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  #41  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 6:44 PM
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Salt Lake City is pretty but the lake is an ecological liability. If I were creating a vent diagram for overall livability in the west, cities like Spokane or Rapid City might be at the top of the list. I like people tho so I'll stay in Portland.
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  #42  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 7:01 PM
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Probably Salt Lake if you don't mind being far from the Ocean.

But really all of the western cities are close to those things within a few hours' drive. Thats the best part of living in the western USA

Where I live is 2 hours from Sking and 3 hours from the beach (But its in Mexico) With about 5 different climate zones within close proximity
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  #43  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 7:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomayoplease View Post
Based on the following:
Proximity to national parks
Proximity to the most varied geographical features, mountains deserts, volcanos, mesas, canyons
road connectivity

My pick and recent trip of mine. Bend, Oregon. High desert, close to a variety of mountains, got a few volcanos and somewhat close to the coast
Boise is surrounded by some of the most diverse landscapes in the Inland West which includes mountains, deserts, volcanos, mesas, canyons and forests. Southern Idaho is a goldmine for exploring extinct volcanos and ice caves.

The Snake River Canyon is south of the city and is home to the largest population of nesting birds of prey in North America. One of the largest known collections of ancient petroglyphs in North America are in this canyon.
It is close to Boise, but feels like a world away.

The Owyhee Canyonlands beyond the Snake River are a collection of incredible sheer wall canyons with rivers and most of this area is protected by Wilderness classification. IMO, these are among the most breathtaking desert canyons in the west and Idaho shares some of the canyons with Oregon.

Boise is at the base of the largest contiguous forested & mountainous wilderness areas in the Lower 48 which begins in the mountains above the city and extends North into British Columbia.

Idaho has the most miles of whitewater rivers in the nation, and many of these are easily accessible from Boise. The Payette and Salmon Rivers are some of the finest.

Other destinations within a few hours of Boise includes McCall and glacial Payette Lake, Stanley and the Sawtooth’s and White Clouds, Sun Valley, Craters of The Moon, and a lot of Wilderness, including the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness which is the largest classified alpine wilderness in the US outside of Alaska. Hells Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in North America is near Boise and at the border with Oregon. There are also a lot of incredibly beautiful areas in Oregon along and near the Idaho border.

If your idea of fun is a crowded national park, Yellowstone and Teton NP's are within 5 hours drive, but there is so much spectaular beauty closer to Boise without an entrance fee and busloads of tourists.

A longer drive into North Idaho will place a person in the largest interior temperate rain forest in the world which is in North Idaho/BC. Spokane is closer to this than Boise. Spokane is a great option as well when considering landscapes.



The Top of Boise:


by Sean, on Flickr


by Sean, on Flickr


by Sean, on Flickr
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Last edited by Sawtooth; May 22, 2023 at 8:07 PM.
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  #44  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:03 PM
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Having lived in los Angeles, i woukd still rank other cities above it. It is far from voltados, central Valle abd northern cali are better choices . About the PNW Spokane is not a bad location .
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  #45  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:07 PM
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Originally Posted by pdxtex View Post
Salt Lake City is pretty but the lake is an ecological liability. If I were creating a vent diagram for overall livability in the west, cities like Spokane or Rapid City might be at the top of the list. I like people tho so I'll stay in Portland.
come visit Buffalo. I'll try to make you a convert. Be part of the renaissance early, unlike Portland which already had its renewal peak in the late Aughts
Talking to the guys on SSC, one forumer guesstimates there's about 2,500 units of housing (conversions and new apartments) under construction in the city of Buffalo right now.
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  #46  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:08 PM
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Originally Posted by homebucket View Post
Depends on your definition of "city" but Fresno is a lot more centrally located to the mountains and desert areas of California, if we're considering "most varied geographical features". If you're thinking only major cities/metros then I think LA would fit the criteria more so than SF due to its proximity to the desert. If you want to take into account canyons and variety of desert landscapes, as well as the Great Plains into consideration, then I think you could make an argument for Las Vegas as well.

