toss in a vote for Bellingham. Such a pretty place. It's a couple hours from me and I've been there a couple times. I often think about moving there myself.
I'll toss in a vote for Bellingham. Such a pretty place. It's a couple hours from me and I've been there a couple times. I often think about moving there myself.
Yep, and there's even a seasonal ferry to Victoria, BC which I find to be a very pleasant small city. The Pacific Northwest is pretty sweet as it feels like there are a lot of interesting cities and towns across a gamut of sizes and meanwhile close to mountains, oceans, lakes, and rivers.
I checked the thread I posted to make sure, but in terms of NY State, Utica(city proper of about 65,000, metro of about 300,000) and Binghamton(city proper of about 48,000 and metro of about 250,000) both come to mind in terms of the artsy things, running club, little suburban sprawl, easy access to forests/mountains, low overall cost of living and even the weather criteria.
Thanks everyone for all the great responses! I feel like I've tried to figure this out before, and including the low metro area criteria seems to be very helpful for narrowing it down a bit.
The two towns are surrounded by beautiful pine and oak forests, with tons of nearby hiking, mountain biking, and water recreation. You can hike the beautiful Tribute Trail from downtown Nevada City, miles of canal trails, paths that overlook the Yuba River, or the many trails in the Sierras. Sacramento, Truckee, and Lake Tahoe are a little over an hour's drive away. People are very friendly, open, and into nature.
Winters are mild -- usually just a few minor snowfalls, although we just got hit with a rare whopper of a storm. Summers are sunny and dry and can be hot temp-wise, but keep in mind that due to the low humidity, temps in the 90s are far more comfortable here - plus we have plenty of shade, and you can always go up into the mountains Smoke from forest fires has been a recent issue, but that is happening all over the West. We are having a wet winter so far so fingers crossed that this summer/fall won't be as bad.
I used to live in Portland, Maine. I loved the vibe there, and it's one of my favorite places I've ever lived. But the winters can be tiring.
Lots of great suggestions here. Good luck!
Last edited by la_cavalière; 01-13-2022 at 10:14 AM..
Baker City OR even more of a stretch but you might have interest in talking to / visiting with these pioneering arts / community building folk: http://churchillbaker.com/index.html
Corvallis is more the size you want than Eugene. Could live in Philomath.
Possibly Hood River.
Spearfish SD is another possibility. Some young folk trying to build art / music scene up a step or two.
Outside Missoula would be pretty much what you want already built up.
Morgantown WV is a pretty good option for east. Boone NC is another option. Athens GA might be too big but could pick a smaller town within reach of it. Same with Blacksburg VA.
I dunno it personally but I hear good things about Eau Claire. And other Minneapolis satellites like Northfield MN.
Spearfish, SD is very nice. Missoula, MT too. Both will likely have longer and colder winters than you are looking for, as will most of SD, MT or WY were the trees are. Baker City, OR is small at <10K population, but does have a bit of an arts scene, but not many trees around the town proper. They are up the hills/mountains to the west, but the slopes are steep enough not too many people are living up there until you get to the other side of the mountains. Then it's smaller towns. The nearest metro area is Boise with it's western suburbs about 1 1/2 hours away.
North of Boise might be an option. Boise is the "City of Trees" but the immediate foothills and areas south, east and west are desert or agricultural areas, so not thickly forested. Still plenty of hiking and mountain biking. The small town of Eagle which is in the metro area has lots of trees and a cute downtown of its own. Eagle is pretty well treed and is closer to the real forested areas that start a few more minutes north along the Payette River and through the small town of Garden Valley, ID, and outside of Cascade, ID. Then all the way north into Canada. Quirky/artsy requiring bigger money would be Hailey/Ketcham/Sun Valley, ID. If you've got the money then it might be a great place to look into.
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Eau Claire, WI
