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Here's some background:
I was born here in Reno, Nevada and I've been real sick of this climate and all this boring desert scenery... The temperature will go from 15 degrees during the winter up to the low 100s-110s during the summer. The only thing that allows me to deal with this weather is that it's a dry climate. Here in Reno, you can get all 4 seasons of weather in a single day. It can go from 70 degrees and sunny to windy and rain to a blizzard to 70 degrees again in a few hour period (which I hear isn't all that uncommon as I originally thought). On top of my body temp seems run hotter than most because I die when it's summer and the sun is my moral enemy. But then I'm shoveling snow in shorts during the winter... but that may just be that lack of humidity. My sister moved to Mississippi a couple years ago and when I visited last February it was like 70 degrees with like 80% humidity and I was freezing my ass off in the morning.
I've been trying to get out of here for a while now but I just don't really know where to go. I went on a trip across the US, back in 2021, to see if I could find some place to live but I never really got a chance to stay in one place for very long or I just didn't like the place to begin with.
I pretty much made this same post back in 2019 but that was for the entire world and before my existential crisis journey around the US. So I figured Id ask you guys again but more US based since I don't have the money nor language skills to just be able to move to another country haha.
I'm hoping that people here might know where my dream town/climate is.
Here's what I'm looking for:
I enjoy cooler weather because the heat destroys me and I hate the sun. I seem to like the ranges from 40s to mid 70s. But with my lack of humidity experience, I don't know what that translates to in more humid areas.
I love me some clouds and rain, since it barely rains here.
I can deal with some snow but would prefer not to. I like to look at it, I just don't like how people drive in it...
Preferably somewhere green. I'm completely over the desert, tumbleweeds, and lack of greenery.
There's probably some more but I'm running a blank atm.
I know that I'm not going to be able to get everything into one packaged deal but any advice would be great. Also to throw a massive monkey wrench into the mix, please nothing in California.... I have 0 interest in moving there even though I know it hits a lot of the point... Half the reason for me wanting to move in the first place is because I cant afford to live here due to the MASSIVE influx of people moving here and totally destroying the housing market.
Have you considered moving to the northeast or northwest? Here in Connecticut our weather is not normally that extreme. We have all four seasons but it rarely gets above 90 in the summer or below 30 in the winter.
If you don’t want to come east then the northwest may be a good option to consider. Good luck, Jay
What kind of work will you be doing or are you expecting to go to college in your new town to prepare for a new career there. How big of a city/town are you looking at? In the big city, or is a commuter town of +\- 30K, say 30 to 45 minutes outside the big city, a good choice for you? Is $2000/mo rent good, or is that crazy high and you can only take on $1000 max.
There are a lot of towns that fit your climate likes on both coasts and the upper mid-west. Job and budget needs would probably help people to point you in the right direction.
Have you considered moving to the northeast or northwest? Here in Connecticut our weather is not normally that extreme. We have all four seasons but it rarely gets above 90 in the summer or below 30 in the winter.
If you don’t want to come east then the northwest may be a good option to consider. Good luck, Jay
Thanks for the suggestion. I've never actually made it over there, the closest I've been was the LaGuardia Airport in NY. I've been to a lot of states but I never made it to most of the northeast states. I dont really like big cities so I wasn't a fan of the big towns I went to in Oregon and Washington but Spokane was alright, it kind of reminded me of Reno.
What kind of work will you be doing or are you expecting to go to college in your new town to prepare for a new career there. How big of a city/town are you looking at? In the big city, or is a commuter town of +\- 30K, say 30 to 45 minutes outside the big city, a good choice for you? Is $2000/mo rent good, or is that crazy high and you can only take on $1000 max.
There are a lot of towns that fit your climate likes on both coasts and the upper mid-west. Job and budget needs would probably help people to point you in the right direction.
Im actually in the middle of changing careers. I used to do warehouse work since that's what Reno is mostly about but I messed up my back so I'm looking for a desk position. I don't really like big cities, the combined Reno metropolitan area is 500,000 or so now. I liked it when it was around 200-300k, decent amount of space but big enough that you didn't know everyone.
My sister just moved to Laurel MS. Its roughly around 20-30k and I find it to be very small and a not a whole lot to do. Which shouldnt really matter to me since Im kind of a homebody but for some reason I wasnt a fan. Maybe I just like the option to do things when I feel like it. But also her town was like 2 hours away from any major city, as you mentioned I dont think 30m would be too bad.
Pricing is all relative to location and what you're getting. $2000-3000 is fine for an ok house but here its 2000 for like a 2 bedroom apartment in ghettoville. There were a few places that were renting out 800sqft studios for like $1800 in the ghetto parts of town. And since everyone was flocking here, THE **** WAS RENTING OUT LIKE CRAZY!! It blows my mind. I remember 10-15 years ago, apartments were the place you rented so you could save money to get an actual house...
Yep. This is really the only place you'll find that climate.
OP, if you don't want small towns (and they're probably not good for finding desk jobs anyway), and Reno's 500k people is too big, you still have a few cities in western WA/western OR that might work.
Namely: Olympia, WA; Bellingham, WA; and Eugene, OR. Olympia has kind of a punk/countercultural vibe with a large local music scene for its size, and the other two are college towns, so they're not too quiet and sleepy. Olympia would be the closest to a major city, about an hour from Seattle and 30 minutes from Tacoma without traffic. Bellingham is 1.5 hours from Seattle and Eugene is 2 hours from Portland.
I don't know anything about the job markets in these places; I would guess that you could find office work in or around Olympia because it's the state capital (lot of government jobs) and there are a few prominent office parks.
There's also Salem, OR, also a state capital and 1 hour from Portland. I find it to be quiet without much going on, but it would also have some government jobs. And it fits your size range.
I don't know if local politics matter to you, but Salem is by far the most conservative of these places (though really just "purple" on a national scale. Maybe like the suburban parts of south Reno, or Carson City). The other 3 are quite left-wing by American standards --- though obviously less so the farther out you go.
mid Atlantic area on the east coast..south of the Mason Dixon line..Virginia, Maryland..
I agree. The entire mid-Atlantic in general (even above the MD line--Philly and NYC, for example) has the best 4-season weather in the country. No harsh winters like in New England and the Upper Midwest, and no harsh summers like in the south.
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