Which is also why the PNW (no desert) and interior mountain west such as SLC and Denver (no ocean) are lacking. California is the only state that has everything.
People hate on fresno but i love there, specially when i owned a motorcycle. The variety of landscape close by is amazing

Last edited by Nomayoplease; May 22, 2023 at 8:58 PM.
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  #47  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Nomayoplease View Post
Having lived in los Angeles, i woukd still rank other cities above it. It is far from voltados, central Valle abd northern cali are better choices . About the PNW Spokane is not a bad location .
There are volcanoes in San Bernardino County, just not of the Mount St. Helens or Mount Shasta kind.

Amboy Crater
Cima volcanic field
Malapai Hill
Pisgah Crater

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States
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  #48  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:24 PM
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St. George is the best located city - on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, gorgeous desert scenery, good weather, within a days drive to dozens of national and state parks, and easy interstate access to LA, Vegas and SLC.
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  #49  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Quixote View Post
Greater LA is the only metropolitan area in the world that has miles of decent coastal beaches, snow-capped mountains, sprawling deserts, and semi-remote islands in its backyard. And if your definition of amazing weather is low humidity and temperatures (usually) not exceeding 75° F (23.9° C) degrees during the hottest summer months, then Oxnard/Ventura have the best weather in the world.

With that said, our beaches aren't on the level of South Florida, mountains the Rockies, deserts northern Arizona, and islands Hawaii. That wouldn't be very fair.
South Florida has better *beaches*, but SoCal has a far better *coastline.* More varied and interesting topography, coastal bluffs, sea caves, tide pools, kelp forests, and a lot more marine life.
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  #50  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 8:43 PM
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It would be easy to argue that the best beaches *is* the best coastline. What's a coastline's main use, from a human point of view? It's an interface with the ocean. The ideal coastline is a sandy beach, IMO.
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  #51  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 9:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Quixote View Post
There are volcanoes in San Bernardino County, just not of the Mount St. Helens or Mount Shasta kind.

Amboy Crater
Cima volcanic field
Malapai Hill
Pisgah Crater

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States
Agreed, but as you said they are not impressive. For the fella that mentioned boise. I've never driven around the state but i know the city and almost moved there ( decided on SLC)
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  #52  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 9:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Quixote View Post
I'd also take the former. But where did I mention anything about "proximity to a swimmable ocean"?
You didn't. I did.

Isn't this about our opinions? You stated yours I stated mine.

This was a conversation about the American West you made the statement that LA has the best proximity to all of this in the world. That's quite a statement.

Anyways. I disagree.
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  #53  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 9:36 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
It would be easy to argue that the best beaches *is* the best coastline. What's a coastline's main use, from a human point of view? It's an interface with the ocean. The ideal coastline is a sandy beach, IMO.
Yeah but it gets a bit boring if sandy beaches and mangrove swamps make up the entire coastline. Even sandy beaches are better if there is some structure above ground - like some secret beach in a sheltered cove hidden away from the rest of the city. Also, marine mammals like to hang out in areas with more underwater features (except in the Med, which is a lifeless fetid pool compared to the Pacific).

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  #54  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 10:00 PM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
It would be easy to argue that the best beaches *is* the best coastline. What's a coastline's main use, from a human point of view? It's an interface with the ocean. The ideal coastline is a sandy beach, IMO.
Views are definitely part of the appeal of a coastline. California easily has much better views than Florida. Florida's lack of scenery actually detracts from the beach experience there, IMO.
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  #55  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 10:24 PM
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Far fewer residents are impacted by the quality of local beaches than the number of residents impacted by a city's climate. The ideal coastline provides a moderating effect on a city's climate--relative to inland areas, it allows for warmer weather in the winter and cooler weather in the summer.
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  #56  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 10:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Atlas View Post
SLC is 3-5 hours drive from Yellowstone+Tetons, the 5 Utah national parks, Great Basin, and Black Canyon. There are multiple large lakes, mountain ranges, deserts, forests, and the Bonneville Salt Flats closer than that. In terms of proximity to a variety of natural landscapes, I don't think there's any other US city like it. Basically anything you can think of except the ocean.

