Help us leave Utah (real estate, crime, house prices)

[tydnshop]

My wife and I HATE Utah. This place sucks. Its either meth or Mormons ( no offense ) here and were over it. We are looking for somewhere the direct opposite of Utah pretty much, besides in scenery. We do own a home here which we will most likely use as a income source when we leave. My wife & I have both traveled alot, both in & out of the country but we just cant decided where to move. Were 27, white, working on a kid, & make our living selling items online.

What we hate about Utah:

- The church (not going into this one)

- The crime (lots of low level Mexican gangsters paired with dudes moving ALOT of meth & heroin)

- Weed laws (just passed a laughing stock of a medical MJ bill)

- The general population (when we see a black person here, were surprised. I dont like that)

- Cant walk anywhere

- Food is GARBAGE. Its all catered to families of 10 kids. I was a former chef, so food is important.

What were looking for:

- Culture : Ill make this one topic. We want food, coffee, old buildings. We do NOT go out, no bars or clubs for us, could careless about music. We like cities with nice parks, bike paths, etc. We love fashion & art.

- Walkability : I want to leave my house and walk to a coffee shop (while not getting stabbed/shot/raped)

- Recreational MJ

- "Normal" gun laws - must be able to CCW

- Houses under 300k within a decent neighborhood. We dont want to live in Manhattan, wed rather live in a place like Brooklyn, so being near the city center isnt so important, the neighborhood is what matters most to us.

- Nothing flat or desert like, we enjoy mountains


Where we dont want to live:
Florida, Nevada, New York, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Michigan, Illinois

What it seems like to me is that Portland, Denver, & maybe a small town outside of Seattle are the best options? What do you guys think? Thanks so much for any advice!!

[PNW-type-gal]

Median house price in Portland is $425,000, median price in Denver is $409,000, so you are likely looking at the suburbs in either place. The west coast is expensive until you get out to the deserts (high and low) and even then there are some expensive desert communities.

As for crime and drugs, anywhere on the I-5 corridor from Mexico to Canada has a problem with drugs, drug-related crime and homelessness - both small cities and large.

Oregon does not have the diversity you are looking for and Washington doesn't really either (although Seattle is probably more diverse than Portland).

The foodie/coffee/beer culture is fairly big in Oregon, even in the smaller cities. The farmer's markets have long seasons and are year-round in some places, although it is hydroponics and root vegetables in the winter. Oregon's schools are not among the best in the nation, although there are scattered school districts - mostly in large cities - that do well.

You only get a "Brooklyn" next to a large megalopolis like Manhattan - Brooklyn isn't stand-alone city. You can find something similar in the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas, kind of, where the metro population is in tens of millions.

[bobspez]

You are asking for an urban setting with walkability with suburban/country house prices. I don't think you will find that. Where we live in Howell, NJ, you can find houses in nice neighborhoods for under 300K. You will also find strip malls with restaurants, etc. along the main roads like Highway 9. But it's not walkable. You can go for a walk and feel safe, but you will just be walking by other houses. It's about a 75 minute bus commute to NYC and Brooklyn.

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[nightlysparrow]

Recreational MJ only exists in 10 states, and you have eliminated California, Michigan and Nevada off the bat.

What about Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Colorado and your other desires? Washington and Oregon have some of the lowest diversity in the US, and Portland and Seattle are too expensive. Vermont, Maine and Mass have some of the highest overdose and heroin prevalence in the nation.

So that leaves Colorado, which has swiftly accelerating real estate prices. But there's always Alaska, which has the guns, but is hardly walkable!

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

Median house price in Portland is $425,000, median price in Denver is $409,000, so you are likely looking at the suburbs in either place. The west coast is expensive until you get out to the deserts (high and low) and even then there are some expensive desert communities.

As for crime and drugs, anywhere on the I-5 corridor from Mexico to Canada has a problem with drugs, drug-related crime and homelessness - both small cities and large.

Oregon does not have the diversity you are looking for and Washington doesn't really either (although Seattle is probably more diverse than Portland).

The foodie/coffee/beer culture is fairly big in Oregon, even in the smaller cities. The farmer's markets have long seasons and are year-round in some places, although it is hydroponics and root vegetables in the winter. Oregon's schools are not among the best in the nation, although there are scattered school districts - mostly in large cities - that do well.

You only get a "Brooklyn" next to a large megalopolis like Manhattan - Brooklyn isn't stand-alone city. You can find something similar in the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas, kind of, where the metro population is in tens of millions.

And the burbs tend to be expensive in Denver, and I'm sure Portland.

[cornsnicker3]

Going out on a limb, but have you considered Pennsylvania? I would think somewhere like Allentown would hit some of your bullet points while still being affordable.

[aeros71]

I'll trade you spots. WV for Utah.

[snoopygirlmi]

Reading your post I kept thinking Ann Arbor Michigan, but then you said you don't want to live in Michigan.

SE Michigan ticks off a lot of the boxes.

Downtown Detroit is a lot safer than it has been in the past. It's really not the same place it was even 2-3 years ago.

There's a huge foodie culture these days, lots of diversity, plenty of areas in the city and in the burbs that are very walkable and safe. Weed's legal. If you want mountains you can go to the UP. Lots of nature in the Great Lakes State. Nobody really cares where or if you go to church. Lots of parks, trails, art and fashion in the area too.

In lieu of the whole "we don't want to live in Michigan" thing, check out Columbus or Cincinnati. I think Cincinnati may be a good fit. Then Columbus second.

I know you are thinking the west, but the west is much more expensive than the midwest or south.

We learned the hard way never to say never. About 10 years ago, my husband came out to our town for a training session and we swore up and down that we'd never move to a town like this. It was too small. Too far away from everything. People who live out this far are crazy, there's nothing to do, why would anyone want to live here, etc. (We said it all!)

Guess what - we ended up moving out here due to a job change. The house we bought here ticked all the boxes and it was just the right situation at the right time. The town's still too small and everything is still further away than we'd like, but we've managed to build a wonderful life here and make it work. (And now there's a Tim Horton's and a fantastic middle eastern restaurant here on the main drag! Progress!) There are definitely pros and cons to living in a small town that's on the far end of the Metro area.

Good luck finding a new place!

[snoopygirlmi]

Originally Posted by cornsnicker3

Going out on a limb, but have you considered Pennsylvania? I would think somewhere like Allentown would hit some of your bullet points while still being affordable.

Pennsylvania occurred to me as well. Lots of mountains, affordable, safe......

[bjimmy24]

Not sure why the Utah hate was necessary. It's half your post.