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Old 11-30-2014, 08:58 PM
 
Location: Texas
27 posts, read 36,687 times
Reputation: 18

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Hi! I'm a young married mother. I have two daughters, ages 3 years and 1 and a half years, and I'm expecting my first son in March. We'd like to move sometime in late 2015 or early 2016.

My husband is an INTJ personality type, and I fluctuate between INTJ and ISTJ. We are atheist secular humanists. We're liberal. We'll be homeschooling (so a secular/non-biased co-op would be AMAZING, but there are none in our area of Texas). We're young.

I'm a stay at home mom. No interest in going back to college in the near future, and only have about a year of college experience behind me, no degrees and/or certificates. Don't plan on going back to work until maybe the end of 2016, and even then, just part-time, nothing substantial. My husband is currently a production worker, and he plans on getting a certification for diesel mechanic by the end of 2015. We're pretty simple people with simple plans and simple pleasures. We're just sick of being stuck in Texas.

We can't afford Austin, which would be the most "obvious" next step for people "like us". So we're branching out. Seriously, anywhere in the US. We've got money saved and will have more saved by the time we are ready to move to where we want to move, so that's not an issue really. All we want is a family-friendly, not-super-conservative area with some character and a good cost of living.

If that even exists haha.

Any advice, tips, suggestions, etc. are appreciated as long as they're respectful! Thanks in advance!
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Old 11-30-2014, 09:21 PM
 
Location: Who Cares, USA
2,341 posts, read 3,569,501 times
Reputation: 2258
As someone who was raised by an Atheist, liberal, single working mother in Texas (not Austin, btw), I can honestly say that in the case of cities, it really just boils down to what neighborhood you decide to move to, rather than what city, state, or region.

Most big cities are going to have their areas and neighborhoods where religion is more of a prominent social affair, and other areas where it's either just not discussed out in the open at all, therefore a non-issue... or where Atheists can more freely and publicly discuss their Atheism with other Atheists, or with people who really don't care one way or the other.
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Old 11-30-2014, 09:39 PM
 
Location: Texas
27 posts, read 36,687 times
Reputation: 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobloblawslawblog View Post
As someone who was raised by an Atheist, liberal, single working mother in Texas (not Austin, btw), I can honestly say that in the case of cities, it really just boils down to what neighborhood you decide to move to, rather than what city, state, or region.

Most big cities are going to have their areas and neighborhoods where religion is more of a prominent social affair, and other areas where it's either just not discussed out in the open at all, therefore a non-issue... or where Atheists can more freely and publicly discuss their Atheism with other Atheists, or with people who really don't care one way or the other.
It's not just about religion. It's about open-mindedness in general. We live in the Dallas area, and it's pretty bad. To get away from the judgmental conservatives, we'd have to go further into Dallas, which we can't afford either. The "good" parts of Dallas have cost of living just as expensive as Austin.

We just don't feel at home here. We're trying to find someplace compatible for us. I would accept suggestions that were along the lines of "well try this part of this city, it's not like the rest of the city, etc." as long as it was affordable. That's where we're running into problems. It seems like in order to get away from the overwhelming amount of opposite-minded people here, we have to make tons of money.
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Old 11-30-2014, 10:01 PM
 
Location: Who Cares, USA
2,341 posts, read 3,569,501 times
Reputation: 2258
Quote:
Originally Posted by secularmama View Post
It's not just about religion. It's about open-mindedness in general. We live in the Dallas area, and it's pretty bad. To get away from the judgmental conservatives, we'd have to go further into Dallas, which we can't afford either. The "good" parts of Dallas have cost of living just as expensive as Austin.

We just don't feel at home here. We're trying to find someplace compatible for us. I would accept suggestions that were along the lines of "well try this part of this city, it's not like the rest of the city, etc." as long as it was affordable. That's where we're running into problems. It seems like in order to get away from the overwhelming amount of opposite-minded people here, we have to make tons of money.
I understand. I'm a bit older than the average C-D poster, so sometimes I tend to forget how much more expensive the core cities in TX have gotten (I grew up in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston in the 70's and early 80's when it was dirt-cheap to live there, and moved away long before gentrification). However, I was also addressing open-mindedness in general. I only pointed out the religious/non-religious part to address what I interpreted as being the specific part of your criteria.

Since the major cities in TX are basically not an option here, my suggestion would be to look into the more affordable Midwestern cities. Most liberal areas of any of the cities in this country are going to cost a fortune to live in anymore, but I think cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Cleveland (don't laugh... it's actually a pretty misunderstood city) have a rare balance of being more liberal as well as being more affordable. The only question you'll need to ask yourself is... can you deal with the much colder winters?

