Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

[Trevor300wsm]

I'm ready for a change in pace and scenery. I've lived in Oklahoma all my life and I'm ready to leave. I've wanted to move somewhere out "west" for over 10yrs. I usually take atleast one hunting trip a year out west and every year, it only confirms my desire to get out of Oklahoma.

I just got back from western Montana (Kalispell, Big Fork, Whitefish, Missoula). It was by far the most beautiful place I've ever been. I actually looked at some land there, got some realtor info, and talked to a couple of locals that had recently moved there from other parts of the US.

What id like to do is get some advice/opinions from some of you guys that live in MT, WY, UT, AZ, OR, ID, and WA. Then, I'd like to take a few weeks to travel to and visit some of these places (specific areas) that are suggested. See the area, look at property, look at the job market, see what hunting is avaialble.

What I'm looking for:
Mountain/alpine geography (atleast very close by)
Good hunting & fishing
A smaller town setting with access to shopping/supplies within 30-45 min drive
Nice people. Good neighbors. Low crime. People that help each other out.
I will not live in a city obviously
Fair property values (not over inflated due to various reasons)
I'm prepared for a decent winter, but I don't want it to be super harsh to the point it makes life difficult. I understand the elevation of where I choose to buy a home makes a big difference in the level of winter you have to deal with.
I want to get away from this insane summertime heat in OK. I want to have a summer where you are able to boat and enjoy water sports, but 100+ degree temps are what I'm trying to get away from.
I need to be able to find a job. Currently im in the oil/gas business. If there was a refinery close by that would be ideal, but not a must. I have a degree and can learn new skills as long as i can make a living on the wage offered.

I'd love to hear any and all suggestions. Where you call home and why you think its the best place to live. I'm lookin to make this happen in the next year. I'd like to be gone before next summer. I have a home and property here I'll have to sell, but I also have the ability to buy property elsewhere right now should i find some that I like before mine sells. I can't afford a huge expanse right now. I'm most likely looking for 5-50 acres with or without a home on it.

On a side note, I've had 3 people tell me to take a look at Flagstaff, AZ and the surrounding areas. Anyone with advice on this area let me know. I've never been to Flagststaff.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

I was in Cody, Wy in 2010 and fell in love with the place.

Big enough to have everything. Close to Yellowstone and great scenery. Great motorcycle riding area (my vacation passion). Amazing hunting. Enough of a tourist town to have good food, shopping and amenities w.out huge size. Seems like every third person is retired East Coast LE. We have been looking at property out there for the last couple of years. It's where I want to retire and 'the boss' likes it, too.

I have also been told that Buffalo, Wyoming is great. Also really liked Rapid City, SD. Except when it is full of bikers! But that's only 1 week a year.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Krav69]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

What about Colorado?

You mention oil and gas, and here in the Denver Metro area we've got both types of refineries, plus fantastic hunting within hours. Our fishing is pretty ho-hum, admittedly.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Sir,

Thanks for the tips. I'm a fan of WY also. I was in Casper last October. It was a nice little town. Didn't have the amount of mountains/alpine terrain I liked, but the town was very nice and the people were the best. I've never been to Cody or Buffaloe.

The locals joked with me in Casper that a wind sock up there was a steel pole with a log chain at the top. The wind blew like I've never seen before. The winters are pretty damn harsh too from what im told.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Krav,

CO has always been at the top of my list. I love CO. My aunt has lived there for over 20yrs. She has a place outside Denver in Littleton. She loves it there.
I didnt know about the refineries there. I'll be checking into that.

What are the people like?

 

[Krav69]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Trevor,

Kinda depends. You can have rich stuck up people in Cherry Hills Village or homies stabbing each other off Federal Boulevard, or socialist college students in Boulder, stuffy Wall Street types in the financial district, homeless dudes on Colfax, soccer dads/moms in most of the suburbs, ski bums and trustfunders in Vail, and pretty much we all, somehow, get along pretty well.

You could say, "a little something for everyone!".

 

[treebasher]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

What kind of refinery work do you do?

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: treebasher</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What kind of refinery work do you do?</div></div>

Tree,

Im currently in operations in the SRU/ARU/SW units. I've worked in crude and Platformer units. I've worked refinery maintenance. Refinery supply chain mngt. I've done some Safety as well. That's what my degree is in.

 

[EdwardTeach]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

If you want to stay in the US, (?) there are worse places than Flagstaff, you will need your snowshoes tho. Beautiful country, tons of snow. Close to lots of neat things to do year round and AZ is still part of what America ought to be. I'm kind of thinking of where I can go out of country.

 

[AK10mm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Ever thought of Alaska ?

 

[45.308]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Alaska job market is hit and miss, this fall and spring will tell a lot about our future. There are jobs in oil, big jobs too but many are in decline. But living here is not what many think. This is not the 60s, 70s and 80s Alaska. The Glenn corridor has everything you want out to Glennallen. Palmer is what you want, slow paced, low crime if you stay away from the Butte area, backed up to mountains, can get windy and cold, come home and fish, hunt and shoot either out the back or within 5 mins. The area is within a few miles of city Wasilly or about 35 miles to Anchortown. Neighbors are friendly or least to us since the family has lived here since 1971. Sutton and/or Chickaloon too but many Anchoraites are moving here to escape the city. The Parks corridor is bad, stay away. Wasilla is not what you want but close and has and is becoming big city. Valdez oil is a try but cost of living and isolation is very high, cold not so bad but when living there, the snow fall was measured in feet not inches. Its a mix of hippies though but alot of us Alaskans are hippies but not Kali hippies. Like some of my friends, you can live elsewhere and work the oil in Alaska. Keep your place in OK, work oil in Alaska, get a small apt / cabin here for down time in the summer, June

and enjoy winters in OK or winter fun time in Alaska.

