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I have asked a few questions on here before, but the wife and I are still trying to narrow down our search for a new place to call home. We are going to use the suggestions we receive here (and elsewhere) to try and take a long trip and explore some places, so any help would be appreciated!
We are both in our late 20's, and we have a 4 year old son. We are in marketing and accounting, respectively, but do a few other freelance type things that help pay the bills. We are both big into outdoor activities and history, and would love to be near both. My wife is big into music, and I into sports, so being somewhere close to those things would be great. With that being said, we do not want to be in a huge metro area. I'll list a few things that we are looking for, and hopefully we can narrow down our list!
*Good Schools. We prefer public over private.
*Low Crime.
*Four Seasons. This is a must have. Autumn and winter are our favorite seasons, and we have grown tired of the constant hot and humid temps of the southeast. We have no problem with cold, we actually prefer it, or snow. (Honeymooned in Chicago in February, and vacationed in Denver area in January) I also have a small breathing issue that heat combined with humidity tends to cause issues with.
*Active community. We would love to be somewhere that the people have pride in. Somewhere that has activities to bring the town together. Active people would be a plus as well, as we are very active people ourselves.
*Festivals/Fairs/Activities. This one kind of goes with the one above. We would like to live somewhere that has these types of things year round. We love going to festivals and the like, but where we live now doesn't have very many, and the ones we do have are during the summer. HOT HOT HOT!
*Lakes. We are both water people, and have narrowed down our search to towns on or near a lake. (We may look into places on other water sources, but for now we are looking for somewhere near a nice lake) I am a fisherman and we love getting out on the water in kayaks, boats, or jet-skis. A nice recreational lake would be great.
*Nature. Other than a lake, we would also like to be near other outdoor activities, whether it be mountains, bike trails, state parks, etc.
*Proximity. We would like to be close enough to a larger city that we could go into it on weekends and spend the day, but not close enough to where we are in commuting range.
*Smaller city or town. We would like to move to a smaller town or city. We are somewhat open to different sized places, but would like to stick to the smaller side, say under 50k or so.
*Lastly, we are only looking at certain areas. These are the states we are considering. They all have reasons behind us looking at them, but we want to stay in one of these areas.... VA, OH, MI, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA, or NH.
Laconia, NH seems like a fit for you. On the Biggest Lake in NH. The Town is about 1:40 from Boston when there is little traffic.
There is a beach town kind of area at Weirs Beach and a real town center between Paugus Bay and Lake Winnisquam.
I'm sorry, but why wouldn't you look at Wisconsin? Tons of lakes, lots of towns that would meet your criteria. It seems like an ideal fit, actually. Michigan is a good one also - there are lot's of options there. You may want to look in/around the Grand Rapids area.
I'm sorry, but why wouldn't you look at Wisconsin? Tons of lakes, lots of towns that would meet your criteria. It seems like an ideal fit, actually. Michigan is a good one also - there are lot's of options there. You may want to look in/around the Grand Rapids area.
There are reasons for everywhere we are looking, and everywhere we are not. As far as Wisconsin, it is simply further west than we want to go. If I were to find the perfect job and the perfect area, we might consider it, but we are more east coast people, and I think even MI and OH is stretching it a bit (for me at least). The reason they are still on the list is that we have friends in both states, and have spent a little time in both and enjoyed them.
To be honest, the history of the East Coast intrigues me, and I feel like it is less "isolated" (whether that is just in my head or not). Wisconsin just doesn't seem to have the proximity of the states we are looking at. It is a beautiful state, and there is nothing wrong with it, it just isn't currently on our radar.
I would check out Bay Village, Ohio (suburban Cleveland), population around 15,000. It has lake beaches, bike trails, proximity to Cleveland, pretty good public school district, festivals (Bay Days, 4th of July, arts festivals etc.) and is pretty affordable. Very safe as well.
I would check out Bay Village, Ohio (suburban Cleveland), population around 15,000. It has lake beaches, bike trails, proximity to Cleveland, pretty good public school district, festivals (Bay Days, 4th of July, arts festivals etc.) and is pretty affordable. Very safe as well.
Looks like a nice place. I have a friend who is a big Cleveland guy, and was born and raised in Sandusky, so I will have to ask him about it. I will do my own research as well, but he could be helpful with that area as well.
Like I mentioned in another thread, Ithaca and Geneva in NYS would work. Perhaps Canandaigua, Auburn, Skaneateles, Fredonia/Dunkirk, Brockport, Plattsburgh, Cazenovia and Brewerton, among others in NY come to mind.
Would Claytor lake be close enough to Blacksburg VA? Blacksburg is at 2000' so a little bit cooler than the Shenandoah valley but humidity could still be a dealbreaker.
Perhaps Clarksville, VA would work - it's on a sizable lake, between Richmond and Raleigh/Durham NC.
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