Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm a native Chicagoan living in São Paulo, Brasil with my wife and we are currently looking to move back to the 'States. We love the NE and would love to make a permanent move there within the next couple years. I'm finishing a degree in Finance/(International) Business and my wife is finishing a degree in Event Planning.
We're wondering some nice areas to settle down and raise our family, possibly in the NY area. I've heard some negative things about Buffalo and Rochester, so we would be looking more upstate or in the East near Albany? Any places with a decent low cost of living, with good jobs available, possible cities nearby?
-Low cost of living (relatively)
-Low crime
-Nice suburban areas
-Cities/large towns nearby?
-Employment available
We love the winter, so we don't have any worries about the cold and snow. Other states/areas in the NE are welcome as well. We'd just love to find a nice place to settle down up there.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Charlottesville, Virginia
You won't regret it.
Do you get 4 seasons in the NC/Virginia area? Just wondering as we'd love to have winters and enjoy the switch between hot summers and cold winters. Also, nice liberal areas there as well? I grew up South of Chicago and know my fair share of very close minded people who think anything south of Texas is poor and third-world countries.
The reason I ask is because we'd like to enjoy a bit of open-mindedness about other cultures and people. Have heard not so nice things about SC and the surrounding areas in general, however it's all hearsay and could be totally false.
Do you get 4 seasons in the NC/Virginia area? Just wondering as we'd love to have winters and enjoy the switch between hot summers and cold winters. Also, nice liberal areas there as well? I grew up South of Chicago and know my fair share of very close minded people who think anything south of Texas is poor and third-world countries.
The reason I ask is because we'd like to enjoy a bit of open-mindedness about other cultures and people. Have heard not so nice things about SC and the surrounding areas in general, however it's all hearsay and could be totally false.
Any input?
Thanks
Yes, you will get 4 seasons in any of these locations. Charlottesville and Asheville have the added bonus of amazing fall colors, better colors than NY even due to southern species of trees like magnolias and tulip poplars being mixed with northern species. C-ville and Asheville also get fair amounts of snow. Summer will be hot and humid in all three, Raleigh being the warmest.
All 3 cities are very open-minded and forward thinking.
I'd recommend both over rural parts of SC. Greenville and Charleston in SC are nice though.
Plenty of liberal areas. C-ville and Asheville in particular are quite liberal.
In Upstate NY, you can live in any of the suburbs of the major metro, but it will depend on the job situation. Look into suburbs like Williamsville, Amherst, Brighton, DeWitt, Colonie, Niskayuna, Delmar, Guilderland, Manlius, Pittsford, Clarence and Penfield, among others.
The places I mentioned, the actual cities themselves won't have high crime rates. Of course, suburbs in most states are generally safe. If you're looking to live in a suburb, but want the actual city to be safe as well, the cities I mentioned will fulfill that requirement as well.
The places I mentioned, the actual cities themselves won't have high crime rates. Of course, suburbs in most states are generally safe. If you're looking to live in a suburb, but want the actual city to be safe as well, the cities I mentioned will fulfill that requirement as well.
Cities of a decent size will have crime. It also varies by city and neighborhood within cities. I believe that the OP would be fine in those cities. Like it was mentioned in the original post, they wanted a suburb. With that said, you can find fine neighborhoods in those cities as well.
Like I said, OP, if you want to feel safe in the vast majority of the city, and be able to explore about as you wish, the cities I mentioned will allow this. Some people leave the suburbs and like to explore the city that the suburbs are apart of. In the cities I mentioned, you can pretty much go anywhere and not concern yourself with watching the street that you are on or the neighborhood that you are in.
Like I said, OP, if you want to feel safe in the vast majority of the city, and be able to explore about as you wish, the cities I mentioned will allow this. Some people leave the suburbs and like to explore the city that the suburbs are apart of. In the cities I mentioned, you can pretty much go anywhere and not concern yourself with watching the street that you are on or the neighborhood that you are in.
Those areas aren't in the Northeast and you can do just fine with the cities up here as well, just like any city of a decent size, things will vary. If they can do São Paulo, they should be fine in cities up here.
If you can find employment, Ithaca would work too.
OP, are you interested in winter activities?
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 01-27-2014 at 03:43 PM..
Raleigh, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Charlottesville, Virginia
You won't regret it.
I think you need to get off the New York thread. They want to move to New York. Get it?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
