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My partner and I are a young creative liberal couple (he's 33, I'm 26) and both work from home which presents a lot of great flexibility (perhaps too much flexibility) about where we live, but also presents some challenges: our home is also our office so we need space for separate work and living spaces (no studio or 1 bedroom apartments!), we need a quiet setting for concentration, and since we both stare at computer screens all day, we need to live surrounded by nature, for our own sanity. We also have a dog so living somewhere quiet with grass and trees to walk her and let her run around is huge for us.
Over the years, we've lived all along the East Coast from DC to New England to Upstate New York. Every time we move we tell ourselves that we're never moving someplace with as brutal winters.. And then we do. Now we're living in a gorgeous little riverside town in Pennsylvania and while its ideal in the spring and summer, I can't handle the sun setting at 4:30pm and having days and days of no sunshine during the winter. (Seasonal Affective Disorder, anyone?)
I'm hoping you folks might be able to suggest some cool small towns or unincorporated communities for us to consider for our next move (in about a year when our lease is up). I know I probably sound high maintenance but I really am not! I'm just sensitive to my surroundings and my work takes a lot of concentration so finding the right place to live and work is important. We both work a lot but we don't want to be workaholics. We love what we do but we want to live somewhere affordable. (We've lived in NYC and other "nice" expensive cities and you have to work so much to make barely enough money to enjoy the amenities the areas offer! And then if you can afford that stuff, you're stressed and have no time.. Blechh no thank you)
So here are the qualities of my dream location. We're planning on doing a passive prefab home (like the Blu homes) so we don't really need a place with affordable houses, just affordable lot of land:
- warm, sunny climate
- low cost of living
- lots of access to nature (trees, mountains.. SPACE)
- ideally on a body of water (ocean is awesome, or a river or lake)
- liberal culture
- within 1-1.5 hours of an airport (I hate the bustle of big airports so a small regional airport is fine)
- preferably within an hour of a major city (so we're not TOO remote since we have clients come to the house)
- closer proximity (5-10 minute drive) to a small town that has basic amenities (a restaurant or two, maybe a cafe, grocery store or at least a little general store.. Stuff like that)
- no traffic! Ugh DC, NY and I-95 in CT have killed us. Not willing to deal with heavy traffic 24/7 even when you're just trying to go out to run a few errands.
Ok am I crazy? In my mind there has to be a place that matches that description. Or am I just delusional?
It may not hit 100% but you might check out Athens, Georgia which is a bit over an hour outside of Atlanta. It's the home of the University of Georgia and has that liberal vibe you are looking for. You might find some land on nearby Bear Creek Reservoir which would fulfill your desire for lakefront living.
It will be hard to find anything "affordable" on a big lake or river, so which is preferable, land on a stream or walking distance to a larger lake?
Does the "village" need to have liberal culture, or can that be found in the nearby city?
Which is more important - ocean or mountains?
On Edit: I'm thinking about Carthage TN. It is a town directly on the river, maybe an hour to the Nashville Airport. Hardly a liberal hotspot but my mom did have some sierra club friends who lived there. Nearby Cookeville is a college town, and now Nashville is filling up with hipsters.
Last edited by creeksitter; 02-08-2015 at 05:20 PM..
It will be hard to find anything "affordable" on a big lake or river, so which is preferable, land on a stream or walking distance to a larger lake?
Does the "village" need to have liberal culture, or can that be found in the nearby city?
Which is more important - ocean or mountains?
On Edit: I'm thinking about Carthage TN. It is a town directly on the river, maybe an hour to the Nashville Airport. Hardly a liberal hotspot but my mom did have some sierra club friends who lived there. Nearby Cookeville is a college town, and now Nashville is filling up with hipsters.
Hm.. Carthage, eh? We both LOVED Nashville when we visited a few years back and I think you're right that there are more young people moving to the area. Plus, with any proximity to a larger city I'm sure you're bound to find a group of likeminded folks.
I'm really not that picky. Obviously the likelihood of finding a place that hits everything on the list is quite small and living near the water would just be the whipped cream and cherry on the sundae. In my dreams there's a tiny little seaside town where you could own 5 acres by the beach for under $500K but I realize that's unlikely. As for ocean v mountains, that's a tough one but probably ocean. But having said that, I've found that the beach culture tends to be of either the trashy "jersey shore" style or the WASPY old money cape cod/MV culture. Ideally I'd like something in between and I've found that more along rivers. There's just something so soothing about living near the water. But I'd take anywhere with trees, lots of sun and warm/mild weather and no neighbors on top of me over ocean or even mountains any day, you know?
Rental budget is hard to pin down since work is so variable but probably somewhere where you could get a house on a bit of land for somewhere under $3K. We're hoping to stop throwing money away renting and buy a plot of land to build a house when we make the move so somewhere you could get a couple of acres for maybe $200K or land + a house for under $500K.
I like St Augustine - it has that funky vibe and is close to JAX airport.
Wilmington NC is what first came to mind until you mentioned mountains.
Lewes DE is the cutest town evah - but maybe too far north.
A beachside town will be built up with tourist things but the latter 2 are just inland enough to retain their identity.
P.S. there may be hordes of young people flocking to Nashville but finding like minded neighbors is not a given once you get outside the city. Especially an hour away.
Rental budget is hard to pin down since work is so variable but probably somewhere where you could get a house on a bit of land for somewhere under $3K. We're hoping to stop throwing money away renting and buy a plot of land to build a house when we make the move so somewhere you could get a couple of acres for maybe $200K or land + a house for under $500K.
Look at Ventura County, CA. There is a specific forum for it in the California forum.
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