State / Location

My wife and I are sick of California and we are looking to get out. The only problem is you can not beat the weather and length of boarding season.

What I am looking for is were in the US besides FL. is there decent housing cost and good riding lakes with a half way decent riding season 5+ months?

Nice question

NC

Why are you sick of California, too crowded? Check out Arizona or come to the east coast.

TX-Lake Travis or Lake Austin

AZ might be good.

D/FW area of Texas! The weather is nice, but inconsistent at times. The summers are really hot, and humid, and winter isn't too bad, or too long. I'd say you could easily get at a 5-month season for sure, but probably closer to 6, if not more? The best part… the cost of living. Texas is much cheaper (Ft. Worth is cheaper than Dallas), you won't believe the difference. I'd definitely look into it. You might also check out the Austin area. There's lots of riding going on down there, and the temperature stays a little warmer during the winter. Hope that helps.

-Blake

i had a 6 month season when i lived in indiana.

You live in SO*Cal....enough said
How about Northern Cal ?

Mango,

Yeah, there is to many people here and everything it so expensive. I can take the money I have made on my house and put a nice down payment on a house 2 times the size.

Walt,

North Cal is worse for prices for what I have seen. I would have to work in the city and it would be to much.

We have been looking at TX, Col, & FL but I would like to check out a few othere places

Thanks for all the reponses so far.

Colorado would be cool if you like to ski or snowboard in the winter time but i'm not sure about the lakes there. You can't go wrong with Florida man but like i said i think you can do pretty well for your money in Arizona if you like it hot.

Just got the info. on my parents place in Weatherford (20 minutes west of Fort Worth). 3,000-3,500 sq. ft. house 7 years old at time of purchase (99-00), 10 acres, $250K. Try to find something like that in SoCal... It'd never happen.

-Blake

Blake,

That is what I am talking about.

Seriously check out AZ. House prices are decent and appreciating very nicely. Hot, yeah its hot. Just makes the lakes that much cooler and the season that much longer. Rain? Yeah right. When the rest of the country is shoveling snow or wearing 4 layers of clothing, you'll be hitting a d-up at the lake. And if you still have family in CA it takes a few hours by car or $100 flight. Moved here 6 yrs ago from CO and don't plan on leaving any time soon.

North Carolina

Southern Utah (St. George), it seems the rest of California is moving here, you might as well too
Really though. Several lakes. Riding season from April-November. My husband has gone year round w/o a suit, but a little cold for my taste. Great housing, I'll even design you a custom home
Good luck!

Oh yeah, depending on your taste and price, you can get a nice home for the $150-250 range. I just built a sweet 3000 sq. ft. home on 1/3 acre right in town for 200K.

Northern California rules. It has MXing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and surfing all within a few hours driving time. I wouldn't leave Norcal for anything. Well, maybe one thing.

AZ all the way.... we wakeboard all year long (wetsuits for a couple of months) and also have snowboarding only 2 hours away in the winter. And like cheese said, houses/land appreciate extremely well. come down for a trip and see for yourself. Its siiiick here. Also, lakes aren't as crowded like some I've been on in other states and there is still plenty to choose from/

I would only leave cali for arizona

Chicago, you can freeze your butt off and ride from April to November if your lucky. You'll enjoy some of the most shallow lakes/rivers in the US. You also get to look at lots of Eliminator/Baja's running 70mph and tubers galore....wait....this sucks. Let me know when you find a place.

Anyone need a good Network Architect/Engineer in a warm place where I can ride year round?

(Message edited by jjared on August 02, 2004)

tyler, where do you go snowboarding?

What's that one thing you would leave Nor Cal for Rene?
I know we got it all - Snow, Wake and Surf.
Nor Cal is the place.

Louisiana...doesnt sound good but everyone fishes here so the water is always perfect. Its really my secret because I am the only serious wakeboarder out here. plus the season lasts 8-9 months with a wetsuit.

come to texas. specificly cedar park. that is where i live. you have the choice of buttery but conisistantly cold lake austin(constant level lake) or lake travis which is also perfect if you know when and where to go. and you also have a couple other lakes within an hour to 3 hours drive. and there is also padre island which is 6 hours away for a nice beach trp. wehave it all. long boarding season, and you could go year round if you wanted. just need a dry suit, that is what we do sumtimes in the winter. and housing is very good priced. we just moved into a 3600sqft home in a nice new neighborhood about half a mile from the HS a mile from the MS and a mile from elementary for 260 grand. but deifently give austin/ cedar park/ leander a good look

Come to SE indiana. My neighbor is selling their lakehouse...239,900. 4 bedroom, not much garage, but other houses right on the lake are selling for triple the cost. I'm about 5 minutes from a small ski hill with a terrain park. Cincinnati area has lots to offer...arts, sports, good schools, close to large national parks and lakes with no depth issues...Cumberland, Norris, Dale Hollow, Brookville. Plus, in Lawrenceburg, we have the world's largest Riverboat Casino...

