There’s a lot to do off 61. I would have stayed in Duluth after college if the job market had been better. I’m a weirdo who wants to move north when I retire, but I doubt I can convince my wife.
Whitefish, Missoula, and Bozeman are all quite livable for I think any liberal/non-morally challenged person. It is NOT chud free, and the ones that are there will be loud, but it's worth it for the quality of life. If you expect some oasis away from right wing BS, you will be disappointed though. You can find pockets of social tolerance in those cities.
I have yet to hear about a terrible experience going to college in Missoula or Bozeman. If she loves the outdoors and is ok without large city amenities and ethnic diversity within a reasonable commute, either are solid towns all around. Bozeman is better, but you pay for it
This is a pretty excellent description, probably for a lot of mountain towns/areas out west (sans Idaho)
I have zero chance of getting my wife to move north when I retire, so I’ll probably get divorced and move to Traverse City.
Even places in notoriously racist Northern Idaho like Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene have plenty of areas for liberals to live comfortably. Your politicians will be awful. The places that are chuddy are SUPER chuddy, but I don't think many liberals would ever plan or want to live behind a gun pawn shop or will inherit a bunch of farmland. Chuds like to ski and hike too unfortunately. Living in the mountains has all types of liberals and chuds from all income brackets. The only true liberal rural haven I have ever encountered in the US or Canada were the San Juan Islands in WA.
It used to be that the whacko mountain/off the grid types were their own little subsection of weird, but your common every day conservative is about as nutty, if not more so, than them now.
I'm far from the expert here in the PNW, but the few ski resorts I've been to definitely feel a lot more liberal than conservative. I haven't ventured into Idaho but I know I've read posters say that even Jackson Hole has a very liberal feeling, but you have to pay a nice premium to live nearby.
You might not have the "WE THE PEOPLE" T-Shirt types that make chud living extremely apparent, but you will have numerous boater Gen X/boomer types that instead spend their money on outdoor gear and a trailer/camper. Skiing/hiking absolutely has more of a liberal crowd. You feel it even in ID/MT, but it's far from a coffee shop on Alberta in Portland even at a place like Mt Hood, Bachelor, or Crystal. Even in Canada you see numerous obnoxious conservatives in places like Lake Louise, Banff, Kicking Horse, etc Living near a ski slope will likely give you a crowd and social scenes that a liberal would be comfortable in really no matter the state is the point to be made, but you will never completely avoid chuds.
Missoula for college over Bozeman, but both are great options for her. Love Whitefish, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston for adult living.
Haven’t read through the entire thread yet, but I was coming to say ABQ. If I did it again (a reset) this would be my choice. The Nob Hill area was great and the food around ABQ is great. I know this depends heavily on what you prioritize, but for me: Major airport for travel Low cost of living so I could afford said travel Decent amount of big acts coming through Natural beauty (mountains) were better than I had imagined Triple A team there (isotopes) I love Colorado but it’s expensive as hell. Partner and I have looked at the Montana cities mentioned (Whitefish, Bozeman, Missoula), but they’re getting Colorado-expensive. There’s a small town called Anaconda that I really enjoyed. It’s about two hours from Bozeman and really close to skiing. We also considered Butte, but it’s a little rough.
NoNatty and Duck70 both live near Eugene, a few of us live in the Portland area. There's a bunch more people itt that might be of help. https://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/portland-or-people.120784 Do you know anything about the area? I don't know all that much other than it's a bit more expensive than other larger cities in Oregon given it's reputation as a popular vacation spot.
Not a local, but have spent time in Bend many times in different parts of the year for work and leisure. It's a great area with impeccable weather. Vibe will likely be most similar to a Colorado ski town in my experience. I personally think the lifestyle around Bend is awesome, but so much of town has been bought up by Blackstone types for Airbnbs, and many of the neighborhoods are kinda dumpier than you'd expect as a result. The downtown, river area, and Mill District offer plenty of city amenities. It's a city many people either have three jobs or three homes. I'd describe it as if Portland and Montana had a baby, it would be Bend
I've been a couple of times driving through though. Maybe Sisters could be a good alternative since that's close but smaller? We're going to Sunriver after Christmas and I have a single day pass to Bachelor that I'm eager to use.
There aren't really any towns between Livingston and Yellowstone, but I think I could be pretty happy living in the Emigrant Valley.
That drive is so damn pretty...if you can find a ranch along the river you're not too far from civilization if you need it. Personally, the drive from Big Sky down to West Yellowstone is better (but fuck West Yellowstone). Lake House near Hebgen Lake or Henrys Lake Idaho would be a good move.
Just a random tip if you’re googling about the Bend area. Please be aware that there is a Bend, OR a North Bend, OR (that’s west of Bend by like 4 hours on the coast) and a North Bend, WA (where much of the original Twin Peaks show was filmed and not really relevant here LOL)
Honestly, moving from the Atlanta area Portland is freakishly white. I'm not sure how much more white you could get unless Bend doesn't have any Asian Americans.
Gonna take this opportunity to promote Pine Creek Lodge, an amazing smaller venue there that gets some pretty big names and also has tent and car camping available. I saw Shakey Graves there in July and it was fucking amazing. Spoiler
So is my neighborhood, or at least very close to it. If you want diversity in the PNW then you gotta go to Seattle.
White is under 50% in Yakima. But you still won’t be finding true diversity, just a rather large Latino populace.
I am in Bend several times a month for work (heading out there this weekend). Happy to answer any questions.
curious why you wouldn’t want to live there. Duck70 and I are Bend haters compared to most, but I would still live there.
Man, I have such a love/hate with Bend. Its phony as fuck, the people are generally assholes and the growing “country bro culture” is lame. Also minimal GOAT Willamette Valley seasons, spring and fall. That being said its a gorgeous area and close to so much awesome outdoor activities.
I might be wrong but for me as a newcomer, it seems like the place to vacation nearby during the dead of winter to get on the rain-shadow side of the Cascades and have the possibility of a little bit more sunshine. It's small as hell, but I mentioned Sisters and I enjoyed visiting there. Lots of tourism but it didn't feel like it was packed to the gills with people coming from all over the place.
Growing up in Oregon, Sunriver and Black Butte were great places to vacation. The population of bend was also 20k. It has quadrupled in size over the past 30-years, which is unheard of. Now isn't packed with tourists, but it is full of transplants. The remote worker from California who wears Patagonia every day and has a membership at Tetherow is a real thing. It's the only real way you can afford to live in Bend proper.