What’s best small city in Northeast for bikes?

[Mr. Pink]

Saratoga Springs, hands down. Learn to ski at Gore.

[benb]

Originally Posted by Louis

I've been thinking Middlesex county, but could be convinced to check out other places farther north too. (but as you said, Litchfield is probably the best of the lot up there)

I live in Bedford like someone else mentioned. We've found it to be an exceptional town to live in but it was not easy initially to actually buy a place here and the housing has gone absolutely bonkers. Not even worth looking if buying a single family house under $1M is important now unless you are cool with a tiny older place that needs work. And that might be $1M+ anyway.

The riding is definitely good here. I've been riding around the same area for 20 years, although I lived in NH for about 5 years out of the last 20 as well.

Drivers are pretty good and there's lots of great routes, clubs, racing, etc..

But it is not as hilly/mountainous as I'd like. It's definitely not Florida and it's possible to average 1000ft of climbing per 20 miles by working at incorporating as many hills as possible into a route but it's nothing like living in the mountains.

For me I can ride to Mt. Wachusett and it takes 100 miles round trip to do so roughly. And that's a "starter" mountain, the ride itself gives you more significant climbing than the mountain does. It's not so great I do it every year.

When I lived in NH I would climb Pack Monadnock a great deal, it was within a 40 mile ride if I took a direct route and I could work it into great 50-70 mile rides. Ever since I moved back to Massachusetts I had said I would ride up there to climb it. Turns out it was 111 miles round trip and I had to take some of the same (very direct) routes on the trip out and back just to do it in that distance. Haven't done it again, it was about the toughest solo ride of that length I've ever done and I haven't been fit enough to do it again in the last few years. But that was what it takes to get to something real. (That ride was 6100ft of climbing)

OP never said whether he needed to be able to find work in a great cycling location. If you can work remote or don't need to work at all then a lot of the better locations open up. If you have to work jobs are obviously VERY good in Middlesex County.

[jazzguitar]

Originally Posted by leftyfreak

You forgot about Bedford.

Definitely easy to access good cycling roads from here (Bedford) and the towns mentioned above, but I do find myself craving bigger hills. To be honest, though, we have a pretty good balance between city amenities and rural-ish roads. Anytime my wife and I have thought of moving we came to the realization that we were just trying to recreate what we already have here.

I'd also consider the Amherst/Northampton, MA region.

Bedford resident here, I love the riding around here! It was one of the selling points when we moved to the area as it was already part of my regular riding while we lived in Belmont. It’s easy to go west or up to NH for more hills and drivers are generally respectful around here.

[merlinmurph]

To the OP: What are the other parameters? What else are you looking for?

Anyways, I'm partial to the area in MA west of I-495. The Bedford guys can have their traffic, though traffic is relative. Anytime I get close to rte 128 (Concord, Dover, etc), I find the traffic a real pain. Just what I'm used to out here past I-495.

I'd like to repeat the suggestion of the Northampton area. The riding is excellent. You can stay in the valley for flattish rides. Go just a bit west and you hit the hills, very little traffic, dirt roads and great scenery. There's a reason the Jeremy Powers Grand Fundo ride and D2R2 are perennial favorites. With all the colleges, the area is vibrant with lots going on, good restaurants, arts, music, etc. Real estate can *ahem* be pricey, depending on where you're coming from.

[DHallerman]

Hello friends -

All your responses have been fascinating. I stated my original questions broadly so as to hear a wider range of thoughts. But yes, most definitely a bunch of other parameters. I turned 70 this year, and my wife just retired, so that's part of our thoughts too. So we're also looking for things like:

* A lively center, with street life. I don't want NYC anymore (or any other large US city), moved away in 2006, but don't want suburbia anymore either.

* Relatively flat compared to much of Westchester, where we are now. Age matters.

* A network of trails for connecting places. We like avoiding too many cars.

* Not far, too, from unpaved roads which are typically quiet and are much fun with our gravel bikes.

* The ability to minimize car use for things like grocery shopping.

* A state we feel comfortable in. We're increasingly seeing that the state you live in here in the United States can greatly affect your life.

So in fact, Northampton has been on my radar since I've started this quest. We've been there a few times, cycled there too, although it was a while ago. And we like the idea of being in a college town, in this case a locus in a college area, for a few reasons.

