American citizen in Africa thinking of moving to Austin (Houston: rent, house)

[JohnyWonder101]

Hello, this is going to be long so bear with me.

I am a 28 yr old American who has spent most of his life in Gabon and Congo in Africa. My father moved to Gabon when i was born and he opened a business and he stayed here and then we moved our business to the Congo about 11 years ago.

I am now married and i have a 2 yr old daughter. And my family is not happy here, there is nothing for them to do here so we took a decision that we are moving to the states. There is no school system so education is pretty much non-existent in the Congo.

I have been doing a lot of research and reading here on CD and there are a lot of cities we can move to, we have so many options. So i would like to get some opinions from residents of cities like Seattle, Atlanta, Boston and Austin.

We will be renting for a couple of years before we buy a house whereever we move to. We can pay rent up to $1500/month.

The main reason we are making this big move is for our daughter, so she can get a proper education and a decent life. My wife and i like to go out a lot, and we are well travelled people, we have been all around the world and we think the USA is our best option for our daughter and her future.

The weather here in the Congo is like tropical weather, it rains for 6 months and its dry for the other six. And when i say rain i mean heavy forest rain so we are used to rain. We like cold and rain with some sun not year round, we have been living in sunny and hot weather for a long time and we dont like it.We dont mind snow.

We would preferably like to stay in a suburb of a large city. We will be buying a car and public transport is important too. We will be putting ur daughter in a private school when that time comes.

We visited the states many times but we have only been to Toledo-Ohio, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix and Vegas. And we didnt think we could stay there for a long time in any of the cities (except Chicago).

We like ethnic restaurants, movies, sports. I am a big sports fan, especially European soccer and the NBA. We dont care much about outdoors, maybe go to the park once a week, but we dont care about skiing or hiking or biking.

So of these 4 cities(Austin, Boston, Seattle, and Atanta)and the info i have giving you, which city do you think fits us best?

I know this was a long read but i hope you guys help us like you have helped so many people on here im sure.

Thanks,

Johny

[mark311]

Are you self employed or will you need to find jobs?

From your list of cities, it sounds like Seattle would be the best bet. Portland, Oregon might be a place to consider as well especially if you don't need to find jobs. I would rule out Austin and Atlanta due to the heat. Boston probably doesn't fit your $1500 housing budget.

There are probably a lot more cold weather areas that you should consider. Chicago might be a fit for you as well as you stated.

[cBach]

I think Atlanta fits your needs. It has NBA and has many ethnic restaurants.

I don't think Portland or Seattle fits your needs, people there like to go outside a lot and do outdoorsy activities, it sounds like that doesn't interest you. It sounds like urban amenities are paramount.

Austin doesn't have NBA, although there are many who love soccer here. However, our ethnic restaurant selection is not as good as the other cities listed (although it is greatly improving).

[sxrckr]

Of your list, Atlanta sounds best for your wants.
In Texas, Houston seems like more of a fit, they have a brand new soccer stadium by the downtown too.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by mark311

I would rule out Austin and Atlanta due to the heat.

Atlanta is quite a bit cooler in the summer than Austin. Probably by 10 degrees on any given day.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by JohnyWonder101

We like cold and rain with some sun not year round, we have been living in sunny and hot weather for a long time and we dont like it.We dont mind snow.

I wasn't sure if Atlanta fits the weather description above. That's why I figured it wouldn't be a fit. I've never been to Atlanta, so maybe it doesn't get that hot in the summer there?

[JohnyWonder101]

Thank you for your replies. I am self-employed so commuting to work is not an issue. Our budget c

[JohnyWonder101]

Thank you for your replies. I am self-employed so commuting to work is not an issue. Our budget can go up to 1800 but not more. We would prefer cold weather so i guess of the 4 cities i listed Seattle and Boston fit us best?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Atlanta is quite a bit cooler in the summer than Austin. Probably by 10 degrees on any given day.

Originally Posted by mark311

I wasn't sure if Atlanta fits the weather description above. That's why I figured it wouldn't be a fit. I've never been to Atlanta, so maybe it doesn't get that hot in the summer there?

Lived in ATL for 26 years and all four of the summers we've been here have been hotter/longer than any summer in my Atlanta experience. Even when I moved there in '80 and enjoyed the same blast of heat that hit here, it only lasted about a week in Atlanta. That's the big difference(in addition to the average 6 degrees cooler average high temps). The fronts actually make it through Atlanta year-round and seldom allow for a high pressure dome to last more than a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, those high pressure events often result in high smog days/weeks, but even those don't persist like the Austin summers. Of course, the humidity is higher in Atlanta, except when the fronts blow through and bring the cooler and drier air. Those are welcome but rare in the summer. Then there is the 'wedge' that builds from time to time, bringing cooler mountain air from the north/east, resulting in gray dreary days...but, again, they usually last only 2-3 days on average.

Atlanta does enjoy some of the wacky weather like we have here in Austin...when we left in June '08, there had been a two-year drought and Lake Lanier was drying up like Travis. Six months later, all was well and they had more water than they could handle when they received 20" of rain in one storm! That brings up another weather point...many, many more direct hits from Atlantic and Gulf storms compared to the 'one'(Sept '10) we've seen in 4 years here. Not unusual for Atlanta to be hit by storms from the east AND from the Gulf in the same season.

While we're at it, the wind in Atlanta can be fierce during the spring; but nothing like the relentless Gulf winds here in Austin(that start in April and go through September ) Our(Austin) spring this year has been reminiscent of the spring in Atlanta(with Austin running 6-8 degree warmer than Atlanta...finally fitting the 'average' numbers that you read in the stats).

If it does get too hot in Atlanta, the mountains are only a couple of hours away(Our Highlands, NC house is usually 12-15 degrees cooler than the summer temps in Atlanta...nice to get away for a day or two with only 125 miles on either end ) .

And, lest I forget, ATL gets around 55" of rain/year on average...quite a bit more spread out compared to the gully-washers we have here. All these averages can be tossed out the window with the weather events of the four years we've been in Austin; so someone 'could' live in either place and seldom experience the 'average' temps or rainfall for a given season.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by JohnyWonder101

Thank you for your replies. I am self-employed so commuting to work is not an issue. Our budget can go up to 1800 but not more. We would prefer cold weather so i guess of the 4 cities i listed Seattle and Boston fit us best?

Boston is MUCH colder than Seattle, and gets a lot of snow, over a long period of time.

Seattle is rainy, but has much milder temperatures, and only a little snow.