On Feb 14, 9:50*am, wrote:
On Feb 14, 2:22*am, tienshanman wrote:

snip ...places to live which have the best combination of

access to good flying, good schools (3 elem school age kids), a
critical mass of interesting people and culture and good weather. One
thing I do not want to do is drive anything more that about 15 – 20 min
to a glider field and I intend to buy a self launching glider if some
sort so I could presumably fly from a small, welcoming GA airport.

Sounds like odds of finding a job in your chosen field isn't a major
criterion - congratulations!

You can soar pretty much anywhere in the US so you need to decide on
your minimum threshold for strength of conditions and soarable months
out of the year. If you want nearly year-round cross-country soaring
you are almost certainly talking about the desert southwest. My
experience is that some of the best soaring locations are more remote
and are far less developed/diverse in terms of cultural offerings and
public school systems - again this is a threshold question (as well as
personal taste - if you like rodeos you are in luck!). One way to
counter the trend for schools is to find University towns such as
Boulder, CO, Austin, TX and Tucson, AZ. I haven't spent much time in
Albuquerque, NM but there is some awesome soaring and I know great
people who fly there. There is a regional contest in Logan, UT near
Salt Lake City this summer that could put that city more on the
soaring map. Dallas, TX appears to have an active soaring community.
If you are okay with winter hibernation it opens up possibilities in
more northern states.

The 20-minute requirement could put serious constraints on your
housing choices in many locations unless you don't care about being at
an airport with an established soaring operation - this is an issue
for me because I prefer flying with friends. Even without a glider
operation finding an airport that close will require a tradeoff in
most places. When I lived in Tucson my home was on the outskirts of
town closest to the El Tiro glider field and it was still a 30-minute
drive.

Best of luck,

9B

If you want to stay married never, ever disclose access to soaring as
a consideration.

Andy's list is pretty complete - I wouldn't criticize any of the
cities he mentions. I don't think anyone in Boulder drives more than
10 minutes to get to the airport - some just ride a bicycle.

US soaring weather is pretty darn good anywhere in the western
mountains and deserts with the exception of a thin strip along the
west coast which is usually under the influence of a marine inversion.