i was just in sunday river and portland, loved it

i love oregon, would move if the job allowed
ive only been to hood river once, but id prefer other areas such as Bend

ToddyHill said:

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You are spot on in my opinion.

Last summer, my wife and I flew into Boston...took the Amtrak to Portland, ME, then boarded a small ship and cruised the Maine coast. I fell in love with Portland, and can see why half their population is from somewhere else.

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Go back during the winter and then report back

View driving in today

Other than skiing…what about the Black Hills in SD?

Terry Peak ain't a bad option for skiing

I have some friends in Camas, WA that really love it. Similar to HR, just cheaper, more housing, better schools and no income tax.

Further north, Bellingham, WA is somewhere we've looked at for a cabin. Mt. Baker is hard to get to, but has the best snow in the US PNW.

This weekend was peak Oregon for us.

Friday: Date night and cherry blossoms.


Saturday: Nuke fest on Hood (3 ft. since Friday)

(TexAgs, we really censoring "***" in a Imgur URL?)

Today/tomorrow: We're down in Brookings for a long weekend of whale watch and fill up on crab.

(Natural Bridges)

If we're sharing images of our locations let me put a plug in for my location. Juneau, AK >>>> Anything in the continental US.

Images below are my house at night and my view from my back porch.

jetescamilla said:

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If we're sharing images of our locations let me put a plug in for my location. Juneau, AK >>>> Anything in the continental US.

Images below are my house at night and my view from my back porch.

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Alaska is awesome but I couldn't do the winters, I need my sun.

As someone who moved from Texas and lives on land (ranch in normal world / plot on OB) in the mountains…we are seriously considering Alaska. Colorado is turning into California 2.0 tax wise (happy to DM specifics) and Alaska is looking pretty appealing except from a work standpoint so maybe a retirement thing.

what tax issues arising? other than state income? The low property taxes are what's attractive to me.

I'm not sure I agree with the retirement thing. It's hard work to live here and maintain our 1 acre of property with the yard, snow, house maintenance, etc. This is not a place to retire to. There's not many people you can just pay to do labor type jobs. We love it now, but will most likely leave sometime later. Perhaps we'll sell this nest egg and acquire a small place on the water and another in AZ or UT and snowbird back and forth. Those old people have it right!

Interested in tax issues in Colorado too. Property taxes are killing me here in Texas and they're WAY cheaper there. I know there's state income tax but I'm not near as concerned about that.

Good question. When we moved to Colorado in Jan 2015 there were some serious draws to balance state income tax. Property tax and insurance was way lower than Texas. Like crazy lower.

Did it equal state income tax? No, but it made it negligible.

Since then, where I live in Eagle Co, in the mountains a few things have happened.

- property taxes have increased a ton. Doubled since we bought in 2015 and this year tax assessor announced in 2024 an average 70% increase (https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-county-residents-need-to-be-prepared-for-property-tax-sticker-shock-coming-in-2024/ )

- insurance premiums have gone up dramatically- they say fire risk but I've had wildfire mitigation and it's still bad.

- new taxes - there's a new CO leave insurance thing. They are funding this year and benefits start next year. I've paid $720.90 YTD


There are a number of policies going through that punish the "rich". For example I buy gas for my ranch in bulk. I got a letter last week explaining a new tax on that called a fee to avoid voter approval.

I can go on but those are some examples.

BigfootYancey said:

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What about Reno or Carson City NV? Super close to Tahoe and lower taxes. On the CA side of Tahoe places like Grass Valley, Placerville, Murphys, Arnold, or Sonora are close to Yosemite and Tahoe whole being under 1.5 hrs from Sacramento to fly. Disclaimer: never been to Reno or Carson City but have been to all the CA towns listed.

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I doubt we ever leave Texas but we would consider the Carson City area. High desert. Very dry. Reno very close and Lake Tahoe even closer (I think).

SW AG80 said:

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BigfootYancey said:

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What about Reno or Carson City NV? Super close to Tahoe and lower taxes. On the CA side of Tahoe places like Grass Valley, Placerville, Murphys, Arnold, or Sonora are close to Yosemite and Tahoe whole being under 1.5 hrs from Sacramento to fly. Disclaimer: never been to Reno or Carson City but have been to all the CA towns listed.

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I doubt we ever leave Texas but we would consider the Carson City area. High desert. Very dry. Reno very close and Lake Tahoe even closer (I think).

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Reno and Carson City aren't that great. At least based on a couple of visits. They were formerly on my list.


Places that I've considered with similar tastes as OP but not all match
Bend
Hood River
Medford

Missoula
Bozeman
Butte

Boise
McCall
Moscow

White Salmon
Prosser
Leavenworth

Fort Collins
Durango
Ouray
Moab
Salida
Steamboat

St George
Springdale

CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

Aggie Athlete Involved said:

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CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

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But... after your vehicle is over 10 years old, it's only $29/year.

But yeah, the first few years of $600+ were a drag. Especially after paying $58/yr in Texas.

Op - have you lived far north? My time in WA st opened my eyes to how short the days are in winter. I was not a fan. Colorado is much better in that regard.

Carson City is an independent city so I'm not sure about their rules. In Nevada, the main thing is you want to live in a county that is not Clark (Vegas) or Washoe (Reno). Too many California like rules in those two counties and only getting worse.

I bought a nice little 15 acre property on the side of a mountain near Virginia City and I intended to move there but now might just build it out as a vacation home once I get resettled in Texas.

Anyway, Reno isn't that great per se but, you've got nonstops to SFO, LAX, Denver, Houston, Chicago. And of course Lake Tahoe is close by.

