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My fiance and I are DESPERATE for a change. I was raised in Memphis, TN and he is from Nashville, TN. We both currently live in Knoxville, TN and have for 5-6 years. We went to college here and decided to stick around after graduating as we both landed great jobs. We LOVE the outdoor activities that Knoxville has to offer - water sports on the river, close proximity to mountains, greenways for biking, running, walking etc. We also love the downtown area but it is very small. We are tired of the extreme conservative bible belt mentality (while we love all the southern hospitality, we're pretty much over it) and would love to live in an area that offers more! We have done pretty much all there is to do in this small city, 5 times over.
Can anyone suggest an area on the east coast (we'd like to stay closeish to family but it's not that important) that offers outdoor activities, has 4 distinct seasons, has a great downtown area, and good job opportunities? We would love to be somewhere like Boston but that's pretty much out of our budget right now. Any similar places like that? Any help would be great as neither of us have lived anywhere other than Tennessee and we're not quite sure how to decide on where to move other than randomly throwing a dart on the map. Help a young couple out!
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Philadelphia has some similar attractions to Boston, but it's a bit more affordable and a lot of nice suburbs. Are you looking to live in a dense urban neighborhood or out in the suburbs?
By East Coast do you mean on the water or in the Northeast?
Pittsburgh isn't much larger than Knoxville, but it's much more urban, and very affordable compared to other Northeast metros. I'm not sure if I'd say it has any vestiges of "Southern Hospitality" but it is the largest city in northern Appalachia, and there might be some cultural commonalities that you notice.
I would say check out either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Maybe check out the Maryland cities of Frederick, Annapolis, Hyattsville, Mt. Rainier, Silver Spring, Hagerstown, Ellicott City, Towson, Rockville, or Germantown. Perhaps see what you might like in Delaware or Virginia (See if you can afford Nova, if not, see about Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk, etc.) Virginia is geographically and culturally (For the most part anyway or 30 miles south of Fredericksburg to be specific) Southern, but most Southerners outside of VA think otherwise. Just a thought.
If you wanna look further up the East Coast, ever thought about looking somewhere in Connecticut or New Jersey? It would be nice to know the budget of you two, as well as whether or not you two want an urban or a suburban lifestyle.
Chicago fits the bill and is closer to Nashville and Memphis than anywhere in the Northeast.
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