But I wondered where else, hence this thread. We will have to explore more.

Smiles,

Dave, who says one advantage in downsizing would be translating a NYC suburban single family home to a Northampton condo for instance

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

To the OP: What are the other parameters? What else are you looking for?

Anyways, I'm partial to the area in MA west of I-495. The Bedford guys can have their traffic, though traffic is relative. Anytime I get close to rte 128 (Concord, Dover, etc), I find the traffic a real pain. Just what I'm used to out here past I-495.

I'd like to repeat the suggestion of the Northampton area. The riding is excellent. You can stay in the valley for flattish rides. Go just a bit west and you hit the hills, very little traffic, dirt roads and great scenery. There's a reason the Jeremy Powers Grand Fundo ride and D2R2 are perennial favorites. With all the colleges, the area is vibrant with lots going on, good restaurants, arts, music, etc. Real estate can *ahem* be pricey, depending on where you're coming from.

[EDS]

Originally Posted by Turkle

I see others have mentioned, but wanted to chime in with Northampton / Amherst and that whole little ring of cities there in Massachusetts. Seemed like there were a thousand breweries all located on well-maintained bike paths, the cities are quite bike friendly, and you're only a short ride away from some mountains if you're into it. Fantastic hiking too. I imagine the winters are brutal but we had a gas biking around last summer.

I wasn't doing any serious road riding up there but I saw dozens of road riders in full kit tooling around so there seems to be a bit of a scene, for what it's worth.

My experience in Connecticut is that the whole place is a car sewer and is quite unfriendly to cyclists, but obviously I've only been to certain portions of the state and I could be way off.

That characterization of Connecticut is unfair as it relates to riding. I relocated from NYC to Fairfield County a little over a year ago and find it easy to find low traffic roads to ride on. No big hills of course but easy for me to put together 20+ mile rides where I only need to unclip once for a light or stop sign (typically to cross the Post Road).

That being said, driving in CT is awful due to traffic.

[buddybikes]

We semi-retired in Barrington RI, 1/2 mile from east bay bike path. Live on it daily, or pieces of it. Flat around here, but my back issues have really hampered my strength. Did a beautiful ride down in the Westport area today. Food is fantastic, both north (Providence) as well as south (Warren, Bristol, Newport). Yes we are in flood plain, but by the time global warming really hits, we will be dust. Other area you may consider is south of Portland ME, cape Elizabeth. Scarborough is wonderful town.

[Tz779]

Originally Posted by leftyfreak

You forgot about Bedford.

Definitely easy to access good cycling roads from here (Bedford) and the towns mentioned above, but I do find myself craving bigger hills. To be honest, though, we have a pretty good balance between city amenities and rural-ish roads. Anytime my wife and I have thought of moving we came to the realization that we were just trying to recreate what we already have here.

I'd also consider the Amherst/Northampton, MA region.

Oof! I did! That whole area is great. I kind of miss it. Not the winters, tho!
-Robin

[leftyfreak]

Originally Posted by Tz779

Oof! I did! That whole area is great. I kind of miss it. Not the winters, tho!
-Robin

No worries! Here in Bedford we're used to being under-appreciated--Concord and Lexington get much more press. It keeps the real estate prices down (relatively speaking.) I sometimes joke that Bedford was the town that the first battle of the American Revolution passed by.

As for the OP, hearing more about your wants when relocating, I'll reinforce that I think Northampton would be a good fit for you. (And probably better than the more town-like feel of neighboring Amherst.) It's got a much livelier downtown feel than most any other place of its size that I've ever been to. You've got access to great riding that's pretty flat if you stay north/south, and pretty hilly if you go east/west, generally speaking.

Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME have lively downtown scenes, but I can't comment on the quality of riding in those areas. As previously mentioned, Burlington, VT could be a good choice for you too. Other folks talking about Saratoga Springs have me curious to visit it...

Good luck with the quest!

[Ken Robb]

How do state taxes vary?

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

How do state taxes vary?

https://taxfoundation.org/publicatio...rden-rankings/

This is a good place to start. Obviously it can depend a lot on your specific mix of income, assets, and consumption. In generally, New York has the highest taxes, New Hampshire has the lowest, and most of the other states are pretty similar.

