Moving from Austin, Texas hoping for another warming weathered bike friendly city! (skateboarding)

[Wanderlustqueen]

I am a single girl in her 20's - I've lived in a small town in Indiana then moved to a fairly bigger one & loved it (Bloomington,IN) I moved to Austin, Texas and was fairly overwhelmed by how overcrowded it seems to be getting since visiting my family down here as a teenager.

The things I do like about this city is the fact it is Dog Friendly, has a decent bus system and easy enough to bike through.

I feel when I ask about other cities I hear.. Portland! Portland! Denver!

In my heart I have always wanted to move west! I truly miss the green and plant life & Texas seems to lack that! Ideally I'd like to be near an ocean city or a mountain town! With my love for hiking & skateboarding!
- maybe one day surfing!

I'm just wondering if there is a small city with a great outdoors scene where it is manageable not to have a car or if I need to keep dreaming?

[Prickly Pear]

I feel that for the West most of our beauty needs that 4x4 car that you don't seem to want. It's not impossible to enjoy these things without a car, but it's not like there are bus stops at these places. I'm not sure how you'd enjoy it otherwise. I do think if you really want to enjoy the outdoors of the West you'll need a car, but I'm sure it can be done without it, somehow.

Flagstaff, Arizona has some beautiful forestry with some of the best hiking here in this state. It is generally affordable and is a small hippie-like town: very liberal I should say. I don't know how their bus system is up there, but besides that it fits your requirements. Prescott, Arizona is another option. I'd also look into coastal Oregon and Washington for both ocean and mountains but I'm assuming the ocean up there is too cold to surf. Coastal California, north of SF, might be good too. Or Lake Tahoe region.

I think that every state out here will have your requirements but will, I'm assuming, lack a well-running bus system. Mainly because such a small town either can: a) not afford the budget for the great bus system or b) not attain enough ridership.

[thitzler]

I lived in Fort Collins, CO (1 hour north of Denver) and it has many of the attributes you desire. Granted, they do get winters (as does Denver, of course) but among the many positives are; a lot of people in your age group, close proximity to great outdoor recreation including hiking and snow sports, a beautiful setting at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, a large university (CSU has about 24,000). In addition Fort Collins is a very bike friendly town. It received the highest ranking by one of the bicycling associations. Any way, just an idea. There is a lot of additional information online about Ft C. Good luck, fellow wanderer.

[eddie gein]

Flagstaff is great, Eugene, Oregon would be great if you can deal with the rain. Same with Arcata, Ca. San Luis Obispo, Ca would be perfect I would think if you could afford it. Santa Cruz, Ca.

[malfunction]

Granted, Austin has lots of people, but, man, they've got great places for bikes along city streets and along the river downtown. It's more exercise-friendly than most places I've seen. Why move away from that?

[OyCrumbler]

Maybe one of the smaller, older Californian cities like Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz or Monterey?