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I'd suggest sunny, 4 season, Redmond, OR which is just north of Bend, OR. Redmond is a little more affordable, with several 1/2 bedroom apartments listed well under $2,000, but is only 20 miles from Bend. Redmond has the regional airport in town, and there are direct flights daily to San Diego on Alaska Airlines.
Alaska: LAX, SAN, SEA and SFO
Come back OP. Let us know what you think of all the suggestions!!
Yeah, Denver. Aurora used to be an affordable suburb of Denver; but, I am not in the loop on that any more.
it's all relative, like most other 'burbs revolving around high-demand cities. RE in Aurora has increased in cost; it's not going to stay stagnant. What's "affordable" about Aurora is that there are more apartment buildings, condos and townhomes than SFH's, or about 50/50.
Best.....Santa Fe ....perfectly seasonal climate ....and very sunny...even in winter!
So true. I don't know if Santa Fe fits within the OP's definition of "affordable", though. But properties outside the city limits in the country are more affordable, while still being basically like neighborhoods of the city. Easy access to everything.
I'd suggest sunny, 4 season, Redmond, OR which is just north of Bend, OR. Redmond is a little more affordable, with several 1/2 bedroom apartments listed well under $2,000, but is only 20 miles from Bend. Redmond has the regional airport in town, and there are direct flights daily to San Diego on Alaska Airlines.
Not picking on your response, but this really shows how much the West in general is struggling with housing. That's the same as many apartments in the city of Seattle rent for (2BRs under $2k are uncommon but do exist).
A few people have brought up the Olympic Peninsula, which I strongly dis-recommend. I've been idly curious about the peninsula lately (not moving there, just reading the town's subreddits to see what life is like) and the whole peninsula is terrible for housing. Like, years-long waitlists for people to get into affordable housing complexes. High-earning professionals in their 30s living with their parents. I wonder if it's because there's a national park skirting around the boundaries of the towns, so they can't sprawl much.
Not picking on your response, but this really shows how much the West in general is struggling with housing. That's the same as many apartments in the city of Seattle rent for (2BRs under $2k are uncommon but do exist).
A few people have brought up the Olympic Peninsula, which I strongly dis-recommend. I've been idly curious about the peninsula lately (not moving there, just reading the town's subreddits to see what life is like) and the whole peninsula is terrible for housing. Like, years-long waitlists for people to get into affordable housing complexes. High-earning professionals in their 30s living with their parents. I wonder if it's because there's a national park skirting around the boundaries of the towns, so they can't sprawl much.
Those 30-somethings are living with their parents, some of them, because one of the main small towns on the peninsula is a very active tourist town (it deliberately and carefully cultivated that status as a form of economic development), so that nearly all the SFH rentals, backyard ADU's, MIL units, etc. were converted to Air B&B's for 8-9 months out of the year. The owners found it much more lucrative to do that, than to rent to steady renters year-round. Right around 2014-15, the rentals suddenly disappeared off the listings. People who were planning to move there had to cancel their plans, because there was no place to live anymore, and people who wanted to buy had to compete for some of the former rentals that owners were getting rid of, or buy empty lots to build on.
Apparently there's not much housing "development" going on in the area; just occasional individuals buying an empty lot to build on themselves. Maybe some of the areas are anti-development. Port Townsend and surrounding area are in that category. Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow have been expanding gradually, but they're very small anyway, so it's not going to do much toward appeasing the stampede of people wanting to get into that general region.
Not picking on your response, but this really shows how much the West in general is struggling with housing. That's the same as many apartments in the city of Seattle rent for (2BRs under $2k are uncommon but do exist).
A few people have brought up the Olympic Peninsula, which I strongly dis-recommend. I've been idly curious about the peninsula lately (not moving there, just reading the town's subreddits to see what life is like) and the whole peninsula is terrible for housing. Like, years-long waitlists for people to get into affordable housing complexes. High-earning professionals in their 30s living with their parents. I wonder if it's because there's a national park skirting around the boundaries of the towns, so they can't sprawl much.
Isn’t the Olympic peninsula like the rainiest portion of the L48? That’s like being anti-sunny. OP is looking for cheap Sacramento, not Port Angeles
Isn’t the Olympic peninsula like the rainiest portion of the L48? That’s like being anti-sunny. OP is looking for cheap Sacramento, not Port Angeles
The western part of the peninsula, yeah. That's why Stephanie Meyer set the Twilight books in Forks, incidentally; it gets the least sun of anywhere in the lower 48. But the N/NE part of the peninsula, lying in the rain shadow of the Olympics, gets a bit more sun and less rain. But it's still not really sunny (as AnythingOutdoors brought up) so not a good choice for OP.
I agree with Reno as a solid option. The city is debatably historic as a whole but some parts of the city like the Old Southwest neighborhood are good for walking around. Spokane is more historic, but it's weirdly cloudy for being so far inland.
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