Outside Magazine's best towns to live in list: (Some surprises)

[cali]

These towns are the finest places you'd ever want to call home, from a Midwestern mountain-biking hub, to a Seattle-area hang-gliding mecca, to, um, Boulder. (We know, shocker.)

Reader's Choice for Best Town Ever: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Portland, Oregon
Issaquah, Washington
Boulder, Colorado
Missoula, Montana
Charleston, South Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Durango, Colorado
Madison, Wisconsin
Traverse City, Michigan
Tucson, Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona
Ashland, Oregon
Chico, California
Portland, Maine
Hardwick, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Ithaca, New York

Hey, I got a kick out of this. It's gotta be the first time that my town has ever made a list of this kind.
http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/best-towns/Life-is-Better-Here.html

No town holds Vermont’s locavore credentials quite so dear as Hardwick, a small (pop. 3,200) former granite-mining town northeast of Burlington. Starting a few years back, the place basically reinvented itself as one large co-op, with vibrant community-agriculture programs, a year-round farmers’ market (no small accomplishment in northern Vermont), and a program that rents kitchen space to local food producers. It also serves as the gateway to the wild, woolly Northeast Kingdom: from downtown, you’re just 20 minutes from skiing in Stowe, fly-fishing near Johnson, and mountain biking in East Burke.

[distantearlywarning]

1. Lived years in both Durango, CO and Flagstaff, AZ

They're both awesome if you can afford the high COL and don't need to support yourself with an actual job. :-( Durango in particular has a lot of employment opportunities in the minimum-wage service industry and multi-thousands-per-month rents.

Perhaps someone should make a list of "Best Towns To Live In If You Haven't Yet Won The Powerball".

[aikoaiko]

37. I miss Flag.

In the 1980s I rented a 2 bed house near NAU for $350 on South O'Leary.

Wow. I just found it on google maps. The brown house on the left hasn't changed much. Near school and great view of peaks.

Mountain biking. Coffee and veggie slices at Macy's. Pizza at Alpine. All you can eat spaghetti dinners at Cafe in Distress. Good times!

[Tikki]

2. Ha...I just listened to the NPR program on Hardwick, VT earlier today and...

here it is on this list. I bet it is beautiful and such a smart place.
I wish I could do the cold weather, I could visit in Summer, though.


Tikki

[cali]

3. do visit. It's gorgeous here in summer. lovely lakes and it rarely gets really hot

My brother called me to tell me about the program but I haven't heard it yet. Hardwick is a very funky place but I love it. It's a real community- but that's true of all of Vermont. Still, we're doing some very neat stuff here.

[cali]

5. I'm listening to Ben Hewitt now. I think he's saying some remarkably profound

things.

the link:

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/

[Broderick]

4. Madison WI should ought be on top

What a great city.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. Great city - I lived there as a kid

And they had a great public school system, at least it was great in the late 50s, early 60s. But MAN OH MAN the snow and the cold. And then there was the heat and extreme humidity in the summer. If the weather would just ease up a bit, I think I'd vote it on top, too.

[Broderick]

9. not to mention the birds

disguised as mosquitoes.

[grasswire]

6. we're #2! we're #2!

But don't tell anyone. We've been trying to keep it to ourselves for quite sometime now.

It rains a LOT in the Pacific Northwest. And the economy sucks.

[cali]

8. I've never heard of Issaquah before

but then you've probably never heard of Hardwick.

[freeplessinseattle]

35. Used to work in Issaquah, quite the commute but worth it!:) n/t

[Poll_Blind]

10. Portland is a good town but, OMG, the crazy people and (gasp)...the hipsters!

The hipsters aren't so bad. I mean, compared to the crazy people. The town is beautiful but if I stay there too long I go into pedel-pushers, studded-belt, esoteric t-shirt, Betty Page-haircut toxic shock.

PB

[cali]

12. makes me want to visit.

Betty Page-haircut toxic shock?

:rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

17. I like Portland,

but you're right, it does have a vibe. :)

[eShirl]

27. I loved living in Portland 25-ish yrs ago, on the peninsula.

What I miss most is the cool sea air.
The peninsula is where to be if you're going to live there.


edit: wait a minute... you guys are talking about the other Portland on the list, aren't you?

[L. Coyote]

29. Which part of Portland did you end up in?

Next time, try the Japanese Garden :rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

11. I wouldn't trade any of those places for Anchorage,

but maybe they were just talking about the Lower 48.

[cali]

13. So you've visited them all?

[Blue_In_AK]

15. Not all, but several.

And I wasn't meaning to denigrate your town, by any means, if that's how you took it. Congratulations to you!

[cali]

19. nah, I didn't take it that way. In any case, Anchorage is a real city

and offers a lot more than a tiny town like mine.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. We almost came up to Vermont to visit a couple of years ago,

but other things got in the way. From what I've seen in pictures and travelogues, it looks really beautiful up there, and I've got to say that you've got us TOTALLY beat when it comes to senators. :)

[Poll_Blind]

14. How is Anchorage? Is it a nice place to live? I've always been curious.

A friend of mine spent some time in Sitka (sp?) but I don't think her impressions would be representative of the whole state. Something about a toe in whiskey. Anyway, one would expect it would be really conservative? What's the vibe like?

PB

[Blue_In_AK]

16. I suppose it's not everyone's cup of tea,

given the winters, but I really like it for the scenery, for the trails (200 miles of trails within the city of Anchorage), and the parks. There are many hiking and camping opportunities nearby, world-class skiing just 35 miles south of here (Alyeska Ski Resort), amazing fishing opportunities, Mt. McKinley just up the road. Wildlife right here in town, especially our urban moose, which we love. In the summer you can play around the clock since it never gets completely dark. (Winter is another story, of course, but we have a lot of fun things to do in the winter, as well -- lots of winter festivals and parties.)

While we currently have a conservative jackass mayor, we've had several Democratic mayors in the past, and our assembly is currently fairly evenly split beteen liberals and conservatives. Anchorage (unlike Wasilla) is a diverse city of many nationalities. Anchorage School District is currently a 50-50 minority/majority district with almost 100 languages spoken. The school district makes a great effort to accommodate English-challenged students.

Of course, we have problems like any city, but I do like it here. I've been here since 1975 after living in Ohio, Colorado, Texas, Oregon and California and will probably die here.

[L. Coyote]

18. Portland, Oregon suffers pollution.

[LWolf]

23. Yes. But not to the extent that many other large cities do.

If I had to live in a large city, Portland would be my first choice.

I'd still have access to plenty of green, open space.

[Honeycombe8]

24. Oregon is uber expensive, too. I looked up cost of housing...out of reach. nt

[L. Coyote]

28. No sales taxes, property taxed instead.

Count how much you spend each year on sales taxes, then add that to your housing budget if you move to Oregon.

[Still Blue in PDX]

36. Thank you -- I feel much better now! nt

[MorningGlow]

21. Ithaca--beautiful place, and crazy-rabid-far-left too

[Honeycombe8]

22. Obviously a "best places" ilst for PWM (people with money). Most of those

places are pretty pricey, starting with housing, state income taxes, health care, etc.

I couldn't afford most of them, unless I'd made wages up in that area, also (the wages in those areas are higher, too, I guess).

[cali]

25. well, that sure ain't true of Hardwick. Hard Scrabble town is the descriptive

most often employed, and it's accurate. In other words, this is a poor place.

[DaveJ]

33. Mean income was $30-31k on the ones I Googled

That was for one person. That can still be a lot, living off retirement though. I wish tehre were places that cost next to nothing, but were still nice. It could be done if people were to try.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Not one of them is from Florida.

[Ignis]

30. CHICO, of all the places in CA?

:rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

31. Oh, my god, I didn't notice that.

I concur in your :rofl:

[XemaSab]

34. You don't think so?

What would you have picked?

[EmeraldCityGrl]

32. Yeah! My village took third place...

Unfortunately the county to the South votes repukian and we can't rid ourselves of Dave Reichert, the most useless POS in Congress.