Favorite Lake County?

[Aurelius]

Given my preferences and general outlook, it's going to be one of the ones in the West. That narrows it to CA, CO, MT, and OR.

CA, while definitely underrated in some ways, has had over 50% of the county burn down from forest fires over the past 7 years. Poverty is rampant even by rural California standards, and the lake is horribly polluted.

CO does not have any resorts within its borders, but based on its proximity to Summit County, and its voting patterns, it appears to be part of "ski country" culturally. After more than a year of living in a ski town, I've unfortunately discovered that there are particular social pathologies that they are prone to: highly transient population, rampant welfare and benefits fraud, horrific drug problems, a certain incredibly irresponsible approach to life and an unfortunate tendency to attract a certain type of person with a predilection toward all of the above*. I've decided that once I move on from Tahoe sometime this spring I prefer to live in a more normal town an hour or so from the skiing and get my fix in on the weekends.

*all these things mostly describe the transplants; the locals have their heads screwed much more tightly on their shoulders, but there are a lot more transplants and second home owners than actual locals.

OR: too desolate and remote for me, even though it seems like a great place to visit. My preferred living situation is a town of a few thousand to ~15,000 people about an hour or so from a decent sized city.

MT: Flathead Lake is an awesome place, it fits my preferred living arrangement, Polson seems like a nice town, and the much bigger cities (by Montana standards) of Kalispell and Missoula are easily accessible. I can also still get my skiing fix easily, with three areas between an hour and an hour and a half away. Once I get settled into my career using my STEM degree, I bet I could work out an arrangement where I get a job in one of the nearby bigger cities, work in person two or three times a week, and work from home the rest of the time, avoiding a long commute every day.

Montana is the hands down winner.