Water is a more complicated issue but it helps that Northern Utah has total control over the areas that produce its fresh water. The GSL is low but we had a terrific winter so drought conditions have abated for now.
Los Angeles has access to the following national parks within 1 to 5 hours away...Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, Channel Islands, Death Valley. In addition to all that, there is the majority of the Sierra Nevada range well within 5 hours with absolutely incredible scenery, lakes, rivers, glaciers, the tallest mountains the contiguous US, the largest trees in the world, the White mountains with the oldest trees in the world, etc. Just in our backyard, we have the beautiful San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains with peaks reaching 11,500 feet, the pacific ocean and so much more just within LA county. I honestly dont know what were lacking here in terms of natural assets and beauty,

San Francisco has similar access to Big Sur, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Sequoia, Redwoods within 1 to 5 hours as well as a ton more.

Last edited by LosAngelesSportsFan; May 22, 2023 at 11:04 PM.
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  #57  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 10:57 PM
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Originally Posted by iheartthed View Post
Yeah, Barcelona has better water for swimming, and it's not even a debate. And Barcelona probably has the worst water in the Mediterranean. I don't know why anyone would get in L.A.'s ocean water for anything other than surfing. Even northeast beaches are better than southern California, at least during the summer.

I would find winter in Los Angeles more comfortable than Barcelona. L.A. has warmer winters than pretty much all of the European Mediterranean.
Water temps in LA are in the low 70s during July, August and Sept.. Its not that bad, in fact it feels good when its 80 plus outside. Rest of the year, ya its colder but its still beautiful to enjoy and walk around

Last edited by LosAngelesSportsFan; May 22, 2023 at 11:07 PM.
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  #58  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 11:11 PM
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California also has lots of rivers for white water rafting and alpine lakes in the Sierras and even sand dunes (Pismo Beach, Fort Funston). I guess the only thing missing is vast salt flats. There are salt ponds though.
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  #59  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 11:14 PM
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Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan View Post
Its not that bad, in fact it feels good when its 80 plus outside. Rest of the year, ya its cold
I zipped through this youtuber's vid about things like beaches in Ca compared with the ones in Fla. He mentions the bchs in Miami are cleaner than the ones in LA, but he also mentions that cooler ocean temps are refreshing when in a hot tropical climate. He riffs on some other aspects of the two parts of the country, & mentions some aspects of LA that are different from Miami's.

https://youtu.be/NXSmS4BUOJg?t=457

I think he did another vid where, even though he lives in...& says he doesn't mind....the muggy tropical climate of Miami bch, if he were to move to Ca, the cooler weather of NoCal would be preferable to him than the warmer climate of LA. So the way that ppl rate or judge things is totally unpredictable.

If the weather of FL...miami bch....were more like the weather in SoCA, I'd rank it differently, more along the lines of LA. However, some ppl prefer a warmer climate & favor the bchs around the SE atlantic....the Caribbean....than the more Mediterranean type of scenery around CA. Or different strokes for different folks.
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  #60  
Old Posted May 22, 2023, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by citywatch View Post
I think he did another vid where, even though he lives in...& says he doesn't mind....the muggy tropical climate of Miami bch, if he were to move to Ca, the cooler weather of NoCal would be preferable to him than the warmer climate of LA. So the way that ppl rate or judge things is totally unpredictable.
I've lived in both climates and I also much prefer the cooler weather of coastal NorCal, especially for my personal active outdoor lifestyle. As an avid hiker and mountain biker, LA and SD were just too hot and the trails didn't have enough shade. I also tend to run hot, so even just walking around town is more pleasant for me in the Bay Area.
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