Best Zip Code for Perfect Life


Two recent threads have inspired me. One was on persuading the wife for an audio shopping "romantic weekend" and the other on all of your hobbies outside of audio. Given that many of you seem interested in contemplative and creative things, fishing bicycling etc as well as quite a few car nuts, here is the ultimate question: Where can I chuck in the big city rat race and move that would offer: natural beauty, pre war architecture (at least some) and privacy where one could fish, cycle, enjoy nature etc and not worry about neighbors when playing MFSL Dark Side of the Moon at concert levels through subwoofers, drive 30-60 minutes maximum to check out some girls, visit a good audio dealer, book shop, music store and eat some decent Italian food, without spending a zillion bucks on real estate or living in an overpopulated or pre fab "McMansion" atmosphere. Extra Credit: roads ideally would be somewhat rural, bucolic, winding and not ruined by traffic or constant speed traps.(One for the car geeks, of which I am one.)Let's keep this gem to our forum, but WE can all move there and start an audio club and the best dealers will follow. Thanks for the tip and I will hope to see you in the village market and have you over for a drink and a demo!
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Showing 8 responses by john_l

Explain 'a zillion'? All things are tradeoffs. I think my favorite 'low cost' city is Denver, CO. It's getting expensive though. You can find some older houses just south of the city, or some out West.

Colorado Springs is nice too. Very safe. Primarily a military town with strong Christian and liberal influences. Local music and social scene is more limited but Denver is an hour away. Dunlavy, Genesis, and Rowland are made there. Semi-affordable, great old victorians downtown.

Another great city is Portland Oregon, where I live now. It rains too much, but it is beautiful and has skiing, hiking, beach, great old bookstores and a few good music venues. It's a little like a smaller, simpler san francisco. The houses are expensive relative to most local incomes, but cheap if coming from most other cities. There are some beautiful old Victorian houses around Portland. Some in 'revitalizing' neighborhoods if that is your thing.
Eldragon, I'm in Portland.
Cornfedboy, Denver is a great place. Funny I don't ski nearly as much as I used to. I do fly to ski once or twice a year and slosh around in Oregon and Alaska a bit.

Colorado is still the best place to ski because it's always sunny. Mountains like Whistler and Jackson Hole are awesome, but you're always skiing in a storm. Have to admit that when Jackson Hole is on - with deep powder, nothing touches it.

I'm going to do a trip to Breck/Keystone/Copper this March. Have you been to Keystone in the last year or so? They opened up some terrain 2-3 years ago, and it's actually one of the best mountains for backcountry single diamond skiing now. Nobody knows about it!
Denver is pretty nice, expecially if athletic women appeal to you. I remember moving from Denver to Chicago and thinking, 'the women here are so much smaller'. Still cute though! The alternative music scene is actually pretty big in Denver. The best thing to do in Denver, when you're not dead, is to go out skiing and hiking on the weekends. Places like Chicago and San Francisco have bigger nightlife scenes. Chicago would be a good place to get away from allergies, unless you're allergic to concrete that is.
Eldragon, I think the Portland economy is fairly strong. The housing market recently evened out, but there is still plenty of work, especially in newer high-tech areas like Hillsboro. A decent four bedroom house will run you 160-200K. You might want to consider Bend Oregon. A much smaller economy, but close to good skiing, and much lower housing costs. It is getting bigger, and I think this trend will continue. Eugene or Corvallis are cool if you are into a more alternative/hippy scene. Both are College towns. Ashland is nice too - it's in southern Oregon, near California. John.
Denver is pretty nice, expecially if athletic women appeal to you. I remember moving from Denver to Chicago and thinking, 'the women here are so much smaller'. Still cute though! The alternative music scene is actually pretty big in Denver. The best thing to do in Denver, when you're not dead, is to go out skiing and hiking on the weekends. Places like Chicago and San Francisco have bigger nightlife scenes. Chicago would be a good place to get away from allergies, unless you're allergic to concrete that is.
Shhhhh Axomoxa !

Nobody is supposed to know!

It does rain like a faucet out here. The traffic is reaching epic proportion too of late. Also, I got a really bad cup of coffee downtown yesterday (at Powells!). Portland is BAD BAD BAD! Ha ha.
Hey Axomoxa
Powells is doing well as usual. They actually broke it into two bookstores - a technical bookstore that's 3 blocks away, and the main 'nerd-free' store. It's much bigger than it used to be. Now it takes up the whole city block, has a coffee shop, and has four levels in the rear portion. The only other 'great' bookstore than can compete is 'the tattered cover' in Denver Colorado. Cool thing about Powells is that there are four great music stores within three blocks.

I actually had a great day of skiing on Hood yesterday. I switched from way-flat Timberline to Mt Hood Meadows. It was snowing hard all day, a foot+ of new snow, and about 30 degrees. Reminded me of Jackson Hole a little. I'm going back this weekend. There's hope for Oregon skiing yet !

And yes, it is raining today.
Yeah Timberline is way cool to go hang out. You know that's where they filmed the shining ! I've stayed there at christmas time before. They bring out a sleigh and reindeer. I usually go to Timberline with people who like to ski 'just a little', so they have someplace cool to hang out. I vote it best ski lodge ever ! I've been to lots of them too!

I'm going back to Meadows on Saturday! If I get a few more ski days like Sunday, I'm going to stop complaining about Oregon skiing. They've actually built up some hotels on the road to hood. I might do a full weekend there soon. There's also an area set off for cross country and snowshoeing now. Lots of subarus! I usually go to Mt Bachelor because I have access to lodging. Bachelor is a lot like Colorado skiing - sunny, with dry snow. It's too far for a day trip, but nice.

It rained again today.....