Love small quaint cities like Bloomington, IL - but want warmer weather. (low crime, how much)

[things and stuff]

Bloomington, IL is a good example of a classic 1980's - 1990's tv sitcom big town/small city. It has very few violent crimes, good neighborhood schools, a grid, low traffic, neighborhood bars, a quaint downtown and town square, kids can ride their bike to school, etc. The populous is a nice mix of educated and blue collar and theres a lot of civic pride. The best part about it is that its so affordable! We're talking $150k for a decent 2200 sq ft home in a tree-lined kid-friendly and safe neighborhood!

I love towns like that.

However, I have yet to find one that is in the South. Usually they are majorly lacking in a key area, be it safety, education, walkable grid, downtown, education, cleanliness, etc. Out west they have some of these towns but they're really expensive.

Whats the closest thing to this in a warm-weather climate?

[kyle19125]

Throw out the safety/crime factor when looking at those Southern cities' crime stats. Unlike cities like Bloomington, IL which has a heavily white majority, many Southern cities have very poor Black neighborhoods segregated largely form the rest of the city where an overwhelming proportion of the violent crime occurs. Crime numbers are a farce without knowing the specifics of the overall number. It's not a pleasant politically correct factoid but is such nonetheless.

[things and stuff]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Throw out the safety/crime factor when looking at those Southern cities' crime stats. Unlike cities like Bloomington, IL which has a heavily white majority, many Southern cities have very poor Black neighborhoods segregated largely form the rest of the city where an overwhelming proportion of the violent crime occurs. Crime numbers are a farce without knowing the specifics of the overall number. It's not a pleasant politically correct factoid but is such nonetheless.

I understand this, but most of those safe areas within the city are still impacted by the unsafe areas nearby. The unsafe areas are often near downtown and thus impact the safety when being a pedestrian who likes to go between downtown and residential areas. Also, the kids from the bad areas are often in the same school district as the kids in the good parts of the city. The school districts that are segregated are further away from downtown and are usually in the burbs - which doesn't help me at all because you can find nice suburbs in any decently sized metro in the country. I'm not looking for burbs or well-to-do enclaves (expensive.)

[Antny12]

I lived in Chicago and lived in normal for my college year then moved to Austin. What about a place like college station (Texas a&m), possibly Waco although not sure about the crime numbers, katy, Tyler but again I dont know how much they would hit on all of your list as far as the walk ability factor. All of them are decent sized cities, have solid school districts, other than Waco which I'm not 100% sure have low crime, and overall are family friendly!

[ckhthankgod]

Blacksburg or Charlottesville VA may be similar Southern communities, but with less people.

Bloomington is about 25% non White. So, it isn't devoid of cultural diversity.

[things and stuff]

Originally Posted by Antny12

What about a place like college station (Texas a&m), possibly Waco although not sure about the crime numbers, katy, Tyler but again I dont know how much they would hit on all of your list as far as the walk ability factor. All of them are decent sized cities, have solid school districts, other than Waco which I'm not 100% sure have low crime, and overall are family friendly!

I've been to College Station for a game before. I didn't notice any grid, downtown, or anything that would be like a classic All-American town/community. Seemed like it was mainly just strip malls, neighborhoods that aren't walkable to anything, and college kids.

There was a town called Bryan next to it that had a downtown and a grid infrastructure but I don't know much about it. Seemed run down but we just drove through it and didn't look around. Thanks, I'll check Bryan, TX out on the internet.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

I understand this, but most of those safe areas within the city are still impacted by the unsafe areas nearby. The unsafe areas are often near downtown and thus impact the safety when being a pedestrian who likes to go between downtown and residential areas. Also, the kids from the bad areas are often in the same school district as the kids in the good parts of the city. The school districts that are segregated are further away from downtown and are usually in the burbs - which doesn't help me at all because you can find nice suburbs in any decently sized metro in the country. I'm not looking for burbs or well-to-do enclaves (expensive.)

That's actually false. The bad areas are typically not near the downtown areas and if anything the bad commercial areas tend to be suburban centers that have deteriorated after newer areas have been built. In terms of schools you're not going to find any where the "good kids" are separated from the "bad kids" and to pretend that the schools in a town like Bloomington are free of such a thing is completely ignorant. There isn't a 50-50 mix in most areas of the South and nicer areas tend to have public schools with an overwhelming majority of kids from those areas. Sorry if the reality doesn't mesh up with what you've read for the most part online.

[things and stuff]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

That's actually false. The bad areas are typically not near the downtown areas

Sorry if the reality doesn't mesh up with what you've read for the most part online.

LOL!!!! Holy crap, I nearly pee'd in my panties reading this nonsense. I've lived in 5 cities in the past 12 years and in every one there's problems with the school system in the decent areas in the core because there are also bad areas in the core. You pay a serious premium to live in enclaves near the core when the worst areas are also usually near the core. I've seen this in every city that is sizable and remotely "diverse." Now, with small towns, it can be a different story. There's plenty of safe small towns where the nicer parts are in the middle but none of them that I know of in the South are walkable, affordable, have a grid, downtown, good schools, etc - which is what I'm looking for.

I'm not sure what cities you are talking about because you never recommended one.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

LOL!!!! Holy crap, I nearly pee'd in my panties reading this nonsense. I've lived in 5 cities in the past 12 years and in every one there's problems with the school system in the decent areas in the core because there are also bad areas in the core. You pay a serious premium to live in enclaves near the core when the worst areas are also usually near the core. I've seen this in every city that is sizable and remotely "diverse." Now, with small towns, it can be a different story. There's plenty of safe small towns where the nicer parts are in the middle but none of them that I know of in the South are walkable, affordable, have a grid, downtown, good schools, etc - which is what I'm looking for.

I'm not sure what cities you are talking about because you never recommended one.

Perhaps you'll stop peeing in your pants and having issues with locales if you give up your cray-cray criteria which I missed from the original post where you have all of those expectations for a price tag of 150K. You want it all when the median price for the typical home in the US is at 190K currently. Have fun with that..

[nightlysparrow]

Stay where you are. With all the money and hassles you will save, you can build on a large sunroom with a good heater and eco full-spectrum lighting, and be able to afford great winter vacations to the tropics.