Yeah, what Blake said.

In the Dallas?Fort Worth area the cost of living is unbelievably lower than anywhere in Cali plus we have many lakes within the are. You are also just a few hours from the river. Do we even have to tell you about our Summers?

The Brazos River is really nice, good riding, good party spot, really cheap real estate, and only about 30-45 minutes away from downtown Fort Worth. On top of all that, there are some very good riders out there. Never before have I seen so many talented riders in one spot. I'll be looking for a place down there in a few years, I'd recommend you do to.

-Blake

Hey, Chris K, by "the river" I hope you're not referring to the Trinity. You said a few hours so I'll assume you're talking about something else. The Trinity is the foulest river I've ever had the misfortune of living near. At least I only had to endure it on the way to work. I've seen houses nead there and I can't see how they can stand the smell when it's hot outside.

I do agree that DFW has good riding waters but I would take NE GA any day over DFW. The lakes I've been on in Texas (Joe Pool, Texhoma) are way too crowded for my liking. Of course, they're still less crowded than the reservoir I went to once in Colorado. In Commerce, GA I'm about 45 mins from Lanier, 20 mins from Hartwell, and 1 hour from Atlanta. I'm very happy with that arrangement. Both lakes get crowded at times but there are tons of coves in each. I typically start my season in May and ride until early October. Sometimes it's only 4 1/2 months of riding time, but it's usually close to 5.

LoL. . . hell no I'm not talking about the Trinity. That's just a big flowing pool of crap. Thank god I live nowhere near it. I was talking about the Brazos River.

(I usually board at Lake Arlington, it's not too crowded)

(Message edited by part_timer on August 03, 2004)

Dallas/Ft Worth. I live right on the edge of Lake Lewisville. Its got a bunch of fingers branching off the main middle section, and luckily I live on one that wakeboarders frequent. Relatively calm waters most of the time, also glass is pretty common. Housing is cheap, although in my area you'll find houses anywhere from $150,000 to $2,500,000

texas is inexpensive and i think there is some lakes around austin and sanantonio plus you have texas ski ranch with the cables in New Braunfels

Texas = no state taxes
Nevada = no state taxes

Sounds good to me.

I saw a magazine with houses in the Dallas area. You can get a mansion "7000+ SQF 4 acres of land" for $1,000,000. Here in SoCal you can get your car washed for that amount! LOL

Dallas is definitely more expensive than Fort Worth... I don't know why, they're relatively the same, except Dallas has 2-3 (maybe 4?) times as many people. I've never been on the lakes in Dallas, I tend to stick around the Fort Worth area, and I have no complaints. The lakes aren't too crowded, the water is good (morning, and evening time), and... Oh yeah, gas is only about $1.75/gal. compared to $2.25/gal.

"The Trinity," that was funny... I'd never drop a boat, or even a board, in that thing... Only dead people, and grocery store carts, swim there.

-Blake

ZIMMER,

When your leaving see if you cant take some more people with you!!!!
I,for one, am glad to see you moving. Nothing personnal but the more the merrier, so find someone else and take them with you.

GIVE ME BACK MY TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!

you ever thought about washington state? there are some nice places to ride and you can ride for about 6 months maybe longer with a wet/dry suit. durning the winter the mountains are about an hour drive.

Guntersville, Alabama Its a beautiful place and the water is nice all week. Its full of smaller creeks and large open areas. Its a great place to live in general.......

So far, I am realy liking the Austin TX area. I can get a 3,000 sf house on the lake for around 280,000. Now I am not sure how good lake austin or travis is but they look cool. Now, I have to take a visit there and see if I can find a job.

Erik,
We are all trying to get away from you!!!

Yeah gotta give props to the Austin area. I am from the Houston area myself, but Austin is a much better local. There is just so much to do there, and you are close to San Antonio and San Marcos, which are other totally cool places. You got a couple of lakes in the Austin area, and you have the Texas Ski Ranch and Cable Park in News Braunfels (and an awesome outlet mall in San Marcos for your wife <grin>). Not to mention that Texas is one of the best-bang-for-your-buck living arrangements, there are no state income taxes, and the weather is great about 8 months out of the year for good wakeboarding!

Zimmer If you are looking to stay,I will sell you my 3300sq ft house here in Socal for $750K.
It even has a pool.
Lighten up a little Zimmer I was just Kidding you about leaving.

Good luck in your move

Erik,

No worries, I was just joking with you too.

Thanks

I'd say you should check out Central CA. I mean the housing isn't really any cheaper, but quality of life has got to count for something! San Luis Obispo is probably one of the nicest places I've ever seen. It gets cheaper the closer you get to the lakes. Anyhow hope it all works out for you.

N. Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern Indiana or Illinios, Georgia, Arkansa.

All have plenty of lakes and decent cost of living.

Zimmer, we're in the same boat. The only thing good about Cali is the weather. If it wasn't for my business i'd have sold the houses and been looong gone.

We're looking at Idaho right now. I know the boarding isn't good, but wakeboarding isn't as important as my family and their comfort. I seriously hate it here.

Once we find a place and the timing is right my Sanger will be up for sale.

/grumpy B-

BTW, Zimmer.. I found a place in Idaho that's appealing.
just under 5000 sq Ft 5 bed/3bath sitting on 114 acres on the side of a mountain with huge windows overlooking the clear river. 15 minutes from the city(I love that part)!! A bit over 200K..the house is 8 years old, so, pretty new. eff Cali.
B-

barry, you should just gimme the sanger.

Barry, that is one amazing price. Would love to see ya move to CO. Similar climate as Idaho I think, but no where near the housing bargains!!!!

How are the lakes in Colorado? I love snowboarding! I would like to leave some place where I can snowboard all winter and wakeboard all summer without having to drive 300 miles.

-- John

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quote:

I would like to leave some place where I can snowboard all winter and wakeboard all summer without having to drive 300 miles.

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sounds like sacramento's a good choice for you....1.5hrs to tahoe, 1hr to delta. what more could you ask for?

Less than an hour if you ride the Sac river.

1.5? At 60 mph maybe. I git-r-done in about 1.25 or less (North Lake). Sugar Bowl is more like 50mins.

Of course, these times are from Roseville...

u gotta consider traffic in the dead of winter.

I'm currently looking into buying a home in Granite Bay.

UMMMM...can you please tell me where the 3,000 sq ft house on the lake for $280,000 is. The ones I see are more like this:

http://www.remax-texas.com/property/property.asp?PRM_MLSNumber=7280605&PRM_MlsName=Aus tin&VAR_BackURL=%2Fproperty%2Fproplist%2Easp%3FVAR %5FPropertyCity%3DAUSTIN%26PRM%5FMLSNumber%3D%26PR M%5FPropertyTypeCode%3D%26PRM%5FAddress%3D%26PRM%5 FzipCode%3D%26PRM%5FMinimum%5FPrice%3D0%26PRM%5FMa ximum%5FPrice%3D99999999%26PRM%5FMinimum%5FSqFt%3D %26PRM%5FMinimum%5FBeds%3D%26PRM%5FMinimum%5Fbaths %3D%26PRM%5FMinimum%5FDateListed%3D%26PRM%5FOrderB y%3DpPrice%2Bdesc

Rene, you do realize that is one of the most expensive zip codes in the area? (95746)

If you can swing it, by all means. Just get used to Eddie Murphy flying his damn helicopter over your house at all hours.

If you are dead-serious I have a realtor who can help who won't dick you around.

(Message edited by chavezychavez on August 04, 2004)

Rene If you get the place in Granite Bay give me a shout out the shop is 5 minutes away.
Later Sean

and if you're totally serious, i know a guy that'll get you the best rate out there.

Idurnal,

Here are some that are in the 300,000 & 400,000 but I have seen some that have a dock for 280,000

http://www.greater-austin-homes.com/myhomes.asp

(Message edited by mx118 on August 04, 2004)

Umali - HA!!!

Andrew, you just want to steal my dog.

Laughing at Umali will get you banned.

B-

Been in So Cal for 46 years and have had it! Crowded, expensive .... One more year for my kid to finish school, and we are OUT OF HERE! Looking at NorCal, Oregon, or Wash. Have to be within a couple hours of the coast or my head may explode. I have been spoiled with weather, beaches, etc for long enough. Time for a change. After being on this board, and seeing that people wakeboard everywhere, I am good to go.

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quote:

Laughing at Umali will get you banned.

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If that were the case, everyone on the board would get banned!

What about scottsdale AZ, anyone know of any lakes there where you can purchase property on the watersedge. Im heading there over labor day and want to check out some housing.

Closest lake to Scottsdale, AZ is either Bartlett Lake or Saguaro depending on where at in Scottsdale. 30-45 min drive again depending on where in Scottsdale you are at. Only housing on water is at private lakes in Mesa, Crystal Point Estates and San Tan Lake are a couple of examples. Real Estate in Scottsdale is kind of pricy compared to what you can get in Chandler, Gilbet, Mesa. Its all close, good freeway system, I live in Chandler and work up in North Scottsdale, the exact same house I live in now would be 100k more at least. Can ride year round, snowboarding 2 hours north, can't beat it. It is going to take A LOT for me to leave AZ.