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Sorry if this isn't in the right forum but I have a series of questions that covers alot of states. I am in the military and am due to transfer next year. My girlfriend and I are having alot of trouble finding out what the real deal is with some places, however in the end we really just need to know some basics. I make about $35,000 a year before taxes and not including my housing allowance. I was hoping you guys could take a look at our list and tell us what you think. The list contains all the places where we want to go and I am know that we will neither go broke nor hungry wherever we end up but we are looking for somewhere we can still live comfortably. Any extra input would be helpful also.
Entry level job market for her? Currently she is a waitress.
Length of commute from affordable housing to business district.
Cost of living based on a $50,000/yr income.
At the end of each location the number represents the housing allowance for that location. Is that a fair number for rent on a one or two bedroom apartment/townhome?
Portland, ME 1068
Portland, OR 966
Anchorage AK 1434
Valdez AK 1428
Kenai AK 1434
Ketchikan AK 1503
St Louis MO 948
Seattle WA 1143
Wilmington NC 1017
East Providence RI 1176
Cape Canaveral FL 900
Rivera Beach FL 1308
Paducah KY 711
Barboursville WV 855
Guam ???
St. Croix Virgin Islands ???
Those are all the places that sound interesting to us. Its hard to explain but its one of those things that while I am in the military this may be our only chance to go to these places and travel as we do. So its not so much what we are looking for in these places but more so just wanting to expierence something different and not leave there with the biggest thing we remember is being broke all the time or how everything was so expensive we couldn't really do much or the 2 hour commute to and from work, etc. I guess we are just looking for an enjoyable area that we can be comfortable in. We are both from the south (TX and FL) so all we have ever heard of the north and the west is how much it costs to live there and how busy it always is.
Sorry if this isn't in the right forum but I have a series of questions that covers alot of states. I am in the military and am due to transfer next year. My girlfriend and I are having alot of trouble finding out what the real deal is with some places, however in the end we really just need to know some basics. I make about $35,000 a year before taxes and not including my housing allowance. I was hoping you guys could take a look at our list and tell us what you think. The list contains all the places where we want to go and I am know that we will neither go broke nor hungry wherever we end up but we are looking for somewhere we can still live comfortably. Any extra input would be helpful also.
Entry level job market for her? Currently she is a waitress.
Length of commute from affordable housing to business district.
Cost of living based on a $50,000/yr income.
At the end of each location the number represents the housing allowance for that location. Is that a fair number for rent on a one or two bedroom apartment/townhome?
Portland, ME 1068
Portland, OR 966
Anchorage AK 1434
Valdez AK 1428
Kenai AK 1434
Ketchikan AK 1503
St Louis MO 948
Seattle WA 1143
Wilmington NC 1017
East Providence RI 1176
Cape Canaveral FL 900
Rivera Beach FL 1308
Paducah KY 711
Barboursville WV 855
Guam ???
St. Croix Virgin Islands ???
I would go with Riviera Beach, FL. The housing allowance of $1308 per month is well above actual market price which would be very favorable for your overall cost of living budget. It's also a great area for a restaurant server due to the number of thriving restaurants. The Palm Beach Gardens or Royal Palm Beach/Wellington areas are a nice place to look with a lot of two bedroom rental condos/apts in the $900 range.
Go with rural Alaska. When will you ever have that experience again? Any of the others you can visit or live in at any time with relative ease...plus, in my opinion, there aren't any mindblowing cities on that list.
Of those, I'm most familiar with Providence and Portland, ME. I've lived in both places.
To clear this up right away, your housing allowance should cover you easily for a one (maybe even 2 bedroom) in a good neighborhood in both places.
Of those two I'd choose Providence. I know you have East Providence written there, but East Providence is just an urban extension of Providence and is only about 5-10 minutes driving from the center of Providence. If I were you, I'd live in Providence itself and commute to East Providence. There's nothing wrong with East Providence but it's just across the small river from Providence where there's a lot more going on and much nicer neighborhoods. In addition, traffic isn't terrible in PVD, but if you work regular hours (9-5), you'd be commuting in the opposite direction of traffic all but assuring a super easy commute.
A key thing to make note of with Providence is the difference between East Providence (a separate city across the river) and the East SIDE of Providence (a large collection of nice neighborhoods within the city of Providence itself). I would look at renting in the East Side of Providence. Specifically, look at the East Side Neighborhoods of Wayland Square, College Hill (near Brown and RISD), Hope (more quiet and suburban), Blackstone (very suburban and quiet) and even Fox Point (more urban and a little gritty,but not bad). This location puts you in one of the best areas of Providence (historic, safe, attractive and fun) and also within 5 minutes to East Providence by car and depending on where you rent, even within walking distance of downtown Providence (at the furthest, a quick drive or bus ride). Check for apartments with off-street parking. Parking on the street isn't too hard, but it's nicer to have your own spot. Most listings will advertise off-street parking if they have it.
You should be able to get a pretty nice place for your budget. 50k/year after you've covered your housing cost will be PLENTY in Providence. Plenty. You'll be able to live quite comfortably. In fact, if you want, you may be able to live easily with just one car (public transit is good and places like College Hill puts you within walking distance to most things) if you want to save a little more. Obviously, if you're renting, property taxes are no worry. Providence has an excellent year-round restaurant scene so your girlfriend should have no trouble finding work pretty fast. She can make a good chunk of change in PVD too as there are a good number of higher end restaurants.
One of the best thing about living in Providence is proximity to other places. You said this may be your only opportunity to live in the Northeast and experience it. Providence is nice in its own right, but you're also a mere 50 minute drive (1 hour train ride) to Boston as well as an hour or less to places like Newport RI, Cape Cod MA, and the beaches of Southern New England. New York City is 3.5 hours away (take Mega Bus for around $10-20 round trip) and Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, etc. are within 8 hours. You also have the wilderness of Maine, NH and VT within 4 hours, Montreal and Quebec City (QC is my favorite city in North America) within 6-7 hours driving too. To top it off, Providence is quite a bit more affordable (and less hectic) than nearby Boston or New York City. You can't beat it for location.
Portland, Maine is nice. However, it's small (65,000) and it's much more isolated away from everything in the Northeast. Finding work for your girlfriend would be more difficult because Portland has a HUGE tourism based economy and many restaurants are seasonal (my girlfriend was a server from April-October and spent most winters unemployed due to difficulty finding a job). The ones that aren't seasonal tend to have very few openings since there are so many seasonal employees fighting for a few winter openings when their summer jobs have finished up. Portland is charming, and Maine is beautiful. I'd certainly suggest visiting Portland and Maine once or twice, but living up there can be a bit tough on a young couple (I should know, my girlfriend and I stuck it out for 4 years before leaving). Definitely go with Providence over Portland.
With your housing costs covered, I'd go with Seattle. The Pacific Northwest is one of my favorite parts of the country and the city itself--where you can afford to live--is very cool. Nice thing about the place is that it s a small and manageable city with a lot of big city amenities, plus a lot of outdoor recreational activities nearby. And with your rent paid, you could afford to take advantage of these opportunities. Summers are beautiful, winters are mild, and contrary to popular opinion it does not rain there all the time. All the Seattle people I've ever met have said to me something like "Well, that's what we tell Californians to keep them from moving here!" Seattle is also laid-back in a way that many other Northeastern and California cities are not. And God knows they have enough restaurants in and around the city for your girl to find work. Seattle is great, and I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could.
Last edited by citylove101; 09-29-2011 at 02:29 PM..
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