I’m getting tired of the heat, not to mention how racist, bigoted and misogynistic Arizona has become post trump so I’m looking to move somewhere where there is water. And dispensaries. And grocery stores.
Ely looks very nice and pretty affordable.
Does anyone here have any opinions or observations they could share?
I go through Ely about once a year or so and have always had interest in it as a possible place of residence, so I will be following the thread. Summers are very pleasant and there are nice places for easy hikes and in my case I like viewing wild life.
I’ll put a check “viewing wild life” box on my list.
I’m not much of a hiker anymore but I noticed that many of the homes I’ve looked at on Zillow don’t have AC, only ceiling fans. I think it would be nice to live somewhere that I don’t have to wear a jacket to go out to dinner.
I’m going to be spending a few days there in a couple of weeks, just hanging out and really looking at the place.
Just out of curiosity, how did you settle on Ely as a potential place to settle in order to escape the bigotry and misogyny of AZ?
With the proximity to Utah and Idaho, combined with the small size of the town, that wouldn’t be my first thought for places to escape that stuff. I’d also be worried about the religious extremism that has taken hold in Idaho as of late spilling over into the area.
I drive through there on my way to Boise every year to visit my mother. Unlike AZ and ID, I didn’t see nearly as many small businesses with trump signs. I did notice that most of the faces were the same color as mine, but didn’t notice anything that made me think that the brown faces were not welcome.
I have always been a white cash-carrying, good tipping tourist, so of course my experiences are different than the experiences of people who live in or around Ely have had, which is why I started this thread.
I need to stay close to Mom, even though she isn’t going to be around much longer, and I need to find a place that hubs might move to. If he comes with me, we can sell and buy a place about the same size as we have now while tucking a hundred G in the bank, if he refuses, I can buy a smaller place after the divorce, but that’s not my favorite choice ATM.
We are both retired, btw. Finding a good job isn’t on my list of things to do.
Ah. In the past I would have suggested Ontario Oregon or maybe Vale or one of the other small towns in that area as an alternative but, while I can’t speak to racism and misogyny or other bigotry, eastern Oregon is pretty trumpy. 
Ely, Nevada might not be the best place to live for those needing a dependable water supply. The specter of water shortages has apparently been growing for years.
Thank you so much for that. Look for another thread about someplace with water soon.
Oh, I missed the bit about water, yeah, you might have to compromise a bit on something, Boise area or maybe Twin Falls might be better. Hmmm, Bellevue, Ketchum, Hailey, Sun Valley, I’m not sure of the politics and whatnot there, but during the pandemic that was probably the most mask/distancing positive part of the state. They took it pretty serious, if you can use that as a criteria for anything. It’s about 3 or 4 hours drive from Boise. Do you like to ski? Not too far from Twin Falls for the “Big City”. No Idea what the cost of living is there. Water? The area has been under a flood advisory for the past few weeks(months?) this spring
Eta: nevermind, forgot about the dispensary
I don’t want to hijack your thread. Do you want to keep this one limited to Ely opinions, or are other suggestions welcome?
Other suggestions are also helpful. I’m not planning on rushing into this cause I won’t want to move again.
Very true. Some places in OR and WA along the Columbia River might fit, though. Hood River is very tolerant for a small-ish town, although pretty expensive. Cascade Locks is also nice and quite a bit cheaper. West of Portland, there are towns like St. Helens that are a political mix.
This is a decent site for comparing cities at a high level.
This is the 2020 election results for the county (White Pine).
Ely’s pop is 4,002.
White Pine County’s pop is 9,182
So almost half of White Pine County’s pop lives in Ely:
| TRUMP, DONALD J. Incumbent | REP | 77.89% | 3,403 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIDEN, JOSEPH R. | DEM | 19.66% | 859 |
ETA: Lots of good general info here:
Just dropping in to suggest Bend, Oregon. 320 miles from Boise, albeit mostly an incredibly boring drive on US20. Bend has a population of just over 100k, and Deschutes County went for Biden 53% to 45% for DJT.
The actual size of Bend is always jarring to me. I can’t seem to rid myself of my childhood perception of it as a small town rather than a small city.
Here’s the problem with Bend:
I’m going to have to say that Bend is not going to work for me, just too pricey. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Agreed. Last time I checked, Bend’s median price for a home was higher than Portland’s.
According to the pics I saw, it is lovely and appears to have water. I’m not going to have that much cash and don’t want to bother with another mortgage, so the most I can do is a quarter of a million. Which sounds like a huge luxury home, but with housing costs nowadays, not so much.
A lot of folks who are looking to settle in and around Bend opt for Redmond instead. You might also consider La Pine. I’m heading over to La Pine next week – happy to check it out a bit if that’s useful for you.