Best State To Move To With Kids ???? (low crime, good schools)

[keikekai]

I NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE !!!!

Of all the places you have been, what would you recommend as the top places to move to with young kids ? I am a single caucasian mom with a 12, 9 & 4 year old and can basically live anywhere in the U.S.A. (which makes choosing all the more difficult). I am currently in upstate N.Y. (due to relatives) but cannot stand the constant grey, drab days and cold snowy winters. I miss sunshine daily and warm weather (and no snow or hardly any). I want a place with low crime, safe, good schools, friendly people, lots to do (not a total boring cow town), prefer more a conservative mindset (vs. liberals), not a place prone to natural disasters (tornadoes, earthquakes..)etc.

My favorite place in the U.S. is Hawaii (but I can't afford to live there) - my 'thing' is the pacific ocean, beaches, tropical weather - but can't do it now. What suggestions would you have on this ? If you could suggest ANYWHERE in the U.S.A. - the best place to move with kids that meets those specifications (or your vote) please tell me what town, and why. THANKS SO MUCH !!!

[KewGee]

I really haven't a clue about cities but according to statistics, the following states rank the lowest in violent crime but this doesn't include murder (2005) from least to more. There are so many crime categories, so I just picked the one stated above.

North Dakota
Maine
Vermont
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Utah
Wyoming
Wisconsin
Rhode Island
Hawaii

Brrrrrrr!!, except for the Hula Land.

This is kind of interesting, so here are the highest rankings for violent crime.

District of Columbia (not a state but #1 bad)
South Carolina
Tennessee
Florida
Maryland
New Mexico
Delaware
Alaska
Nevada
Louisiana
Michigan

[Rance]

Well you could move to Alaska and be that much closer to Hawaii! We don't have to many cows here other than cow moose. Lot's to do but yes we have snow. But we tend to have more sunny days than cloudy and grey. Serious...it's a great place to raise youngn's. And Hawaii is just a few hours away.

[keikekai]

I lived in Anchorage for a year - could not handle 6 months of darkness !!! SUNLIGHT IS A MAJORLY IMPORTANT THING to me !!! If you grow up in AK and no nothing else, its not a big deal to stay and live there, since you have nothing else to compare it to....
I just hated it - darkness and cold !! AK has the highest suicide and alcoholism rate in the U.S. (due to the long cold dark days = depression)....Not for me !!
I have lived in Vancouver, WA (too rainy), it rained for 4 months straight - also no sun, forget it. I lived in Santa Fe, NM (too liberal, too dry, everything looks dead/tumbleweeds, besides my kids couldn't even go out and play as they have the plague there !!!), we now are in upstate N.Y. and I do NOT like it (grey, cold, blah)....
Does anyone out there have any info. on Southern Utah, Colorado, Nevada, that would meet the initial posting ???

[Bhaalspawn]

Alaska is high on the list of states with violent crime? What the heck?

[sofam]

Take a look at St. George, Utah. Lots of sunshine, conservative, rarely snows. Can't speak about the schools, my kids went and grandkids are going to school in northern Utah.

[Rance]

The remote villages have a bad issue with drinking and domestic violence. Pretty much all the villages are dry communities (voted no alchohol) and so many make their own homebrew...or drink other man made products. Being Indians they have a tendency to get violent when drinking. Many assaults amongst families and neighbors. As we have few people and towns/villages/communities in the extremely large state, it tends to show a rather harsh environment. It's really not anywhere near that bad in my area south of Anchorage. That is more of a reflection of the very remote villages than in the bigger communities located along the road system. I've lived here all my life and had no idea we were listed that bad. Kind of a bummer rep...but I still think it's wrong.

[Jim280]

Here's a chart for safest and most dangerous states.



http://www.morganquitno.com/dang07.htm

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by Jim280

Here's a chart for safest and most dangerous states.
http://www.morganquitno.com/dang07.htm

The link to your site takes into consideration all the crimes combined which can be from murder to auto theft. That's why I gave the stats on only violent crimes as to me, that's more significant than overall. Of course, I did not list the states' ranks including the worst crime, murder, but violent crimes in general, hence, TN was #5 in 2005. The poster has children and I'm sure she worries more about violence than auto theft.

Here is the link: http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/...e_Ranking.html

[ontheroad]

Frankly, every state is children-friendly, just not all communities. Make a list of what you want or need in a community, and don't limit it to sunshine and then check out which places meet your criteria.

If you don't like cold, dreary, and snow, check only those regions with warmer weather. You might check on the net for besttowns and do their little quiz to narrow down regions, towns vs. cities, etc.

If Hawaii is not affordable, you also need to discover what areas are within your budget. Affordable is not an objective measure as what I can afford may not be affordable to someone else.

When you've narrowed the field to say, half a dozen places, you can start checking for all the other concerns: good schools, taxes, etc.

Give it a try and you can then check on the individual forums to get more info.

Good luck!