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by prototoast

https://taxfoundation.org/publicatio...rden-rankings/

This is a good place to start. Obviously it can depend a lot on your specific mix of income, assets, and consumption. In generally, New York has the highest taxes, New Hampshire has the lowest, and most of the other states are pretty similar.

Thanks! That is a very interesting site.

[rollinslow]

Originally Posted by vav

Cambridge, MA

"A study published on Thursday has determined that when it comes to cities, Boston and Cambridge are among the most accommodating to cyclists in terms of infrastructure, public safety and amount of workers who commute via bike."

This has to be a joke. Cambridge has done a lot to improve but that’s after too many cyclists are run over. Look at Harvard square and how long it took to finally get a protected bike lane. So many people were run over right in front of Harvard before they did anything. The children’s librarian in Brookline was killed in Fenway riding to work. Boston was the worst, most dangerous cycling city I ever lived in. 4 ghost bikes in a 4mi commute. They paint a bike symbol on a highway but that doesn’t make it a safe road to ride. Even the Longfellow bridge was a hassle to get plastic lane dividers on and half are run over by winters end. So dangerous, so not cycling friendly in any sense at all. The ghost bikes tell the story and they are everywhere in Boston.

So dangerous there……

[ripvanrando]

Virginia is the southern most part of the Northeast. Charlottesville area seems quite nice, good university town, excellent healthcare, mountains in one direction and relatively flat riding in the others, trail network, and decent roads compared to the snowy north. Some excellent restaurants within an hour. Bit far to Dulles ( 90 minutes or so). Limited real experience there, couple visits with only one short stint on bike.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by DHallerman

Hello friends -

All your responses have been fascinating. I stated my original questions broadly so as to hear a wider range of thoughts. But yes, most definitely a bunch of other parameters. I turned 70 this year, and my wife just retired, so that's part of our thoughts too. So we're also looking for things like:

* A lively center, with street life. I don't want NYC anymore (or any other large US city), moved away in 2006, but don't want suburbia anymore either.

* Relatively flat compared to much of Westchester, where we are now. Age matters.

* A network of trails for connecting places. We like avoiding too many cars.

* Not far, too, from unpaved roads which are typically quiet and are much fun with our gravel bikes.

* The ability to minimize car use for things like grocery shopping.

* A state we feel comfortable in. We're increasingly seeing that the state you live in here in the United States can greatly affect your life.

So in fact, Northampton has been on my radar since I've started this quest. We've been there a few times, cycled there too, although it was a while ago. And we like the idea of being in a college town, in this case a locus in a college area, for a few reasons.

But I wondered where else, hence this thread. We will have to explore more.

Smiles,

Dave, who says one advantage in downsizing would be translating a NYC suburban single family home to a Northampton condo for instance

Well, Saratoga is a college town (Skidmore, a rich kids school, but, a college), has an awesome bar and restaraunt scene that exists primarily for the track season (a six week party in the heart of summer) but is running all year round, is home to SPAC, which has many great concerts, both pop and classical, and even a few weeks of ballet. I wouldn't call the cycling flat, probably statistically comparable to Westchester, where I live, but hardly any traffic once you leave town, and traffic in town is fine most of the time. There's plenty of unpaved roads over in Washington county, a short drive away, home to the famous Tour of the Battenkill https://tourofthebattenkill.com/ that is pretty well marked for the rest of the year (except winter, when it seems all of the roads over there are dirt, due to the amount of dirt they use on the snow covered roads). Scooch a little over to Vermont, and, plenty of dirt. It's a poor state. Not like NY, which seems to have an endless budget for paving up there. I was just riding up near Saratoga last week, and there's a ton of fresh paved roads. Thanks, downstate taxpayers!
Winters can be tough. It can be cold, much colder than downstate, but, hey, you always can look down on Saranac Lake, which is usually ten degrees colder than anywhere else when it gets bad. But, you're that much closer to the ADK and Vermont for skiing.
I used to live in Saratoga, miss it a lot. It's the nicest small city in upstate NY, including Ithica, which is cool, but is surprisingly sketchy in some neighborhoods, and a little isolated. Saratoga is about 3 hours to NYC, Boston, and Montreal. Albany airport, about an easy half hour south, is an excellent second tier airport that Southwest serves.