This is really intriguing to me. So these are 6 high school seniors who are all going to the same college and since they can’t go there, they’re going to use the dorm rental money and go somewhere fit & outdoors while they take virtual classes? Because that is very enterprising.
I read it as college seniors.
College seniors. Yes. They were compelled too shut down their fraternity a couple years ago, through no fault of there own. Then they lost their summer internships. A handful of 21 year-olds who want to hang with friends instead of parents. Mine will need to get a student loan to pull this off; but we’ll see how much tuition is discounted in a few weeks.
Eureka made it to the top of my list. Beach, surfing, weightlifting in the back yard, zooming, reading books. Rubber rafting and mountain hikes are probably a modest drive away. Endless summer.
My daughter and a group of her high school friends had a similar idea. They’re all going to different colleges, but figured if none of them could go away to actual college it would be better to get a place for the 4 (in her case) of them and take their classes virtually, but at least still have someone to socialize with and not be in her parents’ house. It was just day dreaming at the time, and it looks like most/all of them are still planning in person in the fall.
Bend, OR
Oregon Coast
Some more ideas:
South Padre Island TX: once the beach season ends, you can probably find some bargains for multi occupancy homes.
Galveston TX: about an hour from Houston. Nice beaches with lots of condo inventory.
Maybe I am a bit more cautious and hesitant but Harvard has launched an online Covid risk assessment map. You can look not only at states but down to county levels of new infections. I wouldn’t even consider a location that was in the orange or red categories but, again, that’s just me.
As we can see, these things change. As long as the students take precautions, this would not be a factor for me.
I would say Gulf coast, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. If you are really into the great outdoors - Jackson Hole l, Wyoming?
Would you provide a link, please?
I wouldn’t dismiss this so much - but I would focus less on current hotspots (because those do change) and more on the attitudes of people, especially leaders, in the area. The thing about public health is that it can’t be achieved on the individual level - it needs the public working together to prevent things. One of the things we’ve recently learned about the coronavirus is that it doesn’t spread easily and predictably - most people with the virus may never infect anyone else, while a few people may infect very large numbers. (https://theconversation.com/a-few-superspreaders-transmit-the-majority-of-coronavirus-cases-139950 - this article is a little old, but I’ve read more recent ones that add evidence to this).
A person can be doing everything “right” and still be infected by a random encounter with a person who is not. The risk of this is even greater if there isn’t good leadership and buy-in to basic public health precautions that prevent the spread of the disease.
I’m suuuuper biased in this response, but I’ve fallen in love with Washington state in my time here, and if I had to choose I’d choose a small town in the Pacific Northwest a couple hours’ drive from Portland or Seattle. You can get it all here - hiking and skiing and mountains and surfing and beaches and water sports, too.
During hurricane season? Really?
“Endless summer” is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Eureka. The far northern CA coast is usually chilly and foggy (average daily high never gets above 64F even in summer) and often wet from late September/early October onwards. Most years it rains pretty consistently from November through March. And the ocean is really cold, a brisk walk on the beach is far more plausible than sunbathing.
In an ideal world, I would look for a place with access to beautiful places for hiking and skiing and possibly also relatively inexpensive. Areas of VT and Maine but could be very, very cold in winter. Boulder area in Colorado. Taos area and probably other areas in New Mexico (?), areas in Northern California, outside of Portland OR or Bend OR. Boulder area, probably Taos and NorCal probably not inexpensive.
Like @helpingmom40 and @juillet, I would pay real attention to places where COVID is not spiking up. In some states like FL, government policies are disastrous and, because the motivation is political, will likely not self-correct sufficiently.
Wifi can be sketchy in many areas of Northern New England. Something to check on.
I would have to agree with @Twoin18, in that Eureka is a specific kind of town. It is cold, damp and does get foggy in the summer. I don’t know why people think the large state of California is a constant Southern California vibe (with beaches and palm trees everywhere).
It’s not a big town. The locals do protect it.
It does have a lot of access to hiking but I would think that six college seniors would become extremely bored there, after the newness wears off. Wi-Fi could be inconsistent.
You might want to look into the college town of Isla Vista (near Santa Barbara, California). The town and housing is steps from the ocean and its definitely one of the best college towns in America. Typically, it would be cost prohibitive, however I’ve heard several students are trying to sublet their apartments/houses due to online classes so you can probably swing a good deal. UCSB is on a quarter system so not sure how the schedules would align. Good luck and have a great Sr year!
Duluth, MN/Superior WI. Both have a large college population. Not exactly a “beach” town, but right on Lake Superior, with beautiful scenery and lots of outdoor activities. I’m not positive about internet speeds, but considering the colleges there, I would think they would need good service.
How’s the internet service at some of these places? Reliable? Fast?
For beach areas I’m thinking Destin or Tampa area or something like Myrtle or around Charleston SC.
It’s pretty brutal there if you are not used to the deep freeze of MN, and there are pretty serious storms in the late fall.
Based on the map at the link which @AlwaysMoving provided, the beaches of NC, SC, Georgia, Florida, and the entire Gulf coast are all pretty much COVID 19 hotspots.