Moving Your Family To A Mountain Town

Every day, I give my beautiful, sweet mom a pep talk as she recovers from being ill … always reminding her not to use the word can’t! I think of all the times we say “I can’t do this because of that …” “I can’t do that because of this …” and then one day we wake up and realize that we could have, we can and we will …

I have been in a few different geographical areas in the past few months and each of them from what I can see has their own set of “issues”. Every place requires compromising at some level and the key is to weigh out what compromises will work for you.

For outdoor lovers who would like to raise their kids in a small community with endless recreational opportunities, a beautiful mountain town really is paradise but not without a very real and aggravating “issue” … affordable housing. This comes up in conversation fairly often if you are speaking to anyone living or considering a move to a mountain town.

New West recently did a five part series on the next “Aspen” …

David Frey’s off-season journey through some of the Rockies’ premier ski resort towns took him in search of the “next Aspen,” whatever that might mean. “Aspenization” is seen as either a blessing or a curse in ski towns and in this five-part series, David sets out to find out which is which in Western towns that, along with their neighbors, have undergone some of the most dramatic recent changes in the West.

Aspen Colorado: Devil or Guardian Angel was the final feature.

Personally speaking, at this moment in time, my priority is my family, and making sure my mother gets well and the best care possible. Where I am located is not important. Under calmer circumstances, after spending time away from the mountains, I can confidently say that the compromise of a bigger house, more money, shopping and whatever else that may be more attainable elsewhere would be OK with me if it would allow me to stay living in a mountain town. I would rather commute 45 minutes to an hour in the mountains if that was necessary or rent a place indefinitely rather than give up the lifestyle that I have grown to love.

Circumstances change, priorities change and at different stages of life we all make shifts. I have friends that have left Jackson Hole through the years to be closer to family, go back to school, live closer to a big city … they generally left looking for a change and it was not primarily about money. Those who have struggled with the affordability issue stayed in the area but moved to some of the outlying areas, Teton Valley and Star Valley. They were not going to give up the mountain lifestyle.

I enjoyed reading this blog post, Why we moved to Bend, Oregon … good points to consider when moving your family to a mountain town. Starts like this …

“My wife and I had both been ski bums in Sun Valley, Idaho and we had a goal to get back to an area with a similar life style”.

Weigh your options, plan carefully …don’t say can’t, never say never and don’t ever give up on your dreams.