OT Good Places in the Country to Live

[Lanny]

Beautiful Central Oregon.

Contact me. I will make your dream come true.

You're gonna switch to the Democratic party?

 

[Lanny]

this seems to depend on how big a 'city' you want to live in and the weather you want. The Austin metro area has 2.2M people, which is just about 2.2M more than I'd like. I think PDX metro is close to 2.5M

I'm stuck in Salem for a variety of reasons, and the metro here is about 400K, and to me that's 400K too many

I wouldn't mind a place like Le Grande or Baker City or even a tiny place like Lakeview in Oregon. I like those areas of the state and I generally get along fine with rednecks unless I'm driving a keyboard. I like some places on the coast too like Florence. Newport is too dense and crowded

but it seems like El Pres needs some crowds around him. No fun whirling a katana if you don't draw blood

Last time I looked it up, the Portland metro population was 2.25 Million.

 

[Lanny]

Victoria would be fun to live there for a year.

In the Empress hotel.

 

[Lanny]

I live in Winter Park right outside Orlando and it's not too bad. Good diversity and a lot of good places to eat. 45 minutes from either coast. Not going to live here past a couple more years though. Will probably just move back to Oregon when the job market bounces back.

One of my favorite towns/cities I've been through in my many road trips across the country was Manhattan, KS. College town, reminded me a lot of Corvallis.

I was just gonna say Philomath because of its' proximity to Corvallis.

 

[Lanny]

Do you like the Hilo side of the island? I think the humidity would bother me. We’ve been eyeing property in the Waikoloa Village area. It’s near beaches that we really enjoy.

I like the Kona side much better than the Hilo side. When we went there we didn't get a place with an ocean view which I dearly regret.

 

[riverman]

Nevada City California....tucked in the foothills of the Sierra's it's a beautiful, artistic town with lots of live music, gold rush architecture, lot of culture...probably my favorite place in N. California..it was the closest large town from my land in the 70s...Yuba river country

 

[wizenheimer]

Last time I looked it up, the Portland metro population was 2.25 Million.

lol at Vancouver having the exact same number as Portland. I'll bet Beaverton has the same number too

 

[lawai'a]

Do you like the Hilo side of the island? I think the humidity would bother me. We’ve been eyeing property in the Waikoloa Village area. It’s near beaches that we really enjoy.

waikaloa village is in between hualalai and mauna kea. think of it in terms of a valley surrounded by grassland, but with small rainfall amounts. green for very short periods. windy and dusty after. always near wild fires up on the high road between kona and waimea. traffic in normal times between it and anywhere else can be very heavy because of all the kohala coast resorts' visitors and the workers that service them. kind of insulated demographics as much of the building there was during the boom and the costs of housing reflected the demand then. very limited shopping with 1 kta grocery. shopping at the resort stores closest would be like having a 7-11 as your only available option, as prices reflect the monies available to resort guests.
if you are talking about the hilton waikaloa village then you are in the resort itself and talking about a completely different animal costs wise. the ocean breezes and golf course and resort landscaping there create a different micro climate as well.

 

[donkiez]

I've been all over the county multiple times and I think about this a lot. For me it mostly comes down to weather, I don't want to live anywhere that is too extreme and major events like hurricanes and tornados are huge negatives. So the midwest and NE are mostly out for their winters, and summers and extreme events have most of the SE and SW out. Most of the west coast near the ocean is perfect for me, anywhere from Seattle to San Diego which are all tolerable and enjoyable most of the year. Hawaii is obviously a dream but I wonder how being so isolated is after a few years. I think if you can afford a summer winter situation then that is the real dream, something like Phoenix in the winter and Portland in the summer would be great.

Ultimately we could end up in Mexico though. We are in love with the food, culture, weather and especially the prices there. Security is a concern but many places seem ok. The weather in some of the mountain cities are like spring and sunny 300 days a year and the beaches are famously amazing. Our spots we are interested in are Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido, Akumal/Tulum, Merida, Mexico City area (Coyoacan or Puebla), Guanajuato and San Miguel Allende. I also have some friends in an expat community in Ajijic, they use to winter there and eventually moved full time because they loved it so much.

 

[e_blazer]

waikaloa village is in between hualalai and mauna kea. think of it in terms of a valley surrounded by grassland, but with small rainfall amounts. green for very short periods. windy and dusty after. always near wild fires up on the high road between kona and waimea. traffic in normal times between it and anywhere else can be very heavy because of all the kohala coast resorts' visitors and the workers that service them. kind of insulated demographics as much of the building there was during the boom and the costs of housing reflected the demand then. very limited shopping with 1 kta grocery. shopping at the resort stores closest would be like having a 7-11 as your only available option, as prices reflect the monies available to resort guests.
if you are talking about the hilton waikaloa village then you are in the resort itself and talking about a completely different animal costs wise. the ocean breezes and golf course and resort landscaping there create a different micro climate as well.

Thanks for the information, lawai'a. I know it's kind of isolated out there, and I've experienced the wind a couple of times. There's a new shopping center under development that's going to bring a Foodland to that community, so that should provide a bit of competition. I figure that we'd do a Costco trip to Kailua once or twice a month for the major purchases. We're still very much in the preliminary discussion stage, but the prices for condos there are a lot more affordable than many places on the island. The Waikoloa Beach Resort condos typically have HOA fees that run $1,000 or so a month, so that's not on our radar.

