Thought I'd provide an update after all of the great suggestions. After paying a 5 day visit to Boulder, I decided to move to Bishop until I decide I can no longer hack small town living or my remote working arrangement gets nixed. The gravitational pull from my great group of E Side friends and the High Sierra sealed the deal.

Good luck Fossana. I live in a pretty ideal place now and love it...but Bishop is high on my list. Damn close to heaven (the high Sierra). Can't be too bad for a season...

I have been to many places in North America and if I was a US citizen Boulder would be the town to live in. The small town life (7,500) is not doing it for me here in Revelstoke.

BTW what about somewhere in Washington state? Bellingham maybe? Less than 3 hours to Squamish and some of the best mountains in North America.

Michelle, we can work out a deal where I come up once a week with groceries from the finest Middle Eastern, Indian and Asian markets in LA and in return you can be my rope gun for some Eastern Sierra's finest. Now that's a deal I know you can't refuse. I also discovered a really good Thai place in Lancaster. I'm not shitting you. Good Thai in Lancaster. Can you imagine hand delivered Thai food on a Friday night?

@jschrock: Thanks! I've heard good things about Bend as well.
@james: Grew up in WA and can't imagine returning to the wet Pac NW climate. I even found the Bay Area winters too dreary for my tastes.
@kevin: Good Thai in Lancaster?! I have monthly work visits to do my Asian grocery shopping but you should definitely head out for some climbing.

Congrats on your decision, and best o' luck! An adjustment to small town living, for sure, but hopefully you'll like it.
I used to live in Mammoth, and I still hold the eastside Sierra close to my heart.
You'll certainly have plenty to do. Enjoy!

Thanks, dskoon! I have lived there previously but only for ~5 months.

tigerlilly wrote:Are we pretty much writing off the East Coast?

North Conway, NH is the only spot that comes to mind

Congrats Michelle, hey you are a lot closer! Don't know if you and Liba inspired me or not....but we are also rethinking the two home situation for the "perfect" 12 month mecca. Might push us further east, possibly Ouray, which gives me virgin trad ground at Black Canyon (got a photog partner pushing for that) and puts me a lot closer to Moab, not to mention feeds my ski and ice fetish. Look forward to hearing about your new experience of living in a much smaller town. I think you will be impressed.

Welcome back to the Eastside Michelle!

The peaches will be ripe in a few weeks and apples are already starting to turn red.

If you haven't been yet, head out to the airport for a meal at Thai Thai - some of the best food in the valley!

The one place I'd live on the East Coast is New Paltz, NY- the Gunks. I lived there about 6 years and it was excellent except for no big mountains ( or canyons or deserts too ). But a good mix of outdoors folks, hippies, artists, and regular ol' locals, along with great mountain bike trails, swimming holes, and amazing scenery, especially in the fall. Trad city.

fossana wrote:Thought I'd provide an update after all of the great suggestions. After paying a 5 day visit to Boulder, I decided to move to Bishop until I decide I can no longer hack small town living or my remote working arrangement gets nixed. The gravitational pull from my great group of E Side friends and the High Sierra sealed the deal.

Years ago when I considered moving to Boulder, I came to the same conclusion. It seemed like the perfect place for a climber and in many ways it is. But after visiting for a few days, thinking about my family and friends in LA, plus the general vibe from Boulder, it didn't seem like the right fit for me. Hard to describe exactly but more of a gut feeling. No I've got the very thing fossana dreads: a house full of kids and a white rail fence (not picket). Definitely not the most conducive to climbing but I wouldn't trade it for a trip up Cerro Torre.

Thank you, Dow & Chris.

@Chris: I have yet to check out Thai Thai. I did, however, make it to Apple Hill for the best nectarines I've ever tasted.
@Dow: Hopefully we can get in some RR routes in before your move.

We thought about moving to the east side ( the Chiefs hometown) but costs and no real town nixed that. Mammoth was still way too expensive and too LA centric. Bishop is nice but is so touristy. We bought a home in Bellingham (Fairhaven)WA. I expect some long drives to get into the High Sierra.