Do you know a town that has these things? (fit in, crime)

[GypsyMadeMountainCowgirl]

Would like to see what towns & cities you all might see as fitting to this list.

-Great schools, especially high schools (ranking high on college readiness, etc).
-Within a 1-3 hours drive of at least 1 good college.
-Place with a population over 35K but within 30 mins of a larger town and/or 1-2 hours of a medium to large size city.
-Median resident age somewhere between 35-48 yrs old range, not too young, not mostly retirees. Families & singles mix.
-Somewhat educated & friendly community.
-Fairly equal male to female ratio.
-Not overly religious.
-Gun owner/CCW friendly.
-Doesn't have to be extremely diverse but enough so that multiracial kids would be welcomed & accepted.
-More conservative than liberal (or at least close to an equal balance).
-Does not have months of really hot, super humid, or desert like climate. Snow in the winters & not too hot in the summers is best.
-Beautiful area with access to nature, outdoor activities (hiking, horse back riding, biking, boating, sledding, skiing, etc.) close by.
-Has a nice downtown area with good shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment options.
-Can still find a decent 3+ bedroom single family home with a yard (0.5-5 acres) that is not in a cookie cutter neighborhood, no HOAs, etc. Or a small ranch (under 15 acres) for $450-675K.
-Very low violent & property crime and not an unusually high drug issue.
-Preferably in the West.



Any places out there that you might think fit into these?

Any in Washington, Arizona, Colorado?

[michaeltx9412]

Why Arizona when it gets really hot and has desert? It's not unbearable compared to the lower South & Florida, but it's still very hot in summer. Why not consider Utah? SLC sounds like a good option other than being religious and lacking in nightlife, bars, etc. But it will certainly fit most of your criteria. Provo, UT is a beautiful college town that's just an hour away from SLC.

[kyle19125]

I'll throw out two options that fulfill most if not all of your criteria. Fort Collins CO is about an hour or so north of Denver and the home of Colorado State University. https://www.fcgov.com/visitor/ and Olympia WA is an hour south of Seattle and the state capital. The U of Washington is located in Seattle. https://www.experienceolympia.com/ex...ounty/olympia/

[GypsyMadeMountainCowgirl]

Originally Posted by michaeltx9412

Why Arizona when it gets really hot and has desert? It's not unbearable compared to the lower South & Florida, but it's still very hot in summer. Why not consider Utah? SLC sounds like a good option other than being religious and lacking in nightlife, bars, etc. But it will certainly fit most of your criteria. Provo, UT is a beautiful college town that's just an hour away from SLC.

I was thinking of only northern Arizona, like Flagstaff area, because I've heard they have snow, reasonable temperatures and good schools but its totally foreign to me as I've never traveled through that part of the country even and I wonder what people are like there & what the crime & drug situation is like. Utah is VERY Mormon and thats something I definitely want to avoid. I've spent enough time traveling in & out of Utah to know it's beautiful, has a lot of what I'm looking for but being non-religious and not LDS, you will quickly find yourself always as the outsider. Having children & being a single woman who would eventually like to date at some point down the road I don't want all of us to feel like a social life is impossible to achieve. I have boys that will eventually want to find a girlfriend & that could be hard if most of his schoolmates are LDS.

[eddie gein]

Flag wouldn't make the list due to a number of reasons. You have suburban Denver. Greeley comes to mind when you look at all your requirements collectively.

I can't think of any place in Arizona. I would think there are some places in Oregon in the Willamette Valley that would work or maybe Longview or Vancouver Washington. Maybe some of Seattle's suburb. Puyallup?

[GypsyMadeMountainCowgirl]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I'll throw out two options that fulfill most if not all of your criteria. Fort Collins CO is about an hour or so north of Denver and the home of Colorado State University. https://www.fcgov.com/visitor/ and Olympia WA is an hour south of Seattle and the state capital. The U of Washington is located in Seattle. https://www.experienceolympia.com/ex...ounty/olympia/

I actually looked at Fort Collins. It seems like a pretty nice place. I'm not a fan of college towns. I guess I prefer a college close by but not much on living with a town full of college kids. I've really wanted to like Colorado but its so spread out that you feel very far away from town to town in my opinion.

I think my biggest issue with these 2 are the high schools. They score pretty low on college readiness which I worry about. I wouldn't want my children to be worse off going into college because they feel unprepared. In Olympia less than 50% of the kids are prepared for college according to us news high school rankings and less than 60% in Fort Collins. That worries me a lot. I pay less attention to graduation rates only because I've seen how teachers pass on these kids from one grade to the next regardless if they are ready & prepared.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by michaeltx9412

Why Arizona when it gets really hot and has desert? It's not unbearable compared to the lower South & Florida, but it's still very hot in summer. Why not consider Utah? SLC sounds like a good option other than being religious and lacking in nightlife, bars, etc. But it will certainly fit most of your criteria. Provo, UT is a beautiful college town that's just an hour away from SLC.

