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I am a 25 year old black female, a single mother of children aged 1, 4 and 5. I am leaving an abusive relationship. I currently live in Georgia, but I really, really don't like it here. I am considering moving to South Carolina or Massachusetts. I lived in New Bedford and Randolph, MA for a brief time and really liked it, but I worry about blizzards/extreme cold. I have no family/friends in either state so I would be all alone. I have a 19 year old brother who is willing to move with me and help me.
I am trying to find job training and any job available in Georgia now so that I can save as much as I can before I move. I know I will need low income assistance (child care, snaps).
I am trying to find a city in either South Carolina or Massachusetts, not a major city (I like the small town feel). Moderate cost of living, public transportation, decent schools, family-friendly areas, ethnic mix. A balance of weather, warm/hot summers are ok and I enjoy the snowy Christmas season. The only thing I would really object to is a large city or a place without a bus system. I'm pretty open to all options. Thanks for the help!
Cheers to you for leaving an abusive relationship. I don't know anything about SC, but Massachusetts, while it has real winter, doesn't really have extreme winter cold or blizzards, and you can live outside a city like Boston in a smaller town and have public transportation available.
Good luck to you! Best thing you can do for your children, and yourself.
What do you consider to be "moderate cost?" Are you thinking in terms of buying a house, or renting? Most towns near Boston have high housing costs compared to the national average, but some towns are less expensive than others, and may be workable depending on how moderate you want your housing budget to be.
Generally, western MA will have lower housing costs than eastern MA. One area you might want to check out is the Pioneer Valley area, particularly Amherst, Northampton, and other towns in that vicinity. Small towns, but there is a local bus sytem, though it is tied closely to the schedules of the colleges in the area, so it does not run really late at night during the months when the colleges are not in session. Amherst and Northampton are very much college towns. Some people (Yours Truly for example) are uncomfortable with the total emphasis on a community centered around boisterous, sometimes drunken, often noisy college kids. If you feel the same way, you might want to especially focus on Northampton, which has a bit more of a life outside the college world than Amherst does.
I'm not so familiar with individual towns in southeastern MA, but you may want to ask about that area at the MA forum. The winters there are a bit milder on average than those in the rest of the state (not MILD, but definitely milder than you find in most other areas of MA). Also, as long as you stay away from Cape Cod and resort towns along the state's south coast, much of southeastern MA may be far enough from Boston to see somewhat more modest housing costs than you usually find in Boston's immediate vicinity.
I said "moderate" because I didn't want to say "cheap" . I plan to rent for at least two years until I am mentally and financially ready to purchase a home. I don't want bottom-of-the-barrel cheap, I can't raise my kids in a drug infested neighborhood, but I realize I wouldn't be able to afford the best area. That's where I need the most help as far as picking a city. Growing up in the south I've grown accustomed to low cost housing. My first apartment was in Jonesboro, just south of Atlanta, a two bedroom for $575 (new year discount) plus utilities. I was working as a waitress making $2.98 an hour plus tips and had two kids at the time. I took the bus/walked to work, and did odd jobs - babysitting, styling hair, creating flyers/marketing for people who were trying to start their own business. I know my youngest child's father will pay his support as ordered with no problem and my brother will be with me and will be working also. And I think Mass min wage is higher than Georgia's(?)
If you can put aside your concerns about blizzards and cold weather you may want to consider moving to Rochester, MN. Its a small town with the Mayo Clinic in its backyard and it fills out the rest of your list very well, although being Minnesota its still going to be 85% white. Its a growing city and while I havn't checked the economic stats its trends better than Minneapolis and our unemployment (in Minneapolis) is under 8% - although its still hard to find work. Costs are also cheaper than the national average (80%, although its probably still higher than in GA).
The only concern is our Republican governor is running for president on a no-tax platform so he's really giving it to the poor, but it'll take more than one man to wreck our reputation or willingness to give a hand up.
Make sure to closely research everything before making the decision to move up, though, since I'm speaking from generalities and not specifics - your mileage may vary.
I don't know much about MA or SC, so I can't really give you any options in these states.
You may like Poughkeepsie, NY but you definitely have to do some background checks when thinking about moving into certain neighborhoods in Poughkeepsie since it can get pretty rough in some areas.
You can even try the smaller towns on the Hudson such as Hudson (the town), Kingston, and Beacon which are on the safer side. Beautiful historic towns btw.
Albany/Troy, NY is another one to look at but it gets pretty cold in the winter time around there, but renting in this area will be relative to what you're used to.
Good luck with everything!
Last edited by BPerone201; 05-22-2010 at 05:02 PM..
I don't know much about MA or SC, so I can't really give you any options in these states.
You may like Poughkeepsie, NY but you definitely have to do some background checks when thinking about moving into certain neighborhoods in Poughkeepsie since it can get pretty rough in some areas.
You can even try the smaller towns on the Hudson such as Hudson (the town), Kingston, and Beacon which are on the safer side. Beautiful historic towns btw.
Albany/Troy, NY is another one to look at but it gets pretty cold in the winter time around there, but renting in this area will be relative to what you're used to.
Good luck with everything!
Binghamton might be another NY area to check out. It's one of the safest metros in the country, has some ethnic/racial diversity, there are some good schools throughout the area and there is public transportation. It's pretty affordable too.
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. I plan to rent for at least two years until I am mentally and financially ready to purchase a home. I don't want bottom-of-the-barrel cheap, I can't raise my kids in a drug infested neighborhood, but I realize I wouldn't be able to afford the best area. That's where I need the most help as far as picking a city. Growing up in the south I've grown accustomed to low cost housing. My first apartment was in Jonesboro, just south of Atlanta, a two bedroom for $575 (new year discount) plus utilities. I was working as a waitress making $2.98 an hour plus tips and had two kids at the time. I took the bus/walked to work, and did odd jobs - babysitting, styling hair, creating flyers/marketing for people who were trying to start their own business. I know my youngest child's father will pay his support as ordered with no problem and my brother will be with me and will be working also. And I think Mass min wage is higher than Georgia's(?)
