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I currently live in South FL and am checking various places to move to. I have a Liberal Arts degree in Human Services and a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies (a program that was designed for adults to combine education, volunteer work and work experience), so basically, degrees that don't amount to much,from my experience anyway. I have over 15 years secretarial experience, although I don't like it. I'm a single female, in my mid fourties, with no children. So, add all that together, and I can live anywhere, but this is what I'm looking for and I could really use your help. I've never used a forum like this, but thought I'd give it a try. I like: change of seasons (but not shoveling 3 feet of snow to get to my car), a small town/city but not one where if you're not family, you won't fit in, low crime rate, friendly, accepting community & apartment rent not over $500 - if that's possible. It may sound crazy, but one of the reasons I love the movie "Baby Boom" is because nobody dressed to impress...flannel shirt and jeans is ok by me! Dislikes: college towns, where the median age is 21!, rainy weather half the time, high crime rate, places where it's mostly senior citizens and/or families. I LOVE kids, but am tired of being the only single person in the area in my age bracket. I'm shy and have a hard time meeting people. I can't move until I have a job. At first, I was planning on moving back to NJ since most of my relatives still live there, but the apt rates are too high. Then, I was thinking about other places where I know at least one person, but maybe that doesn't need to be a consideration since I'll meet people through my job. I love NC. I've never lived in CA, but would love to be able to live closer to public events with stars I'd like to see. I've missed a lot of things because I'm on the East coast. Sorry to ramble, but I want to be as specific as I can be and appreciate your input. Hopefully I didn't leave out any important info.
Are you sure you don't want a college town? Some are more youth-oriented than others, but overall they're a lot more likely to have what you're looking for. I can't say that this is universal or not, but when we briefly lived in a large town (13,000 people) it was tough to break in socially. Most people were from there, and many of the younger people moved away for jobs elsewhere, then only came back either when retired or after they got married and had kids. As a younger couple with (at the time) no children we didn't really fit in. At least with a college town you have a steady influx of staff and faculty.
How about somewhere in NY or New England - not so far from NJ, change of seasons (but maybe too much snow), some nice smaller cities, and beautiful scenery. There may be somewhere with affordable rent, although $500 is pretty low in most places.
I wouldn't bother with California right now. CA is a great state, but many areas are very expensive. Also, in case it makes you feel better about not seeing stars: I lived in Hollywood for 1 1/2 years (and in the LA area for about three) - as in one block off of the Walk of Fame - and rarely saw celebrities. If you want star sightings then just visit on a vacation, go to a Walk of Fame star unveiling or something, dine at the Ivy, and go to some other celebrity hot spots.
Galena, IL is a nice place, too; it's pretty touristy, but it's a nice part of Illinois, has changing seasons, isn't a college town, and because of its tourist industry may have a larger range of ages and family status than some areas. It's informal, and in general that area of Illinois is pretty welcoming. I'm not sure of Galena's rents, but I assume you can get something decent for under $500. You certainly can in the nearby towns.
I currently live in South FL and am checking various places to move to. I have a Liberal Arts degree in Human Services and a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies (a program that was designed for adults to combine education, volunteer work and work experience), so basically, degrees that don't amount to much,from my experience anyway. I have over 15 years secretarial experience, although I don't like it. I'm a single female, in my mid fourties, with no children. So, add all that together, and I can live anywhere, but this is what I'm looking for and I could really use your help. I've never used a forum like this, but thought I'd give it a try. I like: change of seasons (but not shoveling 3 feet of snow to get to my car), a small town/city but not one where if you're not family, you won't fit in, low crime rate, friendly, accepting community & apartment rent not over $500 - if that's possible. It may sound crazy, but one of the reasons I love the movie "Baby Boom" is because nobody dressed to impress...flannel shirt and jeans is ok by me! Dislikes: college towns, where the median age is 21!, rainy weather half the time, high crime rate, places where it's mostly senior citizens and/or families. I LOVE kids, but am tired of being the only single person in the area in my age bracket. I'm shy and have a hard time meeting people. I can't move until I have a job. At first, I was planning on moving back to NJ since most of my relatives still live there, but the apt rates are too high. Then, I was thinking about other places where I know at least one person, but maybe that doesn't need to be a consideration since I'll meet people through my job. I love NC. I've never lived in CA, but would love to be able to live closer to public events with stars I'd like to see. I've missed a lot of things because I'm on the East coast. Sorry to ramble, but I want to be as specific as I can be and appreciate your input. Hopefully I didn't leave out any important info.
