University of Oregon...

Gorgeous campus if you like trees and architecture. I recommend this place for anybody who, like me, feels like they've been displaced by about 40 years and should have been in their 20's during the '60's instead of right now. Very liberal community. Incredible public library, it's honestly breathtaking. Extremely affordable housing. I was paying $380/month for a 1bed/1bath apt. Lots of mom&pop stores. Many open roads for cycling. Very fit community as a whole. If pot was legal they'd have some of the best Amsterdamesque coffee shops in the US. Bike lanes on EVERY street, and speed limits around 25-40. Extremely green. Population of about 165,000.

Cons. Not much money in the area, at all. Springfield is close. Lots of homeless people in the summer, but they are generally harmless. If you can't handle rain/overcast weather it's tough. Lots of people with seasonal affective disorder because of the lack of sun for 6 months. Blah blah blah, I hope this was what you were asking for because it's tough to tell in your post Francois.

exactly what I was looking for...had similar post (less specific as far as regions in the mr tibbs area and thought more would read here)...
rain: don't care...26 years in Paris, Fr...starts raining in nov. stops in april ;-)

I have a NZ friend, ex world cup level rower, that was training rowers at the Uni in Austin these past few years. She came these past two summers to switzerland to work for the international rowing federation, and she now is a very good friend.

Anyway, she just went back to the US 4 days ago, and if you want Fran�ois, I can arrange for providing you with contact details.

Cheers,

Laurent

If Joe's description of Oregon is what you are looking for, I'd say cross Blacksburg VA and Aiken SC off your list. I'm more familiar with Blacksburg, having grown up not far from there, than Aiken, but I don't think either one is going to have a lot of what you are looking for. In the last 20 years or so, the SW Va area has developed a bit of a cool outdoorsy vibe (it's a beautiful mountainous area with good hiking and fishing and low population density), but the basic mindset in that part of the country is still a lot more hillbilly-coal miner than phd-triathlete.

UNC Chapel Hill - great school. Excellent campus and town. Hot and humid in summer, but not real cold in winter. UNC Chapel hill has active triathlon club. Lots of triathletes in area and lots of local races produced by www.set-upinc.com

Francois,

Just be more direct and say it - you're looking for a liveable, liberal college town in a scenic area. That's my kind of heaven also.

My extended family is from eastern Oregon. That part of the state is completely different from the western part of the state, but I will say that Oregon as a whole has pretty significant state budget problems, which has caused some of the less affluent school districts to drop to a 4-day school week. This is really only relevant is you have kids and don't have access to private schools. Other than that, I think Oregon is heaven on earth.

I'm a UT alum and loved living in Austin. It's probably changed quite a bit since I was there in the late 80s, but it's beautiful and has lots of lakes and hills. It can get very hot, though, and I think the cost of living has gone up in the past decade.

I went to UC Davis and lived there for an additonal 3 years after school. Good masters team (300-400 swimmers) and great flat and rolling roads for lots of truly car-free biking. No hills to speak of for running. What else would you like to know?

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Where would you want to swim ?

My sister went to Cal Poly SLO, my brother went to Cal Poly SLO, my wife went to Cal Poly SLO, and I went to Cal Poly SLO. Someone in our family has lived there for the past 20 years since my parents moved down there (15 miles north) in 1998.

Great town to train in. Campus built a new swim complex only 5 years ago. Road and mountain biking are great. Hard to make a living there though. Most of Los Angeles is retiring there and driving up real estate priceslike you won't beleive. I thought I could cash in my home in the East SF bay town of Walnut Creek and buy a nice place in SLO but when I looked around it would have been an even trade. Avg cost of a 3 bedroom home in SLO is now about $450,000.

Weather is fantastic. Rains about 20-25 days a year. There are coastal towns nearby that get fog regularly. There's a fine selection of bars downtown, being a college town and all. It's a heavy agricultural college so the redneck factor is higher than a suburban college.

All socio demographic groups are pretty well represented. Most people are either college age or retired, not many 30-40 year olds.

I would move back in a heartbeat but there are NO jobs outside the service industry and the students are willing to work for a lot less than I would. Of all the people I know who went there for college, only one is still there because we all moved to find work.

