12 ms·

I'm doing the same thing for the same reason but in rural Montana near granite big walls and powder covered peaks and I suspect there are many more of us out th

I'm doing the same thing for the same reason but in rural Montana near granite big walls and powder covered peaks and I suspect there are many more of us out there. Just bought a large farm house on 3.4 acres with a stream a couple miles from the trailheads and crags for less then a condo in Seattle. I can't imagine moving back to a city for any reason. This area (the missoula+bitterroot valley area) also has a surprising number of startups, both software and hardware including a utility bike manufacture that is stealing contracts from the Chinese and various biotechs and big data focussed companies. I think that cheap space and low cost of living are ingredients that are too often overlooked in YC style startups. I'm primarily a software/machine learning guy but now that I've got a garage i've already got small machine shop set up for various hardware projects and experiments and now that we have guest rooms and space I'll be inviting various collaborators out for coding/hiking/climbing/skiing retreats.

mrfusion 12y ago
Sounds amazing. What's the climate like? Are winters unbearable?
- micro_cam 12y ago
  As a skier I look forward to the winters, we get both Pacific and Arctic weather so the winters are cold enough to keep deep powder around in the mountains but warm enough to stabilize the snowpack and reduce avalanche danger for backcountry skiing. The climate is actually reasonably mild in the valley (3,500'), it snows but it usually melts within days or weeks if it is a very cold spell. I'm able to run outside all winter long wearing a light fleece layer and occasionally using microspikes for traction if it is icy. The local ski area is in a pass at 7k feet and closes if it gets much bellow 0 F which only happened a couple of days this year. Missoula and the Flathead vallies to the north get inversions causing haze in the valley bottoms much of the winter but the bitterroot gets more sunny winter days.
mbillie1 12y ago
> I think that cheap space and low cost of living are ingredients that are too often overlooked in YC style startups. Absolutely. Having moved here, and being in a position where I work remote and live in a place 100% chosen for my lifestyle, I would never voluntarily switch back. You cannot put a high enough price tag on happiness.
justrudd 12y ago
I'm curious if you (or the grandparent poster) grew up in more outdoorsy areas during your childhood? I grew up on a farm - 3,000 acres - we had crops (normal crops - peanuts, corn, etc. and not normal - loblolly trees). Camping and hiking were just what we did to get to the backside of the place to check on fire lanes, crops, do some hunting, etc. Most people I know that had a more urban upbringing love the idea of being "near" nature. But having spent 20 years of my life in it, other than the occasional weekend hike, I don't want to live any where near it :)
- micro_cam 12y ago
  Interesting question. Yes, but in a very different way then you. I grew up on the outside of small town on the coast and my dad built commercial fishing boats and related equipment. We didn't have anywhere near 3000 acres but we'd certainly fell trees on our property and chop firewood so I do feel I have a realistic view of rural life if not of farming. I did lived in the city for over 10 years and loved the social and cultural aspects of it but I found myself driving out to the mountains more and more to recreate. I also met someone with similar interests and got married while in the city, I think it would be much harder to make the rural hop and then meet someone. We also chose a small town (5k) with a research sector (NIH lab, GSK Facility, spin offs) partly because it has elements of culture you would usually find in a bigger city including some good international restaurants, an educated population etc.
gdilla 12y ago
but what about Indian food! j/k. well, not really.
- stephencanon 12y ago
  Indian food turns out to be really easy to make yourself at home with a minimal amount of time and effort, and the necessary spices keep well so you can pick them up a few times a year in the big city. The only ethnic food I find myself missing living in rural New Hampshire is sushi, since the fish we have available here is rather limited compared to big cities. For everything else I’ve either found good restaurants or learned to cook it myself (and in the latter cases, I’m now often disappointed by restaurants).
- micro_cam 12y ago
  I do miss that though I've learned to make some of it. I also moved to a town with a couple of large research lab which gives it enough of a collage town feel to have some good restaurants but the closest we get to Indian is a fusion place that has a couple of dishes...we have a great Sushi place which is nice.

mrfusion 12y ago

Sounds amazing. What's the climate like? Are winters unbearable?

micro_cam 12y ago
As a skier I look forward to the winters, we get both Pacific and Arctic weather so the winters are cold enough to keep deep powder around in the mountains but warm enough to stabilize the snowpack and reduce avalanche danger for backcountry skiing. The climate is actually reasonably mild in the valley (3,500'), it snows but it usually melts within days or weeks if it is a very cold spell. I'm able to run outside all winter long wearing a light fleece layer and occasionally using microspikes for traction if it is icy. The local ski area is in a pass at 7k feet and closes if it gets much bellow 0 F which only happened a couple of days this year. Missoula and the Flathead vallies to the north get inversions causing haze in the valley bottoms much of the winter but the bitterroot gets more sunny winter days.

mbillie1 12y ago

> I think that cheap space and low cost of living are ingredients that are too often overlooked in YC style startups. Absolutely. Having moved here, and being in a position where I work remote and live in a place 100% chosen for my lifestyle, I would never voluntarily switch back. You cannot put a high enough price tag on happiness.

justrudd 12y ago

I'm curious if you (or the grandparent poster) grew up in more outdoorsy areas during your childhood? I grew up on a farm - 3,000 acres - we had crops (normal crops - peanuts, corn, etc. and not normal - loblolly trees). Camping and hiking were just what we did to get to the backside of the place to check on fire lanes, crops, do some hunting, etc. Most people I know that had a more urban upbringing love the idea of being "near" nature. But having spent 20 years of my life in it, other than the occasional weekend hike, I don't want to live any where near it :)

micro_cam 12y ago
Interesting question. Yes, but in a very different way then you. I grew up on the outside of small town on the coast and my dad built commercial fishing boats and related equipment. We didn't have anywhere near 3000 acres but we'd certainly fell trees on our property and chop firewood so I do feel I have a realistic view of rural life if not of farming. I did lived in the city for over 10 years and loved the social and cultural aspects of it but I found myself driving out to the mountains more and more to recreate. I also met someone with similar interests and got married while in the city, I think it would be much harder to make the rural hop and then meet someone. We also chose a small town (5k) with a research sector (NIH lab, GSK Facility, spin offs) partly because it has elements of culture you would usually find in a bigger city including some good international restaurants, an educated population etc.

gdilla 12y ago

but what about Indian food! j/k. well, not really.

stephencanon 12y ago
Indian food turns out to be really easy to make yourself at home with a minimal amount of time and effort, and the necessary spices keep well so you can pick them up a few times a year in the big city. The only ethnic food I find myself missing living in rural New Hampshire is sushi, since the fish we have available here is rather limited compared to big cities. For everything else I’ve either found good restaurants or learned to cook it myself (and in the latter cases, I’m now often disappointed by restaurants).
micro_cam 12y ago
I do miss that though I've learned to make some of it. I also moved to a town with a couple of large research lab which gives it enough of a collage town feel to have some good restaurants but the closest we get to Indian is a fusion place that has a couple of dishes...we have a great Sushi place which is nice.