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My husband and I are looking to relocate from Durham, NC. We’re both in our late 20s. We don’t have kids, but plan to in a few years. That being said, we want to have good schools in the area. We prefer the beach and city over mountains. I’m looking for places with an abundance of finance/accounting jobs that pay well. We want to be somewhere diverse.
Check out Jacksonville FL. It's home to a number of sizable finance/banking company offices such as Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, TIAA, Fidelity Investments, Prudential Investments and Ally Financial plus accounting job options with big companies such as KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte among many others. Thanks to the diverse economy including healthcare, IT, banking/finance and military contractors the population reflects that in terms of nationalities/ethnic origin. The top two school districts in Florida are there, top-rated Nassau County just to the north of the city and second-rated St John's County just to the south and both are easily commutable to the job sectors in Jacksonville. The beaches are beautiful and in terms of where to live, check out the planned community of Nocatee in St John's County. https://www.nocatee.com/location
Check out Jacksonville FL. It's home to a number of sizable finance/banking company offices such as Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, TIAA, Fidelity Investments, Prudential Investments and Ally Financial plus accounting job options with big companies such as KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte among many others. Thanks to the diverse economy including healthcare, IT, banking/finance and military contractors the population reflects that in terms of nationalities/ethnic origin. The top two school districts in Florida are there, top-rated Nassau County just to the north of the city and second-rated St John's County just to the south and both are easily commutable to the job sectors in Jacksonville. The beaches are beautiful and in terms of where to live, check out the planned community of Nocatee in St John's County. https://www.nocatee.com/location
I agree, Jacksonville would seem to fit the bill for you.
Check out Jacksonville FL. It's home to a number of sizable finance/banking company offices such as Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, TIAA, Fidelity Investments, Prudential Investments and Ally Financial plus accounting job options with big companies such as KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte among many others. Thanks to the diverse economy including healthcare, IT, banking/finance and military contractors the population reflects that in terms of nationalities/ethnic origin. The top two school districts in Florida are there, top-rated Nassau County just to the north of the city and second-rated St John's County just to the south and both are easily commutable to the job sectors in Jacksonville. The beaches are beautiful and in terms of where to live, check out the planned community of Nocatee in St John's County. https://www.nocatee.com/location
We prefer more liberal places...From what I’ve read, Jacksonville is pretty conservative.
My husband and I are looking to relocate from Durham, NC. We’re both in our late 20s. We don’t have kids, but plan to in a few years. That being said, we want to have good schools in the area. We prefer the beach and city over mountains. I’m looking for places with an abundance of finance/accounting jobs that pay well. We want to be somewhere diverse.
We need information on the following to give a quality answer:
1. Cost of Living Preference - What can you afford for housing? How much are you willing to spend on housing?
3. Size of City - Do you want a major city, medium sized city, or small city? (I am assuming since you mentioned preferring a city that you are not interested in rural or exurban)
We prefer more liberal places...From what I’ve read, Jacksonville is pretty conservative.
Jacksonville's a large city. I'm sure it has its pockets of liberal areas. Find those neighborhoods and see if they can offer you the lifestyle you're looking for. I agree with the other poster's that Jacksonville would be a good fit for you guys.
I know you're already in Durham, but is Raleigh not a good enough fit for you? I live pretty close to downtown and love it. Pretty good school systems in Cary and Apex as you both probably know. Plenty of finance jobs to go around. It's consistently rated one of the top 3 cities in America and only 2 hours to the beach.
I also wonder if Norfolk, VA could work? Right next to VA Beach and is large enough to inevitably have strong finance based jobs. I actually just checked Indeed and there's 840 current jobs when I search "finance" in Norfolk. The Ghent neighborhood, while expensive, may be what you're looking for.
We prefer more liberal places...From what I’ve read, Jacksonville is pretty conservative.
That's largely outdated information. Jacksonville went Blue in the midterm elections in 2018 and has been trending that direction for the past decade as more and more transplants have changed the political climate. The city used to be more/less a military town until the economy really began to diversify past 20-25 years. There are a number of neighborhoods that will remind you of Durham in terms of liberal/progressive residents and businesses, so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss until you've done some more homework.
We prefer more liberal places...From what I’ve read, Jacksonville is pretty conservative.
Anyone can find their niche in nearly any (not all) metro area/city in this nation. Unless you're an extremist on either side, you could find that in Jacksonville. It puzzles me when various people say they embrace "diversity", yet can't bear the thought of living in an area that doesn't think like them. We all miss out on getting to know so wonderful people (despite of differences) when we purposely avoid them. The only thing that matters to me about a person is if they're a jerk or not, not their personal politics. I'm not trying to be a prude or anything. Just that we will never be able to come together if we can't agree to disagree and actually live together. No matter where you end up, good luck
Wildcard since you didn't mention anything about weather or budget, but New Jersey? If you live in the suburbs close to NYC or Philly, you'll get all the accounting/finance jobs you'd want. The schools in NJ are generally very good. And the beach is only like an hour away. I regularly drive down just beach days and it's pretty easy. I guess for that matter, throw in Long Island as well.
If your budget is smaller and you want warmer weather like everyone on here always asks for lol, the only other city I can think of is Miami. Houston is too conservative. And there are no other major financial centers that close to the beach that are affordable. If you want warm and money is no concern, go to LA. If you can handle worse winters, go to Chicago.
3. Size of City - Do you want a major city, medium sized city, or small city? (I am assuming since you mentioned preferring a city that you are not interested in rural or exurban)
1) Preferably under $1500
2) We prefer dry or hot weather.
3) Medium sized city to major city for things to do.
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