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I need your help. I'm about to turn 30 and have no idea where to live. I recently switched to a full-time work-at-home gig. The job is stable, and the pay is really great (helping to pay back my huge pile of student loans).
Short summary:
(there is negotiation room on most of my preferences)
-Turning 30
-Full time work from home (and finishing a masters online)
-Currently live in downtown Chicago without a car (am familiar with the Midwest), and like it
-Grew up in Chicago burbs
-Thinking about maybe trying to start a family soon
What I want:
-Love rural and like urban settings (dislike suburbs)
-Need high speed internet (a must)[cable or fiber is fine]
-Good schools a plus
-Can afford $200k house or equivalent in rent (pre-approved, 2nd income not required)
-Low cost of living is preferable, but not required
-Can live anywhere in the US
Places we've considered, but haven't decided on:
-Staying in Chicago, Illinois (its fine)
-Galena, Illinois (relaxing, beautiful, in the Midwest, but no metro area close by)
-NYC (but expensive)
-Colorado (expensive near Denver, right?)
-Northern California (expensive? Never lived on the west coast)
Where do we go?
Some of this is an internal struggle. Should I move to a market hot in my industry to be competitive? Or is it time to settle down with my wife and start a family with a hopefully stable job? Or is there a happy medium that doesn't include suburban life? Open to all advice - and might just follow your advice exactly! Let me know if you need more info!
Except for Galena, none of your other choices will work with only $200K. Even staying in Chicago, a SFH in the city in a good area is more than that. Condo in Chicago seems the easiest transition.
Are there urban areas with homes for only $200,000 anywhere anymore? If not, then rural, it is.
Northern CA could fit the bill, but by northern, I mean well north of San Francisco. You could find a house in your price range in Shasta County, for instance and find great shopping in Redding. Schools aren't so great, though, I don't think. It's also really hot there.
You could also check Del Norte County. Again not sure of the schools. I love it here, but I'm retired, so don't know about schools. We're really limited on shopping, but there's a Super Walmart and Home Depot. You might like southern OR, too. I find the people in southern OR and far north CA to be really nice, friendly and down-to-earth. For instance, Grants Pass (warmer in summer), Brookings, OR (on the coast). I've heard Medford is kind of dreary.
You said you like the mid-west, and it seems there would be a lot of options there. You just need to start googling, or give more info - hate mountains, love skiing, love humidity - more info to help people narrow things down.
We could keep renting. We're paying more than $2k, but we don't have a car so it offsets the higher rent. Not sure what $2k would get me somewhere like Battery Park City, but probably not much.
I'll check out Northern California in the areas you recommended.
We're fine with mountains or hills (or none), love golfing, hiking, and biking. Prefer humidity but not a big deal. Staying active is key for us. Cities keep us active because we love walking everywhere. Rural areas keep us active with all the outdoor activities. Suburbs, not so much.
Are there urban areas with homes for only $200,000 anywhere anymore? If not, then rural, it is.
Northern CA could fit the bill, but by northern, I mean well north of San Francisco. You could find a house in your price range in Shasta County, for instance and find great shopping in Redding. Schools aren't so great, though, I don't think. It's also really hot there.
You could also check Del Norte County. Again not sure of the schools. I love it here, but I'm retired, so don't know about schools. We're really limited on shopping, but there's a Super Walmart and Home Depot. You might like southern OR, too. I find the people in southern OR and far north CA to be really nice, friendly and down-to-earth. For instance, Grants Pass (warmer in summer), Brookings, OR (on the coast). I've heard Medford is kind of dreary.
You said you like the mid-west, and it seems there would be a lot of options there. You just need to start googling, or give more info - hate mountains, love skiing, love humidity - more info to help people narrow things down.
For urban areas with homes for under 200k, you would have to look into "Rust Belt" or some Southern cities. I don't know if the OP would be open to living in any of those areas though.
Certainly not against rust belt cities, if they can draw me in. We could keep renting in larger cities too, paying over $2k a month to rent in downtown Chicago. Without a car I can afford to spend more on housing.
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