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My husband and I want to move our 4 young kids somewhere with either a) and ocean or b) a nice lake. I have bee going crazy researching the entire US and I could really use some help. I grew up in Hawaii and California, but my husband cannot work out of Hawaii, he must be near a major airport on the mainland. And CA has gotten so crazy expensive. We are a middle class family, down to earth, pretty liberal LDS and just need a change. Can anyone reccomend a town in the US that is near a major airport, allows us to be near a beach or large lake and has great schools? We went to Sarasota to check things out in Florida, but I realized I am a helicopter mom and terrified of alligators. Unless you can convince me otherwise, Florida may be out. Maybe this place in my mind doesn't exist.? Thank you in advance for your comments.
My husband and I want to move our 4 young kids somewhere with either a) and ocean or b) a nice lake. I have bee going crazy researching the entire US and I could really use some help. I grew up in Hawaii and California, but my husband cannot work out of Hawaii, he must be near a major airport on the mainland. And CA has gotten so crazy expensive. We are a middle class family, down to earth, pretty liberal LDS and just need a change. Can anyone reccomend a town in the US that is near a major airport, allows us to be near a beach or large lake and has great schools? We went to Sarasota to check things out in Florida, but I realized I am a helicopter mom and terrified of alligators. Unless you can convince me otherwise, Florida may be out. Maybe this place in my mind doesn't exist.? Thank you in advance for your comments.
Are you against the Midwest? The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions offer fantastic outdoor recreation (lakes 'great' and small), excellent public schools, and affordable housing. It seems like it would be a great fit based on those points.
Chicagoland is one of the best values among global cities. Unfortunately, the taxes here are very high, especially property and sales taxes. Illinois also has well-known fiscal issues that are very daunting, but they have yet to hit public services. Home prices are reasonable, but you are likely to lose money over time because our home values have not historically appreciated enough to outpace inflation and carrying expenses. The other Midwestern states are different, but you should expect slow appreciation across the board.
However, your children will have access to some of the best public education systems in the country. Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Dakota fund public schools very generously relative to the rest of the country. Public higher education is also excellent, but obviously, BYU is much cheaper.
Chicago O'Hare, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Metro Detroit are major airports and hubs for the three big carriers serving many international destinations as well as Hawaii and California.
The lakes and beaches here are incredible. People are passionate about the Great Lakes, and Minneapolis, Detroit, and Chicago have smaller lakes in the surrounding suburban areas too.
I generally dislike Florida, and I don't think it represents a good value. Public education is mediocre, and the environment is toxic on multiple levels.
The LDS communities here are small, but they are very vibrant and there is a lot of diversity in practice and outlook.
@Hiruko Thank you for that thoughtful response! I hadn't thought of the midwest, mostly because I have never been there. I am going to start looking up real estate now. Thanks!
If you can stomach the high cost of living, Long Island right outside New York City is a really good place to live and public schools are among the top in the nation. We’re also an island so we have plenty of water ... 2 intl airports within the NYC metro (JFK & EWR) & 2 other smaller ones (LGA & ISP).
I mean it’s not cheap but you get what you pay for ...
Are you against the Midwest? The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions offer fantastic outdoor recreation (lakes 'great' and small), excellent public schools, and affordable housing. It seems like it would be a great fit based on those points.
Chicagoland is one of the best values among global cities. Unfortunately, the taxes here are very high, especially property and sales taxes. Illinois also has well-known fiscal issues that are very daunting, but they have yet to hit public services. Home prices are reasonable, but you are likely to lose money over time because our home values have not historically appreciated enough to outpace inflation and carrying expenses. The other Midwestern states are different, but you should expect slow appreciation across the board.
However, your children will have access to some of the best public education systems in the country. Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Dakota fund public schools very generously relative to the rest of the country. Public higher education is also excellent, but obviously, BYU is much cheaper.
Chicago O'Hare, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Metro Detroit are major airports and hubs for the three big carriers serving many international destinations as well as Hawaii and California.
The lakes and beaches here are incredible. People are passionate about the Great Lakes, and Minneapolis, Detroit, and Chicago have smaller lakes in the surrounding suburban areas too.
