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I'm currently living outside of St. Louis Missouri, and I'm miserable here. There's so many people, so much traffic, too much noise (both physically and metaphorically). I want to slow down.
My dream image: a stone cottage in the middle of the woods, with a decent sized lot for a flower garden. About 5-10 minutes from a cozy town with a walkable main street, lots of British style stone buildings, lots of mom and pop shops for decor and clothing, etc. Both family friendly (I have two girls and neither me nor my husband drink) and just friendly in general. I'd love to be in a more hiking/bike riding community and less of a hunting/fishing community. Also prefer northern to southern. Rain all the time doesn't bother me. Snow in the winter also doesn't bother me. Heat, however, sucks and the Midwest is the hottest I'm willing to live.
I'm very aware that this kind of location may not exist over here. But I'm going through an existential crisis and would love a goal to work towards and something to look forward to. The world is beautiful, the US is beautiful, but it's gotten so dark and fast paced, and I'm not suited to live like this. But I also don't want to be completely off grid.
I know it's a long shot, but if anyone knows of any towns that come even *close* to my dream town, I'd love to hear about them so I can look up more info!
Port Townsend, WA could be an option. Summers are cooler than nearby Seattle (which already has cooler, more pleasant summers than the Midwest). Winters are foggy and overcast, but not too cold. Scenery is just absolutely anmazing and the opportunity for outdoor recreation is endless. The downtown area is super cute. It’s a couple hours from Seattle but it feels far away enough that it and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula is kind of its own world.
Only thing is I’m not sure how expensive land is in that area. I know there are parts of small town / rural WA that can be very pricey. Do you have a specific price range?
Port Townsend, WA could be an option. Summers are cooler than nearby Seattle (which already has cooler, more pleasant summers than the Midwest). Winters are foggy and overcast, but not too cold. Scenery is just absolutely anmazing and the opportunity for outdoor recreation is endless. The downtown area is super cute. It’s a couple hours from Seattle but it feels far away enough that it and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula is kind of its own world.
Only thing is I’m not sure how expensive land is in that area. I know there are parts of small town / rural WA that can be very pricey. Do you have a specific price range?
SFH start at $349,000. Anything in Western Washington will be expensive except for Aberdeen, Raymond, etc. on the Olympic Peninsula. Port Townsend is an exception.
Only thing is I’m not sure how expensive land is in that area. I know there are parts of small town / rural WA that can be very pricey. Do you have a specific price range?
I have no price range at the moment. Just looking to see what's out there.
You would also be minutes from more suburban style, big box shopping in Camillus(Township 5, Fairmount Fair, etc.) or in Auburn(Grant Avenue corridor).
It would also allow you to go to events in Syracuse or Auburn, both of which offer its share of performing arts venues, history, sporting events, etc.
I also think an area such as East Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg PA in the Poconos and about an hour and a half or so west of NYC is another one that comes to mind, among others.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 06-02-2023 at 02:50 PM..
Port Townsend, WA could be an option. Summers are cooler than nearby Seattle (which already has cooler, more pleasant summers than the Midwest). Winters are foggy and overcast, but not too cold. Scenery is just absolutely anmazing and the opportunity for outdoor recreation is endless. The downtown area is super cute. It’s a couple hours from Seattle but it feels far away enough that it and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula is kind of its own world.
Only thing is I’m not sure how expensive land is in that area. I know there are parts of small town / rural WA that can be very pricey. Do you have a specific price range?
Agree, rural western WA/OR would be great for your criteria, depending on price range. I probably wouldn't recommend Grays Harbor County (Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Montesano, etc), it's a pretty depressing place, lots of poverty and not really outdoor-oriented. More of a logging/industrial area.
I see some options in Medford, OR that aren't exceedingly expensive, modest homes around or below $300k. (Zillow link)
If you really don't mind snow, I wonder if the Upper Peninsula of Michigan could work. It's an area that gets some tourism, so I'd think there would be a lot of cute stores and restaurants in town.
Zillow link: Houghton
Zillow link: Ontonagon
(Marquette, the largest town out there, is surprisingly expensive, I didn't realize --- comparable to a lot of the rural PNW)
Another small town community is Hamilton NY in between Syracuse and Utica. Good schools, nice walkable small town that is home to Colgate University, which offers Division 1 college sports(anlso in the Patriot League like Lewisburg’s Bucknell University) and arts based events. It also has a nice Saturday Farmers Market during the warmer months: https://thisishamiltonny.com/
Oneida is a nearby community that offers more shopping/services.
If you want something closer to one of those bigger cities, Cazenovia in the same county(Madison), is closer to Syracuse and even closer to its relatively upper middle class eastern suburbs(much of the Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt SDs in particular), which offer more shopping/services. It is similar to Skaneateles in that it is a lakeside village with walkability and shops, among other things: https://www.madisontourism.com/about...azenovia-area/ https://cazenovia.com/
Depending on your age and family, you may want to choose one relatively close to competent and advanced medical facilities.
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