Moving out of Florida (Jacksonville, Tampa: apartment, condo, low crime)

[lucara]

My fiance and I want to move out of Florida. I've lived here my whole life and hes lived here most of his.
We both hate it here and we're ready for a change.

What we are looking for:

A place that either up north or out west.
Nice snowy winters with warm/mild summers.
A large, lively city close by with quite small towns around it.
LOW LOW LOW crime rate
Decent job market
Decent price of living
We LOVE outdoor activities
Mountains would also be a plus

Places we DONT want:

Texas
Georgia
Alabama
Vermont
New Jersey
Illinois
New York
Florida (Obivously but just incase)
Arizona

Let me know what places you think would work best with our list!

[**NoodLes**]

Good luck maybe on another planet.

[DailyJournalist]

Congrats on your decision to leave Florida. Some cities that I believe would meet your requirments would be:

Richmond, VA: Visiting Richmond, VA :: Virginia Tour Information

Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Hotels, Events, Group Tours & Vacation Planning : Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors

Pittsburgh, Pa: Pittsburgh Hotels, Attractions & Vacation Packages : Pittsburgh PA CVB

Good luck on finding your new home.

[SinDonor]

I just moved to the Seattle area for a job with an IT company based out of Redmond, WA. Let me tell you: This place is beautiful! Don't listen to the haters who say there's too much rain here. We only get 36" per year compared to Orlando's 49". We do get a lot of gray skies over the winter, but we also get seasons, and it even snowed today and was beautiful. It's very affordable to live here as long as you don't want a 3bdrm condo in the upscale area of downtown Seattle. I have a 1200sqft apartment in Redmond for $950/mo which includes utilities.

Seattle has beautiful mountains nearby and a huge lake in the middle of the city. The city has many amazing local bars and restaurants and a great music scene. There are a few questionable neighborhoods around the greater metro area, but they're easy to avoid and most of the criminal element stays in their locale. It's still a big city, so you have to use common sense like avoid dark alleys at night and don't leave valuables visible in your parked car, etc.

If you can find work up here I would highly recommend the Pacific Northwest.

[BornInFL]

Without a doubt, Raleigh NC.

[jemelb]

Here are the best — and worst — places to raise a family.

1 Honolulu, Hawaii — Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O'ahu's 125 beaches.
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin — Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita.
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California
11 Wichita, Kansas
12 Los Angeles, California
13 Corona, California
14 Austin, Texas
15 Stamford, Connecticut
16 Omaha, Nebraska
17 Naperville, Illinois
18 Fort Wayne, Indiana
19 Springfield, Illinois
20 Boise, Idaho
21 Manchester, New Hampshire
22 South Bay Area, California
23 New York, New York
24 Fontana, California
25 Louisville, Kentucky
26 Plano, Texas
27 Oceanside, California
28 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
29 Sacramento, California
30 Ann Arbor, Michigan
31 Reno, Nevada
32 Las Vegas, Nevada
33 Lincoln, Nebraska
34 San Bernardino, California
35 Grand Rapids, Michigan
36 Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina — Median value of a home: $202,733
37 Kansas City, Kansas
38 Fremont, California
39 Buffalo, New York
40 Berkeley, California
41 Cambridge, Massachusetts
42 Kansas City, Missouri
43 Waterbury, Connecticut
44 Syracuse, New York
45 Phoenix, Arizona
46 Albuquerque, New Mexico
47 Akron, Ohio
48 Boston, Massachusetts
49 Escondido, California
50 Fairfield, California
51 Antioch, California
52 Elgin, Illinois
53 Rochester, New York
54 Seattle, Washington — Residents spend $266 per person annually to maintain the city's parks.
55 Tucson, Arizona
56 Santa Clarita, California
57 Denver, Colorado
58 Indianapolis, Indiana
59 Glendale, Arizona
60 Chicago, Illinois
61 Atlanta, Georgia
62 San Antonio, Texas
63 Mobile, Alabama
64 Concord, California
65 Denton, Texas
66 Coral Springs, Florida
67 San Francisco, California
68 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
69 El Paso, Texas — Classrooms average fewer than 16 students for every teacher.
70 San Buenaventura, California
71 Worcester, Massachusetts
72 Baltimore, Maryland
73 Richmond, California
74 Lowell, Massachusetts
75 Portland, Oregon
76 Jacksonville, Florida
77 Fort Collins, Colorado
78 Orlando, Florida
79 Modesto, California
80 Montgomery, Alabama
81 Tampa, Florida
82 Salinas, California
83 Newport News, Virginia
84 Oakland, California
85 Augusta, Georgia
86 Fort Worth, Texas
87 Washington, D.C.
88 Tulsa, Oklahoma — Residents spend just 17 minutes commuting to work.
89 Bellevue, Washington
90 Cincinnati, Ohio
91 McKinney, Texas
92 St. Louis, Missouri
93 Hayward, California
94 Midland, Texas
95 Sterling Heights, Michigan
96 Greensboro, North Carolina
97 Arlington, Texas
98 Alexandria, Virginia
99 Winston-Salem, North Carolina
100 Lexington, Kentucky

There are 77 better cities to raise you family. Funny how some of the mention cities in thread did not even make it to the list...
The 100 best places to raise a family - TODAY 101 - MSNBC.com

[Jammie]

If you can handle cold and snowy winters, check out Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The unemployment rate is still below 3%. CNN just rated it as the best place in the nation to find a job.

Since you mentioned mountains~check out Rapid City, So. Dak. It's number two on the list and you're right at the start of the Black Hills.

Rapid City has mild summers and low humidity. They also have warmer winters then Sx. Falls.

Just suggestions and good luck with your search.

[SinDonor]

As an ex-military member stationed in VA Beach, I would NOT recommend moving there. I don't understand how it could even make it up that list to #2! It is even less interesting than Otown, there is a lot of crime nearby in the surrounding neighborhoods and the place turns into an annoying frat party every spring. Fun if you wanna pickup some drunk co-eds I guess. Not really a family environment though.

Okay, something's wrong with that list. How is LA anywhere near the top ten place to raise a family? LA?!? Is that a joke? The place is the biggest sin city in the world. I wouldn't place too much trust in that list unless it's mixing the best and worst cities together in the same list just to mess with all of our heads.

[mawipafl]

Denver CO or Madison WI.

Here's the City-Data links for info and stats:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Denver-Colorado.html
and
http://www.city-data.com/city/Madison-Wisconsin.html

and links to the specific forums for browsing:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/denver/
and
http://www.city-data.com/forum/madison/

[dramamama6685]

Coastal Maine.. numerous small towns with low crime rates. What kind of job would you be looking for?