What would you choose? Re: Moving

[ruby412]

Option A - where we live now
-40 minute commute for me
-20 minute commute for H (he mostly works from home though)
-Schools in top 25 in the state
-Schools are in opposite direction of my work - will add to commute with pick-up when kids are older
-Area is more "down to earth"
-Can get more house for the money (homes 100k+ less than option B for same type of house)
-5 minutes from my parents
-Less congested area

Option B
-30 minute commute for me
-10 minute commute for H 
-Schools in top 10 in the state, h.s. is #1 in this area
-Schools are on the way home from my work - will not add to commute time
-Area may have more "snobby" people mixed with "down to earth"
-Schools are considered more "competitive" for academics and sports - a pro and a con in one...
-Homes are 100k+ more expensive than Option A
-15-20 minutes from my parents
-Slightly more congested area (closer to major mall)

What would you do? Is the secret to happiness a shorter commute or a nicer house? I am leaning one way, H is leaning another...


ETA: There are almost 600 school districts in the state. So these are both great districts. One is more just a bit better than the other, but I'd be confident sending my kids to either.

[TrudyCampbell]

Hmmm tough choice. Since we are moving out of the city solely for schools, the better schools would win out for me.

[teamhayes]

the commute wouldn't away me but the 25 vs top 10 school system would

[thedahliharpa]

Option B. I'm so over driving and it's only 25-30mins.

[Deleted]

If you can afford the house increase and still get a home you like, I choose B.

[thedahliharpa]

The difference between the school rankings seems really marginal unless there is a huge disparity between the ratings.

[devotchka]

The better schools would win for me too.

[betsyray]

I'd lean towards the shorter commute if you could still get a decent house.

[earlybird]

If you could afford the price difference, the shorter commute would be my choice. You are a conscientious parent who cares about education. Your kids will be successful no matter which school they attend.

[steph196]

I would definitely pick the shorter commute and better schools if you could afford the price difference.

[kkfeb04]

Lol I think your area is congested anyway (and I even went fo college there) but you couldn't pay me a million dollars to move there.

Would your commute time include the congestion?

[sunshineluv]

I clicked B.

What do you think of the neighborhoods? You say B is slightly more congested. We picked a house partially bc of our neighbors, and I am really happy with our decision, we spend a lot of time with them. (We also paid more money for a house with a farther commute and better schools... but we didn't have the shorter commute option in a place we wanted to move to).

[imimahoney]

B.

Up here we call it buying a school district rather than a house

[carawestt]

I would choose B if you can afford it.

[jg183]

I think A because your current area is nice and 100k is a big difference

[claralou]

I'm surprised I'm the odd one out here, but A. For me, no incremental improvements in an already excellent school district could counter a "down to earth" community five min from my parents and a better house. The commute factor does give me pause though. I still think A, but can see why it's a tough choice.

[lauranicole91]

May 11, 2016 11:05:31 GMT -5 @lindy said:

If you can afford the house increase and still get a home you like, I choose B.

This.

[artgal84]

I would pick A. That's a small increase in school rating overall and it's most likely based on things like state test scores and number of AP classes offered - which doesn't really determine how successful or happy your kids will be there. Sports aren't something I would ever move for either.

100k overall is a huge difference- with that extra money you could travel with them more or invest in their higher education. Both of these things would make more of a direct impact on them then a slightly better district. I'd rather live closer to my family and with more down-to-earth people as well.

[browneyedhunni85]

I would chose A. It seems the school district and area is still great. 100k less for a house is huge though. The commute doesn't seem that bad.

[CrazyLucky]

As someone with a long commute, I think the secret to happiness would be a short commute. But cutting my commute by ten minutes is not enough to make me move. Why do you have to automatically do pick-ups? Why not DH, or why not a school bus?

[laurensmomma]

Agree that 10 minutes is not enough for me to pay $100k more for a house that is in a school district that is just slightly better than the one I'm in already. Plus, you don't know that you'll be working where you are now forever, right?

[ruby412]

Thank you for your responses. I love hearing the different points of view!

H is leaning towards A. He wants more house and loves where we currently live.

I'm leaning towards B. The commute is already killing me. With daycare pickup, it's over an hour to get home each day. The middle school, in our current area, is 15 minutes in the opposite direction of work, which would add 30 more minutes to my already sucky commute! The kids will attend that school for 6 consecutive years.

We're currently at a bit of a standstill because of this.

CrazyLucky, H does mornings/drop-off and I do afternoons. He works later than me and I have to head to work earlier than him. Buses will work sometimes, but not when the kids are little because they'll need to attend after care and not when they have afterschool activities in middle school - there is no bus for that.

laurensmomma, I will probably stay in my current school district, even if I move teaching positions. There is not a lot of movement in the teaching field and I'm in a great district and very happy here.

[spaghetticat]

May 11, 2016 11:55:52 GMT -5 claralou said:

I'm surprised I'm the odd one out here, but A. For me, no incremental improvements in an already excellent school district could counter a "down to earth" community five min from my parents and a better house. The commute factor does give me pause though. I still think A, but can see why it's a tough choice.

This is my thought but I'm curious on which towns you are thinking of. If it is the town with the mall I don't think I would want to deal with all the traffic and what not but I haven't been there in a long time. Maybe it's changed.

[atlas]

B if you can afford it. I understand your H's position. but dude, driving and traffic is the pits. Anything to bring that down.

[fusion]

would that jump in housing affect other parts of your life negatively like retirement? that's a large jump but a long commute would also kill me slowly. I actually didn't click because I couldn't decide.

[jg183]

I'm anti commute but 10 minutes isn't long enough for 100k

[shevacc]

I can't decide. I really appreciate living in a less congested community with good schools. Though we couldn't find better schools without one of us having a hellish (2+ hours) commute, and it isn't inexpensive here anyway.

Where you're at seems like a really nice place and I'm not sure the relative difference in school ranking is worth moving for.

How stressful is your commute? Would the shorter commute be less stressful or about the same? 10 minutes of clear highway driving is a world away from 10 minutes in a traffic jam.

Are the community amenities comparable? Parks, schools, sports, classes, libraries? What about the level of competition for summer camps, rec classes, etc.?

[ruby412]

spaghetticat, I'll PM you which towns we're considering. It's not the actual town with the mall in it, just closer to it. That traffic is insane!

[fryjack2]

I need you to PiP the house so I can see which one I like better

Commute is huge to me. That's why we are staying in the city and paying for private schools. We live less than 3 miles from work and sometimes it takes H almost and hour to get home. 10 minutes easily turns into 45. I don't want H (or I on the days I work) to spent more of the time the boys are awake in traffic trying to get home before they go to bed.

BUT when the boys are older we may move to one of the top 10 school districts in the state. Still basically the city, but not. They will be awake more hours, won't need as much adult supervision, they can car pool with friends, and we can get a little more space for our money. Maybe. It's still crazy expensive.

[laurack]

If the commute is truly a 10 minute difference then i don't see that as a big enough time savings for 100k.

What size houses/differences are we thinking?

I also wouldn't want to be near the mall

Top 25 is good for schools!

If it's like 1000 square feet in the nicer area then I'd choose the place you are now.

How's the crime, same or different crime level?