Zoom Towns
January 27, 2021 12:38 PM Subscribe
Have you moved to a Zoom town? Have you heard of interesting , pandemic-savvy scenic towns, orbiting large cities?
Thank you!
Pre-pandemic, I had moving plans. Post pandemic, I would like something similar, but not the same.
Recently, I've been reading about Zoom Towns.
Curious prospects are Bend, OR (near Portland and Seattle), Truckee, CA (near Lake Tahoe), and Centennial, CO.
It is an interesting, as well as charming idea- it could offer a change of pace, but within the chill of our new pandemic vibes and without the tension of a city.
Have you moved to a Zoom town? Have you heard of interesting or scenic towns, orbiting large cities?
Thank you!
Pre-pandemic, I had moving plans. Post pandemic, I would like something similar, but not the same.
Recently, I've been reading about Zoom Towns.
Curious prospects are Bend, OR (near Portland and Seattle), Truckee, CA (near Lake Tahoe), and Centennial, CO.
It is an interesting, as well as charming idea- it could offer a change of pace, but within the chill of our new pandemic vibes and without the tension of a city.
Have you moved to a Zoom town? Have you heard of interesting or scenic towns, orbiting large cities?
Thank you!
I did just this, moving to Peoria, IL from Chicago.
Halfway between Chicago and St. Louis, dirt cheap cost of living, it's an old river town that has gorgeous bluffs carved during the ancient glacial flows, has an airport and minor league baseball team, is the regional center for health care, and it has gigabit fiber internet (depending on neighborhood) for Zooming to the office.
Only downside is the lack of a true walkable urban center.
posted by Buy Sockpuppet Bonds! at 1:26 PM on January 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
Halfway between Chicago and St. Louis, dirt cheap cost of living, it's an old river town that has gorgeous bluffs carved during the ancient glacial flows, has an airport and minor league baseball team, is the regional center for health care, and it has gigabit fiber internet (depending on neighborhood) for Zooming to the office.
Only downside is the lack of a true walkable urban center.
posted by Buy Sockpuppet Bonds! at 1:26 PM on January 27, 2021 [6 favorites]
I've been thinking about this for a while (pre-pandemic, since I've been working remotely for a long time). The towns you mention are all great, but personally, I'm more interested in Midwestern/Northeastern cities because of climate change. I'm not sure where you are now, but in the West, recent wildfire seasons have been horrific because of the smoke even if you're not in an area that needs to evacuate. Seriously, it's unlivable to the point that I know multiple people who have moved (from California, but Oregon and Colorado have the same issues) for that reason. Just something to think about.
It's a small city and not a Zoom town, but you might want to check out Portland, Maine.
posted by pinochiette at 1:26 PM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's a small city and not a Zoom town, but you might want to check out Portland, Maine.
posted by pinochiette at 1:26 PM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
One of my colleagues has been Zooming from a ski resort for the last month. So there’s that.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 1:32 PM on January 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 1:32 PM on January 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Centennial is a pretty typical suburb of Denver - it’s where the IKEA is and where there’s a lot of rush-hour traffic. It’s definitely not chill and scenic.
posted by heurtebise at 1:53 PM on January 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by heurtebise at 1:53 PM on January 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
Keep in mind that many of the most commonly recommended chill and scenic towns are becoming less chill (if not less scenic, though some are) as population grows rapidly. I have made a vaguely similar move (not to a rural scenic area, but to a historically cheaper and more laid back area), and in the 10 or so years that I've been observing it, the vibe has changed substantially as people discovered it and moved here. This isn't necessarily bad, but I think it's really important to remember that some of the things drawing people to these towns are exactly the things that will go away when a ton of people are drawn to the towns. Prices go up, traffic gets worse, schools become overcrowded, ISPs become oversubscribed, open areas get built up with ever bigger houses on ever smaller plots of land, local shops get replaced, etc. Again, there are positives too. It's not all bad. But change is almost certain.
I encourage you to do some serious thinking about which attributes are most important to you, and which will survive rapid population growth. Or, go against the grain and move somewhere no one else is moving to (with the risk that it can change at any moment, if it becomes the new hot place to move).
posted by primethyme at 2:06 PM on January 27, 2021 [10 favorites]
I encourage you to do some serious thinking about which attributes are most important to you, and which will survive rapid population growth. Or, go against the grain and move somewhere no one else is moving to (with the risk that it can change at any moment, if it becomes the new hot place to move).
posted by primethyme at 2:06 PM on January 27, 2021 [10 favorites]
Honestly, if Colorado is on your list, I would look at Morrison or Golden. In the foothills, but very close to Denver. If you can tolerate being within 2ish hours of Denver, you could look South to Fairplay or Hartsel. We just sold our house in Denver so we could take that equity, split it, and by a house in Hartsel and either rent or buy a smaller place in Denver. We use satellite internet at our mountain house and have, so far, run into no problems while 3 of us zoom and work.
posted by fyrebelley at 2:10 PM on January 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by fyrebelley at 2:10 PM on January 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Northwest Arkansas region is offering people $10,000 actual cash money to move there. I'm from central Arkansas, and I've had a lifelong chip on my shoulder about the superiority of Little Rock (central) to Fayetteville (northwest), but as I now live in the American city with the highest cost of living by most measures I've been considering this an awful lot.
