Looking for a new city to call home! (fit in, neighborhoods)
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My husband and I are looking for a new city to call home, probably in the late summer/early fall of 2018. Yes, it is a year or so away, but we are looking at taking a trip this October to scout some locations out, and would love some input from you guys.
Okay, so here are some of the things we are looking for: 1- Good schools (We now have a kindergartener) 2- Safe (Duh) 3- Probably a suburb or smaller city. We aren't really into "city living" (As much as we wanted to be), but would like to be close to activities and things to do. 4- Somewhere with a good four seasons. We love fall more than anything else, but we also enjoy winter (As long as we aren't snowed in for a week at a time or something!). 5- Preferably the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, or Midwest. We want out of the south, and are not currently interested in the west. We hate the weather down here (My husband has a little bit of a breathing problem that the high heat/humidity combo aggravates), and we don't fit in as far as politics/religion go.
If you were to look at a map, I would say the area we are searching would go something like this.... Draw a line across the top of NC, and take it all the way over to the western border of MO. Then take it up from there, straight up the state lines for MO, IA, and MN. Anything north of the 1st border, and east of the 2nd would be where we are looking. 6- Prefer a walkable type area. It doesn't have to be the most walkable city around, but somewhere with a defined downtown area, and some walkable areas would be great. 7- Somewhere that has a lot to do year round. Where we currently live, it is pretty much summer oriented. There is very little to do outside of the summer. All of the festivals are in the summer, and a lot of people go dormant when it starts getting cooler. 8- Which brings me to festivals! We would love to live somewhere that has a good mix of festivals. We love going out and hanging around at festivals. Fall/harvest festivals, food festivals, music festivals, you name it! 9- Somewhere that has a sense of community. The places we have lived in the past did not have this, at all. There is an area or two around here that is somewhat like this (Fairhope), but most of them are just a bunch of people who don't give two craps about the other people who live there. They lack the community events and things as well. 10- COL is not a big deal as of right now, so we can leave it out for the time being.
So, that is the gist of it. If you need me to answer any other questions, please ask!
Traverse City, Michigan would suit you perfectly. It's beautiful. I love it.
You are in Fairhope. We love it there! Considered it for retirement one day ... but alas, we are hoping to leave the Gulf Coast altogether, heading North. We're no longer liking the South, either. I just started a new thread about our search, in fact....
Fairhope is identical to one of our picturesque little Norman Rockwell towns in Northern Michigan ... Harbor Springs. But Traverse City has everything you are looking for.
Traverse City, Michigan would suit you perfectly. It's beautiful. I love it.
You are in Fairhope. We love it there! Considered it for retirement one day ... but alas, we are hoping to leave the Gulf Coast altogether, heading North. We're no longer liking the South, either. I just started a new thread about our search, in fact....
I have actually seen a travel show (Can't remember which one) that was in Traverse City for a cherry festival??? Is that right? Looked like a pretty cool place, but seems fairly isolated. It may be something I could handle, but I am not sure how well I would do being that far away from a major city.
Yea, Fairhope is great! I love the downtown area, and we spend a decent amount of time hanging out down there. Visit the Bone and Barrel restaurant, and sit outside on the patio, if you find yourself down that way. Assuming you haven't already of course. We are actually living in Spanish Fort at the moment, and while it is a very safe place with good schools, it lacks that community feel. More cookie cutter than anything, and is certainly somewhere that everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'.
I have actually seen a travel show (Can't remember which one) that was in Traverse City for a cherry festival??? Is that right? Looked like a pretty cool place, but seems fairly isolated. It may be something I could handle, but I am not sure how well I would do being that far away from a major city.
Yea, Fairhope is great! I love the downtown area, and we spend a decent amount of time hanging out down there. Visit the Bone and Barrel restaurant, and sit outside on the patio, if you find yourself down that way. Assuming you haven't already of course. We are actually living in Spanish Fort at the moment, and while it is a very safe place with good schools, it lacks that community feel. More cookie cutter than anything, and is certainly somewhere that everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'.
Yes, the Cherry Festival! Traverse City (population 15,000) has so much to offer and so much to do year round. Great historic district with shopping, boutiques, award winning restaurants, boating, fall colors. The nearest big City is Grand Rapids (population 196,000), 4 hours South. Or Detroit.
Minneapolis is great, too. You might check out some of the surrounding suburbs. I think it gets more snow than Michigan, though. Do you ski?
Yes, the Cherry Festival! Traverse City (population 15,000) has so much to offer and so much to do year round. Great historic district with shopping, boutiques, award winning restaurants, boating, fall colors. The nearest big City is Grand Rapids (population 196,000), 4 hours South. Or Detroit.
I don't remember a ton about the festival, but from what I do remember it looked pretty cool. I can imagine that they fall colors and recreational activities are top notch. I will have to give it a look.
On another note, what happened to the other posts??? Are pics not allowed here or something? I was digging the pics.
To the other posters.... I will definitely do some research on the areas mentioned in Maryland. They look awesome! I would be somewhat worried about congestion, but will do some checking.
As for Carmel, I have a friend of mine who actually moved from Memphis to Carmel our senior year, and graduated high school there, so I will have to ask her about the area.
Perhaps a place like East Lansing MI. It has all of that and Lansing is also adjacent, with Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids all within an hour/hour and a half. With Michigan State University in town, it offers quite a few events for most of the year and there are events during the summer as well. It is also a diverse community with very good schools. I'd say that the neighborhoods north/NW of its Downtown would be a good place to look. https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/721/Downtown
I forgot about Ann Arbor! Ooooohhh... yes!!!! Does the OP love football? Ann Arbor is beautiful.
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