I don't know how you feel about the Midwest but Columbia, MO is a nice size town with a population around 100,000. There are definitely four seasons in Missouri. Do a google search of "Columbia, MO best places to live" and you will see plenty of results. Money magazine in particular seems to always list it as a great place to live. The location couldn't be better. It is just a 2hrs drive to St. Louis, 2hrs drive to Kansas City, Half an hours drive to the state capitol, and an hour to the Lake of the Ozarks. It is a college town though with the University of Missouri located there. Though it is big enough to not only be a college town.
I'm in a similar boat myself, in terms of relocation and have researched exhaustively.
I have considered North Carolina also, and given your criteria, think it's the best fit. It has for the most part relatively low crime, affordability, no snow shoveling and an economy that's not in the tank as much of the country.
In terms of your daily lifestyle, especially the casual/laidback aspect, western North Carolina would be great for you. Asheville/Hendersonville is the center of commerce for the western part of the state. The town of Black Mountain, just to the east of Asheville is a very desirable area with easy access to downtown Asheville. Good luck!
Harrisburg, PA has lower unemployment than many areas, lower rents than the Northeast Corridor, and lower hassle than larger cities. Not a college town but attracts some younger unattached professionals due to the above. See http://www.city-data.com/forum/penns...ea-thread.html
I was thinking Upstate NY. While we can get our share of snow, it is taken care of in a timely manner. You might like areas like Ithaca, Oneonta, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester or the Albany area. All are relatively affordable, especially Binghamton and Syracuse(which has one of the most affordable housing markets in the country).
Ithaca and Oneonta have the college town that you are looking for, while the other cities have parts of that are centered around a college.
In Syracuse, you might like the neighborhoods by Syracuse University like Westcott, University, Meadowbrook or Outer Comstock.
Here's some information you might want to check out about Syracuse and the other areas: City of Syracuse
Welcome to Siena College
(You might the smaller cities of Troy and Schenectady in that area too)
Buffalo might also be another area to consider and is pretty affordable. They have U. of Buffalo, Canisius and a bunch of other colleges in the area too.
I guess the reason I stated I didn't want a college town, was because the apartements I looked into in college towns rented to college students. It's really hard researching everything via the web, that's why I'm glad I found this forum. Once I narrow my choices down, then I can possibly check them out in person; that's what I'd like to do anyway. Thanks for all your info!
Thank you everyone for your wealth of information! This is wonderful. I will check into each area and the web sites you have given me and will keep you posted. You've given me more on-target info than I've been able to find during my web searches this past week. At least now I don't feel as overwhelmed.
I'm from Eastern NC, but when I read the OP's title, Asheville is the first thing that popped in my mind. NC has a bunch of welcoming communities (perhaps part of why so many transplants are moving there of late and why it keeps popping up on lists of palces to move to )
I'm in a similar boat myself, in terms of relocation and have researched exhaustively.
I have considered North Carolina also, and given your criteria, think it's the best fit. It has for the most part relatively low crime, affordability, no snow shoveling and an economy that's not in the tank as much of the country.
In terms of your daily lifestyle, especially the casual/laidback aspect, western North Carolina would be great for you. Asheville/Hendersonville is the center of commerce for the western part of the state. The town of Black Mountain, just to the east of Asheville is a very desirable area with easy access to downtown Asheville. Good luck!
Black Mountain, North Carolina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cozy 1BR cottage near downtown Black Mtn. (http://asheville.craigslist.org/apa/1204989534.html - broken link)
brick cottage near Black Mountain (http://asheville.craigslist.org/apa/1211528774.html - broken link)
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Info to help me move
Thank you everyone for your wealth of information! This is wonderful. I will check into each area and the web sites you have given me and will keep you posted. You've given me more on-target info than I've been able to find during my web searches this past week. At least now I don't feel as overwhelmed.
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