I'll make a case for the greater NYC area. Gunks 90 minutes away. Seneca 7 hours away. Adirondacks 4 hours away. White Mountains 5 hours away. The greatest city in the world on your doorstep. I know it doesn't have the big mountain feel of a place out west but for sheer number of routes in a concentrated area it is hard to beat (hold your fire Colorado elitists). That reminds me I gotta go I’m ice climbing in the Daks this weekend.

You've narrowed it to one small tourist town smack in the middle of big mountains in WY, and two farily large states. Seems pretty broad to me. Before throwing out a lot of suggestions, have you considered what you're really looking for? Do you want to be in a big city, relatively close to a big city, or just have some city ammenities? Or do you want to be in a small town? You said you wanted to be close to the mountains but you had considered the Bay Area. NYC is closer to the mountains than the Bay Area is.

Maybe if you can narrow things down a bit more? I'd second the vote for SLC since it has a lot of what you seem to be looking for plus the city ammenities without it being a big city. It's also so close to so much else (eg: the Tetons are an easy weekend drive). However, culturally you trade the big city vibrancy and party scene for access to the mountains. It's hard to find a good martini here, but I can be at Alta or Snowbird within a half hour from my house.

Remember that the interior west is politically far more conservative than anything you're used to on the coasts or in the Northeast. Some transplanted folks find this unbearable. Our liberal democrats - the few that you can find on the legislature - are more conservative than the republicans in CT (where I lived for the 22 years before moving here).

Personally, I couldn't stand living in Vegas, anywhere in either the LA basin or Bay Area (too crowded), and most of the small towns (I prefer a choice of sushi restaurants). Your best bet might be to visit potential towns / cities of interest and look at them with a very critical eye. Pay attention to lifestyle issues, local politics, etc., not where the good climbing crags are located. Pick up local papers. Listen to local radio. Check out the job market. Read the local alternative paper(s).

I can tell you more about SLC as I suspect Hank Moon can. PM if you like.

I'd 2nd the GUNKS cept for the job market and the Cost of Living

Having lived in the New Paltz and now five years in Vegas after traveling and living as a complete vagrant climbing bum for five years, Vegas (while not perfect) provided the right mixture.
2 hrs to J Tree
2 hrs to Zion
5 hrs to Maple Canyon
5 hrs to Tuolumne
6 hrs to the Valley
4-5 hr to Bishop, Owens, Buttermilks
Utah powder right up the road.

Really the highest concentration of World class areas within 8 hrs.
If one is willing to do that type of driving, it gives HUNDREDS of options.

Moab- 6hrs.

PLUS..the job market out here is fantastic. Still the fastest growing metro area in the country, which means $$$$$. Just buying a home hear makes one some $$$.
Oh, and the best, long moderate (for mortals such as myself) climbing in the country 15 minutes out the back door.

Nothing beats the Gunks for climbing, tho...that's why I still make pilgrimages when the weather is good. Mid spring and mid autumn. I almost forget what it's like to climb when it's humid.


One need not live on the Strip, inside a casino...

The Las Vegas metro area has much going for it. But it seems to have bad air quality on tranquil summer days and its water supply is not great and will bring growth to a halt soon.

I'd probably second Salt Lake City. Having just gotten back, its pretty nice being able to rock climb or ice climb 10min-40min from town, and being really close to world class rock.

I currently live in the Bay Area (after have lived in NYC on and off for 12 yrs) and the climbing here is great but you have to like driving. Calavaras Dome, Yosemite, Tuolumne, Donners Summit, are all world class areas but they are also 3-4 hrs away. Now if you live in Sacramento, they are all 1-2 hrs away. As for cost of living, for $1000-$2000/mos expect to get a shoebox or if you want to buy, look at $500,000 for a fixer-upper if they can still be found.

Chas, that supports what I hear from my Bay area colleagues. The folks that have moved out there recently are commuting an hour each way and are lucky to get a smallish house for 600K.

I like Poughkeepsie myself: Gunks 40 minutes. Ice 90 minutes. Skiing 90 minutes. Adirondacks 3 to 4 hr. Rumney 4 hr. Whites 5 hr. NYC...well who needs the city?

Definition of "centrally located" for a western city seems to be 5 hr from everything.

Have you thought about Denver or the suburbs outside of Denver. I just visited there and, while the cost of living is high INSIDE Denver city limits, it goes down considerably when you get to the outskirts. But, put this all in perspective...NYC is the most expensive city in the U.S. in which to live.

Denver is thriving, adding new hospitals, bringing in new developments. My friends live in Castle Rock and absolutely love it. They don't go into Denver at all any more.

I also have a friend living in Durango,CO (in the southwestern corner) who is living the dirtbag lifestyle right now. But, he skies at Purgatory and climbs when he wants. He's working constant temp jobs all over the place.....but, alas, he's young (23) and have the time and energy to look for bargains every where he goes. He's also into geology and has a degree in it. He's got some lines into geology gigs in the area but nothing has panned out.

Are you looking to live this type of temporary lifestyle? or are you looking to put down roots? It sounds more like you want to move to play, which is cool. I say, explore while you can because you'll be settled down with roots soon enough.

If you're willing to explore, you can move from city to city until you find something you like. In the space of 5 years, you should find something good. It always takes 1-2 years before you really feel good about a new place anyway.

Kathy

missoula, missoula, missoula...five or six major crags, from bolted limestone to big walls, within 45 minutes, very steep skiing/snowboarding right outside of town, fly-fishing/kayaking galore, ungodly amounts of hiking/biking/cross-country trails in ungodly amounts of wilderness wrapped around one of the most progressive small cities with a top-notch school you'll find west of the mississippi...

Said to have bad air quality on quiet winter days.

name a city out west that doesn't...