Best Mountain Towns based on Public Transit

[alto]

I sold my car because it was a ticking time bomb. And I don't want a new one either, because they are more dangerous than ski mountaineering drunk without a beacon on the Pakistan-India border in a blizzard. And more expensive than a trendy wine bar in LA.

I live in Seattle because I love the city. Art, music, diverse people, and huge wilderness areas on the horizon in all directions. But without a car its difficult to live here and get to the mountains easily. So I want to find a place where you can have the best of both worlds - Interesting city or town next to big mountains, with public infrastructure that allows you to get out without needing your own vehicle.

The most obvious place for me is Chamonix. Also, I've never been, but I understand Innsbruck fits the bill almost better. As well as lots of places in Europe. I'm having a hard time thinking of places in the USA, maybe Canada. What places can you think of?

Thanks.

[gunit130]

I don't get it... are you thinking of moving or something?

Places that come to mind--

Have you ever heard of this place called Salt Lake City?

Snowbird actually has a big mountain comp every year too. Only the best skiers ski there.

[schindlerpiste]

Public transportation in USA sucks. Best option is SLC. Innsbruck is what immediately entered my mind.
Munich and Zurich are other options, but farther to the mtns.

[hop]

Comparing Chamonix to Seattle isn't really fair unless Seattle shrinks and moves to Camp Muir or the top of WA pass. Seattle's more like Geneva, maybe.

Either way, Yurp wins. Check out Grenoble and Briançon too.

Best in NA: SLC and Vancouver?

[rideit]

Vernon Valley FTW

[ectreeskier11]

I don't get it... are you thinking of moving or something?

Places that come to mind--

Have you ever heard of this place called Salt Lake City?

Snowbird actually has a big mountain comp every year too. Only the best skiers ski there.

can't tell if this is sarcastic or not but LOL.

[alto]

I guess SLC could be one of the best in NA. Public transit exists but still, from downtown it takes what... 2 hours to get up either one of the canyons?

And Vancouver... What is transit like between the city and Whistler? A charter bus?

[skieurmalade]

I may never live in SLC again. that's a cirque du public transport on the whole other end of my spectrum these days

BUT remember door 4? there's a bus to the bottom of that resort from town... not a great transport system but certainly no need for a car. Plus great ski buddies

[hop]

I guess SLC could be one of the best in NA. Public transit exists but still, from downtown it takes what... 2 hours to get up either one of the canyons?

And Vancouver... What is transit like between the city and Whistler? A charter bus?

I have no idea, but I'm guessing it's going to take a few hours each way. Does the train still run?

The bottom line is that if you're using public transport to get from a big city to anywhere remote, it's probably going to take longer than if you took your own car. That's your biggest trade-off.

As soon as you nail down your priorities then "where" will become more clear.

[alto]

You're super not helpful hop, but thanks anyway.

[ACH]

Hey Alto, if you wanted to stay in the PNW, would this be an option for you?
http://www.zipcar.com/

Doesn't solve all of the issues you listed, but some of them anyway?

[tylerjames]

How long do you think it will be until Greg from AlpineZone gives us his thoughts on this?

[ectreeskier11]

How long do you think it will be until Greg from AlpineZone gives us his thoughts on this?

lol. boston's a great city... but seriously, i'd have to say SLC.

[hop]

You're super not helpful hop, but thanks anyway.

No problem.

Seriously though, read your post. The title is "best mountain towns based on public transit", then you go on to gripe about how hard it is to get from Seattle to the mountains using public transportation.

News flash = Seattle is a big city on the ocean, not a mountain town.

I'm sure plenty of mountain towns have good local public transport to get you from town to the hill. Two mountain towns that I've lived in and never needed a car are Whistler and the Roaring Fork valley (Glenwood Springs - Aspen) in CO. I could get on a bus in the morning and get dropped off right at the lifts no problem. The public transportation in these places was as easy and convenient as Chamonix, Serre Chevalier, and Verbier.

Of course none of those towns had the same mix of culture/diversity/music etc. of living in a big city, esp. one like Seattle on the ocean, so if you do value those things you like about Seattle, then you're going to have to make some choices.

[gunit130]

Yeah no shit REAL mountain towns have great public transportation.

alto, your question should be "Do I want to live in a city with public transportation? or a mountain town with public transportation?"

Just about Any Mountain Town, USA has great public transportation. Hell, some of the mountain towns include free blow jobs on public transportation.