We did the Jeep Go Topless day up there last year and had a great time. Plenty of craft beer in that part of the world too.

I actually don't mind the Reno area either. But Reno proper is being Californicated unfortunately.

Lived in Steamboat, own in Summit County now.

Steamboat has to subsidize their winter airline service to get it, and last I saw, they were down to 1 flight a day in Summer. 3.5-4.0 hours to DEN, a scenically treacherous 1.5 to EGE in winter if you had to.

I like Summit County, but the abundance of resorts there and the proximity to Denver keep the prices up. 5 acre plots in the "country" are north on Hwy 9 between Silverthorne and Kremmling. Park Co to the south, has space, but LOTS of restrictions.

Definitely check the airline availability to Durango and Telluride off season.

Undiscussed is Co Springs and the towns west on US24? Or US50?. There is a 181 square mile property available out that way. :-). Depends on where, but you could get within 1.5-2 hours of Breckenridge from there.

US285 between Denver and South Park CO, yes THAT South Park may be an option with acreage also.

The higher you go, the more difficult sleep is and I've been told specifically NOT to buy above 10000 feet for that reason. I'm at 8800 feet in Silverthorne, and will notice it from time to time.

Not sure how long it will take before the Glenwood mudslide closures will end when summer storms are forecast. I would suggest staying East of Glenwood Canyon as a result.

Otherwise, lots of good CO advice here.

Jetpilot86 said:

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Undiscussed is Co Springs and the towns west on US24? Or US50?. There is a 181 square mile property available out that way. :-). Depends on where, but you could get within 1.5-2 hours of Breckenridge from there.

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Moving back to the springs this summer and it's certainly growing out to the east. No idea on the land prices up the road to the west but I feel you could get some decent acreage up in the woodland park to divide area for a decent price.

mpl35 said:

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SW AG80 said:

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BigfootYancey said:

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What about Reno or Carson City NV? Super close to Tahoe and lower taxes. On the CA side of Tahoe places like Grass Valley, Placerville, Murphys, Arnold, or Sonora are close to Yosemite and Tahoe whole being under 1.5 hrs from Sacramento to fly. Disclaimer: never been to Reno or Carson City but have been to all the CA towns listed.

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I doubt we ever leave Texas but we would consider the Carson City area. High desert. Very dry. Reno very close and Lake Tahoe even closer (I think).

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Reno and Carson City aren't that great. At least based on a couple of visits. They were formerly on my list.


Places that I've considered with similar tastes as OP but not all match
Bend
Hood River
Medford

Missoula
Bozeman
Butte

Boise
McCall
Moscow

White Salmon
Prosser
Leavenworth

Fort Collins
Durango
Ouray
Moab
Salida
Steamboat

St George
Springdale

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Hood River / White Salmon are not cheap these days - but absolute gems. Leavenworth is fun, but more expensive than Portland/Seattle for housing. And it's a nightmare some months with tourism.

Southern Oregon is interesting. I'd recommend Ashland over Medford. The Siskiyous / Mt. Ashland might be small, but side/backcountry ski access is a lot easier than most places. Lithia Park is world class. Close to Crater / Sasha / coast. Good arts town if you're into that (US flocks for the Shakespeare convention thing).

Well to be honest Id prefer Ashland but Medford is easier to find on a map! PCT and the Rogue River valley is close enough. I like that area.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Aggie Athlete Involved said:

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CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

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But... after your vehicle is over 10 years old, it's only $29/year.

But yeah, the first few years of $600+ were a drag. Especially after paying $58/yr in Texas.

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Yeah Washington has the same backwards formula. My XC60 runs me $600+. If you have a electric car, it is even more expensive

It sounds like if outdoors are a priority to you, any state in the mountain or pacific time zone is going to be an upgrade from Texas. Including California.

The western USA is incredible. It's hard to go wrong, honestly.

I was in Salt Lake City and Boise last week for work, really liked Boise and could easily see myself moving there. For reference, I am in Indiana now.

The 550 and 24 corridors have both exploded

Aggie Athlete Involved said:

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CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

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Same in CA

barbacoa taco said:

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It sounds like if outdoors are a priority to you, any state in the mountain or pacific time zone is going to be an upgrade from Texas. Including California.

The western USA is incredible. It's hard to go wrong, honestly.

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Agree with this. The natural beauty out this way is spectacular. Hard to beat living within a short drive of a lot of great natural attractions, and in a nice place weather wise and scenery wise as well. Having lived in Dallas a while, it's just something you're never going to get there (Or Texas for that matter)

Chipotlemonger said:

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Aggie Athlete Involved said:

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CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

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Same in CA

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Yeah this sucks. My wife's car was like $1600 last year but my other extreme is my old Jeep that's $70 and think. The one plus side is it's tax deductible but that still doesn't take the sting away.

Fairview said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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Aggie Athlete Involved said:

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CO: Car registration is crazy high and a formula based on how new and expensive your car is

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Same in CA

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Yeah this sucks. My wife's car was like $1600 last year but my other extreme is my old Jeep that's $70 and think. The one plus side is it's tax deductible but that still doesn't take the sting away.

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The fee portion that is tax deductible is a smaller portion of the total though, don't get to deduct all of it.*

*Fees, etc. differ county and city to county and city.

Yeah - I was trying to find some positive in it. That's all I got.

1600? Wtf did you get her? Wife's new Taco was 1/2 that in FOCO

Fairview said:

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Yeah - I was trying to find some positive in it. That's all I got.

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I feel ya