Where Should I Live After the Trip?
Posted on: 19 June 2009 /
Categories: Self Promotion
I have no idea where I’m going to be living after the road trip (speaking of which, several updates on the other blog since last time I mentioned it). A couple months to decide, o’ course, but figure it’d at least be worthwhile to have some criteria set up:
- Rents < $1,000 for a place with a 2-car garage and something like a yard.
- Close enough to the mountains that getting a season’s pass for skiing makes sense.
- Close to good hiking.
- Close to a real karting track.
- In the vicinity of an adult baseball league I can join.
- Close to current friends/family.
- Not crushingly urban (e.g., New York).
- Not crushingly rural (e.g., Twin Falls).
- Not crushingly suburban (e.g., Mission Viejo).
- Not crushingly pretentious (e.g., Laguna Beach).
- Predominately sunny (not necessarily warm, just sunny).
- Smart, reasonably compatible prevailing personality.
- Should be non-imaginary.
It might be tough to find a place that meets all those criteria. Here are the places that could be considered front-runners, along with the areas where they may not measure up (listed alphabetically):
- Kauai: Not much skiing, karting, or baseball; can’t get a place with a garage for under $1,000 (but it’s still a cheaper rental market than SoCal); might get really sick of it after three weeks.
- Reno: No family and only one friend (whom I haven’t talked to for a few years); could be too redneckish; possibly imaginary.
- San Diego: Couldn’t possibly get a 2BR w/ garage for less than $1K without living somewhere where I’d get shot daily (although it’s really not much more expensive than Seattle-Tacoma); no skiing and karting is tricky; not as sunny as non-Cals think; could be pretentious or trashy, depending on the neighborhood.
- Seattle-Tacoma Area: Not very sunny; don’t really have any friends that live there (that I’ve talked to in the last 20 years at least); would have to get deep into the sticks in order to find a 2BR place with a garage under $1,000/month.
- Tahoe: No friends or family; could be too pretentious or too rural — really; not close to karting or baseball; no idea on personalities.
- Some Random Place: I got at least a couple months to figure it out.
Or if some municipality wanted to pay me cash considerations in exchange for positive blog mentions, I’d be up for that probably.
bkd
There’s probably a house in Browns Point that meets the majority of your criteria — I don’t htink the 2-car garage would be available for your personal use, however.
“Smart, reasonably compatible prevailing personality.” Can anybody who is not BKD define what this even means?
Mountains and karting — good luck. A gold mining district, perhaps? (Or did you wnat MOTOR-karts?)
Neither urban, nor rural, nor suburban — you’re through the looking glass with that one. Of course, “should be” non-imaginary — emphasis on “should.”
Perhaps if you printed a list of all friends and potential friends and their addresses, we could opine more helpfully.
Vancouver, BC, perhaps? Probably pretentious.
Sheridan, Wyo — think about it.
Yes, like Mrs. Telk, I think I am clever sometimes.
Mr. Telk
Not crushingly pretentious? Pot, meet kettle.
Nice! Hey, MikeD with the masterplan, could you cite some specific examples of your personal interactions with me that make you feel qualified to call me a hypocrite for referring to Laguna Beach as “pretentious”? I see from your ISP that you’re in OC yourself — it’s hard to imagine that someone in OC can be so self-unaware as to be offended by the notion that Laguna Beach *might* be pretentious. Oh well. We’re one heckuva species.
You are always welcome in San Diego–the Mt. Helix area is nice, not pretentious and I’m looking for an excellent assistant coach (not part of your criteria). The 619 is almost always sunny, except for May and June from midnight ’til Noon.
Nothing personal bro, just reading the post (i.e., listing places or areas that would be beneath you to live). That’s pretentious.
So — in what sense “not personal”? Seems like calling someone out on his blog is pretty much always personal, whether you say it is or not. I’ve lived in all the places named, so how “above them” could I possibly be? Like all places, they have pluses and minuses and depending on who you are and what you want, the minuses matter more or less. I’d like to live somewhere without these particular minuses.
There’s a little place in southeastern Washington called The Tri-Cities (you don’t have to capitalize The, but sometimes it can be fun) that might fit most of your list. Richland (one of The Tri) can get a little bit full of itself sometimes, but it isn’t too bad. Check it out.
Ashland Or. is the spot Brian. Yep, I would guess it meets all criteria. Except for maybe the friends and family.