Like Lewis and Clark, We be Moving

rojo.grande

rojo.grande

Active member
So long story short, my girlfriend and I are planning on moving come May. We're looking for a relatively small town, no larger than say 15,000 people given that we currently live in a sleepy lil maine town.

That being said, we've looked pretty hard into Sisters Oregon, as well as Hood River. We know we want to end up in either Washington or Oregon, but I figured where better to ask than the cesspool of NS.

Any thoughts, leads, advice, things to stay away from etc on smaller towns in Oregon or Washington, preferably somewhat close to some mountains is greatly appreciated.

Hit me.
 
Let’s friggin go, so stoked for yall❤️❤️

I feel like hood river would be a cool fit. 45 minutes from T Line for day laps as well as Skibowl for night laps. Small but good community, I feel like you’d be right at home it’s def got east coast small hill vibe. Seems expensive to live in but if you could afford it it could go. Best of luck to you two.
 
have you considered truckee? great access to loads of resorts and still has a sweet walkable downtown. plus, the dopest lake around is just 20 minutes away
 
topic:rojo.grande said:
So long story short, my girlfriend and I are planning on moving come May. We're looking for a relatively small town, no larger than say 15,000 people given that we currently live in a sleepy lil maine town.

That being said, we've looked pretty hard into Sisters Oregon, as well as Hood River. We know we want to end up in either Washington or Oregon, but I figured where better to ask than the cesspool of NS.

Any thoughts, leads, advice, things to stay away from etc on smaller towns in Oregon or Washington, preferably somewhat close to some mountains is greatly appreciated.

Hit me.
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Honestly man there really isn’t shit in Sisters, you’d be better off somewhere else like Hood River or Wenatchee WA
 
14631141:bennwithtwons said:
have you considered truckee? great access to loads of resorts and still has a sweet walkable downtown. plus, the dopest lake around is just 20 minutes away
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This is next up on our research list for sure. Anywhere specific in truckee?
 
Maybe smaller than you had in mind, but take a look at Joseph Oregon. It's on the eastern side of the state but it's in the highest-elevation part of Oregon and gets amazingly light powder, nothing like the cement you get everywhere else in the state. Skiing is definitely more touring-oriented; you've got legit big-mountain lines in your backyard, but the local resort has one lift (that accesses fucking sick terrain btw) and it's about 2 hours away from Joseph. The town has all the basic essentials like grocery store, bars, running water etc. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone coming from any kind of population center, but it might fit your vibe coming from Maine
 
14631140:weastcoat said:
Let’s friggin go, so stoked for yall❤️❤️

I feel like hood river would be a cool fit. 45 minutes from T Line for day laps as well as Skibowl for night laps. Small but good community, I feel like you’d be right at home it’s def got east coast small hill vibe. Seems expensive to live in but if you could afford it it could go. Best of luck to you two.
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Ahhh big ups homie ❤️

Hood River is one of the more expensive places to live, and might be a bit of an adjustment until we have adult jobs locked in but not out of question. And as always, once we have a couch or guest room set a 30 rack is all you need to come crash ??
 
14631164:rojo.grande said:
This is next up on our research list for sure. Anywhere specific in truckee?
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I guess it will depend on your budget. Take a look around now for housing cause a lot of folks will be trying to sign leases starting Nov 1 or Dec 1. As much as possible, you might aim for lower elevation places just cause the amount of snow removal you'll have to do will increase dramatically if you're at the top of tahoe donner (think power lines buried in snowbanks during big years) or somewhere comparable. do you have an awd vehicle that you can slap snow tires on? You really don't want to be driving around in a fwd civic with chains every time it dumps
 
when you say small town I think of my 1500 person town lol

I lived out west this summer and did not dig it like I thought I would. Made me decide on sticking with PA.

That being said Oregon is extremely similar to Maine and ik you'd enjoy it. I've spent a lot of time in Maine and when I was in Oregon it felt the same. Good luck g
 
14631195:BallClapper said:
I second that. Been scouting myself.
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There is no chance you’ve been actively looking at moving to a small unincorporated community in Oregon. But if we end up there let’s get a beer big boy
 
Deming is in Washington. More looking at south Bellingham but Deming is also an option.

14631199:rojo.grande said:
There is no chance you’ve been actively looking at moving to a small unincorporated community in Oregon. But if we end up there let’s get a beer big boy
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**This post was edited on Oct 7th 2024 at 1:11:58pm
 
I think you should pick where you wanna ski then pick a surrounding community. Hard to recommend small towns, there are 100s but if you can lock down your zone it will prob make it easier for you to find out where you wanna go.

Sisters is a tiny like two light town, I wouldnt recommend moving there, but surround areas of bend are awesome and you can avoid a "big town" vibe. But, bend isn't really a big city or anything either, you might end up liking it.
 
