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Harrisburg, PA area tends to rank well in these comparisons. Seems to be a high percentage of stay-at-home parents because both don't *need* to work to afford a home here.
Interesting and Harrisburg is an area that I've wondered about and I feel is underrated.
I'm sorry that this thread is so old because i know the perfect place. The only thing you have to worry about in San Antonio, TX is occasional flooding (just avoid flood plains) and really hot, humid weather. We only get frozen precipitation a couple of times of year and it's only a little bit of sleet, we don't get earthquakes, hurricanes are only heavy rain systems by the time they reach us, we don't get mudslides, and we rarely have tornadoes that touch down. San Antonio is ranked 2nd in the nation for cost of living/salary ratio behind Austin. Austin is another city to consider. The only problem with Austin is that traffic is really bad due to almost every street being a freeway/highway.
San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the nation with around 1.5 million people, but it has a small town feel. Bexar County (which San Antonio is in) was about 58% Hispanic, 30% white, 6% black, and the rest other in the 2000 census. San Antonio has a mixture of Democratic and Republican districts. The north side tends to be more affluent and votes Republican while the rest of the city votes more Democratic. I think Austin is a little more diversity friendly though; it's called the blue island in Texas. I don't know why because Texas has several districts with a Hispanic majority which tends to vote Democratic. You are basically looking for a place in the Midwest or Southwest; but we have scorpions and rattlesnakes (mostly in less populous areas though).
Last edited by L210; 08-02-2010 at 06:33 AM..
Reason: I wanted to add more to my post.
I'm sorry that this thread is so old because i know the perfect place. The only thing you have to worry about in San Antonio, TX is occasional flooding (just avoid flood plains) and really hot, humid weather. We only get frozen precipitation a couple of times of year and it's only a little bit of sleet, we don't get earthquakes, hurricanes are only heavy rain systems by the time they reach us, we don't get mudslides, and we rarely have tornadoes that touch down. San Antonio is ranked 2nd in the nation for cost of living/salary ratio behind Austin. Austin is another city to consider. The only problem with Austin is that traffic is really bad due to almost every street being a freeway/highway.
San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the nation with around 1.5 million people, but it has a small town feel. Bexar County (which San Antonio is in) was about 58% Hispanic, 30% white, 6% black, and the rest other in the 2000 census. San Antonio has a mixture of Democratic and Republican districts. The north side tends to be more affluent and votes Republican while the rest of the city votes more Democratic. I think Austin is a little more diversity friendly though; it's called the blue island in Texas. I don't know why because Texas has several districts with a Hispanic majority which tends to vote Democratic. You are basically looking for a place in the Midwest or Southwest; but we have scorpions and rattlesnakes (mostly in less populous areas though).
I was going to say the upper SE is pretty good on the natural disaster scale but then I remember the Nashville flood.
BTW - do not cash in your retirement before talking to an accountant. There may be penalties to pay if you don't convert it to an IRA. Besides, if you're moving to a cheap area you won't need $100K to get settled.
So Des Moines, Iowa might legitimately be a good one for cost-of-living versus income. (Rochester is significantly better, but I think it's more of a hospital town than a city that's major for its state.)
If you want a place that has a reasonable income/cost of living ratio that is not very susceptible to natural disasters, give Pittsburgh a try. It's anecdotal, but I heard somewhere that among all major U.S. cities, Pittsburgh has the fewest insurance claims per capita as a result of severe weather. The most common type of natural disaster in Pittsburgh is flooding, but as long as you don't live in an area prone to floods, you'll be fine.
Any city in Delaware.
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Austin
Trenton (How much people make around this area including Princeton is beyond me, even in parts of Trenton and Ewing)
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