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I've made a list of preferences and I know no place will cover them all, but I'm getting close:
- Smaller than 50k population, rural ok
- Homestead friendly
- Homeschool friendly
- Mild year-round climate, prefer sunshine/warm
- Within 2 hours of major airport (I fly out 2-3x/month for work)
- Have some kind of charm, like scenery, without being touristy
Places I've added to my list so far:
ID - Emmett, Horseshoe Bend, Mountain Home
UT - Hurricane, Toquerville, Hildale, Kanab, Panguitch
AZ - Camp Verde, Payson/Pine, Dewey/Humboldt
TX - Ft. Davis, Fredericksberg
I've already visited several of these. Just looking for additional input/opinions/suggestions.
It has some tourism due to proximity to the national parks but is by no means overrun. As a town of around 35K it has a vibrant, historic downtown and is known for hosting the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival on the campus of Southern Utah University (in a stunning outdoor amphitheater) which sits near the center of town. https://cedarcity.org/
It has some tourism due to proximity to the national parks but is by no means overrun. As a town of around 35K it has a vibrant, historic downtown and is known for hosting the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival on the campus of Southern Utah University (in a stunning outdoor amphitheater) which sits near the center of town. https://cedarcity.org/
Whoops. Thanks for mentioning that. I forgot about Cedar City. It’s actually high on the list.
Your two Texas towns are nothing but touristy. Ft. Davis is tiny. Nearby Alpine would be a better choice. Kerrville is close to Freddiesberg and doesn't have the touristy vibe. In that area Blanco, Llano, Marble Falls, Burnet are all really nice as well.
Agree with above poster(s). Fredericksburg is awash with tourism, which is something you stated that you don't want.
For Idaho, Emmett is probably nicest of the bunch and out of the way. The other two are a little bleak, especially Mt Home. Horshoe Bend is not touristy but is a pit stop for all the touristy places for Boise travelers going north.
Not familiar with the UT and AZ towns, mentioned here.
For Idaho, Emmett is probably nicest of the bunch and out of the way. The other two are a little bleak, especially Mt Home. Horshoe Bend is not touristy but is a pit stop for all the touristy places for Boise travelers going north.
How much charm / scenic quality Emmett itself has is in eye of beholder. Pretty low and dry and not that treed. But, yeah, a main option in that area.
Real small towns in Utah could be an issue for many. Don't move to Hildale without visiting and finding out how "different" / ultra extreme it is. If not LDS, prepared to be considered by many as "misguided" or worse? Hurricane is certainly in a major tourist region, though probably more busy with tourist workers and retirees. Cedar City has real winter.
Camp Verde is touristy in the sense of people stopping for gas, food and lodging on the way to bigger tourist spots. The experience of being near main drag would be different than 3-10 miles away. Payson is a good candidate for those criteria, as long a very high average age doesn't bother.
Elsewhere you bemoan Arizona going blue in long-run. (Still more purple than blue at this time.) And yet it is still on list? Major concerns about illegal immigration and yet AZ is still on list?
You picked conservative spots in SW Idaho but Boise region is still the most liberal part of the state. Planning on avoiding Boise or using it with some disdain?
Near St. George can be very hot for a long time. St. George, average 124 days over 90 as high. Kanab, 60. But "dry heat".
Panguitch UT occasionally gets 50 plus inches of snow, even though average (after accounting for missing observations) is probably in 30s. 51 inches so far this winter and time for potentially more. Scenic mountain backdrops probably get close to or over 100 inches. 21 lows below zero, 18 days never get to 32, 232 nights go below 32 for lows.
You don't have to say where you are now or were in past, but whether you've lived in places under 50k or way under 50k is significant as is if you have lived in west.
It varies in intensity by location but illegal immigration is a notable fact of life in most of Texas (less discussed but still common many other places.)
Well, before this winter I would say many Northern Nevada areas would fit your criteria...but this winter has been feet of snow and snow cover for months in some valleys.
The Reno area has had less snow and it has melted off regularly, but the locations south of Reno I would normally recommend like Minden or Carson City have been buried all winter in some places.
That being said, its the only winter I have seen these conditions in my 50+ years of living here.
Southern Utah can have heavy traffic from tourism/growth in the Hurricane area for sure.
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