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We are currently living in NYC and wish to move to another place. I have a wife and two children 2 and 4 years old. The objective is to find a place where it is more affordable (house price not over 500K and R/E tax not over 8K). Would prefer somewhere with nicer weather (much warmer but not too humid). Because of the kids we would like safe neighborhood with very good schools (score 9/10 on greatschools rating). Also it would be nice to be close to a big city but not required. Would prefer a walk score of 50 or more.
We plan to use some savings and slow down work wise and work from home. So, although it is nice to have access to job or business opportunity, it is not required.
A little info about us. I am Jewish but not religious. My wife is Chinese. I am vegetarian.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Most of your requirements can be met in the PA suburbs of Philadelphia, except for the obvious one of weather, which is basically the same as NYC weather.
For dry, warm weather, near a big city, you've probably got 2 options, Texas or Arizona. I can't speak for the living quality of either, but both do seem to be going through something of a population boom, so they might be your best choices.
Thanks for your reply. We actually considered suburbs of Philadelphia and Texas. Can you recommend some suburbs in phili that might work for us. Thanks
Certainly. I will let you know that "Phili" really sticks in the craw of a lot of natives. We prefer "Philly" or "Phila". I don't see it as a big deal, but people can be picky about certain things around here.
The best bang for your buck is going to be the Main Line. These are Philly's most affluent and prestigious suburbs, and coming from NYC, the cost won't seem all that unreasonable to you. They have the best public schools this side of the Delaware as well. Some choices in your price range might be Ardmore (Lower Merion Township), Paoli, Wynnewood and Bala Cynwyd. Of those, Ardmore has the best schools, either Lower Merion or Haverford. The Main Line is very very close to the city, though. Think Westchester in relation to The Bronx for closeness.
If you want to be a little bit removed from the traffic and congestion, Levittown and Dyolestown are nice, as are East Norriton and West Norriton.
While I usually recommend Lancaster County to people relocating from a big city, because it's semi-rural, semi-suburban and convenient to Baltimore, Philly and DC for work, I would not suggest that area for you. The locals there are not kind at all toward Catholics or Jews. While it's generally not racist, it is a very Evangelical area currently. There are a lot of latinos moving in, and a lot of Philadelphia Italians, so there are Catholic churches starting to pop up, that hasn't changed the culture sufficiently to make the county accepting to non-Evangelical, Mennonite or Amish.
If you didn't mind Upstate NY, Ithaca or suburbs like Brighton, DeWitt, Williamsville, Vestal and Niskayuna, among others, would fit most or nearly all of the criteria. With that said, look into places like Carrboro NC, Charlottesville VA or an Atlanta suburb like Alpharetta or Marietta.
We are currently living in NYC and wish to move to another place. I have a wife and two children 2 and 4 years old. The objective is to find a place where it is more affordable (house price not over 500K and R/E tax not over 8K). Would prefer somewhere with nicer weather (much warmer but not too humid). Because of the kids we would like safe neighborhood with very good schools (score 9/10 on greatschools rating). Also it would be nice to be close to a big city but not required. Would prefer a walk score of 50 or more.
We plan to use some savings and slow down work wise and work from home. So, although it is nice to have access to job or business opportunity, it is not required.
A little info about us. I am Jewish but not religious. My wife is Chinese. I am vegetarian.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Given your criteria for warmer weather and trying something different I'm not sure the Philly suburbs are the place to focus. While somewhat cheaper the walkable neighborhoods with better school districts are going to bring you in surprisingly close to where you are now, which to me would be a concern if you hope to "slow down". I'm also afraid the other thought (Texas) with it's screeching heat and humidity for much of the year would be a buzzkill pretty quickly.
I would recommend Decatur, GA....an inner ring NE suburb of Atlanta. It's a safe, beautiful area (thickly wooded, very green) with a mix of nice housing stock ranging from bungalows/ranches to newer construction mostly in the 275K to 375K range with taxes usually less than 1K per year. The newer builds have much higher taxes (3K to 4K). The public schools are excellent (Mostly 9s on Great Schools). Decatur has a nice, thriving downtown area filled with shops/restaurants centered around a MARTA train station for easy commutes into Atlanta and is a bit of an educational center with the presence of highly regarded Emory University (and it's medical center). The overall city WalkScore is an impressive 63 with the older, more established neighborhoods scoring higher yet. It's also fairly diverse and liberal which would provide an easy transition from NYC.
Last edited by kyle19125; 11-21-2012 at 02:33 PM..
I would recomend that you look at the Baltimore/DC area as well since it is pretty diverse and the job opportunities are relatively good considering the huge government/defense presence in the area. While the cost of living is not exactly cheap (moreso for DC than Baltimore) it is still more affordable than NYC, and the school systems around there tend to be top notch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTA88
Most of your requirements can be met in the PA suburbs of Philadelphia, except for the obvious one of weather, which is basically the same as NYC weather.
For dry, warm weather, near a big city, you've probably got 2 options, Texas or Arizona. I can't speak for the living quality of either, but both do seem to be going through something of a population boom, so they might be your best choices.
Texas is actually pretty humid in some parts (such as the Gulf Coast/South Texas/East Texas) so I am not sure it would fit the OP's requirements.
Athens GA may be another good option, given that it is a college town.
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