Cheers, Karma

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Dave Stark
dreamcatcher@astound.net
USAC & USAT level 2 certified coach

I have a family friend who graduated from So Oregon in Ashland and I have spend a fair amount of time there. Southern Oregon is very different from the northern part of the state. Much hotter and arid in the summer...more like nor cal weather. Can get cold and some snow in the winter but milder than up north. Good skiing minutes from downtown. Shakespeare festival is their claim to fame as you no doubt know. Typical non-student resident: organic farmer who thinks Ralf Nader should be the next president or retired ex Cali who cashed out and living the good life. Everyone seems to get along pretty well.

It is a pretty little downtown but kinda touristy. I assume tourism is number one industry. Town is right on interstate 5 which is main north south route on west coast so roadtrip ready. Medford up the freeway is really booming and has everything you couldn't find in Ashland. Rogue (sp?) River not too far away either which is (or was) pretty. Southern Oregon is the place to live in the state for those who rust easily.

Mike

In the Midwest:

Univ of Wisconsin Madison

Northwestern, Evanston, IL

Univ of Chicago

Univ of Michigan

Not sure what your looking for just listing schools

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When my daughter was considering schools we were pleasantly surprised with the schools in British Columbia. Tuition rates were about the same as what we'd be paying, as residents, to the State (Washington) schools.

University of British Columbia - Vancouver
Simon Fraser-Burnaby
UVIC-Victoria
Malispina College-Nanimo (they are a two year school with specific BS offerings in Fisheries and Aquaculture).
Jay

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Jay

Francois,

You asked about Ashland, OR, but got a reply about Eugene, OR. They are not nearby. Ashland is very close to the California border, maybe 100 miles from Eugene. Different climate in Ashland, not as much rain and more heat in the summer. Ashland is a great small town, has a funky feel to it (in a good way) full of wealthy retirees from my knowledge of it when we've passed through 3 or 4 times. It is a town that has obviously tried very hard to maintain a clean "look" with strict building codes and leans more the Eddie Bauer crowd than the Wal Mart crowd. I think housing may be expensive. Don't know a whole lot else about it as far as tri training opportunities.

Glad you mentioned B.C. even though Francois is looking in the US. You can't beat Vancouver Island anywhere on the west coast IMO. Victoria is a lovely city.

Austin

Pros - athletic town, diverse town with major university and state capital and lots of high-tec, you can train year round, lots of runners and triathletes, lots of races, Barton Springs is the most awesome place to swim - 68F year round and about 1/8 mile long - so great wetsuit open water training. Lots of good riding with pretty decent hills and flats. Great music scene, if you are into that - billed as the "Live Music Captial of the World".

Cons - I'm not a big fan of the hummidity during the summer - but's it's not as bad as Florida, Atlanta, or Houston. No mountains, no ocean.

Come visit anytime and we can go for a ride!

Hi Franscois,

I can chime in on UC Merced. Brand new UC, not even built yet. They are using Castle Air Force Base (decommisioned) for classes right now.

Academic/Economic pros: Lots of job opportunities at UC for faculty, staff and administration. Cost of living is quite reasonable for California, but houses are still rising at an incredible rate. I suspect an average three bedroom to start at about $250,000 and going up.

Trainging: Merced College has a nice (albeit older) 50 meter pool with a good aquatics program. Running is flat, but plenty of running races in Fresno, just 45 minutes away. Riding is actually pretty good. Lots of good quality roads heading into the Sierras. Climb climb climb, or do flat TTs. Not a lot of traffic going into the hills. There are many organized Century rides in CA! Year round training is pretty easy.

Cons: Hot , but a dry heat, so very barable (like 95-105 June - Septemeber). Merced is still a farming/country community. Not a lot of activities you'd expect to find in a bigger city like San Fran (two hours away). Some good live music in the Manzier Theatre and a couple of other places. Outside of working at the UC, not a lot of job industries, mainly agriculture. Allergies are prevalent because of the agriculture.

One final note on UC Merced. The Governator supported the funding of opening UC Merced (approving $10m this past budget year, about half that of which was originally proposed). Still, CA is in a budget crisis, with Higher Education not a big priority. Still, once the economy swings back, which it no doubt will, things should go well with UCM.

