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.
Hi. I'm looking for fun, affordable cities that a great to raise families in. I currently live an hour outside Boston. While I think Boston could be fun and family friendly. It is too expensive for me and I'm so far outside of the city that driving there for its cultural activities seem like more of a chore to me. Looking for other ideas with some of these guidelines
Nice clean city
3 br houses around 350K
City that hosts a lot outdoor family friendly events/festivals/etc
Access to nature a plus
Good job market (work as a financial analyst)
Nowhere with really long hot/humid summers
Prefer that it not be overwhelmingly cookie cutter
Prefer east coast to west but keeping opinions open
I know u prefer the coasts but my recommendations are mostly Midwestern cities. Minneapolis, Denver, and Madison are three that stand out to me, but that's mostly because I'm more familiar with those, and I'm sure there are many others. But especially in the Midwest/upper Midwest, there are options aplenty (also Chicago, Milwaukee, Omaha, Des Moines, Cleveland, Ann Arbor, and Detroit are all not super hot, affordable, family friendly, have lots of beautiful parks, and good schools in places).
The first three would be my recommendation though, for affordable choices that meet all of your criteria the most.
Good luck!
Edit: I forgot Pittsburgh....another great option!
Hi. I'm looking for fun, affordable cities that a great to raise families in. I currently live an hour outside Boston. While I think Boston could be fun and family friendly. It is too expensive for me and I'm so far outside of the city that driving there for its cultural activities seem like more of a chore to me. Looking for other ideas with some of these guidelines
Nice clean city
3 br houses around 350K
City that hosts a lot outdoor family friendly events/festivals/etc
Access to nature a plus
Good job market (work as a financial analyst)
Nowhere with really long hot/humid summers
Prefer that it not be overwhelmingly cookie cutter
Prefer east coast to west but keeping opinions open
That's all I can think of for now...thanks!
Check out Chapel Hill-Carrboro NC, near Raleigh/Durham which has a healthy job market within a reasonable 30 minute commute. It nails all of your criteria with excellent schools as well.
Chicago, Cleveland, and, to a slightly lesser extent, Minneapolis, are the only two cities in the Midwest with cultural and pro sports options comparable to Boston. Cleveland doesn't have NHL hockey but does have AHL hockey, and there are NHL teams a couple hours away in either Columbus or Pittsburgh.
Cleveland also is a one-day drive from Boston, if you'll be visiting family often in the Boston area.
Cleveland is the more affordable of these three cities.
Cleveland has a good zoo, great natural areas, Lake Erie, Holden Arboretum, Ohio Amish Country, Lake Metroparks, four seasons of weather, good science and natural history museums, less snow by far in the last decade than the Boston area, and is one hour from Cedar Point. The area has many festivals and events, such as the Cleveland National Air Show and the Great Geauga County Fair. MLB tickets are much cheaper and available than in Boston.
I can't help you with the job market for financial analysts in the U.S., but KeyCorp, Progressive Insurance, and investment management firms would be among the possibilities, depending upon your work background. Northeast Ohio has many corporate headquarters jobs, if your background isn't in investments.
<<The 18-county Northeast Ohio region is anticipated to benefit from the ongoing shift
to a more diversified, high value-added services economy. According to research
by Team NEO, the region boasts the fourth highest concentration of headquarters
employment among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Regional employment in
these sectors is 60 percent higher than the national average and steady growth is
expected over the next ten years.>>
Rochester NY has the Strong Museum of Play, Six Flags at Darien Lake nearby, Sea Breeze amusement park, a couple of lakeside beaches, Roseland Water Park in nearby Canandaigua, Niagara Falls isn't too far away and you can get to the Finger Lakes, NYS Parks and cultural festivals within minutes as well. You could look into other nearby NY cities/areas, but Rochester seems like a good fit for what you are looking for.
Buffalo may have more Financial Analyst positions due to companies in the area and it is within minutes of all of the things mentioned as well.
$350,000 gets you into any school district that you want in Upstate NY, by the way. So, if you look into Buffalo, Williamsville would be the best bet, among others and in the Rochester area, Pittsford would be viewed as the best bet, among others. There are others you may like, but both are in the top 5 in affluence for Upstate NY school districts and have walkable villages as well.
If Syracuse is in the mix, then Fayetteville-Manlius is on par with those other 2 suburban SD's in every way from affluence, school reputation/quality and having walkable villages(Fayetteville and Manlius are both villages). Syracuse does hosts the NYS Fair, you have Syracuse University sporting events, the Adirondacks are an hour and a half away, Lake Ontario is 45 minutes away, it is next to the Finger Lakes and more.
Buffalo to Syracuse is only 2 hours. So, all of these places are within reasonable distances from each other.
