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.
I'm making this thread in the hopes that there will be other areas suggested that I haven't considered yet and that I should.
I've lived almost my entire life in the Portland area and it's clear it's time to leave. For my families future and my sanity. I'm looking for a smaller community that still has the minimal essentials (like a Costco, some sort of Arts/Theater and job opportunities). Mountains and the beach are great but I'd happily live without them if it meant thriving as a single income family, affording a home and providing for my kids and my own future.
I'm in Information technology so a tech hub would be nice but most important are cost of housing, good schools and family friendly. I don't mind heat and enjoy snow/winter but more sun would be a nice to have as well as being able to get outdoors more. A dream would be to have a home with a little land (like more than a 5k sf lot--maybe big enough to require a riding lawnmower--lol!)
I've considered:
SLC
Denver (almost approaching Portland/Seattle levels of unaffordability)
Boise
San Antonio
Omaha
Nashville
What other places should I be considering?* Thanks for any and all advice!
I'd look into Grand Rapids MI too. Strong employment outlook and growing tech sector with companies like Switch communications investing billions. (plus some Costco's, huge two week Art Festivals, decent local arts scene and several emerging hip neighborhoods, oh and lots of beer and breweries). It's pretty under the radar but has a lot of things people look for in the bigger progressive cities, just on a Grand Rapids size scale
If being practical and affordable is top of mind, consider advice from Mr Money Mustache:
Quote:
In other words, a logical person should be willing to pay about $15,900 more for a house that is one mile closer to work, and $477,000 more for a house that is 30 miles closer to work.
I've done the commute thing and won't do it again--I own my cars--never pay more than 10k for a quality used one, have zero debt and while according to the banks I can afford a 477k+ house on my salary there's zero chance I will do so because I'll be damned if I'm going to blow 35% plus of my take home on a house payment. People that do so are asking to drown when hard times come. Can you say bubble 2.0?
I also have zero desire to live on top of my neighbor and hear them argue through the walls and have my kid have to go down to the street to play outside. You could not pay me enough to live in a major city.
Please know you aren't the target of my rant--the absurdity of the housing situation in the PNW is.
Boise isn't cheap
SLC is starting to become pricey, too. You might have to try a SLC burb instead of the city.
Check out Colorado springs
Sacramento suburbs
Fresno/visalia/Clovis
Bakersfield
Any city in Kansas
Arizona
Spokane/Yakima
Southern oregon
All should be doable with a single income
Thanks for the info--Colorado Springs I hadn't considered before.
There are cheap areas in California??
Boise is absolutely cheap compared to Portland. It's all relative. I've been absolutely shell shocked as I've looked across the various cities seeing what 275k to 350k will buy you. There are quality neighborhoods with good schools in Boise for 350k easy. You won't find any in Portland period.
Thanks for the info--Colorado Springs I hadn't considered before.
There are cheap areas in California??
Boise is absolutely cheap compared to Portland. It's all relative. I've been absolutely shell shocked as I've looked across the various cities seeing what 275k to 350k will buy you. There are quality neighborhoods with good schools in Boise for 350k easy. You won't find any in Portland period.
Yep, lots of good houses in safe neighborhoods for 200-300k in inland CA. Inland housing is cheap in CA, but prices will shoot up once the high speed rail takes off. Don't worry about pay either, it should almost always be higher than Boise pay. Zillow Fresno, Clovis, sac suburbs, visalia, and Bakersfield.
You might be able to find some gems on the coast, too(Salinas and Santa maria). Eureka is cheap as well, but very isolated.
Sac Suburbs are already high, at least compared to just a few years past. Many areas of sac already rival that of the East Bay, or places closer to the Bay like Vacaville and Fairfield. Many who invested in Sac area when it was pretty undesirable are the ones getting the last laugh. It turned out to be great investments because sac has come a long way.
The only big city left that is really affordable in CA is Fresno/Clovis and Bakersfield. Fresno is the 5th largest city in CA. Sac is 6th. and bakersfield is 9th. Fresno I believe will be the next to reap increase in home prices. Many infrastructure is starting to be built. Who knows how the high speed rail is going to play out--it might not ever be done from SF to LA due to trump, but I feel the central valley section might actually be operational from at least fresno to SJ. connecting the 3rd biggest city (sj 1million) to the 5th in fresno (500,000) That will do a lot for employment for Fresno that needs jobs and for many in SJ who want affordable NICE homes yet still commutable to work. Many right now who live in SJ bought in small bedroom communities like los banos, mountain house, tracy, stockton, patterson, etc. All about 1hour to 1.30hr drive to sj. the problem is that drive is never like that during the workweek--its almost ALWAYS 2+ hours one way. longer than a drive to fresno which is about 2 hours. so to be able to commute stress free 40mins to SJ is going to be attractive to many. Also on the weekends they wouldn't be living in small towns of nothing because fresno is a big city and has most things expected from that of a big city.
As for work, if you work in certain fields, as Flovis said, pay most likely will be higher than Boise pay. There is this saying some have said.. many arrogant coastal city dwellers crap on the central valley, but a big city of Fresno in CA is still a lot better than many other big name cities of other states. If you are in the medical field--doc, nurse, etc, or law, education, those type of jobs. You'll do just fine.
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.
