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Need advice! I am looking to relocate because I work remotely and am young and unattached. I have lived in CA and NY and don’t want to go back. I have lived in NC and liked the vibes there. But I hated the humid summers. And I hate the beach. I want to live somewhere with four seasons, but mild summers. I LOVE winter, snow, rain, and cold. I want a place with low taxes and low cost of living. I want to be ~30 min driving distance to at least a mid-level airport because I like to travel (otherwise I don’t care about big cities). Bonuses: I’d love a quaint, college town. A little downtown area or main street. Something historic. I prefer lush mountains and trees to plains and prairies. I am religious and want a community leaning religious or at least moderate in politics. Would love a town that’s quiet, friendly, walkable, and safe for pedestrians at night.
That cuts out the Southwest where the desert is too hot, and the South where summers are too humid. I am not opposed to parts of the Northeast, but cost of living is so high. I’m thinking Midwest, but everything is so big and spread out, I don’t know where to start or how the towns compare.
So far, I’ve got on my list: Provo, UT. Idaho Falls, ID. Notre Dame, IN. Rapid City, SD.
Please give me any advice you have! Thanks!
Mandatory
low cost of living
low taxes
low crime
four seasons
no humid summers / extreme heat/desert
Desirable
30-40 min drive to sizeable airport
college town / younger population
walkable downtown main street
lush green surroundings
walking and biking trails
“homey” quaint feeling / small town / friendly people / historic
conservative and/or religious leaning population
Irrelevant
schools
sports
jobs
art
diversity
beach / wildlife
Concord, New Hampshire (Virtually Nonexistant Crime, low taxes, lower COL, four seasons, very nice summers, 55 mins to Logan Airport, beautiful picturesque walking town)
Sounds like Western Michigan/Grand Rapids would be right up your alley. Overall low cost of living and lower taxes. It's 25 miles inland from the widest point of lake Michigan which puts it square in the path of lake effect snow, and averages about 75-80inches of snow a year. It's politically moderate for the most part. The city and inner ring burbs are quite a bit more blue than the outer ring/rural areas. It's got decent air service, and they are expanding the airport pretty rapidly. I'd look at places like Lowell, Coopersville, and Greenville if you want a more quaint further out of the city experience. Perhaps even Big Rapids. You would still be less than 45 mins from the airport. I'd recommend Holland and Grand Haven if you want an even snowier winter, and milder summers. Holland specifically has a small private college and quaint downtown. For Grand Rapids there is a decent university presence in Grand Valley State, and downtown Grand Rapids is surprisingly vibrant. If you want more of a college town experience you could look further south toward Kalamazoo, but that will put you more than an hour from the flight options of GRR. Kalamazoo has an airport but very limited destinations. Though if you are considering a place like South Bend (Notre Dame) the air service would be similar, but still not as robust as GR.
Need advice! I am looking to relocate because I work remotely and am young and unattached. I have lived in CA and NY and don’t want to go back. I have lived in NC and liked the vibes there. But I hated the humid summers. And I hate the beach. I want to live somewhere with four seasons, but mild summers. I LOVE winter, snow, rain, and cold. I want a place with low taxes and low cost of living. I want to be ~30 min driving distance to at least a mid-level airport because I like to travel (otherwise I don’t care about big cities). Bonuses: I’d love a quaint, college town. A little downtown area or main street. Something historic. I prefer lush mountains and trees to plains and prairies. I am religious and want a community leaning religious or at least moderate in politics. Would love a town that’s quiet, friendly, walkable, and safe for pedestrians at night.
That cuts out the Southwest where the desert is too hot, and the South where summers are too humid. I am not opposed to parts of the Northeast, but cost of living is so high. I’m thinking Midwest, but everything is so big and spread out, I don’t know where to start or how the towns compare.
So far, I’ve got on my list: Provo, UT. Idaho Falls, ID. Notre Dame, IN. Rapid City, SD.
Please give me any advice you have! Thanks!
Mandatory
low cost of living
low taxes
low crime
four seasons
no humid summers / extreme heat/desert
Desirable
30-40 min drive to sizeable airport
college town / younger population
walkable downtown main street
lush green surroundings
walking and biking trails
“homey” quaint feeling / small town / friendly people / historic
conservative and/or religious leaning population
Irrelevant
schools
sports
jobs
art
diversity
beach / wildlife
Not necessarily true and ironically, parts of Upstate NY come to mind. I thought about communities like Cazenovia, Geneseo, Brockport, Clinton(the airport aspect would be a bit iffy though), Cobleskill, Oswego(fits the high snowfall and Syracuse's airport is within the driving distance), Cortland, maybe even Plattsburgh and even Lewiston, among many others. Cost of living overall for these places is roughly around the national average, give or take/if that. Housing plays a big part in that and I'd say that these places are moderate/don't lean hard either way.
