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What? I lived in Houston which is far larger and had much better commute times even working across the city. You should be running away from that place. Goodness gracious.
Yes, we are working on it! The price isn't worth the city or the hot weather to stay here.
Deland - Winter Park. Commute time at 7:30pm with no traffic/accidents and less people on the road due to Covid. 45 minutes.
Wait what? What do you expect? Deland is literally 45 miles from Winter Park. You’re complaining about the commute but the reality is you lived super far from your job. Deland is not even in Orlando. In any major metro that you move to, if you live 45 miles from where you work, your commute will be very long during rush hour. Any major city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theknitterz
Avalon Park - Winter Park. Commute time at 7:30pm with no traffic/accidents and less people on the road due to Covid. 34 minutes.
Avalon is 20 miles away from Winter Park, and that’s almost all local. You realize this is not a problem specific to Orlando right? How long do you think a commute of 20+ miles on local roads will take you during rush hour of any city with 2 million people or more? It’s so odd that you chose to live in areas so far from your place of employment and then lament about the commute. Kinda seems like it’s simple mathematics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theknitterz
Add in rush hour traffic and the many many accidents that happen here and the time goes up. I researched drive times from back in Nevada and didn't think it would be this bad, but with the massive amount of road construction going on and the constant accidents, it really does make your commute much longer. I used to time it every day.
The road behind my work to go under I-4 to go to Avalon Park when I lived there took a good 20 minutes to make the light to make a left-hand turn out of the parking lot. I used wave at my coworkers who were sitting in the same traffic every night. Sorry you don't believe me, but it was my reality until a few months ago when I moved closer.
So confused. Why didn’t you just live in Winter Park or Altamonte or somewhere closer to your job? You mentioned it took you 5 minutes to get to work in the morning but 30 minutes to get home during rush hour? Is that hyperbolic...? Literally cannot imagine it taking 30 minutes to go 2 or 3 miles, unless you’re stuck in I-4, and in that case, why wouldn’t you just take local?
I can get behind your dislike of Florida heat and even rude people, but complaining about the traffic when you work 20+ miles away from where you live seems silly in general, much more in a state with 20 million people.
Wherever you move, I definitely recommend avoiding any large to medium-sized metro areas, especially if you plan to live 20 miles away from or more from your job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theknitterz
Thanks everyone for the great input! I think our list to look at for now is:
I appreciate all the help! It has given us a lot to talk through and a lot of places to start visiting.
I’ve never been to the other cities on the list, but I live in Charlotte now and the traffic is just as bad as Orlando. Denver’s rush hour traffic is pretty bad too, just like any large city, especially if you’re going to live far away. Both cities are great options though. My first choice would be Charlotte if you don’t mind the traffic. Good luck
Last edited by _Uncommon_; 06-24-2020 at 06:49 PM..
Wait what? What do you expect? Deland is literally 45 miles from Winter Park. You’re complaining about the commute but the reality is you lived super far from your job. Deland is not even in Orlando. In any major metro that you move to, if you live 45 miles from where you work, your commute will be very long during rush hour. Any major city.
Avalon is 20 miles away from Winter Park, and that’s almost all local. You realize this is not a problem specific to Orlando right? How long do you think a commute of 20+ miles on local roads will take you during rush hour of any city with 2 million people or more? It’s so odd that you chose to live in areas so far from your place of employment and then lament about the commute. Kinda seems like it’s simple mathematics.
So confused. Why didn’t you just live in Winter Park or Altamonte or somewhere closer to your job? You mentioned it took you 5 minutes to get to work in the morning but 30 minutes to get home during rush hour? Is that hyperbolic...? Literally cannot imagine it taking 30 minutes to go 2 or 3 miles, unless you’re stuck in I-4, and in that case, why wouldn’t you just take local?
I can get behind your dislike of Florida heat and even rude people, but complaining about the traffic when you work 20+ miles away from where you live seems silly in general, much more in a state with 20 million people.
Wherever you move, I definitely recommend avoiding any large to medium-sized metro areas, especially if you plan to live 20 miles away from or more from your job.
I’ve never been to the other cities on the list, but I live in Charlotte now and the traffic is just as bad as Orlando. Denver’s rush hour traffic is pretty bad too, just like any large city, especially if you’re going to live far away. Both cities are great options though. My first choice would be Charlotte if you don’t mind the traffic. Good luck
I'm not saying my dislike of Orlando is due to traffic or that I lived close to work...was just attempting to explain to the people wondering why I spend $1,800/mo on rent instead of cheaper rent and living outside of the city.
I'm permanent work from home now for my job so where I live is kind of irrelevant. I'm sorry it came across as me complaining about my commute, I was trying to just chat about why I pay as much as I do for a one bedroom. I'm not saying this is typical to Orlando, but most of my coworkers live in Deland or Avalon Park for the lower cost to live there.
I'm not disputing what you are saying, I was just trying to give my personal experience.
