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.
I'm white and my wife is Jamaican. We have one 4 year old son that will start elementary school next year. We were both raised in south FL, but currently live in a suburb of the Des Moines metro and have been here for like 3 years or so. We like it a lot better than we thought we would, but would like a place that is a tad bit less provincial without moving to a large city.
I work in the insurance industry and my wife currently works for an energy company, but she holds degrees in chemistry, bio tech and micro biology so is capable of working in many roles.
We do not want to live somewhere super liberal, but it doesn't have to be as red as Wyoming. We are more moderate conservative anyway. I'd imagine cities with a large military presence would fit the bill, but would like some of CD's thoughts on the matter.
Huntsville, AL seems to stick out as the type of smaller city that would appeal to us. I've never lived in the south and I'm not really sure what life would be like for our son there though. He is still 4 or 5 years away from space camp age, so don't see us taking a vacation there anytime soon
What about an area like Grand Rapids MI? Suburbs like Kentwood, Wyoming or maybe Comstock Park may work.
Parts of the Texas metros may fit.
I thought about Hartford CT due to the insurance industry and you may find a community that is more to your liking, but I'm not sure if you would be open to it. There is also a good sized Jamaican/Caribbean community in the area.
What about an area like Grand Rapids MI? Suburbs like Kentwood, Wyoming or maybe Comstock Park may work.
Parts of the Texas metros may fit.
I thought about Hartford CT due to the insurance industry and you may find a community that is more to your liking, but I'm not sure if you would be open to it. There is also a good sized Jamaican/Caribbean community in the area.
What makes you recommend that part of MI? Was not even on my radar to be honest.
Would you consider CT an affordable state to live in? Also afraid it might be a bit to big.
Based on your thread title, I clicked on this thread to recommend Huntsville. Good to see it's on your list but concerned about your comment that Des Moines is too "provincial" (given that it is larger than Huntsville and the capital of IA). Feel free to ask me anything about Huntsville.
What makes you recommend that part of MI? Was not even on my radar to be honest.
Would you consider CT an affordable state to live in? Also afraid it might be a bit to big.
Western MI is known for being more conservative and Grand Rapids has a growing economy.
I wouldn't call Hartford affordable, but pay could "even things out". It is a metro of about 1.2 million.
Another and smaller area that came to mind in terms of the insurance industry is Utica NY. You may a community like New Hartford, which has very good schools or parts of Rome. Some even live in nicer parts of the city like North Utica or South Utica and go Charter or private/Catholic(Notre Dame) in terms of schools. There are companies like Bank of NY(Oriskany), Utica National and Utica First based there, among a few others. It is a diverse city and may or may not matter to you.
I grew up in an interracial family(black and white) and I would highly suggest Phoenix. It's conservative, pretty affordable, has great neighborhoods for families too. Aside from that I would suggest NOVA...although it's become more liberal than conservative these days.
Based on your thread title, I clicked on this thread to recommend Huntsville. Good to see it's on your list but concerned about your comment that Des Moines is too "provincial" (given that it is larger than Huntsville and the capital of IA). Feel free to ask me anything about Huntsville.
Let me define provincial. Vast majority of ppl are from IA, MO or Nebraska. One of the least diverse regions of the country. Average person is clueless about other cultures or even how things are in other parts of America. An occasional trip to KC, Twin Cities or Omaha is about all many Iowans get to see of the world. Overall people here have very little desire to experience anything new that they didn't grow up with and are not adventurous. Overall quality of food is lacking. There are also some things that are about 15 yrs behind the rest of the country. This is both refreshing (kids playing outside unsurpervised without the need to worry) and frustrating (we still have to buy checks to pay for some services because that is all they will take).
I feel like NASA, military research and government would bring different types of ppl together and the education needed to even be a part of those industries would mean a more knowledgeable and "worldly" populous. Would you agree with that?
Also could you give me an idea of what air travel is like in northern AL? Des Moines has a very nice airport for a Midwest metro of 500k and we are avid travelers, but the 4-5 hr drive to Ohare makes long distance flights an inconvenience. Minneapolis often has even more expensive flights and flying from Des Moines to a larger airport isn't cheap either. Allegiant airlines direct flights to popular vacation destinations is cool though. Do most people fly out of Bham or Nashville and use ATL for serious long distance travel? Is it ever worth it to take Huntsville' s connecting flights to major airports?
Your thoughts on public education would be appreciated too. Do schools put a strong emphasis on STEM due to the type of jobs that are prevalent in Huntsville?
Look in the Southern Piedmont metro region, Greensboro NC, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN and Huntsville AL are all areas that came to mind. They're pretty conservative but not as insanely conservative as some areas of the south, also interracial families aren't that un-common in any of those places.
Manhattan, KS is tiny but has a proportionally significant mixed race population due to the military base (including black-white).
I personally think you should not care so much about the political atmosphere, and head to liberal Tacoma, WA. Great place for interracial families and despite the liberal reputation there are still some military folks (joint Ft. Lewis-McCord is nearby) that will make it conservative. Also, check out Seattle suburbs Renton and Kent. Still liberal, but again I think it's more important to foster a great environment for a biracial child than to worry about politics.
Manhattan, KS is tiny but has a proportionally significant mixed race population due to the military base (including black-white).
I personally think you should not care so much about the political atmosphere, and head to liberal Tacoma, WA. Great place for interracial families and despite the liberal reputation there are still some military folks (joint Ft. Lewis-McCord is nearby) that will make it conservative. Also, check out Seattle suburbs Renton and Kent. Still liberal, but again I think it's more important to foster a great environment for a biracial child than to worry about politics.
Kansas has too many issues at the moment to recommend it due to the terrible decisions the governor has made, and the negative levels of job growth over the last year for the entire state.
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.
