Best small/midsize town/city?

[hickoryfan]

Wilmington North Carolina has one of the best walkable downtowns for its size in the South. Pro hockey and minor league baseball are nearby. COL is good.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Stillwater, OK ticks off your 9 points more or less. Oklahoma City and Tulsa are an hour away.

And unlike other cities, Stillwater will pay you to move there if you agree to be a remote worker and buy a house there. The maximum bribe amount is $9000.

Get Paid to Live in Stillwater, Oklahoma: https://www.makemymove.com/get-paid/stillwater-oklahoma

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by IwantOutoftheSouth

Settling for Philly sports isn't so bad. Would get to see my Braves several times a year. I've always heard good things about the Philly area. Mostly the main line towns. I'll look up Lancaster, because that is a place I don't know much about.

PA is as red as could be between Philly and Pittsburgh. Political analyst James Carville coined the term Pennsyltucky and is not inaccurate in the least.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by IwantOutoftheSouth

Hello! My wife, ten year old son, and I are saving to move north. We are currently in southern Alabama, and we don't like much of anything here. We are both wanting to move somewhere with defined seasons, some snow, and plenty of things to do (inside and out). That being said, we don't want to be in a large city, but maybe somewhere within 1-2 hours of a larger city. Some of our criteria are below. I realize no place will likely tick all the boxes, but hopefully something comes close! Not in any particular order.

1. 4 seasons. Here it is summer 7 months out of the year it seems, and "winter" only lasts for a few weeks. Somewhere with fall colors and snow.

2.Somewhere more liberal. We are very liberal people, and I can count on one hand how many like minded individuals I have met here. Doesn't have to be overwhelming liberal, or even majority so, just moreso than south Alabama.

3. Cost of living doesn't need to be low, but we certainly aren't "rich". So, these areas where a decent, small three bedroom costs $500,000 aren't really places we want to look at.

4. Close-ish to a larger city for day trips. Doesn't have to be somewhere like NYC, just a city with things to do.

5. Close to outdoor activities. We love the water and mountains, hiking trails, and places to ride our dual sport motorcycles off the beaten path. We enjoy getting out to festivals and things like that as well.

6. Would love somewhere with a downtown area that is walkable. We've been living in a town with a great downtown (Fairhope, AL), and would like to keep that. Restaurants, local stores, festivals, etc.

7. Good Schools. This one is a must. We don't believe in private schools, so the public schools need to be good.

8. Eastern half of the country. Our families are all in the south, Midwest, and the mid-Atlantic, and we would like to stay at least somewhat close. So no Washington, Oregon, Cali, etc. East coast, mid-west are where we are concentrating.

9. I love sports. So being near some professional sports, or minor league sports would be cool.

So, any help in narrowing down our options would be much appreciated!

I would recommend checking out the area around Flemington NJ and Princeton NJ which is surprisingly affordable and green/lush with a lot of great family-friendly recreational options, excellent schools and close proximity (an hour away) to NYC and Philadelphia by car or train. https://delawarerivertownslocal.com/explore-map/