Recommendations for cities that are warm, liberal, with natural beauty and where I could get a 2k sf house for 500k? (crime)
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.
I'm looking for a place that is very socially liberal, warm, has plenty of natural beauty, and where I could afford a house, about 2k square feet for about 550k. Outdoor space is important as well as distance from neighbors- say, several hundred feet (enough where noise can never be an issue). I currently live in a middle / upper middle class suburb but I detest not being able to enjoy my beautiful but small backyard because of the constant noise from all my neighbors (and their young children) who are no more than ten or twenty feet away.
My tolerance to heat is high but I hate cold weather. I can easily tolerate highs in the mid 90s. I currently live in coastal southern California (Orange County) and don't find it warm enough, to give you an idea. I love NYC summers. High humidity would be preferable though dry heat is also acceptable. Daytime lows of no less than in the 60s would be my absolute limit, with 70s preferable.
Ideas I've come up with so far are: San Diego county; Tuscon, AZ; Hawaii.
Hawaii fits perfectly my criteria for weather and natural beauty but I am wondering if it is liberal enough. It seems to me on my visits there that there may be some strong undercurrents of racism and lack of mingling among races, though I've only been to Maui and Kuaui and not, say, Honolulu. I've lived in NYC and Berkeley so that is the level of diversity and social liberalism I'd ideally like to have, though it seems to me that this is nearly impossible to find coupled with near round warm weather and less urban settings. I've also lived many years of my life in Orange County and find it to be too socially conservative, too narrow minded, too religious for my tastes. I feel that Tuscon, AZ may not be liberal enough. The same goes for SD. I don't really like the plastic-y, appearance-obsessed culture of southern California. Some place more earthy would be preferable. Again, I get that it's hard to find this quality paired with warm weather (perhaps warm weather, superficiality, and a lack of intellectualism are correlated for various reasons?) If I didn't care about weather I'd move to Oregon.
I know I could find places in AZ or CA that I could afford, but I'm not so sure about Hawaii. The cost of living there seems very high.
I work from home so job availability isn't an issue. I mainly want to have plenty of living space for various projects and ready access to nature. Being a bit further away from urban amenities does not bother me. I could easily live, say, 20 minutes from a grocery store or 30 minutes from a movie theater. Berkeley and OC, by way of example, are far too urban for me at this point.
Also, I know I posted this in the US section, but I'm actually open to any place in the world. Though that requirement of social liberalism, diversity, etc pretty much keeps me limited to the US, I think.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Last edited by waywardphilosopher; 06-10-2014 at 12:21 AM..
Reason: add additional information about non-US locations
The only place that comes to mind is Albuquerque which pretty much fits all of your criteria and unlike Arizona where you might find a Blue island or two in a sea of Red, New Mexico is actually a Blue State.
Well, there is Liberal, Kansas, but I think the city's name might be exaggerated. But there is plenty of wide open space, and you can get a lot of house there for a half a million.
How about the Florida Keys? I don't know the level of diversity in them all, but I do believe that if not socially liberal they are not hard core conservative. They would also seem to offer everything else you want.
How about the Florida Keys? I don't know the level of diversity in them all, but I do believe that if not socially liberal they are not hard core conservative. They would also seem to offer everything else you want.
Good idea mostly but the Keys are very "White" with Key West (the largest city) having a population that's 85% White and 9% Black which is hardly diverse. Thanks to your mention I think the OP might consider the Fort Lauderdale area which could very well offer all of the criteria mentioned.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Check out "find your spot .com" (leave out the spaces)
It's a fun test and after you fill out some stuff, you can always go back and change your answers, just hit the "re-score" rather than "next".
Just for fun, I re-scored my own test changing some of my answers to closer match your criteria, only using the climate, liberalism, outdoor recreation and a high housing budget, (but not the highest.)
Don't know how you feel about being near an airport, crime issues etc. so I put in neutral answers.
A few cities and towns that popped up...
LAS VEGAS, NV
LAS CRUCES, NM
LITTLE ROCK, AR
SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, LA
KAILUA-KONA, HI
KAHULUI-WAILUKU, HI
Just a few examples... you get your hot and/or humid for sure!
Some of my "spots", are Portland, Seattle, Boise if that gives you any idea. I have a low tolerance for hot and humid.
BTW, there's always something you'll need to put up with... my brother has a house on a few acres and plenty of privacy IN California, BUT it's in the Redding area which is not exactly Berkley! LOL!
Also, living in the country, expect lot of barking dogs instead of human voices. Double pane windows!!!
Good luck!
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.
