Advice on Towns and Cities with Good Public Transport & Other Qualities (real estate market, how much)

[VintageGurl]

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for your replies!
I am seeking advice on what towns/cities might have good public transport, I am hoping for transportation out to some rural areas (if a bigger city), and countryside attractions, if at all possible. Connections to go to a bigger city for medical needs would be great!
Most of my transportation needs are for basics like groceries, clothing, medical, etc, not too many entertainment ones needed, though as stated would like to be able to get to a river or some other natural water place for a peaceful time.
It also needs to be affordable, $50 or under for a regular monthly bus pass.
I am also greatly interested in places that have a lot of historic buildings/houses.

So to make this easier, lists of states I am most interested in, states I am considering and states that are a no. I think I missed some as it's late here, but here goes.

States I am currently most interested in moving to
1.Indiana
2. Ohio
3. New York (upstate NY)
4. West Virginia
5. Iowa
6. Pennsylvania
7. Minnesota


States I am on the fence about
1. New Jersey
2. Maine
3. Tennessee
4. Nebraska
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan
7. Illinois
8. Missouri
9. Kansas
10. Mississippi
11. Georgia
12. Alabama
13. Nebraska
14. Virginia
15. Massachusetts (excluding Boston area)

States I am NOT interested in moving to, many are beautiful just wouldn't fit some of my needs from what I can tell. If you think otherwise, let me know! (Except for Oregon, California and Washington).

1. Oregon
2. California
3. Washington
4. Arizona
5. Florida
6. Hawaii
7. Colorado
8. Alaska
9. Nevada
10. Idaho
11. Delaware
12. New Mexico
13. Rhode Island
14. Utah
15. Wyoming
16. South Dakota
17. North Dakota
18. Louisiana
19. Connecticut
20. New Hampshire
21. Kentucky
22. North Carolina
23. South Carolina
24. Texas
25. Wisconsin
26. Vermont

[cornsnicker3]

You will get really wonderful responses and recommendations if you give greater details about the following:

1. What size city do you envision?
2. What do you expect for Cost of Living (e.g. housing, food, transportation)?
3. Weather Preferences: Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? Do you like rain and/or snow? If so, how much and how often?
4. Do you prefer certain type of people? Do you desire to be around those with a particular political or religious lean?

I would not recommend excluding any part of the country because the users on here, with the necessary information, may have suggestions that may surprise you.

[annie_himself]

Why do you specifically want to live in those states?

[bus man]

You left off Maryland from all of your lists. Any particular reason?

The level of service provided by public transportation is primarily a function of population density. The more dense an area is, the better its public transportation will be. ("Better" in the sense of scheduled service frequency, at least. The actual quality of any particular transit system will vary, sometimes widely, from one city to the next depending on how much of a priority is placed on running a good system.) Even fairly small cities can have decent transit systems if a large share of its population happens to live in within a small geographic area.

Thus, in my state of Maryland, our capital city Annapolis has only about 39,000 people living there. But it's a geographically small city, so the population density is a respectable 4,700/square mile. This is enough to support a transit system that operates 7 days a week from early in the morning to fairly late at night, with several routes operating as frequently as every half-hour.

Of course, if you're looking for a place where everywhere in the city is served by an extensive network of buses that run very frequently all the day long and late into the night, you need to look in a major city. But if you're OK with a smaller system that will still operate with reasonable frequency (generally speaking, every half-hour is the best you're going to get in a smaller city) during the daytime and maybe into the evening, there are a number of smaller cities that could fill the bill.

[VintageGurl]

Originally Posted by cornsnicker3

You will get really wonderful responses and recommendations if you give greater details about the following:

1. What size city do you envision?
2. What do you expect for Cost of Living (e.g. housing, food, transportation)?
3. Weather Preferences: Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? Do you like rain and/or snow? If so, how much and how often?
4. Do you prefer certain type of people? Do you desire to be around those with a particular political or religious lean?

I would not recommend excluding any part of the country because the users on here, with the necessary information, may have suggestions that may surprise you.

Thanks cornsnicker, those are good questions!

1. I am actually pretty open, I'm even considering smaller towns as long as they have enough groceries, medical, a few thrift shops, etc, let me know if being more specific is helpful.
I am thinking around 100,000 people or less, though am not set on it.

2. As low as possible. Part of why I am interested in certain states is because the real estate market is better there, cheaper cost of housing.
Budget for food (unfortunately has to be gluten free which is costly) is around $200 a month. I would only eat out a few times a year.
Transportation - $50 and under.

3. While I do like sunshine, I generally prefer cooler and milder weather. Snow is ok, I live in Oregon so pretty used to the rain. Not terribly picky as long as it's not horribly hot and humid.

4. As for politics, I am somewhat in the middle. I prefer somewhere not extreme liberal or conservative. Think people who help each other but have boundaries, especially when it comes to people on drugs. Where I am now is extremely liberal and the city is going downhill due to the lack of boundaries about what is acceptable behavior.
I am not religious, so prefer areas with a less religious lean, but that can be hard to find anywhere in the US. Where I am is considered more diverse and less religious yet I still run into religious people all the time.

Yes, I could be surprised but I excluded some states because they simply don't have enough good options to buy a house, especially 50K and under. Really want to avoid the whole west coast for that reason, the housing crisis here is only going to get worse.

[VintageGurl]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

Why do you specifically want to live in those states?

Mostly cheaper housing costs, especially when it comes to buying a house. A few states I know have specialists for some of my health problems, and others are close to other states with specialists, would make it much more manageable to travel.

[VintageGurl]

@ bus man, no reason, was just tired and forgot a few states!

Thank you for the suggestion, I shall look into Maryland a bit more.
While it would be nice to have a more extensive, frequent network of buses, a smaller town with decent bus service could still work just fine for me.
Since I'm looking for an affordable house, I likely will need to compromise a bit on public transport, just need to make sure I can get around for my essentials.
I do tend to like and need a slower pace of life.

[ckhthankgod]

Is your housing budget $50k and lower? Just want to make sure that I’m reading that correctly.

[VintageGurl]

Yes, my housing budget is 50K and under. I am looking for a fixer upper, hopefully not needing too many major repairs, lots of cosmetic is fine.
I've been looking a lot and the budget does make it harder, but it should be doable. Especially in Ohio, thousands of houses in this price range.

[Count David]

Look at Belleville, IL. I know IL isn't on your list of preferred states, but there is *some* housing there sub $50K, and there is Metrolink to St. Louis from there. Doesn't fit your climate requirement, but it is has seasons.