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,520,768 times
Reputation: 3107
Quote:
Originally Posted by rowhomecity
I would 100% recommend Pittsburgh. It often flies under the radar by many, but it is a real gem and IMO has a great deal more to offer than similar size metros such as Austin, Denver and Portland.
It has some of the most beautiful topography in the nation nestled right in the Appalachian Mountains with tons of nearby outdoor recreation (including skiing), and considerably affordable given the white collar opportunities with a strong higher education presence (Carniege Mellon and UPitt are powerhouses) has great walkability and vibrant neighborhoods, solid transit, lots to see and do (many historic, legacy institutions along with a strong arts scene).
The neighborhoods are the real gems of Pittsburgh. Offering great historic architecture, quirky and interesting shops, restaurants and arts scenes, solid walkability and strong transit. The metro is large enough to always have something to do at your fingertips.
Pittsburgh has 4 solid seasons, none are too extreme. Moderate Winters/Mild Summers/Nice Fall and Spring.
It is most certainly worth considering. Good luck.
Couldn’t have said it better. Pittsburgh really meets a ton of the OP’s criteria
Surprised nobody has mentioned Kansas City since bf used to live in KS. I know he said KS wasn’t busy enough but has he been to Johnson County? Big population with all the suburban amenities and borders KC proper. It’s plenty busy. They do have a large theme park on the MO side. The Ozarks and Ouachitas are a couple hours away if you want some mountains. Four seasons, super easy traffic, and you could get a sweet place for $1800 either in JoCo or in the city (Plaza or DTKC like the River Market). Big pro sports culture as well with the Royals and Chiefs, and Sporting KC, the soccer team, is super popular there and plays on the KS side.
KC also has pretty mild winters. You’ll get a few snow days but it melts pretty quickly, and you’re guaranteed to get periods of mild, sunny weather throughout the winter.
Also, KC is a great road trip city. In 8 hours, you can be in Dallas, Denver, Nashville, Minneapolis, Chicago, etc. It’s also a great location to fly out of, as flights anywhere in the continental us are generally going to be under 4 hours.
Second this...Tough to beat Upstate NY during the Fall. Places that we know about like the Finger Lakes and the 1000 Islands are great places for couples and/or outdoor enthusiasts.
You have plenty of sports options, as it isn’t uncommon for people in parts of the area to go to Buffalo Bills and Syracuse University football games. So OP, if the BF/Hubby likes Football, this is a good area to be in, while being close to so much more.
Another thing to add with other parts of the I-90 corridor of Upstate NY is say you are considering the Buffalo area, once thing open up, you are a reasonable drive to Toronto and all it has to offer as well. It is only about an hour and a half from Buffalo and there are about 9 million people within close proximity to the western end of Lake Ontario within Ontario(aka the Golden Horseshoe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horseshoe ).
This isn’t considering that Rochester is about an hour away east from Buffalo and an hour and a half west from Syracuse.
Couldn’t have said it better. Pittsburgh really meets a ton of the OP’s criteria
Yes! Pittsburgh has more to offer than Denver IMO. Stronger higher ed presence, lower cost of living, located in the Northeast and not as isolated, four moderate seasons, stronger presence of legacy culture institutions.
Both have similar metro populations, but Pittsburgh on paper has more "assets".
It's a win win. I highly recommend exploring it. Most people are pleasantly surprised. Especially with how strong the white collar job market/tech scene is there combined with the low cost of living and high quality of life.
Many forget/don't realize Carniege Mellon is in Pittsburgh and rivals Stanford and MIT with its Computer Science and Robotics programs. There is a strong presence of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, etc. etc. along with Robotics start ups in Pittsburgh.
You will not like Davidson nor Charlotte NC for very long, either. Rents and home prices are way out of your parameters. Traffic in Charlotte AND the surrounding 40 mile radius is gridlock.
Maybe you would like the NC mountains or just out of Asheville in any direction. There is little to no walkability in any of these cities, either.
Funny. My parents HATED Orlando (As did I). It was a congested, urban sprawl disaster with nothing other than pseudo-nice neighborhoods and urban sprawl at its finest. Yuck. i-4 is a mess, rent is atrociously high for the quality of living in Orlando, and the weather is downright sucky. Don't get the appeal of Orlando when Tampa avoids a lot of Orlando's issues while providing better schools, better proximity to beaches and somewhat less urban sprawl. My parents moved back to Massachusetts for a breathe of fresh air, and now are eyeing NC.
NC seems to offer everything you say as well. I personally like Charlotte and Greensboro. Charlotte and Greensboro/Winston Salem area are close to Mountains, have great downtowns and provide access to many things you want. Greensboro is cheap as all hell, you can lease luxury apartments for around $1,000 a month downtown. I like Greensboro the best, nothing is more than 10 minutes from you, great walkable fun downtown, great food, great people, great weather. Charlotte is also a great option. Raleigh is also good too, with great suburbs.
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