We were close to moving to Greatfalls MT. Cheap, house was $32k I like the area but jobs low and crime was high. And like the wife said, winters are bad, why do we want to have a house in MT that has winter, not Alaska winter but still harsh winter. There was a town about an hour west, Fort something that a friend of mine told us to look at and we had some interest but winter thing changed our mind.

We lived in AZ for 6 years, albeit down near the boarded when I was on active duty. Flag was beautiful and I loved the time we spent there like so many other AZ. Crime was high and growing in our part of AZ, we thought of moving back but the heat, crime, everything bites or pricks. Hunt and fish was OK but not all that good. Not true mountains. Up on the rim is good but not alpine, its pine and oak trees.

My daughter lives is ID for about 8 years now and loves it, outside of Boise. We are thinking about there, summers are hot but winters are mild. Living is not too high price.

Good luck

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

45.308,
Thanks for all that info. I hadn't really considered Alaska. I guess I just don't know that much about the area and like others, I'm sure, some of us less informed still think everyone up there is still traveling by dog sled from village to village. Alaska would be amazing in all honesty. I've never been there, but it's on my list of places to visit soon.

 

[Blueboat]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Idaho

 

[ColoWyo]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

You might want to check out the western slope of Colorado.

Craig, Meeker, Rifle, Grand Junction, Montrose, or Delta.

Although, Colorado does tend to be a bit expensive.

 

[RobertB]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Not in Pecos texas, other than the shooting range. It is nice.

 

[T J]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

I live almost mid point between Buffalo, Wy & Rapid City, SD. I you want to stay in the oil/gas fields, this area should be right up your alley. We are about to experience another oil boom NE of Casper area. WY offers pretty much all of it. Refineries in the mid state area, coal mines like you've never seen in my area & oil field in between. I'm 75 miles from the Big Horn moutain range to the west, 120 miles from Rapid City. I spend a lot of time in Casper for work, you're right about the wind. Pretty much every town on this side of the mountain gets windy. The winters aren't what i'd call crazy. It gets cold & it snows, buy a 4x4 & some long underwear

CODY is an awesome town, but it is a little too close to the liberal cesspool AKA Jackson Hole. If you haven't been to Buffalo yet, GO! Bad Ass sleepy little town nestled right under the Big Horns. World class hunting & decent fishing 1/2 hour from home, i've been told there are some trails right out of town you can ride your 4 wheeler right up the mountain.


Cheers,

 

[-Nick-]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Trevor take WA off that list. I can assure you that what you want and what you'll get here are not the same. I went to Bend, OR a few weeks back though and that place is AWESOME! It sounds like it's also what you're looking for although I don't know what would be available to you as far as the job market is concerned.

 

[jcfd2201]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Trevor I live just down the road from Flagstaff and that is the largest city close to us. Flagstaff itself is not all that cheap to live in but there are some areas just outside that aren't that bad. Great hunting and fishing, legal class III state, legal ccw state, and we have that huge hole in the ground too!

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Thanks for all the info. It's been very helpful. Im looking at available jobs right now. Hopefully that will narrow the search a little.

Thanks to all.

 

[BoiseRob]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Idaho Sucks so I wouldn't consider moving here...

 

[delfuego]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Krav69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What about Colorado?</div></div>Colorado is full. Move along... Nothing to see here...

 

[High Binder]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?


I'm in Northern Co. and like it but it's turning into Little-California. Denver has some really fucked up guns laws too but as long as you stay out of Denver proper you're good to go. The fishing is just OK but can be awesome if you know the spots and Duck/goose has been HORRIBLE for the last 2 years (just got home from opening day for duck/goose) and this years looking better. Deer/elk/etc. is pretty good depending on what section and how much scouting you're willing to do pre-season.

I'm in the oil industry and this is not the state for that. There's a few refineries in Northern part of Denver but the industry as a whole is a joke compared to other neighboring states and Mines grads (me) dominate the local industry with fresh faces every year anyway so you'll have to pick up new skills like you mentioned.

Winters are pretty easy and summers are nice and dry but do push temps of 100+ for weeks on end.

 

[treebasher]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: High Binder</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I'm in Northern Co. and like it but it's turning into Little-California. Denver has some really fucked up guns laws too but as long as you stay out of Denver proper you're good to go. The fishing is just OK but can be awesome if you know the spots and Duck/goose has been HORRIBLE for the last 2 years (just got home from opening day for duck/goose) and this years looking better. Deer/elk/etc. is pretty good depending on what section and how much scouting you're willing to do pre-season.

I'm in the oil industry and this is not the state for that. There's a few refineries in Northern part of Denver but the industry as a whole is a joke compared to other neighboring states and Mines grads (me) dominate the local industry with fresh faces every year anyway so you'll have to pick up new skills like you mentioned.

Winters are pretty easy and summers are nice and dry but do push temps of 100+ for weeks on end. </div></div>

Well said and the exact reasons I left Colorado ten years ago.

 

[hessian]

Re: Looking for a new place to live out west: Advice?

Seems I pass three refineries on I-90 going through Billings.