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.
Hello fellow CD'ers - I'm a long-time browser, first-time poster on here. I've thoroughly enjoyed this community and thought it was high time I finally post on here. By way of introduction, I'm a 25 + yr. resident of Seattle and am in the process of moving cross country within the next 4-6 months.
With the transition of my business from an online model to primarily in-person, and the added incentive of Seattle's slow but sure demise and degradation on many levels, I decided earlier this year to pack it up and move myself and business to another state.
This decision was not without much soul searching, research, and reaching out to those I know best for wise counsel. With that said, it has become apparent that the city I once loved and grew to admire has become a mere shell of its former self.
I've combed the forums on here for information about cities that are welcoming to new businesses, offer a good sense of community spirit and helpfulness, and are somewhat affordable to not only live in, but to run a business from.
Mind you, coming from Seattle, it's not hard to find a mid to large-sized city that offers a more affordable cost of living, so that is perhaps the easiest part of the pie here. The elephant in the room, for me at least, is my need to find a community that extends the freedom to do business to its businesses without excessive interference or overreach, namely, mask and vaccine mandates, not to mention the forthcoming vaccine ID's.
While this post could easily become a political mish-mash of sorts, I don't want to have this descend into that type of conversation. I simply want some feedback from those of you who have experience in your respective cities to lend me your stories about why it might be a good place to relocate myself and my business.
Lastly, I dont' really want to get into all the business metrics of a certain area, as reading other posts, it's much too easy to get lost in all the numbers. Anectdotal stories are fine to a point as well, but I would rather keep on topic and focus on one's experience.
Here are some cities that I've researched that fit my criteria:
1. Smaller cities: Fargo ND, Lynchburg, VA
2. Mid size cities: El Paso TX, Des Moines IA, Knoxville TN
3. Larger cities: Ft. Worth TX, Pittsburgh PA (metro area population taken into account)
I appreciate any and all input you all can give me. Thank you in advance!
Most or all your targets seem reasonable. Pittsburgh and directly in Knoxville might not as desirable based on your statements but check them out more and decide.
If you identified your current fewer most favorite places, people might offer similars / betters but the list is diverse enough that folks don't have a clear sense of your top preferences and may not want to guess across various sizes and climates.
There is a lot to like about Fargo, if you can handle winter / stay in and / or schedule in winter trips to other places.
Des Moines generally gets good to great marks on place rating lists, especially if relative affordability is considered.
Sioux Falls would be a worthwhile option to compare to either of these.
OKC or Tulsa are increasingly considered options to Texas cities.
If you identified your current fewer most favorite places, people might offer similars / betters but the list is diverse enough that folks don't have a clear sense of your top preferences and may not want to guess across various sizes and climates.
There is a lot to like about Fargo, if you can handle winter / stay in and / or schedule in winter trips to other places.
Des Moines generally gets good to great marks on place rating lists, especially if relative affordability is considered.
Sioux Falls would be a worthwhile option to compare to either of these.
OKC or Tulsa are increasingly considered options to Texas cities.
NW Crow - thank you kindly for your feedback on my initial post. What you say is true enough. I didn't specify my top criteria in much detail, other than to mention my top three, which is personal/business freedoms, a close-knit community that prizes working together and helping others, and lastly, low cost of living and doing business (somewhat affordable).
I could add to that list of course, and having lived in Seattle, I have to admit to being spoiled by our mild temps year round. But if only choosing by climate, I realize I'm rather limited by my choices should I insist on living in a mild climate city. Albuquerque is one city that gets mentioned quite a bit on here for having pleasant climate year round. While Portland gets mentioned in the same breath as Seattle for being pretty mild, their state isn't run any better than where I currently am.
Sense of community might seem a broad term, but by and large in Seattle, people are hard to get to know and keep you at arm's length, hence, the infamous Seattle freeze. Des Moines, as you so aptly mention, ranks high on many people's lists, especially in terms of sense of community. For the aforementioned reasons, finding a community into which I can plug both myself and business into tops my list of criteria.