 

[lawai'a]

Thanks for the information, lawai'a. I know it's kind of isolated out there, and I've experienced the wind a couple of times. There's a new shopping center under development that's going to bring a Foodland to that community, so that should provide a bit of competition. I figure that we'd do a Costco trip to Kailua once or twice a month for the major purchases. We're still very much in the preliminary discussion stage, but the prices for condos there are a lot more affordable than many places on the island. The Waikoloa Beach Resort condos typically have HOA fees that run $1,000 or so a month, so that's not on our radar.

nice. they are more recent builds in that community (condos) so the infrastructure should be good and help HOA fees stability too. older kona apartment/hotel conversions to condos often have failing infrastructure and fees can be 25% of typical mortgages and up monthly as repairs are made. keahou too. my friends have a unit out there at former resort and new waterlines from county to buildings happening now. the in wall plumbing is failing in one of the buildings too. i suspect maybe you golf? many of those units are on the waikaloa village course, and paniolo greens club.
i noticed that the beaches are a big draw for you and your wife. seek out puako if you haven't already. protected and shallow forever just before the big drop into the deeps.

 

[e_blazer]

nice. they are more recent builds in that community (condos) so the infrastructure should be good and help HOA fees stability too. older kona apartment/hotel conversions to condos often have failing infrastructure and fees can be 25% of typical mortgages and up monthly as repairs are made. keahou too. my friends have a unit out there at former resort and new waterlines from county to buildings happening now. the in wall plumbing is failing in one of the buildings too. i suspect maybe you golf? many of those units are on the waikaloa village course, and paniolo greens club.
i noticed that the beaches are a big draw for you and your wife. seek out puako if you haven't already. protected and shallow forever just before the big drop into the deeps.

We absolutely love Puako. We can’t really do much on our planning until Covid is under control, but we’re keeping an eye on the housing market.

 

[THE HCP]

Only been once. Went to a game in January at Butler vs Seton Hall. Very nice right around the university but outside of that I don’t know. Heard downtown Indy is nice. Also heard can be kind of a racist place. Friends here moved from Indy a few years ago.

Downtown Indy is NOT nice sir.

 

[THE HCP]

Kauai is spendy

Our favorite place on earth bro......

 

[calvin natt]

Downtown Indy is NOT nice sir.

Hm I heard they revamped it - maybe it’s only a section of the city. Or maybe it sucks who knows

 

[lawai'a]

Our favorite place on earth bro......

View attachment 33564

i know you probably can't afford to travel yet, but after your experience with the NBA bubble, i thought of you when they announced this yesterday https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/...s-resort-bubbles-quarantining-visitors-kauai/
Governor approves ‘resort bubbles’ for quarantining visitors on Kauai
has a video so no need read!
nah, anh nah. only joking my brother. i pray you are back sooner than later.

 

[THE HCP]

@riverman we found this house on stilts tucked way back in the jungle on Air BnB...... this is our spot! Feel like you’re the only people on earth there. You can only go about another 1/2 mile, then you hit the Nepali Coast and can’t go any further. Absolute heaven on earth.

 

[riverman]

@riverman we found this house on stilts tucked way back in the jungle on Air BnB...... this is our spot! Feel like you’re the only people on earth there. You can only go about another 1/2 mile, then you hit the Nepali Coast and can’t go any further. Absolute heaven on earth.

View attachment 33565

You know that house is on stilts for a reason bro! Floodplain!

 

[e_blazer]

Our favorite place on earth bro......

View attachment 33564

That's why it's spendy.

 

[e_blazer]

i know you probably can't afford to travel yet, but after your experience with the NBA bubble, i thought of you when they announced this yesterday https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/...s-resort-bubbles-quarantining-visitors-kauai/
Governor approves ‘resort bubbles’ for quarantining visitors on Kauai
has a video so no need read!
nah, anh nah. only joking my brother. i pray you are back sooner than later.

Hmm. Is that a hotel or a petri dish?

They could probably save a few bucks on the geo-watch idea just by having the "guests" using the doggie fence idea and having everyone wear a shock collar. No need for police. Just have staff drive the perimeter and scoop up wayward tourists where they lie.

 

[lawai'a]

Hmm. Is that a hotel or a petri dish?

They could probably save a few bucks on the geo-watch idea just by having the "guests" using the doggie fence idea and having everyone wear a shock collar. No need for police. Just have staff drive the perimeter and scoop up wayward tourists where they lie.

so more like a taser? i could get behind that.

 

[Lanny]

Hm I heard they revamped it - maybe it’s only a section of the city. Or maybe it sucks who knows

My niece and her family recently moved out of there. She viewed it as pretty much a hell hole mostly because of the politics. My great nephew, a very moral young man, told a story about the extreme racism of his high school principal and many of his fellow students.

 

[calvin natt]

My niece and her family recently moved out of there. She viewed it as pretty much a hell hole mostly because of the politics. My great nephew, a very moral young man, told a story about the extreme racism of his high school principal and many of his fellow students.

That’s what I’ve heard. Very racist.

 

[Lanny]

That’s what I’ve heard. Very racist.

No one in my family on my wife's side can tolerate racism whatsoever including me. I once slugged a guy for making a racist statement directed at my wife. I then had to verbslly dress down two little nasty ladies on a gambling bus headed to Spirit Mountain for complaining that my wife and her sister were speaking Korean to each other and not English. That shut them up good.
You can see how I'd go crazy in Indiana.