Places Long Islanders could move too. (Florida, Central Valley: how much, hotel, buying a house)

[TheTruth08]

Originally Posted by ClarkStreetKid

It really depends on what you're looking for. I didn't care for LA at all, and while I really liked SF things there have changed. NC can be really nice (beaches, mountains, some nice places to live) but a person better go with their eyes wide open. Judging by how many Islanders are here VA can be a good fit.

Lets say I want to live somewhere, with a nice downtown area full of nightlife and young people. Cheap real estate, able to buy a nice house with a middle class income. Able to buy nice cars and take vacations. Four seasons, well actually seasons don't really matter as long as it doesn't get over 95 A LOT. Lots of stuff to do. Good shopping. Where would you suggest?

[raiser]

Originally Posted by Tymel

Lets say I want to live somewhere, with a nice downtown area full of nightlife and young people. Cheap real estate, able to buy a nice house with a middle class income. Able to buy nice cars and take vacations. Four seasons, well actually seasons don't really matter as long as it doesn't get over 95 A LOT. Lots of stuff to do. Good shopping. Where would you suggest?

Austin TX

[StephM]

The problem with most areas LIers would feel most at home, is that they cost as much, if not more than LI.

We're thinking Houston, big city, diversity, great job opportunities, a LOW LOW COL. Schools are as good as LI schools for half the price. The summer months are brutal and spent inside mostly. but its no different than the 5 months I spend inside on LI already.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by Tymel

I forgot Chicago. Love their burbs from what I've seen. Seattle's burbs look pretty awesome also. Love the housing architecture on the west coast. Never really saw Boston burbs pictures so I wouldnt know. I honestly think NYC suburbs fail in comparison to West Coast cities suburbs in amount of entertainment, housing architecture, accessibility, etc.

Couldnt disagree more.

Id take Suffolk over Orange County anyday.You need to try a commute on the 405 to LA from Irvine to realize how good you got it here.
As underserved as we are by the LIRR in Suffolk county...at least we have a railroad.

Also the people out there are pretty false. "Land of Fruits and Nuts". Everyones about 10 miles wide and about an inch deep.We have no business there, we wear it all on our sleeves and were about as subtle as a tank.Its our polar opposite....a backwards world if you will. They will always be 3 hours behind in my book. ; )

crooks

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by StephM

The problem with most areas LIers would feel most at home, is that they cost as much, if not more than LI.

We're thinking Houston, big city, diversity, great job opportunities, a LOW LOW COL. Schools are as good as LI schools for half the price. The summer months are brutal and spent inside mostly. but its no different than the 5 months I spend inside on LI already.

Ive hear Austin is pretty cool

crooks

[AlexisT]

Houston is my idea of hell on earth. It is flat, unbearably humid, summer is suffocating (I've been to Houston in July, and NEVER AGAIN), air quality is nil, and schools are not that great (ESPECIALLY in Houston ISD). The nice suburbs are a long commute. It's very conservative, heavily evangelical, especially in the 'burbs.

Suburban SoCal is no better than LI; a lot of it is worse. You choke on smog, there's nothing to do besides the mall, and traffic is hellish.

NYC suburbs actually offer quite a bit. Tymel, you're in probably THE worst age group for LI. There really isn't much aimed at under-21s here. I hated it at that age as well. Now I'm 31 and have a family, and there's a lot for us to do. I've been in suburbs in other cities where there were hardly any non-chain restaurants.

I like a 4 season climate, a real city, public transportation. Boston, NYC, Philly, Chicago are all nice to me.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

True, but then again I'm not your average-stereotypical LIer

Thats what you think.

I think we all suffer from some degree of LI denial.

crooks

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by StephM

The problem with most areas LIers would feel most at home, is that they cost as much, if not more than LI.

We're thinking Houston, big city, diversity, great job opportunities, a LOW LOW COL. Schools are as good as LI schools for half the price. The summer months are brutal and spent inside mostly. but its no different than the 5 months I spend inside on LI already.

I agree with the first thing you said. When I really think about it, the only place I would probably want to live is the SF area. It's more expensive than LI though.

But I disagree about the schools in Houston. My dad got a job offer there maybe about 10 years ago. He thought about relocating us there. He decided not to, because many of his friends made the move in his company and said that the schools are not anywhere as good as LI and they all wanted to move back to NY. That's a major reason why we didn't move there--the schools.

[dman72]

Austin isn't much less hot or humid than Houston, compared to LI, but a lot of people rave about it. It's also significantly more expensive than other non-"cool" cities in Texas, and competition for jobs is fierce. But I could live there.

I could move to: Northern Virgina, Chesterfield, Hanover county's near Richmond VA, Charlotesville Va, Harrisonburg is a beautiful area too, but I hear it is overrun by evangelicals, Raleigh NC in the right area.

Burbs of SF, Portland Or, Burbs of Chicago.

I like Boston but I'm really not willing to deal with a winter any worse than LI. I also love Northampton MA and other college towns in New England (Hanover, New London NH), but again, the winter is just too much.

[Cardiff Giant]

I'm a LI native (Sachem HS) currently living in Austin for 3 years now. Finally escaped NY after 7 years in Manhattan (and 5 years in MI)...love it here and hope to never leave. What everyone has said about Austin is true...hot as hell for the majority of the year (it's awesome right now, though), lots of competition for jobs (it took me 8 mos. to find an IT job that I was overqualified for). It's getting crowded here but it's still manageable. Folks complain about traffic but I don't think they've ever tried driving out to Suffolk Co. from Manhattan on a Friday night. Now THAT'S traffic.

I grew up in Holbrook in the 70s and our house was on a huge wooded lot; I wanted my kids to grow up in a similar place where they can run around and explore. LI has less and less of that these days. Don't get me wrong, I do miss LI at times and love to visit; it's just not like it was. But what is?