Where should I move with lots of snow? (college, taxes)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know many gay conservatives, female and male. I think labels are for cans.
Ignoring the lesbian scene from having a women’s college in town, Northampton Ma is very activist progressive. I lived there for a few years. It’s hard to walk the sidewalk without someone buttonholing you to sign a petition. It’s about as far from religious-conservative as you can get in the town center. The rest of the town sewer is moderate suburbia. Still not religious-conservative.
I’d point out that the Pioneer Valley gets pretty hot and humid in the summer. Even the Vermont ski resort place at 2000’ elevation I recently sold gets pretty hot & humid. I had a heat-hating neighbor there who summered in coastal Maine to escape the heat.
30 minutes outside of Portland Maine would turn up some towns that meet the criteria. Maine is pretty conservative once you get beyond Portland other than the resort/affluent summer community towns.
I’d think Idaho 30 minutes from Spokane would have some options. The Idaho anti vaxers overwhelming Spokane hospitals has been in the news
The snowiest place in the Midwest is the Keweenaw Peninsula in the northwest UP of Michigan. Houghton, MI, where Michigan Tech University is, recorded 355 inches of snowfall in the "notorious" winter of 1978-79.
"The record-high seasonal total—a whopping 355.90 inches—came in the winter of 1978–79. The least amount of snowfall, in the winter of 1930–31, is 81.30 inches. Snowfall is measured near Houghton County Memorial Airport by Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center. In the northernmost portion of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Keweenaw County Road Commission measures the snow near Delaware, where snowfall amounts are typically greater than those recorded in Houghton County."
Ignoring the lesbian scene from having a women’s college in town, Northampton Ma is very activist progressive. I lived there for a few years. It’s hard to walk the sidewalk without someone buttonholing you to sign a petition. It’s about as far from religious-conservative as you can get in the town center. The rest of the town sewer is moderate suburbia. Still not religious-conservative.
I’d point out that the Pioneer Valley gets pretty hot and humid in the summer. Even the Vermont ski resort place at 2000’ elevation I recently sold gets pretty hot & humid. I had a heat-hating neighbor there who summered in coastal Maine to escape the heat.
30 minutes outside of Portland Maine would turn up some towns that meet the criteria. Maine is pretty conservative once you get beyond Portland other than the resort/affluent summer community towns.
I’d think Idaho 30 minutes from Spokane would have some options. The Idaho anti vaxers overwhelming Spokane hospitals has been in the news
That is old news and not the case anymore, and how does that pertain to this thread? Spokane and North Idaho are basically the same region and Spokane is the big city with the most hospitals in that area. Besides, Western Washington is experiencing a surge as I type this response.
Spokane County has a much lower Vax rate than King County. The surge last summer in Spokane was also from Washington anti vaxers.
Utah's cost of living is now 11% above average. Housing prices 46% about national average. Provo's median house price is reportedly $420k. I was expecting worse. Cedar City is a college town and only $280k. Income and sales taxes are near average. Property taxes are low.
Idaho's cost of living is now only 2% below average. Housing is 33% about national average if you buy, not much above average if you rent. If you can find a spot. Sales taxes are near average. Income taxes rates are well above average. Property taxes are low. Idaho Falls median home price is reportedly a bit above $300k. Flat plain, half hour or more into forest / mountains.
If you are Catholic, you might want to learn about LDS historical view of Roman Catholic Church, if not aware.
Spearfish SD is more the quaint college town than Rapid City. But do you have a minimum place size? Much smaller than the other places you mentioned. But satellite to Rapid City metro. Brookings SD is another nice smallish college town if you'd consider such.
Median home price in South Bend is quite low but I'd guess it varies greatly by neighborhood.
Houses in Carbondale IL are cheap too. Even R / D national voting split. Closer to natural recreation sites than South Bend.
Bowling Green KY is south but barely south of midwest.
Agree that Brookings is a nice small town/city. I was there this past summer and was impressed with the city growth after 35 years since my last visit. South Dakota State University is there and it’s about 40-45 miles north of Sioux Falls (largest city in SD). HOWEVER, it’s located in eastern South Dakota which gets very humid in the summer.
Western Michigan fits your list very well. We do not get that much snow in the east side of the state, but Western Michigan gets tons off the lake and it is spattered with charming small towns, most of which have a lake or a river.
The Michigan UP gets a lot of snow (snowfall is measured in feet instead of inches), but it is pretty empty. However Marquette may have some appeal as it is a really quaint small college town (one of my favorite cities anywhere). No major airport up there though.
I'd recommend Holland and Grand Haven if you want an even snowier winter, and milder summers. Holland specifically has a small private college and quaint downtown.
Although the area is generally known as Michigan's conservative hotspot, Holland is considerably more uptight than Grand Rapids. Both have lively downtowns, and are considerably cheaper and better-connected than the Western locales mentioned.
The Plains often pick up humidity from corn sweat, but not quite at NC levels. Western Michigan has very little, as offshore winds cool the summer air. There's a reason why so many Chicagoans summer in SW Michigan - it's cooler than the other side.
Western NY is even more Snow Belt, but I don't know much about the towns there.
Moscow, Idaho., is a pretty snowy college town. Another would Big Rapids, Michigan, where 13,000 Ferriss State students outnumber the permanent population, and it's in the snowbelt. Houghton, Michigan, is lovely but probably too much snow -- Michigan Tech and 10,000 people/
Stevens Point WI is nice. College town, out of harm's way.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
