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I will be graduating with a bsn in may 2018. For my spring break, my mom and I want to check out potential areas to move to, this came up suddenly because we were going to do this in the summer but I got offered an internship.
She's a math teacher/administrator and she's leaving WHERE we move up to me with a couple conditions: it has to be south of NJ and she'd prefer a gated community - budget around $400,000 for a house.
I like Richmond. But we can't find a community.
I think Williamsburg is really nice looking, but nursing doesn't seem to be in demand. I also like a busier city area, and want to continue my education. The commute from Williamsburg to Richmond is only around an hour so it's not terrible though. I already commute 40-50 min for school and work now.
So I went back to checking out Florida..Tampa is in demand for nurses and has a school for DNP..
This will be silly but I think I'd really hate the thought of a giant spider crawling out of my toilet or tub though haha..or a snake.
I looked at Raleigh, NC and Athens, GA (no graduate nursing degrees offered at NC state uni or university of Georgia)
I could just do graduate school completely online.
I can't decide. My favorite things to do are hike with my dogs and just enjoy night life when I can. We really don't have close family besides us. I'd appreciate any suggestions My mom and I BOTH can't wait to move. (If I was just going by myself or with no restrictions I'd want to check out Cambridge but my mom just won't go north)
Thanks for reading and for any ideas to help me out.
Man you and your mom's desires are pretty mutually exclusive which makes this tough. There is no NYC of the south but none of the places you mentioned would even be in that conversation.
Ok, that said, FL definitely should be considered. Plenty of nursing opportunities and, honestly, we are the land of gated communities lol. $400k is definitely doable for a nice home in a gated community. Jax, Orlando, and Tampa will have plenty of options and pretty good nightlife (Jax offers the least but is most affordable) but none could ever be confused for a NYC-lite. Miami is a whole different beast but I actually would say it comes closest to having some tiny semblance of Manhattan.
I think Atlanta and Charlotte are also options. Atlanta you will be forced to deal with awful traffic. I like the in-town neighborhoods of Atlanta a lot but if you're working, seeking grad school opportunities, and living in a gated community, there's really no way around lots of traffic. Charlotte should be good but I don't know it well.
I looked at Raleigh, NC and Athens, GA (no graduate nursing degrees offered at NC state uni or university of Georgia)
When looking at Raleigh, you really have to consider the entire Triangle because it's one big metro. While NC State doesn't have the program, UNC and Duke do in Chapel Hill and Durham respectively. There's also Watts School of nursing in Durham but I am not sure if they have graduate programs.
That said, I doubt you'll find a gated community in your price range. Gated communities really aren't a big thing in the Raleigh area until you get into the monster home category.
Atlanta is probably going to be your best option if looking for big city energy, gated communities and warmer weather. Emory University has one of the best MSN programs in the country (within one of the best hospitals in the country, Emory University Hospital) and there's also Georgia State University's program which is in Downtown Atlanta and would be a good choice for a big city hospital experience with clinical options at neighboring Grady Memorial Hospital.
Thank you for all the replies! If you want to skip this please scroll down to the last paragraph
Haha yes I kinda realize that my thread title is wishing for an imaginary place I should clarify some more because I really can't decide where I should go still!
My mom said she would be willing to go outside of a gated community. She's said that before but I know she really wants the community, and where we live now she's active with the clubhouse, golf, games, etc.
Where we live now is in the pinelands of NJ. I think it's peaceful and beautiful but we both want more around us in terms of for me night life, parks, museums, and for her stores. Even though our community is all ages, there isn't a lot of people my age, like maybe 3. I used to live in north NJ and loved it, but in terms of taxes and things it's expensive. I don't mind cold and snow, my mom hates it though.
I really liked Raleigh the more I looked at it, but then I read an old thread about the flying roaches and things. So being in the pine lands, basically in the summer and fall we are attacked by flies. They lay eggs in my dogs (they're inside dogs) and I've pulled out larvae and had to go to vets to get the larvae out that were too big.
For my clinical rotation last week, I was in wound care. I can see and take many things. But I hate bugs. I hate when I want a nice hike (or just go around the block) in warm weather, my dogs can get 50 ticks each on them even when I use frontline. These are lone star ticks, these critters are the fastest species of tick and they run up to 2 miles to get to their meals. I've waken up at 4am to see a tick on my chest rush up to my face. I also hate those jumping crickets they call spider crickets. I'll take the chiggers over all of them.
Right so the title of my thread should be "I want a cheaper, warmer and bug free NYC!" I know, I know...I am joking around.
So one of my dogs died a little over a month ago. He was very loved. The reason I bring this up is that he needed to be outdoors for hours a day (some days I did hike for 5+ hours), he was a GSD with maybe Newfoundland was the best guess. (THAT was fun to check for ticks) I wanted another big furry love like him, but maybe I should put that off and just go to an area that would be the best for my career. My other dog even though a GSD can tolerate heat very good and she's older and not as active.
I'm sorry I'm writing so long, I'm sort of working it out as I write this!
May I have opinions on Tampa, FL vs Raleigh, NC vs Richmond, VA? My mom said she didn't think Atlanta would be good, because she read the crime rate is bad, worse than NYC??
To compare to what we like in terms of amenities and population, I love Princeton, Clifton, Montclair, and West Orange NJ. And working as a nurse and going for a MSN and DNP are important factors. UNC has a graduate nursing program that I want (psychiatric-mental health) and so does Tampa. Richmond does not, so I'd do online.
Philly is cheaper and slightly warmer than NYC, but not sure how warm you want. After that, I would suggest Atlanta, even though it's not as big as NYC.
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My mom and I BOTH can't wait to move. (If I was just going by myself or with no restrictions I'd want to check out Cambridge but my mom just won't go north)
