Live near the Rocky Mountain states? Need opinions!

[Ranching]

Idaho is definitely on my list

Do they have running water in Idaho?

 

[YosemiteSam]

Do they have running water in Idaho?

It only walks, except when it's going down hill.

 

[RodeoJake]

I'm partial to Kaycee Wyoming

 

[jsb357]

I have been considering the Rocky Mountain states.

I am not really interested in living in large cities nor in cities right next to large cities.

any suggestions, comments and thoughts from any of you who live in areas like this and are happy with where you live.

Define large. I define large as any area with more that one Walmart.

And in the cities you want to live in / near what services do you need?

Retired or needing employment?

How far / long are you will to travel by road when large city services like world class medical / surgical are needed?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

How far / long are you will to travel by road when large city services like world class medical / surgical are needed?

As I get older this one becomes more important...

-Need to live in a place with a paid ambulance service... And a paid fire department is a plus. I tip my hat to anyone that volunteers but relying on volunteer ambulance service or a volunteer fire department is taking a risk with your health & home. Not that volunteers are bad at their job, it's a case of not having enough of them and the response time can be life (or house) threatening. I have a police scanner and it's frightening the number of times a dispatcher has to send repeated tones in order to get enough crewman to go out on a run or even worse have to tone out a crew from a different fire department– As you can guess this does nothing to help response times.
-Need to live within a reasonable drive from a hospital. Currently I'm about 7 minutes from a hospital. You don't need a hospital... Well until you need one.
-Need to live within a realistic drive from a top-flight health clinic that deals with major health issues. Quite often major health issues require many trips back & forth and an all-day drive isn't going to help the situation. Right now I'm about an hour and a half from the Roswell Cancer Center in Buffalo and about 3 1/2 hours from the world renowned Cleveland Clinic.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Retired or needing employment?

Reality's age can only be known by carbon dating.

 

[Chrispierce]

You’d all love places like Clovis,or Oakhurst,or Gliroy,Buelton or Nippomo out here,or the mountains 10 minutes up the hill from me.
Not for me...but you guys would like it.

 

[viman96]

@Reality - Bend Oregon is AMAZING Sunny the majority of the year. You are near multiple mountains. So much hiking, rafting, fishing, skiing, snow boarding, etc. 180 miles south east of Portland. Plenty of land, golf, amazing lakes and rivers. Not to mention plenty of high tech engineering jobs.

 

[Reality]

I've lived in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. Can't really go wrong with any of them. Idaho is easily the most "rural" of the bunch. 30 minutes from Denver, and you're pretty much still in Denver. 30 minutes from SLC, you're pretty much still in SLC. 30 minutes from Boise and you could in the mountains, in the desert, or in the middle of farmland. A few years back I traveled to various workplaces throughout the Boise (and surrounding) area, and there are some very rural settings within a short distance of Boise. Kuna is close (20 minutes from Boise)...although I don't know if feels all that rural anymore due to how fast the area has grown. Emmett, ID is about as rural as I would ever get, and it's probably 40 minutes or so from Boise. If you aren't in the Air Force, just stay away from Mountain Home.

If you really want to be 1-2 hours from a "bigger" city, you might take a look at Twin Falls, Idaho. 120 miles from Boise and about 220 miles from SLC.

I did spend some time in a small town near Four Corners. Cortez, CO. I kind of liked he feel, but it was awfully far from any major population center.

Great information! Thanks!

 

[Reality]

Define large. I define large as any area with more that one Walmart.

And in the cities you want to live in / near what services do you need?

Retired or needing employment?

How far / long are you will to travel by road when large city services like world class medical / surgical are needed?

I prefer smaller (not tiny) towns that are 1-2 hours away form a larger city, but I have no specific population limit in mind.

 

[Chrispierce]

I prefer smaller (not tiny) towns that are 1-2 hours away form a larger city, but I have no specific population limit in mind.

You know,there is one area I’d like to hitch my wagon. It’s real small population with golden rolling hills and ranches and stuff with an old Little House on The Prairie look and main town not too far north from Santa Barbara. But gosh,I’d need a lot of money. And by myself too...I’d be lonely as heck. But I’d love to work the land,and have animals and a little garden to crop. Yeah,that would be real nice. Just quiet with a beautiful star lit sky at night and peace in my life. Oh well...but hope you find your little slice of heaven and all goes well for you. Should be kinda fun just driving around looking for it too.

