I may be moving to Southern California next year. Two of the towns I am considering living in are Idyllwild and Big Bear Lake. My girlfriend’s father lives in Idyllwild, and it seems like a nice place to live. I would appreciate any input on either of these towns and whether they would be pleasant places to live. I used to living in a medium sized college town (Charlottesville, VA) with some conveniences of cosmopolitan neighborhoods but with easy access to wilderness.
Bankrobber
Big Bear is great, but it is a retreat for rich LA people, there are houses of all prices there. Also check Lake arrowhead also nice. I have lived in both places, both have great access to the wilderness.
toastyjosh
My brother has lived in Idyllwild for 20 years and I have visited him there many times. It is a nice place with a wonderful climate and lots of opportunities for recreation. The main problem as I see it, and I have pondered moving there myself, would be making a living. It is like Big Bear, a vacation town for the LA wealthy. As I remember the summertime population is something like 6000 and in the winter less than 2000. So it can be a somewhat strange place in that the vast majority of the houses are unoccupied most of the year. The economy is almost entirely tourist based. Friendly small town people.
Razor
others have hit the nail on the head: work. tourism or government will be your best bets for employment. Big bear has a couple of ski resorts nearby and so has amore solid toursim business year-round. there are folks who live in the Big Bear/Arrowhead vicinity who commute downhill to San Bernardino. yuk. no idea about commuters out of Idyllwild.
IMHO, Idyllwild is a much nicer place, much prettier. much smaller. but then, we got engaged there so i’m a wee bit biased. 
tarbubble
Thanks for the info on the two towns. I was in Idyllwild two weeks ago and liked it. If I do move out to the area, I will have an oppurtunity already lined up that requires commuting.
Bankrobber