My husband and I are considering moving from the Los Angeles area to ... help us fill in the blank! We'd like to stay out west - any move is contingent upon finding a job (I do clerical, husband is a teacher) - so we're going to take some trips this spring/summer to check out potential areas.

Ideally, we'd like:

Affordable housing
Low crime
Smaller town/slower pace
Sense of community
A college town would be nice
A little bit of snow ok
We can handle a few hot summer days
Mostly sunny days (can't handle a lot of rainy/cloudy days)

What towns come to mind? I'm interested in any/all suggetions... Thank you very much!

Bend, Oregon, www.bendchamber.org, or Portland, Oregon http://www.travelportland.com/visito...andonline.com/. We visited both cities last summer and they had so much to offer. Bend, Oregon has excellent schools, a wonderful community and is very new. It is in the high desert and near Mount Bachelor.

I second Bend OR. What do fodorites think of Ellensburg WA, home of Central WA U?

Any other places I can think of in the PNW are either too high priced (Ashland) or too wet (Eugene, Corvallis) for your criteria.

Whatever you do, do not move to Anacortes, Washington. We are full.

Do some investigation of Walla Walla, Coeur d'Alene, and Missoula.

Ellensburg is also nice although like most Seattleites I guess I tend to regard it as the last fruit stand before the mountains.

What about New Mexico?

Don't Californicate New Mexico!

Don't Californicate Oregon!

Fort Collins, CO was voted #1 recently on some list of desireable places to live. Meets your criteria to a T.

San Diego's full too. Stay where you are.

I'd tell you you'd be welcome in my town (you would be), but alas we don't meet many of your criteria! (I just find all the "stay away from here" posts really rude).

dmlove-I think you're taking it a bit too seriously.

Another vote for Walla Walla.

Bend is beautiful! Portland might be a bit wet. Walla Walla is becoming a boomer mecca with lots of wineries.

Montana is full

I am sorry for the rude comments you've experienced here; everyone was from somewhere else before, yet so many feel they have the right to remove the ladder after they've boarded the ship.

As for advice, my sister moved from SoCal to Boise, Idaho a few years ago and likes it a lot. It meets a lot of your qualifications. We "Californicated" the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State more than 12 years ago, and while we really like it; the weather here would probably not suit you.

Put one more SoCal couple in Bend and the earth will tip over.

Take a look at New Mexico. Santa Fe may be out of your price range, but Albuquerque is a smaller city (approx. 500,000 in the metro area) with affordable housing, the University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, and the other things you'd like.

Socorro is about 80 miles south of Albuquerque; it's a smaller town, home of New Mexico Tech. It might get too warm in summer for you, though.

Lee Ann

EllieMayLynch,
I just looked up Anacortes,WA because I had never heard of it. The Chamber of Commerce site has a huge orange banner that says RELOCATION, so apparently the city would want you!
Bend, Oregon won't tip over if you move there, in fact you will have a whole community of former Califorians and others to welcome you. My friend and her family love the place and have many friends and have only been there one year. Former Californians are able to have affordable life styles and any who have sold homes, have money to invest in nicer homes. Whenever things change and grow, some people don't like it. The type of jobs that you list, I think would be in demand in any growing community. So go for it!

Anacortes is west of the Cascades and I don't think would meet the sunshine criteria. (unless it's in the rain shadow....) Also, it isn't a university town.