Wal-Mart HQ is in the area, hence the flush of money driving this, but honestly that Walton $ has been partly responsible for some of the regional renaissance over the last decade or two. Major investments in internet, bike paths, cultural attractions, etc., coupled with a cost of living that's still so low (relatively speaking) that it makes my eyes water every time I pay my mortgage.
There are a cluster of several towns that meet the definition of Zoom Towns, with more info here.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:47 PM on January 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Wal-Mart HQ is in the area, hence the flush of money driving this, but honestly that Walton $ has been partly responsible for some of the regional renaissance over the last decade or two. Major investments in internet, bike paths, cultural attractions, etc., coupled with a cost of living that's still so low (relatively speaking) that it makes my eyes water every time I pay my mortgage.
There are a cluster of several towns that meet the definition of Zoom Towns, with more info here.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 2:47 PM on January 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
> Bend, OR (near Portland and Seattle)
Bend is not near Seattle.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:03 PM on January 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
Bend is not near Seattle.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:03 PM on January 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
So Truckee is less a Zoom town than a resort town. It's next to one of the biggest tourist destinations in America although it has slightly cheaper housing than San Francisco or San Jose, that's not saying much. Certainly people have relocated up there during the pandemic to work, but rather than moving outright, many of the people who I work with have gone up there to their vacation homes - so not sure if that really counts for what you're looking for. But real estate data for Truckee shows average home prices having gone from $700K to $900K over 2020 - there's definitely been a lot of buying in a region that is very growth constrained.
At the risk of retreading very tired Twitter threads, the biggest Zoom towns for Bay Area residents are apparently Miami and Austin.
Moving provider review site moveBuddha reports that "Top destination cities for outbound Bay residents include Austin, Seattle, New York, and Portland, Oregon."
Bloomberg reports that the top cities benefit from pandemic inflows are "Austin... followed by Phoenix, Nashville and Tampa"
Oddly people don't seem to be moving to more exurban locations like Centennial CO, but simply to cheaper-but-still-large cities. This could just be a sampling bias as logically more people move to big cities rather than small ones.
In Canada "Young Ontario families moving east help to reverse New Brunswick population drain" - I have heard anecdotally that Guelph and Hamilton are benefiting from people moving out of Toronto, but per the article apparently Saint John is having a relative flood of people.
posted by GuyZero at 8:31 PM on January 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
At the risk of retreading very tired Twitter threads, the biggest Zoom towns for Bay Area residents are apparently Miami and Austin.
Moving provider review site moveBuddha reports that "Top destination cities for outbound Bay residents include Austin, Seattle, New York, and Portland, Oregon."
Bloomberg reports that the top cities benefit from pandemic inflows are "Austin... followed by Phoenix, Nashville and Tampa"
Oddly people don't seem to be moving to more exurban locations like Centennial CO, but simply to cheaper-but-still-large cities. This could just be a sampling bias as logically more people move to big cities rather than small ones.
In Canada "Young Ontario families moving east help to reverse New Brunswick population drain" - I have heard anecdotally that Guelph and Hamilton are benefiting from people moving out of Toronto, but per the article apparently Saint John is having a relative flood of people.
posted by GuyZero at 8:31 PM on January 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is a bit like asking for 'great, but off the beaten path!' tourist locations. If we tell you, it's no longer a nice, little-known, cool spot is it?
My two cents: look for mid-size towns that have decent/good universities but aren't capitals or on the coasts. Places like Dayton, OH, or Bloomington, IN Maybe Ithaca NY, etc.
You'll find good internet, good cost of living, plenty of liberal and radical culture, some action on national tours of arts and shows etc.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:43 PM on January 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
My two cents: look for mid-size towns that have decent/good universities but aren't capitals or on the coasts. Places like Dayton, OH, or Bloomington, IN Maybe Ithaca NY, etc.
You'll find good internet, good cost of living, plenty of liberal and radical culture, some action on national tours of arts and shows etc.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:43 PM on January 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
If you want to define "Zoom Town" as a quaint-but-not-backwards small town that doesn't offer the employment opportunities of larger cities but also isn't too far from one, here are a few in the PNW:
Port Townsend, WA
Langley, WA
Hood River, OR
Astoria, OR
posted by TurnKey at 10:05 PM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
Port Townsend, WA
Langley, WA
Hood River, OR
Astoria, OR
posted by TurnKey at 10:05 PM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
Santa Fe, New Mexico
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:19 AM on January 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:19 AM on January 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Hey, not really seeking up and coming cities or college towns. Try to think of it a little differently. Thanks!
posted by firstdaffodils at 1:07 PM on January 28, 2021
posted by firstdaffodils at 1:07 PM on January 28, 2021
"The Rise of Zoom Towns"
Cities mentioned in California: Truckee, Mountain House, Rancho Cucamonga, Big Bear Lake.
posted by GuyZero at 10:21 AM on February 8, 2021
Cities mentioned in California: Truckee, Mountain House, Rancho Cucamonga, Big Bear Lake.
posted by GuyZero at 10:21 AM on February 8, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
I would consider most of Oregon and Washington scenic, though I have my preference for the greener western side over the dryer eastern, others feel different. There are many communities with fast internet, and they're not necessarily the larger, expected ones. If you need airport or bigger city access, look at proximity to I-84 or I-5, or main state highways. The closer you are to one of those, the better your odds of having year-round road access. Though honestly - some years, it's best to just give in and wait out the ice a couple days.
posted by stormyteal at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]