Four Ski Gateway Cities Among Kiplinger's 10 Best

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine ranked its “10 Best Cities for the Next Decade” today, and four major ski gateway cities were included on the list. All of the cities listed are prosperous, have plenty of growth potential, and are projected to generate a surplus of jobs over the next 10 years. #2. Seattle, Washington Kiplinger’s likes it because it’s home to Boeing, Microsoft and Amazon. We like it because of the nearby skiing opportunities afforded its residents. Depending on how far you want to drive, there is excellent skiing to be had. Crystal Mountain, Steven’s Pass and Mount Baker are all reasonable drives (2-3 hours) from the city, and all offer quality day trip skiing. And if you really want to get good snow, grab your passport and head four hours north to Whistler, BC for the weekend. #4. Boulder, Colorado We might be a bit biased here, as Boulder is the home of Ski Magazine. But it’s also a highly-intellectual, high tech and entrepreneurial city, home to the University of Colorado, federal research laboratories, and more than 6,000 small businesses. Its citizens are young, intelligent and active and there’s world-class skiing nearby. From A-Basin to Winter Park, Breckenridge to Vail, skiing is just a couple hours drive from this beautiful city. And if you just need to make some turns but don’t have time to drive up to Empire or Summit County, Eldora Mountain is just 21 miles west of Boulder and makes for a quick little mid-week getaway. #5. Salt Lake City, Utah The cost of living is low. The taxes are low. The expense of operating a business is low. The only thing high are the mountains, and boy does Salt Lake City have mountains. Alta is just 25 miles southeast of the city; Park City — which only hosted the 2002 Olympics — is just 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake. #8. Burlington, Vermont Home to the University of Vermont, Burlington is driven by environmentalism and locally-produced food, two of the reasons it made Kiplinger’s list. We’re all about the skiing, though, and there are some terrific options nearby. Stowe Mountain Resort (45 minutes), Mad River Glen (50 minutes), Smuggler’s Notch (55 minutes) and Cochran (20 minutes) are all within an hour of this forward-thinking mecca, and if you want to ski New England favorite Sugarbush, you’re looking at a shade under two hours. Read the Kiplinger’s article here: http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/10-best-cities-2010-for-the-next-decade.html