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With the exception of the smallish size of 50k-150k....I'd say all of the Upstate, NY metro areas fit the criteria well. Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany (and really moreso their respective suburbs) are pretty much exactly what you are looking for minus the mountainous areas....though all of them except Buffalo are in fairly hilly settings and even Buffalo isn't far from hilly countryside. They just much larger metro areas than the population figures in the OP's criteria
bangor maine is not to bad been here for a year from virginia with my wife and kids affordable, job opportunities and low rent, has an airport and most other things most cities have
That is good to hear. How affordable is Bangor in terms of average rents/housing etc? Maine rents are more reasonable than much of New Hampshire. I'm fairly certain of that.
I got good vibes from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Seemed like nice, friendly, genuine people there. Scenic countryside in the vicinity.
Nice scenic area, but mostly low paying jobs... It has decent potential to be better. At least it doesn't have the locational disadvantage and taxation problems of upstate New York.
I would say Saratoga Springs, NY fits most of your critera.
It's a beautiful, well-kept, charming city in the NYS Capital Region and close to the Adirondacks and other beautiful natural scenery. The COL is higher than other Upstate NY cities but it's no where near as expensive as NYC or Boston. Taxes are considered high, but most of the Northeast has high taxes so it's hard to avoid that. The NYS Capital Region economy is fairly stable and probably the best in Upstate NY, but it also tends to be field specific. As for travel its close to Albany International Airport, but flights there are very expensive because its a smaller airport. Otherwise if you will not mind the things I mentioned I think Saratoga Springs would be great.
Another city I'd think you like is Ithaca, NY. Cool, quirky vibe, nice downtown, and hilly. Although not near mountains, there are the Finger Lakes and Gorges which are absolutely beautiful and are great for camping, water activities, and some hiking. There is also many nice wineries in the area. The only problem might be travel since Ithaca is kind of isolated and high taxes. It's also may be too small for you (~30K) since you mentioned you want to stay in the 50-150K population range.
A sleeper in Upstate NY may be Plattsburgh, which isn't in a metro, but is on Lake Champlain, close to the Adirondacks, has an "international" airport and is close to Montreal and Burlington VT. I would check on the economy, but I at least know that the hospital has some openings. There are 2 and 4 year SUNY colleges there too. City of Plattsburgh
Of all the places mentioned, I'd go with Ithaca.
Burlington is lovely and would be a terrific choice in the summer, but it is REALLY FREAKING COLD in winter.
Ithaca's slogan is "Ithaca is Gorges" and it's true. Beautiful area, quite a bit going on there.
The downside of all of those places will be the high cost of heating your house in winter. Heating fuel and electricity are both sky high in that part of the country, and I don't think anybody has natural gas up there.
The downside of all of those places will be the high cost of heating your house in winter. Heating fuel and electricity are both sky high in that part of the country, and I don't think anybody has natural gas up there.
It is no different from when you have to run the AC in the South for at least half of the year.
Gas service (your first link) looks pretty spotty to me, looks like less than about 10% coverage.
Northeastern states have the highest electrical rates in the nation, about double what they are in most of the Midwest, Mid-south and plains. NY and the NE states are the 7 highest in the nation. http://www.kaec.org/images/stand/0607_RateMap.pdf
What is it I said that you disagree with?
In the 1960s, I lived in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, and never once lived in an air conditioned place.
Last edited by jtur88; 11-20-2012 at 10:30 PM..
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