Question: Have a say in my future! Where should we move?

[slipnslide]

Salida is a great town! As kids, my brother and I learned to ski at Monarch and still give it a top rating. It’s totally unpretentious. The day after Thanksgiving, we took a detour (accidental) on the way to cut our Christmas tree and had lunch at Amica's. A lot of new shops have popped up there. We fell in love with one called the Bungled Jungle - www.bungledjungle.com . It’s a gallery that features hand made goofy monsters.

 

[Slidergirl]

I'll go for Utah

You say Salt Lake is too large. Ok. Try Park City. If it's too expensive for you, go out a few miles to Heber City, Midway, Oakley. You're in small towns, beautiful mountain backdrops and you're within a 40 minute drive of SLC International Airport.
Or, like another poster said, try Odgen. Just as close to the airport as Park City. And, it's a quick drive up Odgen Canyon to Snowbasin, which is being touted as the next big resort. You could always live up in Huntsville, which is where Snowbasin actually is. It's a pretty sleepy town, but it has a kickin' bar that serves great hamburgers (The Shooting Star).
You should take the time to come up for a few days and scope out the whole area. You'd be surprised just how "small town" you can get and have the amenities you want very close by.