With my business model being dependent on the ability to meet openly and gather in groups freely, I place that as a top priority as well. My niche is in the area of speciality coach training and certification, and as such, people will be flying into the area to attend workshops, trainings, and seminars pertaining to such. In addition, the facility I have will work with people from the local population and implement strategies, coaching methodologies, and theories that are taught to the coaches involved in our program.
As you can probably ascertain, finding a city that echoes my values, and supports my business goals, is key for me in choosing a community. I would welcome any other cities outside my initial list, and am more than open to hearing about the city you live in and what makes it such a wonderful place to be.
Midwest/plains - Fargo, Sioux Falls, Des Moines, Omaha, etc. I have experience with all of them. In general, they fit the bill as being decently conservative and level headed. Thriving business scene/economy with low COL. SD has no state income tax. The general downside.....obviously the winters are harsh, but perhaps more importantly these cities over index in Scandinavian/German heritage which can come off to some as insular, stoic, and not impolite but also closed off. You are obviously familiar with the Seattle Freeze, it's worse cousin is MN (n)ICE, which is prevalent in this area. It's real, and something to be aware of.
Other options that might be good to explore:
-Greenville, SC
-Birmingham
-Charlotte
-Chattanooga
-Hampton Roads
-Richmond
-Kansas City
"With my business model being dependent on the ability to meet openly and gather in groups freely, I place that as a top priority as well. My niche is in the area of speciality coach training and certification, and as such, people will be flying into the area to attend workshops, trainings, and seminars pertaining to such. In addition, the facility I will work with people from the local population and implement strategies, coaching methodologies, and theories that are taught to the coaches involved in our program." - I'm giving a more pragmatic approach to some suggestions, as I feel this is probably going to be your most important consideration. If you have people flying in from all over I would try to make certain it's not a hardship for a good half of your potential attendees by being too far to from either coast. A metro area large enough to help support your business model would be helpful as well. Cincinnati would be my recommendation and is in a very business-friendly environment in terms of both state and local government, plus a major hub for air service.
"With my business model being dependent on the ability to meet openly and gather in groups freely, I place that as a top priority as well. My niche is in the area of specialty coach training and certification, and as such, people will be flying into the area to attend workshops, trainings, and seminars pertaining to such. In addition, at the facility I will work with people from the local population and implement strategies, coaching methodologies, and theories that are taught to the coaches involved in our program." - I'm giving a more pragmatic approach to some suggestions, as I feel this is probably going to be your most important consideration. If you have people flying in from all over I would try to make certain it's not a hardship for a good half of your potential attendees by being too far too from either coast. A metro area large enough to help support your business model would be helpful as well. Cincinnati would be my recommendation and is in a very business-friendly environment in terms of both state and local government, plus a major hub for air service.
Kyle, you summarized quite nicely the reasons for choosing Cincinnati for a business hub. I have come across some information on Cincinnati, and true enough, it does offer a central location that would make it easy for people from all across the country to fly into.
I was not aware of its business-friendly environment, however, so thanks to your suggestion, I will look further into the possibilities of the Cincinnati market. Your insight was much appreciated.
Overall I think some of the overlooked midwestern cities are strong candidates due to decent economies and cost of living.
May not be near a beach, but many are close to other natural amenities. Some more than others.
Jbray, as you and CityKid so aptly point out, the midwestern cities are a strong contender for the criteria I am looking for. Certainly, as CityKid alludes to, people do have a form of insular community there. That isn't a deal-breaker for me, however, and in terms of strength of economy, less stringent business policies, and overall bang for the buck, it's hard to argue against them.
Thank you both for the insight into these cities. As an added bonus, they are located in the middle of the country, which lends itself nicely to being accessible to both coasts.
Omaha gets ignored by most on this forum; but it’s a 1 million population metro that ticks all your boxes. Omaha has most all the amenities of a metro 2 to 3 times larger, but without the pain of having to live in one.
Omaha’s downtown are core area is going through a massive, $3 billion dollar redevelopment- including a new 45-50 story skyscraper, a streetcar line and Riverfront redevelopment which will be the envy of most of Omaha’s peer metros in the 1-1.5 million population category. Plus, you have a diversified economy- 4 Fortune 500 and 8 Fortune 1000 companies are headquartered here. There are jobs galore.
Don’t sleep on Omaha. Do the research- it will fit your bill.
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.
