Single mom looking for an affordable decent state to live in

[ckhthankgod]

You can look at something in Upstate NY. Here's a site for my area: Central New York Jobs

[acrunner]

saint louis has high crime rate, school system is poor unless you go private which is exspensive and its not a very pretty city! i'd look at lawrence ks and kansas city and surrounding areas!

[BPerone201]

Syracuse, Albany Burbs, Pittsfield MA.

[moorlander]

Originally Posted by acrunner

saint louis has high crime rate, school system is poor unless you go private which is exspensive and its not a very pretty city!

The crime rate thing has been explained ag noseum on the st. louis forums. It's a statistical apples to oranges comparison. Public city schools in almost ALL major metros are poor performers. There is a vast number of top notch public and private schools throughout the metro.

Saint Louis is a GORGEOUS city.

[chica_bella813]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Dirt cheap to live in Saint Louis.

Little tough for transplants to find work

That is true--why is it tough for transplants to find work?? Is it because companies do not want to give relocation packages due to the economy???

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by chica_bella813

That is true--why is it tough for transplants to find work?? Is it because companies do not want to give relocation packages due to the economy???

very insular and parochial business environment. it is very tough for newcomers to break into.

[chica_bella813]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

very insular and parochial business environment. it is very tough for newcomers to break into.

The entire U.S. or certain regions?? which ones do you think...thanks for the insight

[cpg35223]

Well, the first thing to look at is overall tax burden. New Jersey exacts some of the highest property and employment taxes around. Add things like car tags and the whatnot, and it's incredibly expensive to live there. Small wonder you're barely making ends meet.

We moved to Birmingham 16 years ago, and have loved it. Forget the preconceptions. It's a beautiful area with plenty to do. What's more, my property taxes are roughly 30% what they would have been for a comparable house in Chicago.

All our friends laughed when we moved here. But once they come to visit, and then start looking into what kind of house you can get for the money and how little you pay in taxes, they start checking out the real estate classifieds, too.

[kaipai7]

Thanks everyone! SIGH - It's such a hard decision and really hard with not alot of savings to travel and visit some of these places!!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by chica_bella813

The entire U.S. or certain regions?? which ones do you think...thanks for the insight

Saint Louis Metro

But the crime here is no where near as bad as people seem to think. St. Loius is very safe except fro certain neighborhoods that you wouldn't (and shouldn't) want to go into anyway.