Bishop is a welcomed retreat with much (much) warmer weather than Mammoth.
We put together a “Birds-of-a-Feather” lifestyle list of possible communities across western states.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
We introduced this section with a story about building a life on your own terms with Whitefish, Montana residents figuring it was time to move on because of their property tax burden.
We put together a “Birds-of-a-Feather” lifestyle list of possible communities across western states.
And we narrowed the choices to the Rocky Mountain states, specifically Colorado, before visiting and sizing up towns in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
For our Swall Meadows family, we honestly don’t know how the next chapter of their story unfolds.
Each neighbor faced gut wrenching choices.
Start over.
Fight.
Or flight.
But, to where?
Their lifestyle profile opens up their relocation options to the same communities we already profiled.
So we can speculate.
Swall Meadows falls within the broad Bishop zip code, unlike Tom’s Place, Rock Creek Lodge, McGee Creek and Crawley Lake which claim Mammoth Lake’s zip code.
If they planned to rebuild (hopefully their financial planner made certain their fire insurance coverage was current) and needed to find a temporary home in the area, they probably chose either Bishop or Mammoth Lakes.
In both places they will find neighbors who fit their lifestyle and share their values.
Mammoth School District employed the husband as a math teacher.
Choosing Mammoth would certainly cut their commuting expenses, while like their other neighbors, they rebuild.
But, first the “from” before the “to”.
Choosing Bishop.
Location At-A-Glance
Region: Western United States
State: California
Travel Region: Sierra Nevada Region; Eastern Sierra
County: Inyo County,
Patchwork County: Service Worker Center
Town: Bishop, Swall Meadows
Population Density: Town and Country
Zip Codes: 93514
Profile At-A-Glance (Summer 2010)
Life Stages: Singles, Couples, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers
Ages: 20-29, 30-44, 45-65, 55+
Community Neighbors:
09M1T1, Big Fish Small Pond, 45-65, Empty Nests, Accumulated Wealth, Landed Gentry
11Y1T1 God’s Country, 30-44, Couples, Midlife, Midlife Success, Landed Gentry
28M2T2, Traditional Times, Empty Nests, 55+ Baby Boomers, Country Comfort
48Y3T4,Young Rustic, 20-29, Striving Singles, Rustic Living
Bishop, California Zip Code 93514 — Nearby Zip Codes: 93513, 93512, 93526, 89010, 93546, 93628
At the time of the 2010 financial check up, Bishop counted four Wireless Resorter lifestyle profiles in its zip code.
But, six years later one of the two Maturing Resort lifestyles, 11Y1T1 — 45+ Affluent Empty Nesters disappeared.
Profile At-A-Glance (Winter 2016)
Life Stages: Singles, Couples, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers, Seniors
Community Neighbors:
09M1T1, Big Fish Small Pond, 45-65, Empty Nests, Accumulated Wealth, Landed Gentry
28M2T2, Traditional Times, Empty Nests, 55+ Baby Boomers, Country Comfort
43M3T3, Heartlanders, 55+Boomer, Cautious Couples, Middle America
48Y3T4, Young and Rustic, 20-29, Striving Singles, Rustic Living
High Country Eagles
57M4T4, Old Milltowns, 65+, Sustaining Seniors, Rustic Living
Service Worker Centers
Midsize and small towns with economies fueled by hotels, stores and restaurants and lower-than-average median household income by county.
By the winter of 2016 one High Country Eagle lifestyle, the Rustic Eagle 57M4T4 joined Bishop’s zip code.
The rustic living, sustaining senior citizen lifestyle joined another newcomer, the 43Y3T3 55+ Baby Boomer, cautious couples.
In 2016 Bishop included lifestyles from all four Wireless Resorter communities – Premier Resorts, Maturing Resorts, Resort Suburbans (with the 43M3T3 newcomers) and Distant Exurbans — and the first High Country Eagle lifestyle (57M4T40).
Taking off and saying goodbye to Bishop, the 11Y1T1 30-44 year old successful midlife couples, having also left Breckenridge may have landed in the Lake Tahoe Basin in Tahoe City or Sunnyside.
Or in Southwestern Colorado Region along the Animas River in Durango .
Or in Dillon, Colorado – like Finnmark did.
What else should we consider about Bishop, according to Wikipedia?
The population was 3,879 at the 2010 census, up from 3,575 at the 2000 census. (304 more over 10 years)
To that the Bishop visitor center adds
The “greater Bishop area,” which includes unincorporated nearby neighborhoods such as West Bishop, Meadow Creek-Dixon Lane, Wilkerson Ranch, Rocking K, Mustang Mesa and Round Valley includes an additional 11,000 residents.
Bishop is a welcomed retreat with much (much) warmer weather than Mammoth.
With 5.18″ average yearly precipitation and only 6 inches of snow, Bishop makes the perfect combo vacation – ski, golf, fish and bike year-round.
Part Two: Bishop’s History and Migrating Lifestyle
Steps:
20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play? Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?
26) If you know the zip code you can discover the lifestyles living in the community. You can compare your profile with theirs to estimate your degree of fit.
27) Estimate how well suited you are for the resorts. Refer to “Profiles-at-a-Glance” comparing 2008-2009 and 2013-2014 for changes in Life Stages – Singles, Couples, Families, Midlife, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers and Seniors; Ages – 20-29, 25-54, 30-44, 45+ 45-65, 55+ and 65+; and mix of Lifestyles in neighborhoods. Does the resort still offer the age, life stage and lifestyle profiles you prefer?
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property valuations and sky high property taxes?