There may be other communities in Upstate NY that may fit as well(New Hartford, Victor, DeWitt, Clarence, Niskayuna, Vestal, etc.).
Rochester NY has the Strong Museum of Play, Six Flags at Darien Lake nearby, Sea Breeze amusement park, a couple of lakeside beaches, Roseland Water Park in nearby Canandaigua, Niagara Falls isn't too far away and you can get to the Finger Lakes, NYS Parks and cultural festivals within minutes as well. You could look into other nearby NY cities/areas, but Rochester seems like a good fit for what you are looking for.
Buffalo may have more Financial Analyst positions due to companies in the area and it is within minutes of all of the things mentioned as well.
$350,000 gets you into any school district that you want in Upstate NY, by the way. So, if you look into Buffalo, Williamsville would be the best bet, among others and in the Rochester area, Pittsford would be viewed as the best bet, among others. There are others you may like, but both are in the top 5 in affluence for Upstate NY school districts and have walkable villages as well.
If Syracuse is in the mix, then Fayetteville-Manlius is on par with those other 2 suburban SD's in every way from affluence, school reputation/quality and having walkable villages(Fayetteville and Manlius are both villages). Syracuse does hosts the NYS Fair, you have Syracuse University sporting events, the Adirondacks are an hour and a half away, Lake Ontario is 45 minutes away, it is next to the Finger Lakes and more.
Buffalo to Syracuse is only 2 hours. So, all of these places are within reasonable distances from each other.
There may be other communities in Upstate NY that may fit as well(New Hartford, Victor, DeWitt, Clarence, Niskayuna, Vestal, etc.).
Hi. I'm looking for fun, affordable cities that a great to raise families in. I currently live an hour outside Boston. While I think Boston could be fun and family friendly. It is too expensive for me and I'm so far outside of the city that driving there for its cultural activities seem like more of a chore to me. Looking for other ideas with some of these guidelines
Nice clean city
3 br houses around 350K
City that hosts a lot outdoor family friendly events/festivals/etc
Access to nature a plus
Good job market (work as a financial analyst)
Nowhere with really long hot/humid summers
Prefer that it not be overwhelmingly cookie cutter
Prefer east coast to west but keeping opinions open
That's all I can think of for now...thanks!
Louisville fits this well...Think it needs to be in the differential.
Suburban Oldham County, KY is a great school district, and very temperate climate. Not cookie cutter at all. The area is known for being "weird and independent"
An excellent family city, with tons to do for kids. Here are some festivals
Chicago, Cleveland, and, to a slightly lesser extent, Minneapolis, are the only two cities in the Midwest with cultural and pro sports options comparable to Boston. Cleveland doesn't have NHL hockey but does have AHL hockey, and there are NHL teams a couple hours away in either Columbus or Pittsburgh.
Cleveland also is a one-day drive from Boston, if you'll be visiting family often in the Boston area.
Cleveland is the more affordable of these three cities.
Cleveland has a good zoo, great natural areas, Lake Erie, Holden Arboretum, Ohio Amish Country, Lake Metroparks, four seasons of weather, good science and natural history museums, less snow by far in the last decade than the Boston area, and is one hour from Cedar Point. The area has many festivals and events, such as the Cleveland National Air Show and the Great Geauga County Fair. MLB tickets are much cheaper and available than in Boston.
I can't help you with the job market for financial analysts in the U.S., but KeyCorp, Progressive Insurance, and investment management firms would be among the possibilities, depending upon your work background. Northeast Ohio has many corporate headquarters jobs, if your background isn't in investments.
<<The 18-county Northeast Ohio region is anticipated to benefit from the ongoing shift
to a more diversified, high value-added services economy. According to research
by Team NEO, the region boasts the fourth highest concentration of headquarters
employment among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Regional employment in
these sectors is 60 percent higher than the national average and steady growth is
expected over the next ten years.>>
I'm also a Financial Analyst, and have been looking for work since last July here in Cleveland and have had numerous interviews but no hits yet. I've started taking a more serious approach about finding jobs outside of the Cleveland area since it has been slow going finding the right fit with the number of available jobs for financial analysts. For example, for every 1 job available in Cleveland, there seem to be 3-5 jobs in Minneapolis, and I'd bet another 4-6 jobs in Chicago.
I'm not anti-Cleveland by any means but in terms of finding available analyst jobs it's not ideal here, and it's taken me 8 months to figure this out but I may have to move to get the job I need. We'll see.
*It's worth noting though that if you don't have a local address you may not find much demand for your role, since employers don't want to pay for travel and relocation expenses. I was using my local address for out-of-state jobs and I got zero responses. Then I changed my address to a friends' and I got a reply within a day or two. So unless you're a Manager or higher level, please consider this when applying anywhere in the Midwest at least (maybe not Chicago? IDK).
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.
