Do I really want to leave? Can't make up my mind!! (Youngstown: 2009, apartment)

[SCBeaches]

Originally Posted by Beavercreek33

Sorry I took you wrong.

But I will tell you, Ohio cities are much larger than South Carolina cities, and have different history than South Carolina cities, therefore you will see mixed results. South Carolina has great smaller cities, but the only downtown that I felt was "lively" was Greenville. I loved the park with the falls and everything. And Findlay (spelling) park in Columbia was great, but besides that everything else just seemed kind of bland and normal to me. Like I said, Ohio cities are much larger, and that is why you see much more activity in downtowns like Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and even Dayton and Akron. I will also point out that Cleveland seemed very desirable to live in, they have many new midrise condos and apartments going up all over downtown, the Avenue District was just finishing up when I was there, and it looked great. Cleveland is expected to see 20,000 people living downtown by 2010-2011. I just got back from Akron, hadn't been there in 7 years. Was amazed by how much it has changed.

Charleston has a very lively downtown during Spring, Summer, and Fall...and always on weekends! Not meaning to take away from the topic of this thread, but had to insert a correction. Maybe you were here on an "off" day or during the winter? I won't dwell on the issue so as not to hijack the thread....but Charleston has one of the busiest downtown areas (for a city of its size) of any city I've been in.

[Beavercreek33]

Originally Posted by SCBeaches

Charleston has a very lively downtown during Spring, Summer, and Fall...and always on weekends! Not meaning to take away from the topic of this thread, but had to insert a correction. Maybe you were here on an "off" day or during the winter? I won't dwell on the issue so as not to hijack the thread....but Charleston has one of the busiest downtown areas (for a city of its size) of any city I've been in.

True, Charelston is anything from bland, but I was in Columbia on a Saturday night, and Greenville on a Friday night. Maybe everyone was out of town then.

[canudigit]

I may be comparing apples to oranges here, but our family is planning a move to Phoenix, AZ this summer if jobs come through for my husband and me. Our 15yo daughter has developed severe allergies to everything here in SE Michigan (dust mites, molds, pine trees, maple trees...and basically every plant indiginous to this area) and no doctor has been able to help her yet. When we are in the desert SW she feels great and it's as if she doesn't have allergies at all.

Anyhoo...what we are finding is that many employers in AZ prefer to hire locals for this reason, and here is what may be the parallel between AZ and the Carolinas: So many people have moved to the Phoenix area looking for the "perfect" place and then as soon as the extreme summer heat, the heavy traffic...whatever, gets to them, it's adios, and back home they go. So in other words, some bad apples have spoiled it for a lot of other people who intend to overlook those things and make it a long term, permanent home. People who realize that there is no perfect place and that you will have undesirable circumstances along with the good things WHEREVER you go. Heck, my husband has worked successfully and with an excellent work history for a huge, international company for just over 30 years, and since he put in for a transfer to Phoenix, they don't seem to want to call him at all, and there are definitely job openings. (of course, that one could be a case of age discrimination as well as "outsider" discrimination, even though he is only 49, but who knows?)

I agree with all of the PPs who advised you to stay put without first securing at least one job that can pay all of the bills. Not much fun enjoying the weather and amenities of the South if you don't have any money, and barhopping can be an expensive hobby, KWIM? Unless either my husband or I find gainful employment in Phoenix, we will have to stay here and keep looking for an allergist who can help our daughter, because we aren't about to take the plunge and leave a secure income and family for the unknown.

[rusheib]

Originally Posted by QCP

If you have to ask the question, then no you should not leave. You will find yourself miserable and homesick before you even have explored your new neighborhood.

Relocating is a huge undertaking, and should be taken very seriously. From my experiences, the only people that have actually found the other side to be greener (I am one of those) are the ones that were completely dedicated to the relocation.

If it makes it any easier, I live in Charlotte now (11 years - relocated from Cincy area) and a house comparable to what you described, if in a safe, clean neighborhood, with good schools, low crime rate and within 25-30 minutes of downtown (where the bars are at) would start at 350K. And that's for family oriented suburbs. Actual city homes close to the bar scene (less than 25 minutes), start at about 500k for a 1,500 sq,ft fixer-upper. Downtown??? Try 300K for 700 sq. ft. So if finances are an issue - stay put.

Why not Columbus? It's comparable to Charlotte, but much less expensive and obviously closer to home, which should ease your tensions.

This describes me perfectly. We too had a great life in Ohio, nice modest home, pool, big backyard, medium sized town, etc.

we decided to take a promotion in TX, and thought it would be OK and also knew we would miss Ohio.

I agree with thE quote above - we were miserable and homesick from the get go. We still are about a year into the move. we thought it would be "fun" to move and try something new. But since we weren't 100% in favor of moving we find we miss our old life too much now.

I am now looking to move back to Ohio at some point. We won't have the same life as before, but will work to get back to that point. If you don't want to move 100%, DO NOT!

[jh_2009]

I agree with you on the first part about relocating. I lived in Ohio my whole life and then decided to move to Maryland to be with my boyfriend. I'm glad were still together but I am really homesick and I get really depressed when I visit Ohio and come back to Maryland. Also, I ended up in a neighborhood that I can't stand most of the time, because I didn't do enough research before I relocated. I researched online and then picked about 5 apartments to drive around and look at, but I should have done more than that. It is very time-consuming and expensive.