I generally dislike Florida, and I don't think it represents a good value. Public education is mediocre, and the environment is toxic on multiple levels.
The LDS communities here are small, but they are very vibrant and there is a lot of diversity in practice and outlook.
I would extend this into parts of PA and NY in the region as well.
Ironically, the LDS has pretty big roots in that part of NY, as Hill Cumorah is located east of Rochester in Palmyra: https://www.hillcumorah.org/ That is where Joseph Smith moved to with his family from VT around 1817. So, you could consider an area like Rochester, which does have an International airport and its eastern suburbs(Pittsford, Penfield, Fairport, Webster and Brighton) have very good schools and you are still close to lakeside beaches on Lake Ontario. An example of one is this beach in Rochester's Charlotte neighborhood in the far NW corner of the city: https://www2.monroecounty.gov/parks-ontariobeach.php
Buffalo is another nearby area, about an hour west of Rochester that could be thrown into the mix as well. Same for Cleveland.
@Hiruko Thank you for that thoughtful response! I hadn't thought of the midwest, mostly because I have never been there. I am going to start looking up real estate now. Thanks!
Check out Cookeville, Tennessee. There are 1200 miles of lakeshore within 40 minutes of town, 100 waterfalls, and under an hour from the Nashville airport. There are 3 wards and a branch in town, and the Cookeville Stake has 6 wards and 4 branches. It's a very affordable, very beautiful town that's also home to a mid-major state university which brings lots of people from all over the place to the area. The schools are excellent, and the town is very family friendly with things like a children's museum, children's theater, children's library, etc. You certainly wouldn't be the only liberal LDS people in town, either. The stake president, who has also served as mission president, used to be chairman of the local Democratic party, for example.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
One thing I do worry about is the winter. I ve heard that Utah snow is mild compared to much of the country? Is that true because if so, I am in big trouble. I am freezing here!
I think Sacramento might actually be close to Utah as far as home prices.
Folsom Lake is very popular. The northern half of the metro is very nice, is very family oriented, very good schools, think apple pie, has a large LDS population and a Temple. Northern Sac suburbs are also relatively close to the Sierra Nevada(snow, skiing, Lake Tahoe). Oh and the coast is about 1.5 hrs west. Sac has a decent airport, San Francisco is a 1.5 hr drive SW but traffic is a nightmare.
About the liberal LDS thing, in my experience having lived up in Sacramento for 3 years, members are mainly conservative but usually go out of their way to NOT talk politics at church, which I like.
I live in the Oakland-Berkeley area where Id say maybe half the members are liberal, but even here, it's very rare to hear politics talked about at church.
My husband and I want to move our 4 young kids somewhere with either a) and ocean or b) a nice lake. I have bee going crazy researching the entire US and I could really use some help. I grew up in Hawaii and California, but my husband cannot work out of Hawaii, he must be near a major airport on the mainland. And CA has gotten so crazy expensive. We are a middle class family, down to earth, pretty liberal LDS and just need a change. Can anyone reccomend a town in the US that is near a major airport, allows us to be near a beach or large lake and has great schools? We went to Sarasota to check things out in Florida, but I realized I am a helicopter mom and terrified of alligators. Unless you can convince me otherwise, Florida may be out. Maybe this place in my mind doesn't exist.? Thank you in advance for your comments.
You can put your fears to rest, much of Florida is heavily populated with helicopter Moms who would never submit to having their children here if Alligators roaming freely were an issue. It's pretty easy to find homes not on a body of water here which instantly eliminates the possibility of seeing an alligator near your home. Alligators don't live in salt water so the beaches aren't an issue either and any body of water lacking in a marshy border with tall grasses, etc aren't conducive to them either since they need the protection from the sun/heat and to nest. I would recommend if looking for good schools and a more moderate-to-left leaning environment in close proximity to the beaches, the Palm Harbor-East Lake area on the NW side of Tampa. It's a beautiful area of well-established neighborhoods/homes built out largely in the 80s and 90s. There is a general sense of neighborliness which is an attractive asset for many given it's pretty rare in FL. There's always block parties/BBQs it seems and a sense of community easy to incorporate into. It's about thirty minutes away from Tampa International Airport and about 25 minutes to the beach.
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