14631208:eheath said:
I think you should pick where you wanna ski then pick a surrounding community. Hard to recommend small towns, there are 100s but if you can lock down your zone it will prob make it easier for you to find out where you wanna go.

Sisters is a tiny like two light town, I wouldnt recommend moving there, but surround areas of bend are awesome and you can avoid a "big town" vibe. But, bend isn't really a big city or anything either, you might end up liking it.
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Totally love the logic here, that’s kind of how we’ve been doing our research. Bachelor would be so sick to call a home hill with a move to bend, and it’s a reasonable distance from hood.

you have any recs on areas around or just outside of bend?
 
14631210:rojo.grande said:
Totally love the logic here, that’s kind of how we’ve been doing our research. Bachelor would be so sick to call a home hill with a move to bend, and it’s a reasonable distance from hood.

you have any recs on areas around or just outside of bend?
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I wish I could help, I only know sisters because I've got some family in the area, bend seems to have tons of outlying neighborhoods, but I would imagine its pretty spendy until you get a bit from town.
 
14631186:rojo.grande said:
Lmao I was thinking ab this actually, sunlight is crucial and idk if we’re gonna get enough
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if i could move anywhere, i would go to salida, co. high and dry artsy town of about 5,000. skiing closest to monarch which is alright but tons of mountain biking and the arkansas river is pretty all time there. love the town too. lots of live music.

just up the road is beuna vista and that towns super fun too. younger town i think the average age is like 33 or something. hour from breck and copper with some pretty cool stuff going on in town too.

if i had a remote job id go to one of those 2 towns in a heart beat.
 
I’ve always been intrigued by Mount Hood Village on the other side of Hood from Hood River. Seems pretty chill

**This post was edited on Oct 7th 2024 at 1:41:31pm
 
If you’re looking for somewhere up there maybe white salmon / bingen I’ve heard it cheaper than hood river and right by it. Also Wenatchee right by mission ridge could be another good relatively cheaper option
 
Squamish, BC is 20,000 people one of the more beautiful locations in the continent. It's not super far from whistler or Vancouver but it is probably mega expensive and also in Canada so technically international
 
14631210:rojo.grande said:
Totally love the logic here, that’s kind of how we’ve been doing our research. Bachelor would be so sick to call a home hill with a move to bend, and it’s a reasonable distance from hood.

you have any recs on areas around or just outside of bend?
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La Pine is probably the most affordable suburb of Bend, with the added benefit of being south of Bachelor so you won't be fighting everyone else to get there on pow days. It's also close to Paulina lake, a super cool volcanic double-lake with a hot spring on the north shore.

Bend is a cool middle-ground because it's not too terribly far from the coast when you wanna get out for a weekend, it's close enough to Portland/Eugene/Boise that you can get to a bigger city if you want to. Bachelor can get wind fucked pretty good, and snow quality is never amazing, but you can also ski in summer so that's cool.

The town isn't the biggest but it is solidly a tourist town most of the year, so its transportation infrastructure can get overwhelmed, but if you're off the main roads or using a bike (bike infrastructure is great!) it shouldn't be too bad.

Also so many breweries and distilleries! I like Bend a lot.

Other than that you've got Redmond to the north and I guess Prineville but I don't know shit about either of those towns
 
14631214:partyandBS said:
if i could move anywhere, i would go to salida, co. high and dry artsy town of about 5,000. skiing closest to monarch which is alright but tons of mountain biking and the arkansas river is pretty all time there. love the town too. lots of live music.

just up the road is beuna vista and that towns super fun too. younger town i think the average age is like 33 or something. hour from breck and copper with some pretty cool stuff going on in town too.

if i had a remote job id go to one of those 2 towns in a heart beat.
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This just reminded me of Gunnison, feel like thats a pretty legit small CO town too.
 
Both Sisters and HR are total tourist towns. Both still have their off times so sometimes they'll have that sleepy feel but sometimes they will have that car to car gridlock traffic through the entire town feel. If you have employment and are able to work around the tourists for your recreation then both have the potential to be awesome.
 
14631251:OregonDead said:
Both Sisters and HR are total tourist towns. Both still have their off times so sometimes they'll have that sleepy feel but sometimes they will have that car to car gridlock traffic through the entire town feel. If you have employment and are able to work around the tourists for your recreation then both have the potential to be awesome.
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What’s the vibe with Redmond if you have any info
 
14631255:rojo.grande said:
What’s the vibe with Redmond if you have any info
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More working/ industrial park is the vibe traditionally although it is getting gentrified up that way too
 
14631214:partyandBS said:
if i could move anywhere, i would go to salida, co. high and dry artsy town of about 5,000. skiing closest to monarch which is alright but tons of mountain biking and the arkansas river is pretty all time there. love the town too. lots of live music.

just up the road is beuna vista and that towns super fun too. younger town i think the average age is like 33 or something. hour from breck and copper with some pretty cool stuff going on in town too.

if i had a remote job id go to one of those 2 towns in a heart beat.
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did some camping out there a few years ago. Arkansas river is so nice and buena vista is a great time.
 
