The New West, New Retirement Destination

If you think the boom in Western real estate is nearing its apex, think again. It is only just beginning. Even as publications bemoan the disappearance of affordable mountain paradises, the parade of communities that are beginning to feel the pressure of rising land and housing costs grows and grows. What was once a coastal phenomenon has become ubiquitous. Land all over the West has gotten pricey and the process is only just beginning.

The reasons are more complicated than the truism, "buy land because they aren’t making any more of it," would suggest. Ever since California went haywire in the 1970s, an enormous tidal wave of people and capital has been building in the Golden State. Every time California’s economy, never less than the fifth largest in the world, had a downturn, people fled to safe havens in the interior. On the countless occasions when California’s social climate seemed crazier than most could bear, even more found new homes in the mountains. From Coeur D’Alene to Bozeman, Sedona to Santa Fe, every third person once lived in California.

By Hal Rothman

Full Story: http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/7296/