Not necessarily true and ironically, parts of Upstate NY come to mind. I thought about communities like Cazenovia, Geneseo, Brockport, Clinton(the airport aspect would be a bit iffy though), Cobleskill, Oswego(fits the high snowfall and Syracuse's airport is within the driving distance), Cortland, maybe even Plattsburgh and even Lewiston, among some others. Cost of living overall for these places is roughly around the national average, give or take. Housing plays a big part in that and I'd say that these places are moderate/don't lean hard either way.
You know what I'm referring to, especially with Oswego, which sounds like a very good fit. It doesn't have a major college, but as you know, people love their Oswego State Hockey and Bridge Street has some bars/restaurants, with a younger crowd due to the college. Generally safe city, with a young Republican mayor that is a native no less and is starting to see some development. Very nice sunsets as well off of Lake Ontario.
You know what I'm referring to, especially with Oswego, which sounds like a very good fit. It doesn't have a major college, but as you know, people love their Oswego State Hockey and Bridge Street has some bars/restaurants, with a younger crowd due to the college. Generally safe city, with a young Republican mayor that is a native no less and is starting to see some development. Very nice sunsets as well off of Lake Ontario.
Need advice! I am looking to relocate because I work remotely and am young and unattached. I have lived in CA and NY and don’t want to go back. I have lived in NC and liked the vibes there. But I hated the humid summers. And I hate the beach. I want to live somewhere with four seasons, but mild summers. I LOVE winter, snow, rain, and cold. I want a place with low taxes and low cost of living. I want to be ~30 min driving distance to at least a mid-level airport because I like to travel (otherwise I don’t care about big cities). Bonuses: I’d love a quaint, college town. A little downtown area or main street. Something historic. I prefer lush mountains and trees to plains and prairies. I am religious and want a community leaning religious or at least moderate in politics. Would love a town that’s quiet, friendly, walkable, and safe for pedestrians at night.
That cuts out the Southwest where the desert is too hot, and the South where summers are too humid. I am not opposed to parts of the Northeast, but cost of living is so high. I’m thinking Midwest, but everything is so big and spread out, I don’t know where to start or how the towns compare.
So far, I’ve got on my list: Provo, UT. Idaho Falls, ID. Notre Dame, IN. Rapid City, SD.
Please give me any advice you have! Thanks!
Mandatory
low cost of living
low taxes
low crime
four seasons
no humid summers / extreme heat/desert
Desirable
30-40 min drive to sizeable airport
college town / younger population
walkable downtown main street
lush green surroundings
walking and biking trails
“homey” quaint feeling / small town / friendly people / historic
conservative and/or religious leaning population
Irrelevant
schools
sports
jobs
art
diversity
beach / wildlife
FYI - Lush and low humidity generally don't go together.
I see some people recommending the Upper Midwest, and, while it's not overly hot, it is very humid. I was born in Wisconsin. We moved to Colorado when I was 10. I went back in August of 2020 for my grandfather's funeral. Even though the temps were in the 80s both days I was there, the air was very sticky. I went for a 1.5 mile walk at dusk one night and it wasn't at all refreshing. I don't mind going back to visit, but there's no way in hell I'd ever live there again.
Rapid City isn't a terrible choice. The Black Hills are right there and offer fantastic outdoor recreation. Downsides - tourist season is a major s**tshow, Rapid has significant crime issues, and the airport is nothing to write home about.
Provo - Are you Mormon? If not, I'd take it off the list. Around 80% of the city's population is LDS.
I'll throw out a wildcard - Grand Junction, Colorado. It's home to Colorado Mesa University, has an ok airport, and it's close to Grand Mesa (the largest flat-topped mountain in the world). Moab is nearby as are the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado.
The snowiest place in the Midwest is the Keweenaw Peninsula in the northwest UP of Michigan. Houghton, MI, where Michigan Tech University is, recorded 355 inches of snowfall in the "notorious" winter of 1978-79.
"The record-high seasonal total—a whopping 355.90 inches—came in the winter of 1978–79. The least amount of snowfall, in the winter of 1930–31, is 81.30 inches. Snowfall is measured near Houghton County Memorial Airport by Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center. In the northernmost portion of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Keweenaw County Road Commission measures the snow near Delaware, where snowfall amounts are typically greater than those recorded in Houghton County."
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