Ok, so I’m not much of a poster, but I do read this forum quite regularly. I’m hoping you can give me some advice. Our story in a nutshell: I did the BUNAC summer camp thing in upstate NY in the 80s, met the man of my life, eloped, got US citizenship and lived in the Hudson Valley & Manhattan until 2004, when we moved back to the UK. I’m glad we tried living in England, but neither of us really love it here and I’m itching to leave and get back to somewhere having open vistas, with fewer drunken nutjobs and traffic jams.

So, we are planning to come back to the States in the next year or two, but we are having trouble deciding on some locations to research.

We both love the Catskills – mountains, country living, quaint villages, leftish local politics, yet within a few hours of a big city/ for when we need the occasional dose of culture/airports.

However, I just can’t face those long cold winters, so we’re looking for ideas for similar alternatives further south or west.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe the Northwest? Seattle comes to mind...left leaning politics, no snow (OK, a lotta lotta rain), mountains (Ok, volcanos actually) quaint towns, beautiful countryside...

Depends on what you like doing and what you do for a occupation I guess...

NC probably fits your bill, as does Maine, apart from the winters, but southern ME ain't that bad.

As mentioned, Washington State is probably a good spot, place we've been eying up ourselves.

Portland, Oregon would be your spot. It's big enough to serve. Small enough to be manageable. The public transport is rated pretty high and the urban core is pedestrian friendly. You are about 2-3 hours away from Seattle so it's a nice drive if you'd like to have a weekend at the big city. Plus the area is mountainous and very green. Snow is not that much of a problem but it does snow. Not as much as it does in the north east were the Catskills are. Portland is my favorite vacation destination when I want something different than the Midwest.

Here is the guide for Portland
http://www.travelportland.com

Here's the guide for Seattle
http://www.seeseattle.com

PNW it must be!
Scappoose featured in todays local fish wrapper - read up here -

http://www.oregonlive.com/realestate...530.xml&coll=7

Try beautiful Northern Idaho,Has many amenties skiing hiking biking along the old rail road tracks.99 miles fron Canada. Idaho is the only state to be surrounded by six other states,All within driving disatnce.The six states are Oregon ,Washington,Nevada ,Utah,Wyoming and Montana.
Just love it.

Missouri beats you with a number of 8 states surrounding Missouri has the record along with Tennessee.

Arkansas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
Iowa
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee

Now that's said. I've never been to Idaho, but I know it's beautiful. Off all the cities in Idaho, I'd love Coeur d'Alene. However that's not the biggest city or the cultural hotbed of the PNW. It's sure is pretty though.

Like most here (can't speak for the other places ) WA or Oregon does seem to fit the bill. Beautiful here and lovely quaint places.
And being around so much water is lovely. If you are looking for heat then don't come here

How small a quaint place are you looking for, does it have to be within commuting distance to a large town for work etc?

This is a bit OT, but I remember Coeur d'Alene being in the news a few years ago for something... but I can't for the life of me remember what for. I don't think it was good, though.

Ian

The only thing notorious to come out of Idaho was the Senator who played footsie with an under cover cop in the bathroom at MSP Airport.

I think Coeur D'Alene was in the news as the location of a compound of a right wing militia group - I could be wrong though. I also remember reading that it's a retirement area favoured by retired police officers and other retirees from So California.

If you're considering Washington State or Oregon, then don't forget Northern California. Lefter-leaning than the northern neighbors, better weather, but still very, very quaint and rural. Try Mendocino or Fort Bragg on the coast, or go inland to Shasta. There's a confusing number of towns called Shasta in the shadow of Mt. Shasta, but the whole area is very quaint and rural. 'Mount Shasta City' - population 3,000 ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Shasta,_California, http://ci.mt-shasta.ca.us/Main/HomePage

I tend to only drive through the area on my way to other places, and always wish I'd stayed longer.

PS... do you need to be working? What will you be doing?

Coeur d' Alene is NeoNazi/Aryan Brotherhood central. It is very pretty though.

Well I do have Canada above

The Neo Nazis are long gone,They razed their compound to the ground,I know some one bought the land,In fact its in Hayden and a couple of miles up the road.
The Neo Nazis went to Ohio I believe.
All we have now to contend with is rain at the moment.