Chris

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Chris
*********************
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
― Hunter S. Thompson,

yup, and it's really hard to believe that I once had a job that I "had" to meet with hatchery managers and fish farmers in BC. Giving something like that up so I could make more money... now I spend money to vacation up there. Net income, about the same. How many beers a day is good for you?

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Jay

Austin is not your typical Texas city! Great town for triathletes, runners, cyclist, etc. Town Lake is in the center of town and features a 3.1, 4 and 10 mile loops. It gets a little warm and humid in the summer, but you can train all year. At least 8 different training rides every weekend, between 25-50 miles. A couple of great swims in the local lakes and Barton Springs. Housing is not cheap, but the overall cost of living is not too bad. My sister who lives in Dallas put it this way: "In Dallas people talk about your new car or your latest exotic vacation, in Austin they talk about what Marathon or Tri they are doing next or just did." In my opinion Austin is the Bolder, Co of Texas.

I live in Canada, and don't know the US that well other than my bussiness and personal travels there.

My personal choice, if it had to be in the US would be some place in the North West US. There are some very good Universities in Oregon and Washington. The training options in both states are great and there is also good access to great skiing in winter, if that is important. Travelling around this area, I don't get the feeling that the Northwest has been sub-divisoned, strip-malled and big-boxed and super-highwayed to death as have many other places that I have been to in the US.

In Canada, you could not go wrong with Victoria, BC and the University of Victoria. Great school, and Victoria, is home to remarkable number of top endurance athletes such as triathletes Peter Reid, Simon Whitfield, Greg Bennet, Lori Bowden and others. Top Xterra triathlete Melanie McQuaid. Two time 4th place Olympic marathoner Jon Brown. Top Mountain bikers, Roland Green and Alyson Sydor, Many top ranked rowers and I have only scratched the surface.

On the mainland the University of British Columbia( UBC) is a very good school, and Vancouver is also a great place to train - awesome trail running right in the city and the worlds largest outdoor pool - 135 m long. UBC also has a nude beach right on campus!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Francois,

Here's a handy way to get a quick snapshot when comparing places to live:

http://houseandhome.msn.com/...e/comparecities.aspx

Good luck,

Richard

A wonderful town. Highly recommended.

You'll be wearing a blue tar heel on your face in no time.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I agree with the other comments about the four California towns but something else you should think about if you're going to come to CA is the "can't get there from here" factor. I'm prejudiced because I've lived here all my life but I think California is really an amazing place. Just about anything you want, you can find here (great beaches, 2 significant mountain ranges, desert, huge cities, small towns, rural areas and ag communities, wilderness). You would be missing a lot if you lived here and didn't get to see some of it. The problem is that the state is big enough that you pretty much need to be able to get to big roads to do that. Davis is right where 2 of the state's 3 big roads (5 and 80) meet. You can literally be anywhere in the state in 6 hours from Davis and can get to a lot of cool places (Tahoe, San Francisco etc) in 2 hours or less. Merced is on 99 and pretty close to 5 and 80 so its ok in this respect too.

SLO and Santa Cruz on the other hand, are both nice sleepy college/beach towns, both probably nicer by themselves than Davis and without a doubt better than Merced but they are both very hard to get anywhere else from because going north/south on 101 is slow, 17 (the road connecting Santa Cruz to big roads and big cities) is slower and it is even harder to get anywhere east (which is most of the state), especially from SLO.

Bottom line, if you are fine with most of your life being within 60 miles of where you live, SLO and Santa Cruz are great options. If you want to be able to go out and explore all of the other great stuff California has to offer Davis or, as much as it pains me to say it, Merced, might be better.

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Anyone who tells you they're as fast now as they were when they were 18...
sure wasn't very fast when they were 18.

California
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Very good school, beautiful rural area and The Wildflower Triathlon Festival!

thanks for all the info...
reason I originally listed schools is because it's my job (comp. sci. professor).
right now, I think I am very interested in

UC Merced, and Davis (Santa cruz is very very pricey)
SLO
UNC CH and Greensboro
and Austin TX.