Need help in deciding where to live... (renting, amusement parks)

[ukusmom]

I apologize in advance if you see this message on other boards. I am desperate to get help. Many of you have answered my questions in the past, and I appreciate it.

We are a young family of four and VERY middle class. We don't make a lot of money, but enough to where I am able to stay at home with our two children.

We currently live in VA, and although we have met some wonderful people, we aren't happy with the area at all. There just isn't enough to do, especially for children, unless we go out to eat or go to church. We have researched places that we would love to live, but EVERYWHERE that we are considering is too expensive. I'm hoping someone knows of an affordable alternative. These are the things we are looking for:

Good public schools, low crime. We need a place that is affordable. We were very interested in either Ithaca, NY or Milford, CT. The thing we like about Milford was that it has a downtown area where you can walk around and shop, have a coffee, take the kids out in the stroller, but also not be that far from a larger city. That would be our ideal type of setting. I really want us to move into a neighborhood with a lot of families and where we are not having to drive far to get into some type of town center. We will not have family anywhere near us and don't want to be in a place where it is terribly hard to meet families like ourselves. As we moved from the UK, we are quite used to "character" in the buildings. We love that about New England, plenty of character around Milford. Please help us find a solution! We will renting the first two years, and then hope to buy a house that is no more expensive than $200,000.

We just can't afford these places that we are interested in. We need more affordable options.

Please help us find our dream place.

[jufrbo]

Go west. Try Boise. Its cheap, low crime, and a lot to do, if you like biking, hiking, boating, rafting. It is all about being outside, so if that's what you like to do, go there.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Springfield, MO is pretty nice. It's a decent-sized area and pretty affordable. St. Louis is larger, and most areas are safe, but public schools aren't good there. Kansas City is pretty good as well. I know St. Louis has some nice character buildings, including townhomes in the Soulard and Lafayette Square area.

Springfield, Missouri - Official Visitor Information Springfield is a nice area. I have friends who attend college out there. There's a University of Missouri college out there as well as two Christian Universities. There's some shopping as well. In my opinion, there's not as much character as St. Louis, but Springfield is nice and good for families.

Nearby Springfield is Branson, which has broadway-type shows as well as 2 amusement parks and a water park. There's also a Minor-League baseball team called The Springfield Cardinals in Springfield.