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Hi everyone! Here is my current situation. My family and I were in a major Northern California fire in July/August. We lost our home, business, our families homes , and the whole town. We fled out of necessity to Nevada. Nevada or at least where we are the wages are extremely low but housing is very overpriced.This isn't our new forever home. The family and I agreed to move this summer for our new forever home. California is out. Sadly we were born and raised there but it has gotten way to expensive. We don't know exactly where to go. I have a list of wants and needs. My husband has owned a restaurant and I have owned my own daycare for several years. We have a 15 year old. So here it goes:
1) minimum wage has to be at least $14.00
2) affordable rentals 3 bedrooms under $1400 and 3-4 bedroom homes nothing over $400,000.
3) no major natural disaster areas
4) would love no snow and tons of sunny days.
5) room for growth in the town
6) population less than 30,000 or close to, not against small towns.
7) city/ shopping within 30 minutes.
8) no major crime or drugs everywhere.
9) places to go off roading
10) decent schools all ages
11) beautiful nature where I can see trees and mountains.
A little about us my family really into music plays several instruments. We are very family oriented and would love for our adult children to move to the area. Coffee shops would be great. A few restaurants would be awesome. I don't really know if this place exists but hoping somewhere you know fits most or all of our wants and needs. We are looking to set our roots down and rebuilding our lives again. Thank you for your help , suggestions, and ideas!
I will note tho that a couple of your wants are mutually exclusive. You're not going to find a $14/hr minimum wage in a town of only 30,000. You're going to need a bigger city with more businesses and more employers to find that sort of thing.
So sorry to hear your sad circumstances OP! However, that's quite a list! There's nothing wrong with dreaming but you'll probably need to pare it down...at least until you get your feet under you again. Was your list prioritized?
No not prioritized. If I had to it would be this in order
1) no major natural disasters
2) low crime
3) affordable
4) cost of living
The rest would be more wants not needs.
Check out Spartanburg SC. It's at the foothills of the NC Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounded by forest on the north side with some nice smaller towns nearby to check out like Boiling Springs, Campobello and Inman. $14 an hour won't be widespread but would bet $12 is fairly common for entry level spots in many instances. The cost of living is quite low and compared to overall quality of life a pretty big bargain, and the perfect place to start over/get situated. https://www.visitspartanburg.com/
I think most of Oregon and Washington now have $15 minimum wage. Unfortunately, housing costs/rents have grown to match/exceed income. Maybe Ontario, OR which is on the OR/ID boarder. Lots of sun, not much snow, no real disasters, easy drive into the Boise area for bigger city shopping. Being a state boarder town there is a bit more shopping in Ontario vs. its size as people on the Idaho side of the boarder shop in Ontario to avoid the Id sales tax.
If you're willing to budge on 1) and 4), then consider Michigan.
3 bedrooms under $1400 is going to be a tall order in an area with decent schools, but 3-4 bedroom homes can be had for $250,000 in much of the state. Michigan is one of the safest places in the country for natural disasters (no hurricanes, wildfires extremely rare, tornadoes rare, floods rare outside of flood zones). Plenty of towns of about 30,000 or less, though avoid the Rust-belty ones. City shopping can be found in the major cities (Detroit suburbs, Grand Rapids, Lansing). Crime is very low outside of a few places like Detroit and Flint. The Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula offer many opportunities for off roading. Better schools will be found in wealthier cities, though COL will be higher. And there are huge forests, though our mountains are kinda puny.
Only one state has a minimum wage at $14, and that is CA.
Huh? Massachusetts is $14.25. Connecticut will be $14 in July. Most of the northeast will be $15 and indexed to inflation in a couple of years.
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