[Name Redacted]

So do you want a mountain town or a city near the mountains? Summit CO has free public transportation. If you are going to move anywhere in the world just so you don't have to drive you have some weird priorities. So be it, I'd love to live in France but for many other reasons than the fact that they have good public transportation.

[XXX-er]

No problem.


Two mountain towns that I've lived in and never needed a car are Whistler and the Roaring Fork valley (Glenwood Springs - Aspen) in CO. I could get on a bus in the morning and get dropped off right at the lifts no problem. The public transportation in these places was as easy and convenient as Chamonix, Serre Chevalier, and Verbier. .

whistler during the olympics was incredible a bus came by any stop every 15-30 min even out in the burbs but there is no way that kind of service would be sustainable if you had to pay the $ for it

[hop]

whistler during the olympics was incredible a bus came by any stop every 15-30 min even out in the burbs but there is no way that kind of service would be sustainable if you had to pay the $ for it

When I lived in Whistler back in the last century I think a monthly bus pass ended up being about a dollar a ride (assuming two rides a day from home to ski and back) and buses ran every 30 mins give or take. That seemed pretty fair to me.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Are you an American? How does one go about setting up residency in the EU? Sounds hard.

I'm not kidding when i say Bozeman. It's a resort town full of that whole shibang, but there is a free bus right to big sky, I don't think there is regular scheduled bus service to Bridger. Small fucking town.

Missoula's not too bad either. There's quite an extensive bus system that people actually use, and it's really easy to get round on bike. Actually easier than driving, often.

Also, I hear NYC has a great mass transit system, and you can take a charter bus to huntah on the weekends.

[powder_prophet]

SLC doesn't count. He said mountain town, not city near the mountains.

Both Summit County and the Roaring Fork valley in CO have great public transport right to the lifts.

Or there's always Jackson. Free in town buses, buses to the Village are free with a pass, plus buses over into Idaho if you want to live or ski over there. And the valley has some of the best paved bike paths for any town of its size.

[grskier]

I'll give another shout re: RFV... Free bus between Aspen and Snowmass and cheap bus service throughout the valley.

[hop]

Yeah, but he also said art, music, and diverse people which rarely = mountain town.

[Dromond]

Are you an American? How does one go about setting up residency in the EU? Sounds hard.

I'm not kidding when i say Bozeman. It's a resort town full of that whole shibang, but there is a free bus right to big sky, I don't think there is regular scheduled bus service to Bridger. Small fucking town.

Missoula's not too bad either. There's quite an extensive bus system that people actually use, and it's really easy to get round on bike. Actually easier than driving, often.

Also, I hear NYC has a great mass transit system, and you can take a charter bus to huntah on the weekends.

I feel like the public transportation to Bridger is thumb-based. It is so close...

I sometimes wonder this question as well. I actually enjoy taking public transportation, hate sitting in traffic, hate parking, hate paying for auto repairs but also hate taking forever to get where I'm going and just plain not being able to get places at the right time. Seattle has it pretty good just having a lot of options around, but there's no getting around the driving. If you mostly want to avoid owning a car, well, there's lots of carpooling to be done and general transportation is easily filled in with bike/bus/zipcar.

I will say that I was blown away but the public transportation in Switzerland. Just having everything running predictably and efficiently on-time made taking it so much easier even in the winter.

I'm curious about Grenoble as I've heard a lot about it...

No answers here!

[DHogg]

So do you want a mountain town? Or a City. You can't have both.

Whistler is pretty close, I thought there bus system was awesome-its cheap, and reasonably frequent, and the town is big enough, and the mountains are dam hard to beat.

[wyosam]

SLC doesn't count. He said mountain town, not city near the mountains.

Both Summit County and the Roaring Fork valley in CO have great public transport right to the lifts.

Or there's always Jackson. Free in town buses, buses to the Village are free with a pass, plus buses over into Idaho if you want to live or ski over there. And the valley has some of the best paved bike paths for any town of its size.

2nd this- If you're looking for a big city, it is going to be tough to fill the bill. But there are a whole host of mountain towns that fit just fine- I was surprised it went this far before someone mentioned Jackson. You can get all over on public transit or bike. I spent a bunch of time there this summer, and for a while it looked like we were moving there, and all I could think of was that my car was not going to get driven at all. Bus transportation there is great- they are really putting in the effort to make it work, and work well.