Best cities for someone who likes nature?

Title says it all.

I'm hoping to move to a major city to work in tech, but I also want to be close to nature. I love hiking, mountains, fishing, beautiful scenery, etc. Does any one know good cities that can offer this? So far I'm thinking Denver, Seattle, and San Fransisco. Thanks for the help.

22 Comments
 

I've though a lot about visiting there but haven't done it yet, what are some of your favorite things to do there?

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
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There are a couple of towns on Vancouver Island that are on the edge of Pacific Rim National Park. My fave spot in North America. 

Tofino is one of them. It’s a not super touristy beach town and a good surfing spot. Good hiking there, saw whales cruising by on a coastal hike. Blew my mind. It’s not rustic by any means, good resorts, decent restaurants and touristy things to do like whale watching and such. Pretty good beaches too.

Ucluelet is another town close by which is the jump off spot for more adventurous stuff like sea kayaking. was the highlight for me. They boat you out 40 minutes or so to a cluster of islands and you kayak through the channels. It’s all kelp forest so seals and otters everywhere. It’s also where the resident orca pods nurse so if you’re lucky, you’ll see those. We missed them by a few days. I remember getting back, sipping a beer on the harbour, watching otters play, eagles flying by. Was surreal for a city boy like me.

If mountains are more your thing, the Rockies end there. Head to Whistler for really good skiing, great restaurants and such. there are also more rugged destinations for serious hiking and camping in the mountains. Like don’t fuck with the bears and moose type rugged.

Why don’t more people live in this paradise you ask? Because its fucking grey and rainy 90% of the year.  
 


 

 

SoCal

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

This is such a heaping hot pile of MS that someone shitted on living in SoCal. What a bunch of BS. SoCal is literally the Mecca of outdoorsy activities. You can go surfing in the morning and drive two hours and go snowboard bear mountain. I’ve lived there and done it.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Yeah and San Diego is cheaper than LA and SF, but job market isn’t as great. So if you can find a good job there, you’re set.

I have had two job offers in finance and consulting for SD, but declined to be in NYC at the time.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

SLC hands down. You get mountains, hiking, incredible views and I've heard (though can't confirm first hand) that there's a decent tech scene there. COL is low relative to other recommendations here, and politically speaking the city is purple which given your post history I'd think you'd enjoy compared to somewhere like Seattle/SF/Denver. 

Array
 

LA is the biggest city with good access to nature. SLC and Denver may have better hiking and skiing but they are much smaller finance job markets so it depends on what you value.

I love skiing but not a big winter guy so I’d opt for LA with near-perfect weather year round. IMO hard to enjoy hiking/running/cycling if the weather isn’t great 

Array
 

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