I would not recommend that anyone who is not LDS move to anywhere in Utah County (which is where Provo is). But Salt Lake City is a different thing entirely. Salt Lake City really does have a decent nightlife and a number of good bars and beer pubs. It's not as religious as one might think, nor as conservative. We haven't had a Republican mayor in 40 years, and our current mayor is a lesbian woman, married and the mother of a child.

[cornsnicker3]

Originally Posted by GypsyMadeMountainCowgirl

Would like to see what towns & cities you all might see as fitting to this list.

-Great schools, especially high schools (ranking high on college readiness, etc).
-Within a 1-3 hours drive of at least 1 good college.
-Place with a population over 35K but within 30 mins of a larger town and/or 1-2 hours of a medium to large size city.
-Median resident age somewhere between 35-48 yrs old range, not too young, not mostly retirees. Families & singles mix.
-Somewhat educated & friendly community.
-Fairly equal male to female ratio.
-Not overly religious.
-Gun owner/CCW friendly.
-Doesn't have to be extremely diverse but enough so that multiracial kids would be welcomed & accepted.
-More conservative than liberal (or at least close to an equal balance).
-Does not have months of really hot, super humid, or desert like climate. Snow in the winters & not too hot in the summers is best.
-Beautiful area with access to nature, outdoor activities (hiking, horse back riding, biking, boating, sledding, skiing, etc.) close by.
-Has a nice downtown area with good shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment options.
-Can still find a decent 3+ bedroom single family home with a yard (0.5-5 acres) that is not in a cookie cutter neighborhood, no HOAs, etc. Or a small ranch (under 15 acres) for $450-675K.
-Very low violent & property crime and not an unusually high drug issue.
-Preferably in the West.



Any places out there that you might think fit into these?

Any in Washington, Arizona, Colorado?

Have you considered Minnesota? It isn't really east or west...I would call it the Nort (sic).

-Great schools, especially high schools (ranking high on college readiness, etc). In my experience, Minnesota is one of the best. My kid's school seems very advanced and modern compared to CA and CO.
-Within a 1-3 hours drive of at least 1 good college. This would depend on where in the state. In Duluth, we have a U of M that is pretty decent. We are 2.5 hours from Minneapolis-St Paul if one needs "the best".
-Place with a population over 35K but within 30 mins of a larger town and/or 1-2 hours of a medium to large size city. St Cloud comes to mind. If you can handle an extra half hour, Duluth is OK
-Median resident age somewhere between 35-48 yrs old range, not too young, not mostly retirees. Families & singles mix. It is all over the map, but the population seems very normal
-Somewhat educated & friendly community. Minnesotans are very educated (and we vote more than anyone else). People are extremely friendly (think "Minnesota Nice"). Contrary to popular belief, the passive aggressiveness is overplayed
-Fairly equal male to female ratio. Normal
-Not overly religious. Christian majority like most states. People won't bring it up usually. It is very live and let live.
-Gun owner/CCW friendly. We are a hunting state.
-Doesn't have to be extremely diverse but enough so that multiracial kids would be welcomed & accepted. Outside of insular community, there should be no issue.
-More conservative than liberal (or at least close to an equal balance). Minnesota is goofy here in that we haven't voted for a Republican president since 1972, yet a Republican majority exists in our state house and senate. Our governor is currently Democrat. We pretend to be a solid blue state, but we are really right down the middle. MSP, Duluth, and the Iron Range mostly contribute the Democrat coalition with the rural communities controlling the Republican coalition.
-Does not have months of really hot, super humid, or desert like climate. Snow in the winters & not too hot in the summers is best. MSP and southerward can get warm and humid in the summer, but not to level as the south or main Mid-west. Northern Minnesota is pretty benign in summer.
-Beautiful area with access to nature, outdoor activities (hiking, horse back riding, biking, boating, sledding, skiing, etc.) close by. YES, particularly in the northern part.
-Has a nice downtown area with good shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment options. MSP and Duluth
-Can still find a decent 3+ bedroom single family home with a yard (0.5-5 acres) that is not in a cookie cutter neighborhood, no HOAs, etc. Or a small ranch (under 15 acres) for $450-675K. You could find that for maybe $250k to $350k depending on the region.
-Very low violent & property crime and not an unusually high drug issue. Besides pockets, Minnesota is pretty calm

I really like it here in Duluth. The winters are cold and snowy. There is a lot to do.

Hope that helps!

[pikabike]

WORK/JOB/COMMUTING is not even on the list yet you are a single mother. You left out what could be a deal breaking factor.

[NW Crow]

Oregon City, OR or just outside it. South of Portland.