Spokane, Washington

POPULATION: 215,973

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $175,900

MILES FROM A CHAIRLIFT: 34

The snowghosts at Schweitzer are legendary. So are the tachos. And Spokane, 90 minutes away, is changing quickly.

If you’d asked me a few years ago what the chances were I’d move back to my hometown in the inland Northwest, I would have said zero.

Last year, my wife and I did the millennial thing and drove our van around North America for 13 months. We visited small ski towns like Crested Butte and Jackson, foodie epicenters like Charleston and Austin, progressive hotbeds