Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Right now I am 17 and I live in Michigan. I'd really like to move as soon as possible which will probably be next spring. I want to start a career in web development so I'm looking for a city that has a large technology scene. I'll probably end up working at a regular job until I'm confident in my ability as a web developer to look for web development jobs. As the title suggests, I really like outdoor activities like dirt biking, swimming, fishing, camping, stuff like that. I'd love to be able to live near the ocean but I understand that's probably unreasonable for someone who is literally starting from scratch. Also, I live in Michigan, and I feel like we have the worst of both worlds when it comes to weather. Terrible winters with feet of snow and temperatures in the negatives on the regular, and incredibly humid summers that get into the triple digits occasionally, so I'd really like to live in a place which has either just warm weather mostly, or at least a decent mixture of cold and warm weather without the extremes.
Sorry if this seems kinda unrealistic, I'm pretty young and I've never lived anywhere else so I really don't know what to expect. Any input/advice is greatly appreciated.
Have you thought about San Francisco, and the Bay Area. Climate is very mild, on the ocean with a huge bay. Plenty of parks on the peninsula. Silicon Valley is a huge hub of tech corporations. Not sure where you live in MI, but if you have never lived in a huge city be ready for a very high cost of living, and very bad traffic. However, if you can deal with that and don't mind moving cross country it could work out very well for you.
Having lived in Ohio, and been in California the two places are nothing alike. California has a West Coast culture, unlike OH, or MI which are Mid-Western.
Moving is very difficult, having moved seven times it is a pain. You are effectively starting over, especially when moving long distance. Before you move make sure you have some savings, and figure out a plan to support yourself. Preferably get a job before going to where you decide to go to, whether its SF or elsewhere. Factor in what you want, for example do you want to be close to family, looks like you have done this mostly but think about everything. Point being if you decide to leave MI, make sure you are doing it because you want to, and there is an opportunity where you are going.
Have you thought about San Francisco, and the Bay Area. Climate is very mild, on the ocean with a huge bay. Plenty of parks on the peninsula. Silicon Valley is a huge hub of tech corporations. Not sure where you live in MI, but if you have never lived in a huge city be ready for a very high cost of living, and very bad traffic. However, if you can deal with that and don't mind moving cross country it could work out very well for you.
Having lived in Ohio, and been in California the two places are nothing alike. California has a West Coast culture, unlike OH, or MI which are Mid-Western.
Moving is very difficult, having moved seven times it is a pain. You are effectively starting over, especially when moving long distance. Before you move make sure you have some savings, and figure out a plan to support yourself. Preferably get a job before going to where you decide to go to, whether its SF or elsewhere. Factor in what you want, for example do you want to be close to family, looks like you have done this mostly but think about everything. Point being if you decide to leave MI, make sure you are doing it because you want to, and there is an opportunity where you are going.
I would love to live in San Francisco, I just don't know if it's possible to do so without a high paying job. I mean, I still have a bit of time before I plan on leaving, so I could try and find a decent job and/or start learning web development. I am definitely leaving Michigan because I want to, well that, and my dad is probably going to leave the state with his girlfriend within the next year or so anyways, and I don't want to be like everyone else in this godforsaken city that just lives here for the rest of their lives working at factories.
While not on the coast I'd recommend checking out the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina. It has a very sizable tech community, a cost of living that's not insanely high, three major universities (UNC, NCSU and Duke) and several other options should you decide to further your education, lots of outdoor recreation opportunities with both the mountains to west and beaches to the east about a two hour drive, and a moderate climate with all four seasons evenly split. Lastly it's a pretty friendly place to move to because of all of the transplants from all over the US/world so people blend in pretty well, plus it doesn't have that intimidating big city vibe which can be a lot to deal with coming from a place that is more suburban or rural.
Denver. It's not close to the ocean, but it's only a plane ride away. Winters are milder than Michigan, there's plenty to do outdoors, humidity is super low, and it's a LOT cheaper than the Bay Area.
Cost of living is going to be an issue. Even though it's cheaper than the Bay Area, it's probably more expensive than Michigan - as are most of the locales mentioned here.
Right now I am 17 and I live in Michigan. I'd really like to move as soon as possible which will probably be next spring. I want to start a career in web development so I'm looking for a city that has a large technology scene. I'll probably end up working at a regular job until I'm confident in my ability as a web developer to look for web development jobs. As the title suggests, I really like outdoor activities like dirt biking, swimming, fishing, camping, stuff like that. I'd love to be able to live near the ocean but I understand that's probably unreasonable for someone who is literally starting from scratch. Also, I live in Michigan, and I feel like we have the worst of both worlds when it comes to weather. Terrible winters with feet of snow and temperatures in the negatives on the regular, and incredibly humid summers that get into the triple digits occasionally, so I'd really like to live in a place which has either just warm weather mostly, or at least a decent mixture of cold and warm weather without the extremes.
Sorry if this seems kinda unrealistic, I'm pretty young and I've never lived anywhere else so I really don't know what to expect. Any input/advice is greatly appreciated.
Move out West...Silicon Valley (NorCal), the Silicon Forest (Portland), the Seattle area, or Denver...having just come from the Midwest I can tell you it is awesome out in Denver, but you cannot do wrong in any of these places. There are a ton of Midwesterners out here. The best thing to do is start to do you research, visit if possible otherwise watch youtube videos and read everything you can.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