Best of luck.
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Old 11-30-2014, 10:12 PM
 
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
172 posts, read 253,959 times
Reputation: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by secularmama View Post
Hi! I'm a young married mother. I have two daughters, ages 3 years and 1 and a half years, and I'm expecting my first son in March. We'd like to move sometime in late 2015 or early 2016.

My husband is an INTJ personality type, and I fluctuate between INTJ and ISTJ. We are atheist secular humanists. We're liberal. We'll be homeschooling (so a secular/non-biased co-op would be AMAZING, but there are none in our area of Texas). We're young.

I'm a stay at home mom. No interest in going back to college in the near future, and only have about a year of college experience behind me, no degrees and/or certificates. Don't plan on going back to work until maybe the end of 2016, and even then, just part-time, nothing substantial. My husband is currently a production worker, and he plans on getting a certification for diesel mechanic by the end of 2015. We're pretty simple people with simple plans and simple pleasures. We're just sick of being stuck in Texas.

We can't afford Austin, which would be the most "obvious" next step for people "like us". So we're branching out. Seriously, anywhere in the US. We've got money saved and will have more saved by the time we are ready to move to where we want to move, so that's not an issue really. All we want is a family-friendly, not-super-conservative area with some character and a good cost of living.

If that even exists haha.

Any advice, tips, suggestions, etc. are appreciated as long as they're respectful! Thanks in advance!
I'd say maybe Tacoma, WA since it's near an ultra-liberal city (Seattle), but has a way lower cost of living. Another good option might be Madison, WI
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Old 11-30-2014, 10:18 PM
 
Location: OKIE-Ville
5,543 posts, read 9,448,696 times
Reputation: 3296
Quote:
Originally Posted by secularmama View Post
It's not just about religion. It's about open-mindedness in general. We live in the Dallas area, and it's pretty bad. To get away from the judgmental conservatives, we'd have to go further into Dallas, which we can't afford either. The "good" parts of Dallas have cost of living just as expensive as Austin.

We just don't feel at home here. We're trying to find someplace compatible for us. I would accept suggestions that were along the lines of "well try this part of this city, it's not like the rest of the city, etc." as long as it was affordable. That's where we're running into problems. It seems like in order to get away from the overwhelming amount of opposite-minded people here, we have to make tons of money.
You think Dallas is bad; you should try OKC or Tulsa on for size!

Pretty much anywhere in the South-Central region is going to be a tough fit.

I think ya'll are bound for the Northwest with your atheistic tendencies.
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Old 11-30-2014, 10:35 PM
 
Location: TOVCCA
8,452 posts, read 14,964,289 times
Reputation: 12528
Sacramento might do. There's a forum here for it
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Old 11-30-2014, 10:36 PM
 
92,158 posts, read 122,387,927 times
Reputation: 18157
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobloblawslawblog View Post
I understand. I'm a bit older than the average C-D poster, so sometimes I tend to forget how much more expensive the core cities in TX have gotten (I grew up in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston in the 70's and early 80's when it was dirt-cheap to live there, and moved away long before gentrification). However, I was also addressing open-mindedness in general. I only pointed out the religious/non-religious part to address what I interpreted as being the specific part of your criteria.

Since the major cities in TX are basically not an option here, my suggestion would be to look into the more affordable Midwestern cities. Most liberal areas of any of the cities in this country are going to cost a fortune to live in anymore, but I think cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Cleveland (don't laugh... it's actually a pretty misunderstood city) have a rare balance of being more liberal as well as being more affordable. The only question you'll need to ask yourself is... can you deal with the much colder winters?

Best of luck.
I was thinking Midwestern and maybe Interior Northeastern cities/areas as well. Maybe even other Southern areas with liberal areas.

Good point about the weather, as it may be another issue to deal with.
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Old 12-01-2014, 01:23 AM
 
1,640 posts, read 2,640,212 times
Reputation: 2672
No one on the West Coast cares what religion you are, where you're from, or who you sleep with you, but your attitude about education isn't going to fly.

Most of folks on the West Coast are highly educated, so they care about education. Unless you're independently wealthy, you have to be well-educated to afford much of the West Coast, in particular the desirable areas.

A similar argument can be made for the Northeast as well, especially the bigger cities. The smaller metro areas in the Northeast are still fairly conventional and traditional, however, and people in those areas have a tendency to put others inside of a box based on their religious beliefs, although not as bad as the South, IMO.

My advice for you -- go back to school if you want to afford a more liberal area of the country without sacrificing QOL.
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Old 12-01-2014, 02:25 AM
 
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands
10,613 posts, read 15,931,243 times
Reputation: 5275
Didn't know Austin was that expensive, always thought the COL was a lot lower than the large Pacific Northwest cities.

Why is Austin so expensive? Its not even close to the beach.

I think Portland, Oregon is your best fit.
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