 

[skinsscalper]

I'm partial to Kaycee Wyoming

I was wondering when someone was going to mention somewhere in Wyoming other than Jackson Hole. However, out of respect for my fellow Wyomingites, I'll refrain from making any suggestions for places to live there. Keep looking in Idaho and Colorado, you're on the right track, there. There's nothing to see in Wyoming, move along.

 

[RodeoJake]

I was wondering when someone was going to mention somewhere in Wyoming other than Jackson Hole. However, out of respect for my fellow Wyomingites, I'll refrain from making any suggestions for places to live there. Keep looking in Idaho and Colorado, you're on the right track, there. There's nothing to see in Wyoming, move along.

Cheyenne Frontier Days and Chris Ledoux Days

 

[skinsscalper]

Cheyenne Frontier Days and Chris Ledoux Days

I just got back from Wyoming yesterday. My sister lives in Buffalo, my son in Casper, my dad in Riverton and a slew of aunts and uncles in Lander. Angling to move back there pretty soon if I can get the wife on board.

 

[nobody]

I drove through Durango Colorado many years ago. The scenery was breathtaking. This is where grass still grows on the mountain side. Fenced off areas where horses ran wild. Farther up the road (heading to Denver) was a tiny town of colorful wooden houses in not quite 3 rows alongside a mountain stream. The area seemed too sacredly beautiful to photograph. Farther north were the ski villages. I had altitude sickness in Denver and felt like hell the entire time.

Sorry to hear that. Altitude sickness sucks. I've only ever gotten it once, and that was on a trip up Pike's Peak and I hadn't eaten that day. I've been to Colorado and in the Mountains several times and only got it that once. It's a funny thing how differently it can affect people.

 

[Reality]

I was wondering when someone was going to mention somewhere in Wyoming other than Jackson Hole. However, out of respect for my fellow Wyomingites, I'll refrain from making any suggestions for places to live there. Keep looking in Idaho and Colorado, you're on the right track, there. There's nothing to see in Wyoming, move along.

I actually am looking at Wyoming as well. The only two issues that concern me there is internet coverage outside of the larger cities and also the wind is horrible there.

 

[Tabascocat]

I actually am looking at Wyoming as well. The only two issues that concern me there is internet coverage outside of the larger cities and also the wind is horrible there.

Maybe look at Collville, WA. It has that smaller town feel but it does have a Walmart, not too much else. It is a little over an hour North of Spokane, a good sized city that has everything you need. Collville is pretty close to Canada in the foothills of the Cascade Range, pretty good sized mountains. It is also close to Idaho.

It is a beautiful area worth checking into. My dad has a lakehouse up past that town, so I know it pretty well.

 

[Melonfeud]

It only walks, except when it's going down hill.

And it's still of hypothermia inducing temperatures up in the mountains in August

 

[Melonfeud]

I was wondering when someone was going to mention somewhere in Wyoming other than Jackson Hole. However, out of respect for my fellow Wyomingites, I'll refrain from making any suggestions for places to live there. Keep looking in Idaho and Colorado, you're on the right track, there. There's nothing to see in Wyoming, move along.

Ha,you gotta' love a good smoke screen once the targets already been bracketed,,,the casual talk up in Fort Collins Colorado From the yuppies I'd talked to followed pretty much along this line: " oh,no, if you go further north you will be in WYOMING & they do not like ANYBODY with Colorado plates",,,
( straight up truth, that's what the yuppies proclaimed to me)

 

[Idgit]

I actually am looking at Wyoming as well. The only two issues that concern me there is internet coverage outside of the larger cities and also the wind is horrible there.

The Snowies are pretty great if you’re looking for remote and mountains.

If you’re tooling around, check out southern Utah, too. A town like St Georges isn’t really what you’re describing, but it’s within 2 hours so Brice, Zion, Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, and Vegas. It’s a good hub for seeing that part of the country, and those are some great stops on any road trip.