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My wife and I want to move *outside* of a smaller city. We just want to have access to some amenities like gyms, coffee places, and organic grocery stores but we're definitely not city people: we want to have some land and privacy, and we don't like highly-liberal urban environments that many might enjoy.
Here's what we do want. Which City has.....
Low Crime
Low Poverty
Four Real Seasons
Sunshine
Low Pollution
Lots of Outdoor Activities
Organic Food
Low Cost of Living
Beautiful Scenery
Good for Cycling
Proximity to Lake(s) (Swimming, Boating)
Good Selection of New Houses (Single family, on land)
More of a Red State
Good Economy for its size
Family-Oriented
Good Schools and Education Opportunities
Future Proof Against Expanding Development and Crime
"Things To Do" (Whatever that means for you)
I'd love to hear some opinions and insights about which city is stronger for each of those points.
Both of these cities are in blue states. Any reason you're not considering areas in actual red states?
Being an actual red state isn't a strict requirement. Overall, we're most concerned with having a nice, clean, safe, small city that can offer us the amenities that we need, while being surrounded by nice outdoor recreation opportunities.
1. New Hampshire is BARELY a swing state and it has a right-wing trifecta at the moment. Its voters are also far more elastic whereas Virginia is a light blue state rapidly trending Dem with an inelastic voter base. So in 20 years it might be closer to Maryland politically.
2. Nashua itself is not really very liberal. Trump got 41% of the vote there and Hillary only got 53%. Nashua is also in Hillsborough County which actually voted for Trump and the entire county is controlled by the GOP.
3. Charlottesville is VERY liberal. The suburbs of Charlottesville (Albemarle County) went Clinton by a 59%-34% margin. In other words, Clinton won by 25 points, double the margin she got in CITY of Nashua. So the suburbs of Charlottesville are twice as liberal as the core of Nashua.
4. Charlottesville city, btw, is 79.7% Clinton and, get this, 13.2% Trump. In other words, nearly 9 in 10 people you meet will be non-Trump voters.
As for the rest:
Low Crime-Both are good
Low Poverty-Both are good
Four Real Seasons-Charlottesville moreso than Nashua
Sunshine-Charlottesville
Low Pollution-Charlottesville
Lots of Outdoor Activities-Charlottesville by far
Organic Food-IDK
Low Cost of Living-Probably Nashua
Beautiful Scenery-Charlottesville, though Northern New Hampshire is beautiful
Good for Cycling-Charlottesville
Proximity to Lake(s) (Swimming, Boating)-New Hampshire
Good Selection of New Houses (Single family, on land)-Charlottesville
More of a Red State-New Hampshire
Good Economy for its size-Charlottesville
Family-Oriented-Both
Good Schools and Education Opportunities-IDK
Future Proof Against Expanding Development and Crime-I'm not sure what this is asking. Seems like a racial dog whistle.
"Things To Do" (Whatever that means for you)-Charlottesville
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