Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi all,
I am a Floridian (Miami) who fell in love with Northern California in college and lived there for about 10 years, moved to Portland Oregon for various reasons and now I'm looking for a place to live and stay for good. My husband is a Texan, we met in California. We both love California but who can live there anymore if you expect a decent quality of life and are not making at least 200k per year. Population predictions for the state are not encouraging, either. I can't imagine CA any more crowded than it is.
All of our family is east of the Rockies, many on the East coast: Denver, Dallas, Philly, Charlotte, and around Florida. We'd like to be closer to them. We see neighbors getting together with nearby relatives and long for that ourselves. I don't need to be in the same town as the relatives; a few hours drive would be just fine.
I don't want a hot climate like Texas or to be in the SE. I love the change of seasons and my son loves snow. 200 days or more of sun would be great. Here we have about 144 and it isn't enough - I need sun. Half the time it is grey here it doesn't even rain.
We need a place that is visually appealing - beauty may be one of our top criteria. Beauty, safety, and relative affordability.
We're artists, we don't need any particular job market around us to get by. We don't want to be somewhere remote. It would be nice to be around educated people and within an hour of some museums, culture, etc./ doesn't have to be "world class" stuff.
We're fairly liberal, blue state people.
I've been making a case for New England, though I've never been there. I don't want to be somewhere that doesn't take to newcomers, especially from California. It much closer to the family except the Denver bunch.
I think we could blend in well with the New England "personality" that we've read about on these boards.
I was fascinated with Montana (Bozeman, Livingston) but it seems they don't want us there, and it doesn't get us much closer to family.
I'd love to be able be near a downtown that has a few things going on, bookstores or cafes, galleries, interesting shops or whatever, but not be in a big city.
Thank you for reading. If you have any suggestions please do share.
Christina, thanks for addt'l info on areas around Philly. Not to bad with crime and there are jobs there? Cost of living is below average?
st. louie, louie, you sure added an idea we didn't have. We will check out that area, too, although the NE is where our hearts are. Wish we could still afford it.....
Keep posting with your opinions, everyone, please see my original post!
It's really hard to duplicate what you've found in the northeast in any place, well, but the northeast. Other cities may have 'northeast' elements, usually intown, but they're still not exactly the same. Have you looked into Pittsburgh? Baltimore really is a great city too, and pockets of crime exist everywhere so you shouldn't let it deter you. ARe you more committed to finding a new house with a big piece of land or do you want the NY lifestyle? If access is what you seek, you could go to the Poconos or a place like Lambertville, NJ, where small towns thrive but you can be in NY in two hours or less.
We're not looking to live in an actual big city. We don't want the NY lifestyle, but we want to be able to visit it (or another big city) once in a while.
We want to live outside a big city and have access, like you mentioned. And if commuting is not problem, then working near a big city would work, too.
We are sooooo tired of mowing lawns! So we aren't looking for land. A bit of land, but not much. We'll rent first and check out the area before we purchase.
Most important are the people's attitudes, JOBS and a place where we can get more bang for our buck.
We thought about Baltimore, but I thought the job situation there wasn't great. I could be wrong, though....have been many times before!
P'burgh is truly a cool place and COMPLETELY underrated IMHO. I went for the first time 2 yrs ago and was blown away. Really beautiful, totally cool people (this is from a Jersey native), lots of stuff to do. Totally, completely knocked my socks off (i guess it could be b/c i wasn't expecting much). I've been back 2xs since then.
I've gone with friends who had never been there and they agree 100%. My brother went not too long after me and felt the same way.
Now living there is different of course. I'm really not sure of the economy, but your fields of work are transferable and I would think you'd have no problem finding jobs. COL is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.
Go for a visit, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Ugh, I went for about three days, couldn't wait to get home. It was smoggy, dirty, and the people seemed so... depressed. Every single person that I talked to hated it and wanted to leave really bad. Also, I noticed that no one there wears sandals? It was really hot and I wore my flip-flops... people were staring at me like it was going out of style.
But then, I'm a northwesterner and couldn't stand living anywhere else. I guess it all depends on what you were raised on.
Christina, thanks for addt'l info on areas around Philly. Not to bad with crime and there are jobs there? Cost of living is below average?
Unfortunately I couldn't say specifically. Assuming you aren't right next to the city, crime should be very low. I have visited the area around Kennett Square, which is about 30 minutes from Philly, very beautiful, and appeared perfectly safe and peaceful. I've also been to the Lancaster area and Bucks County area; both are beautiful with overall low crime rates (perhaps each area has one or two "iffy" towns but nothing terrible). I would recommend bls.gov to learn about the job market and average wages. And of course, city-data.com can give you crime stats, and the good folks in the PA forum can give you details on specific areas. The Poconos might be another option for you as well.
Ugh, I went for about three days, couldn't wait to get home. It was smoggy, dirty, and the people seemed so... depressed. Every single person that I talked to hated it and wanted to leave really bad. Also, I noticed that no one there wears sandals? It was really hot and I wore my flip-flops... people were staring at me like it was going out of style.
But then, I'm a northwesterner and couldn't stand living anywhere else. I guess it all depends on what you were raised on.
Youre from the NW and arent accustomed to depressed people? If there is one single place Ive been (well, 2 actually) where people seemed depressed it was Seattle and Portland. Of course not all were depressed, but most areas people were walking heads down, covered up in parkas and umbrellas, with the steady drizzle and gray clouds.... depressing to say the least.
No, there were way more depressed people in Pittsburgh. Seriously, you ask them if they like living there and they'll talk for half an hour about how horrible it is. Except this one taxi driver who kept spouting how beautiful the "mountains" are. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were really just hills.
Ugh, I went for about three days, couldn't wait to get home. It was smoggy, dirty, and the people seemed so... depressed. Every single person that I talked to hated it and wanted to leave really bad. Also, I noticed that no one there wears sandals? It was really hot and I wore my flip-flops... people were staring at me like it was going out of style.
But then, I'm a northwesterner and couldn't stand living anywhere else. I guess it all depends on what you were raised on.
you didn't hang with cool ppl!
can't comment on the sandals (that's an odd observation!) but based on what the OP is looking for, Pburgh seems like a contenda!
No, there were way more depressed people in Pittsburgh. Seriously, you ask them if they like living there and they'll talk for half an hour about how horrible it is. Except this one taxi driver who kept spouting how beautiful the "mountains" are. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were really just hills.
this surprises me as i find pittsburgh residents extremely loyal to their city and would defend it to the death. if nothing, they LOVE their steelers!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OOPS posted in the wrong area
Of course not all were depressed, but most areas people were walking heads down, covered up in parkas and umbrellas, with the steady drizzle and gray clouds.... depressing to say the least. 
