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Madison, WI was the first city to come to mind for me.
If they hate the politics of Alabama, I'm not sure Arizona would be much of an improvement.
I am not real familiar with Madison, but I have heard it is quite liberal and progressive, so it may be somewhere to take a look at. It also looks like there is plenty of water around, which for us is a good thing.
Well, AZ certainly couldn't be any worse, but from a cursory glance online, it does seem to be quite conservative overall. I don't really know much about AZ, so I won't rule it out just yet.
A sleeper may be East Lansing MI and it is only about an hour and 15 minutes or so from Detroit. It is also in a Capital city metro, home to Michigan State University and you can enjoy major city amenities within a short drive. Chicago is about 3 hours away as well.
East Lansing also has good schools and plenty of shopping nearby in Meridian Township(particularly Okemos(CDP)).
You could go with the bigger Interior Northeastern and other Midwestern major/college town areas if you want affordability and a social that fits more of what you are looking for. In the past, I mentioned some Upstate NY areas that could work and those could still be up for consideration.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-31-2016 at 12:44 PM..
Oh, I know about all the ones in the southeast, but we are really wanting to leave the southeast. My wife is from NC (Kernersville in the Winston-Salem area), and we have visited every NC city on your list. Most of them are fine cities, but ultimately not where we want to be. Columbia, Athens, and Gainesville would be really tough for me anyways, as an Alabama fan, I may not be too welcome!
Didn't realize the Southeast was off the table. Still plenty of other options though obviously. Many seem transfixed on the Pacific Northwest so if that appeals to you would think a few great options would be Eugene or Corvallis in Oregon, or Olympia WA. The cost of living in all three are a good bit less than what your hear about in Portland and Seattle, so don't be put off by that prospect.
Davis, California. Great progressive little town with UC Davis. Very bicycle oriented. Flat, tons of green belts. Great schools. Train station right in safe downtown for excursions to SF or Sacramento. Day's drive to beach or mountains. Great farmer's market downtown. I lived there and loved it. Can be hot in summer, but cools down at night. Dry heat. Sometimes fog in winter. Never snow.
UC Davis was originally an agricultural college and it has kept those roots, though it's more known now for it's engineering depts. They have an equestrian center where your kids could take horse-back riding lessons, even.
A sleeper may be East Lansing MI and it is only about an hour and 15 minutes or so from Detroit. It is also in a Capital city metro, home to Michigan State University and you can enjoy major city amenities within a short drive. Chicago is about 3 hours away as well.
East Lansing also has good schools and plenty of shopping nearby in Meridian Township(particularly Okemos(CDP)).
You could go with the bigger Interior Northeastern and other Midwestern major/college town areas if you want affordability and a social that fits more of what you are looking for. In the past, I mentioned some Upstate NY areas that could work and those could still be up for consideration.
It would also allow you to get your major college football/sports fix as well. What you may like about this area and what I noticed was that the diversity in the area goes into pretty much all of the suburbs to some degree as well. So, if you went with say Haslett, Okemos, Waverly, East Lansing, Grand Ledge, Holt or even DeWitt Schools, they are all at least decent to very good and have a good mix of students at varying degrees. Okemos is probably the most affluent and highly regarded school district, with East Lansing or Haslett next. All have an influence from MSU as well.
As for an Interior Northeastern area that may fit a lot of what you are looking for, I'd say that the East side of Syracuse into its Eastern suburbs would fit due to the strong university/college influence and it is an area that is highly educated and pretty affluent, with a diverse population. I'd say from around the Westcott neighborhood about several blocks east of Syracuse University to into towns like DeWitt(Jamesville-DeWitt Schools) and into the Fayetteville-Manlius area would be the target area. if you go with a city neighborhood, you do have private options nearby, as well as magnet and charter options within the city or could go with the zoned schools(Ed Smith K-8 and Nottingham High), which some families affiliated with the University go with. Jamesville-DeWitt also gets its share of people affiliated with Syracuse University(some of the coaches for the Syracuse University sports programs live there)/Le Moyne College and is one of the best school districts in the area, as well as one of the most diverse out of the suburban SD's. Fayetteville-Manlius is similar in terms of academic achievement, if not one of the "best" in Upstate NY. You can still get your major sports fix and the social vibe you are looking for. City of Syracuse -> TNT Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today
I also thought about Eugene OR due to its liberal reputation and OR, I believe has a relatively high percentage of Atheists. It also meets the population criteria as well.
I will admit, I have never looked at Flagstaff before, but I am open to the west. I will definitely do some research on the area and see what it's like.
Nothing against Flagstaff but if you're considering the west i would not put it on the top of your list.
And do you have a budget?
If you're going to live in the southwest (do you like an extremely dry climate?) i'd recommend Santa Fe.
And there are all sorts of cities in the west.
I live on the Monterey bay in Santa Cruz county. Monterey county (specifically Monterey, Carmel or Pacific Grove) is also on the bay and it's another option. But it's extremely expensive so those of us who don't have money live very simply and in dwellings that are less than great in order to live in the area.
Last edited by blueskywalker; 04-02-2016 at 10:19 PM..
Nothing against Flagstaff but if you're considering the west i would not put it on the top of your list.
And do you have a budget?
If you're going to live in the southwest (do you like an extremely dry climate?) i'd recommend Santa Fe.
And there are all sorts of cities in the west.
I live on the Monterey bay in Santa Cruz county. Monterey county (specifically Monterey, Carmel or Pacific Grove) is also on the bay and it's another option. But it's extremely expensive so those of us who don't have money live very simply and in dwellings that are less than great in order to live in the area.
Well, to be honest, the budget isn't a huge concern of ours at the moment. We would prefer somewhere that would allow us to save more money and do more things with our money, but I know some of the more expensive places in the U.S. also have the most going for them. In other words, we wouldn't rule out an expensive are such as Monterey, but we would probably look elsewhere first. We both have jobs, as well as do some things on the side (We sell art and reclaimed wood projects, and my wife does some web design type stuff), so an expensive area wouldn't be out of the question.
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