I just moved away from Bellingham, but second this. Deming/Glacier area is rad. Really small though, gonna be driving 30mins to go to Bellingham for stuff.

I 10/10 recommend Bellingham though, it’s fun and lots of small towns outside of it.

(We moved due to work, miss that area and Mt Baker though)

14631154:-Dan said:
Deming Washington

30min to bellingham

hour to mt baker
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14631214:partyandBS said:
if i could move anywhere, i would go to salida, co. high and dry artsy town of about 5,000. skiing closest to monarch which is alright but tons of mountain biking and the arkansas river is pretty all time there. love the town too. lots of live music.

just up the road is beuna vista and that towns super fun too. younger town i think the average age is like 33 or something. hour from breck and copper with some pretty cool stuff going on in town too.

if i had a remote job id go to one of those 2 towns in a heart beat.
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I was literally scrolling down to type this exact thing
 
14631232:eheath said:
This just reminded me of Gunnison, feel like thats a pretty legit small CO town too.
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Drove through gunnison for the first time yesterday it looked appealing for sure
 
Mission is bulletproof and windblown all season long. The rope tow park is pretty cool but not the place to go for jumps. Some tree skiing is ok.

14631218:switchlip2 said:
If you’re looking for somewhere up there maybe white salmon / bingen I’ve heard it cheaper than hood river and right by it. Also Wenatchee right by mission ridge could be another good relatively cheaper option
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Oregon for sure. But if you journey into Portland, make sure you carry narcan. Or a gun. Or a gun that shoots narcan.
 
14631220:Farmville420 said:
Squamish, BC is 20,000 people one of the more beautiful locations in the continent. It's not super far from whistler or Vancouver but it is probably mega expensive and also in Canada so technically international
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why is this a hated reply I went there once and it was my favorite place in the PNW am I missing something
 
14631424:Farmville420 said:
why is this a hated reply I went there once and it was my favorite place in the PNW am I missing something
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Squamish is dope, but OP asked for small, under-the-radar towns in the Pacific North West and you recommended an extremely popular tourist destination in Canada.
 
Sister is dope. They go for a bit of a old west theme in the downtown which is cool

if you’re into that sorta thing. Hoodoo is a small mountain that’s pretty close, they have super fun night skiing and underrated terrain, not much as far as a park tho couple rails maybe. There’s a bunch of sick backcountry terrain out there too like tam MacArthur rim. Definitely is a lil far to bachy but nothing ridiculous especially if you’re weekend warrioring. Bend is awesome too but is pretty fucking busy these days and definitely doesn’t feel like a small town anymore. You can’t go wrong with any of your options tho tbh! Good luck

**This post was edited on Oct 8th 2024 at 1:13:17pm
 
14631453:Woody. said:
Sister is dope. They go for a bit of a old west theme in the downtown which is cool

if you’re into that sorta thing. Hoodoo is a small mountain that’s pretty close, they have super fun night skiing and underrated terrain, not much as far as a park tho couple rails maybe. There’s a bunch of sick backcountry terrain out there too like tam MacArthur rim. Definitely is a lil far to bachy but nothing ridiculous especially if you’re weekend warrioring. Bend is awesome too but is pretty fucking busy these days and definitely doesn’t feel like a small town anymore. You can’t go wrong with any of your options tho tbh! Good luck

**This post was edited on Oct 8th 2024 at 1:13:17pm
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Big ups man! We drive an hour each way to get to sugarloaf currently, anywhere in western Maine is around an hour so ripping to bachy should be no sweat.

Thanks for the positive reinforcement too, it’s super easy to second guess and over analyze shit on a move this big
 
14631292:Jbleddy said:
I just moved away from Bellingham, but second this. Deming/Glacier area is rad. Really small though, gonna be driving 30mins to go to Bellingham for stuff.

I 10/10 recommend Bellingham though, it’s fun and lots of small towns outside of it.

(We moved due to work, miss that area and Mt Baker though)
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This area sounds super sick, half an hour for groceries isn’t necessarily that bad for small towns and good access to baker & national forest
 
14631499:dwt802 said:
This area sounds super sick, half an hour for groceries isn’t necessarily that bad for small towns and good access to baker & national forest
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Best part honestly is the Mountain biking. Bellingham is a mountain biking town and I’d strongly argue best in the country. There’s ton of gnarly stuff out in the woods near Deminf/Glacier, and then the local trails at Galbraith are top notch and you can ride year round. So if it’s raining at Mt. Baker which happens, it means the dirt is primo for mountain biking down lower in Bellingham.
 
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