Originally Posted by QCP

If you have to ask the question, then no you should not leave. You will find yourself miserable and homesick before you even have explored your new neighborhood.

Relocating is a huge undertaking, and should be taken very seriously. From my experiences, the only people that have actually found the other side to be greener (I am one of those) are the ones that were completely dedicated to the relocation.

If it makes it any easier, I live in Charlotte now (11 years - relocated from Cincy area) and a house comparable to what you described, if in a safe, clean neighborhood, with good schools, low crime rate and within 25-30 minutes of downtown (where the bars are at) would start at 350K. And that's for family oriented suburbs. Actual city homes close to the bar scene (less than 25 minutes), start at about 500k for a 1,500 sq,ft fixer-upper. Downtown??? Try 300K for 700 sq. ft. So if finances are an issue - stay put.

Why not Columbus? It's comparable to Charlotte, but much less expensive and obviously closer to home, which should ease your tensions.

[MaryBeth2]

Originally Posted by jh_2009

I agree with you on the first part about relocating. I lived in Ohio my whole life and then decided to move to Maryland to be with my boyfriend. I'm glad were still together but I am really homesick and I get really depressed when I visit Ohio and come back to Maryland. Also, I ended up in a neighborhood that I can't stand most of the time, because I didn't do enough research before I relocated. I researched online and then picked about 5 apartments to drive around and look at, but I should have done more than that. It is very time-consuming and expensive.

Like what do you wish you would have done more, or could have done more?

[ptsum]

Originally Posted by jh_2009

I agree with you on the first part about relocating. I lived in Ohio my whole life and then decided to move to Maryland to be with my boyfriend. I'm glad were still together but I am really homesick and I get really depressed when I visit Ohio and come back to Maryland. Also, I ended up in a neighborhood that I can't stand most of the time, because I didn't do enough research before I relocated. I researched online and then picked about 5 apartments to drive around and look at, but I should have done more than that. It is very time-consuming and expensive.

Being a native Marylander myself and lived there for over 60 years before moving here to Ohio, I sympathize with you, I don't know what area of Maryland you move to but I can guarantee it's a lot more expensive than Ohio and I think you're finding that out, unless you have a good government high-paying job or work for some company that has contracts with the US government, it's very expensive to live in Maryland and then you have another element to deal with and that's prejudice and there's a lot of it there, especially if you're not a native of the area, I wish I had known you were going to be moving there I could have told you some of the best areas to live in.

[MaryBeth2]

I am in this position right now, trying to house hunt long distance. I would appreciate any pointers. If there is something you can look back on and wish you would have done, I wish you'd help a gal out and tell me.

[Beavercreek33]

Originally Posted by ptsum

Being a native Marylander myself and lived there for over 60 years before moving here to Ohio, I sympathize with you, I don't know what area of Maryland you move to but I can guarantee it's a lot more expensive than Ohio and I think you're finding that out, unless you have a good government high-paying job or work for some company that has contracts with the US government, it's very expensive to live in Maryland and then you have another element to deal with and that's prejudice and there's a lot of it there, especially if you're not a native of the area, I wish I had known you were going to be moving there I could have told you some of the best areas to live in.

Hope you are enjoying your time in Ohio, where did you move to Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, or the smaller cities, or in the country? If you haven't, I suggest checking out the Hocking Hills area SE of Columbus, some of the best waterfalls east of the Mississippi.

[jh_2009]

Originally Posted by MaryBeth2

Like what do you wish you would have done more, or could have done more?

Well, I didn't know too much about moving to a different state because I lived in the same town my whole life (until 23 yrs old). There are a few things I wish I would have done before moving. One would be researching apartments. The one we chose seemed nice at first but we ended up with too many problems (maintenance issues, loud neighbors, crime). Also, I may have been more comfortable in a different neighborhood/environment. To be honest, I am not racist but it was difficult adjusting from growing up my whole life around 90% white people in a small town with a very low crime rate (Austintown, OH) and then moving to a neighborhood (Gwynn Oak, MD) with less than 30% white people and a high crime rate (I don't mean to be judgmental or stereotype people but you can understand if you've been in this situation-some people call it "culture-shock". Hey, but it's a learning experience, part of life). Also, there's the cost of living. I knew it was going to be higher, but I probably should have saved up more money before I moved. I've been living here since July and haven't changed my car registration/title/license yet, and I neglected to find out until recently that MD MVA has more requirements and costs than OH BMV. Also, it took me about 3-4 months to find a permanent job that I didn't hate (the worst was working at Arbitron, I lasted about 2 months). I did a little job-hopping the first few months which was difficult financially. Plus moving causes a lot of stress, but the weird thing is that I am somewhat unhappy about moving here (did I mention the traffic?), but I have been somewhat happier just being in Maryland. I like nature and there is a lot more here nature-wise (unless they keep destroying it by construction).
So in summary, I didn't realize how much is involved in moving to another state until after the fact, and I wish I would have done more research on the areas to live, apartments, costs, and employment.