What made you choose to move where you did? (jobs, Budget, quality of life)

[The_GarGars]

So, the hubby and I are considering moving...or at least thinking about it...okay, more like dreaming. We love the city we're in, but hate the way the state is heading. We had a few locations in mind initially, but since we'd be the first in either of our families to leave the state...we didn't realize how many options there are to choose from.

So to those of you who have moved to the location that you loved (or ended up at)...how did you go about choosing that spot? What helped narrow your choices down? And I guess...with so many cities/states to choose from, how were you able to pinpoint exactly what areas to consider?

Thanks to any and all who read and respond to this.

[WyoEagle]

I chose it because it was a $25,000 raise.

[bmd69]

My wife's family (grandkids). They boned us and then moved away after we following them.

[Sonnenwende]

Well, what is it that you want out of wherever you live?
Are politics (conservative vs. progressive) important to you?
Is religion important to you?
Is weather important to you?
Do you want to live in a big city or in a rural area?
Do you see yourself on a windswept prairie or high in the mountains or on a tropical beach?
What do you do for work? The local economy of wherever you decide will be very important if you need jobs.
Do you need public transport?
Are you looking to buy a home?

Many places can be crossed off the list immediately depending on the answers to these questions.

[Azmordean]

When I moved to the Northern VA / DC area, these were probably some of my main criteria. Of course, I didn't really "look" for a place to move because I was already familiar with this area and knew this was the logical place to come based especially on 1 and 3 below.

1. Career Possibilities. Obviously, it's preferable to have a job lined up, but if you have sufficient savings, and are moving to an area with a strong market in your field, that can be OK. For example, I moved here to the DC area without a job lined up but my background is in Law, Economics, and Technology - and this region has an excellent job market - so I knew I'd eventually find something.

2. Major Metro Area. I came here from a smaller town in Southwest Virginia - Blacksburg, VA where I went to college. Great town. But I knew from that experience, at my age, I wanted to be in a major metro area with lots to do and a variety of types of places to live. I also wanted access to a major airport. I like to travel and paying through the nose to fly out of a small market airport or driving 4 hours to a real airport were not attractive options.

3. Friends and Family. This is meaningless for some people, and a big deal to others. I'm in the latter category. The majority of my best college friends are around here, as is a lot of my family. So it made it an easy choice.

4. Setting. By that, I mean, a variety of "aesthetic / lifestyle" factors, like proximity to outdoor recreation (mountains, beach), availability of bike paths, climate, and scenery.

I'd actually encourage you to check this area out. Depending on your field, the job market is stellar. The climate is a real 4 season climate, but not a terribly harsh one. I see you are in the inland empire of CA. Summers here are probably a bit cooler, but way more humid unfortunately. Fall and Spring in the DC area are absolutely delightful. Winter is definitely colder than CA (and sees some snow - some years like last almost none, every 5-10 years we'll get a lot, average is around 15-20") but there are plenty of relatively mild stretches (highs in the 50s) as well.

The area as a whole is diverse and vibrant. Tons to do between DC and the "high tech" suburbs. Virginia is ranked one of the best managed states and best states to do business (big contrast from CA!). The scenery is not as "breathtaking" as CA but it's very beautiful in a quieter way - lots of woods, the Potomac River, fall color, the DC Cherry Blossoms. Vastly greener than CA. And you are within 1-2 hours of the mountains and similar to the beach though with traffic in the summer, 4 is more likely.

Big negative is traffic. If you live CLOSE to work it's a great area, but if you are stuck in a long commute you may want to jump off a bridge. But coming from the LA area... that's probably nothing new .

[Azmordean]

Originally Posted by The_GarGars

We love the city we're in, but hate the way the state is heading.

Can you elaborate a bit, maybe in a PM? I am contemplating a potential move to CA (Bay Area - Silicon Valley) and would love to hear more about this. I don't really want to move across country, I just bought a condo here less than a year ago, but the opportunity assuming it comes through (looking good...) would be an excellent one (with Google), and likely a major pay raise even considering COL.

I know CA has budget issues and is pretty poorly managed - but how much does that really impact day to day life?

[Ellwood]

You mentioned you love where you are living, but don't care for the direction the state is headed. Please keep in mind any place you may move today, may take a negative direction tomorrow. If you are still working, jobs would be a high priority to consider, housing costs, COL overall, what you like to do, hobbies, sports, cultural. You can move somewhere that is financially attractive, but be bored to death. Another consideration is your friends and families. Yes, you can develop a new social circle, but if you spend a lot of time with family, a move far away may be difficult. Wherever you choose, rent first.

[nightbird47]

I had wanted to move out of Riverside for over ten years after a trip to nocal. I used to imagine my neighborhood with all the trees intact (Riverside does have lots of beautiful trees) but no houses or people. I wanted to live with a low population density and not so much rush, but didn't know where.

A trip to Kansas made me interested in there but the winter weather, naaaa. But next years convention (IN a small town) I visited a friend in Oklahoma so we could untangle the Regrestration data off the website, and had started looking into the state. Four seasons, but not extreme snow or cold. Being from Riverside and the santa ana wind tunnel, wind doesn't bother me, and hot in the summer is hot in the summer. But when I arrived the sky was this beautiful shade of blue I'd never seen, the air clear, couldn't see it or taste it, and I could breath. Population of a little chunk of Riverside with open space around it.

The rest a few months later when the apt lease ran out is history. But I realized I've adjusted to the 'soon' setting here when relatives from California complain its taking forever to get something done here. I've learned just to shurg.

Here I have four huge beautiful trees in my yard, and if the ice storm a year or so before I moved hadn't split it, would have had shade in the whole back yard from one that was even larger but is now sadly only a stump.

[ccc123]

My husband and I made a major move about 10 years ago. We considered the following:

1) Climate
2) Job availability
3) General quality of life good medical care,restaurants,shopping,parks etc.
4) We wanted a place with a good mix of people ( young,old,moderate,conservative,liberal)
5) Reasonable cost of living

We went from a small town in the south to a small city in the midwest are only regret was that we waited so long to do it.

[Home_Kid]

moved from NY to AZ because my wife wanted to, and, i was done with NY after 34years. we have family in both places, hers in AZ mine in NY.

AZ is a horrible place to move to in respect to jobs and family life. i am lucky enough to make 6 figure salary working for a non-AZ company but i work out of my home office. the housing market is so bad in AZ. my home has lost $130k in equity since jan2008, and, current LTV is 127% !!!!!!

for anyone else, i can only advocate this: unless you are financially set then do not move to AZ, and, if you are in AZ having difficulties then you should pick up your stuff & family and move to a better state, you'll be much happier.