This is such a broad question it's impossible to narrow down. Like, do you have family here, and do you still want to be within driving distance, or is a flight okay? Do you want to avoid certain seasons (aka winter) or would it be important to you to be near oceans, lakes, etc?
This is such a broad question it's impossible to narrow down. Like, do you have family here, and do you still want to be within driving distance, or is a flight okay? Do you want to avoid certain seasons (aka winter) or would it be important to you to be near oceans, lakes, etc?
I'm feeling really broad right now and like we should consider all options before we narrow it down.
We've basically set a time frame for H to get a job here, and if he can't - we need to look elsewhere. It's too draining to survive off my salary and his measly post-doc.
We don't really want to move, we love it here. But yeah.
He has no family in this country. I'm not close to my extended family. My parents are mobile. So the country is at our fingertips. I'd like water, if we can be by an ocean that'd be great. But mostly I want us to both be employed and be able to afford things. I
I went from living in a (admittedly killer) apartment in San Francisco to living in Fort Worth, Texas. We owned a great house in FTW, but the lack of culture, terrible politics of our neighbors, lack of outdoor activities, etc. etc. made us hate every minute of it. I'm now facing a future of never being able to afford to buy another house because we moved back to a different HCOL, and I don't care. Liviing somewhere you hate isn't worth it, no matter what the cost of living is there.
I'm not saying that all LCOL places are terrible - just cautioning you to think long and hard about your reasons before making any decisions.
I'm feeling really broad right now and like we should consider all options before we narrow it down.
We've basically set a time frame for H to get a job here, and if he can't - we need to look elsewhere. It's too draining to survive off my salary and his measly post-doc.
We don't really want to move, we love it here. But yeah.
He has no family in this country. I'm not close to my extended family. My parents are mobile. So the country is at our fingertips. I'd like water, if we can be by an ocean that'd be great. But mostly I want us to both be employed and be able to afford things. I
Chicago is nice
My mom may literally kill me if I ended up in Chicago. She ran away from there when she was 17 and only visited when obligated.
Post by rupertpenny on Jun 30, 2017 0:33:58 GMT -5
Several years ago we lived in DC and wanted to move at least partially for COL reasons. We moved to Tallahassee and it was awful, we didn't last two years. And this wasn't a completely random place for us, we had friends there and family nearby. I learned that places are usually HCOL for a reason, they are pretty good places to live.
I may be confusing you with someone else, but isn't your H European? I've been looking into moving to Europe recently and I'm amazed by how low the COL is in a lot of places. Not super cheap, but way less than I was expecting.
NorCal (not the Bay Area) is much cheaper than SoCal. But it just depends on what you are looking for. In my particular area we have an active community, there is always stuff going on. And it does help that we have a CSU here. We also have a lot of great outdoor recreation. There is a lake nearby for summer and we are close enough to the mountains that snowboarding is a day trips we are also like 3 hours from everything. Oregon, Tahoe, Reno, SF... can be there in 3 hours. So going somewhere for the day isn't a big issue.
So it depends on what you are looking for beyond COL.
You can buy a bigger house there, find a school where your child may not be shanked (and can be ranked higher in her class -- hey, a benefit!), and still be an hourlong drive from civilization.
But I am literally answering your question; this is what I would do, especially because I grew up there, and my mom still lives there.
I have no idea what type of work you and your husband do or what you are looking for in a city.
The answer for you is largely dependent upon whether the area has jobs in your industries.
We just went thru a deep analysis of areas to move to based upon job prospects and decided on Denver, Dallas and Austin. I made it to the third interview for a job in Austin and we decided to walk from the opportunity. Why? Because while it would have been a cheaper cost of living, that is all it would be. We would be walking from so much here. We have an amazing friend base that has become like family. We have family here too and moving someplace and having to start over would be hard. We may never have our dream home and may be renters for life but we get to live where people vacation.
I lived in a DC suburb and we moved to Michigan and I love it. I'm about 30 minutes north of Ann Arbor. My rep is a tea party asshole but there are always protests outside his office, seems to be a healthy pocket of blue here so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in 2018. The winters haven't even been all that bad since I moved here, no different from the winters in DC really (probably due to climate change). I pay the same amount for a 2100 sq ft house across the street from a lake on about .75 acres as I did for a 1200 sq ft house with a postage stamp sized yard that backed up to a strip mall.
We moved here to be closer to my stepdaughters but I really like living here. We moved to Memphis in 2007 and moved back to DC in 2009 when we were both laid off in the recession. I like it here in Michigan much better.
If the East Coast is an option, then Charleston. We moved here from the Baltimore-DC area (and originally PA) and now can't imagine living anywhere else. It IS kinda slow though, lol.
I moved to Baltimore after college and am very happy here! I think that it is a beautiful state and we are a reliably blue state. Humidity in the summer is a bit of a pain, though.
Baltimore is a good suggestion. It's shockingly affordable (at least compared to DC) and it's got good access to DC, NYC, & Philly. It's not super slow or boring (lots of events, major sports, etc), either. And there seems to be a good mix of industries in the area?
It's going to be hard to be SoCal weather, though.
If you're interested in the Northeast, what about Rhode Island? It's got some charming parts, has the ocean and is a short distance to all that New England has to offer. I don't live there but a lot of people I know have relocated there from Boston to save money; some still even commute to Boston - it's only 45 mins from Providence to Boston on the train.
Minneapolis. Big enough that there's plenty to do - there's actually more theater per capita there than anywhere in the country but NYC. But MCOL. Worst part is definitely the weather. And obviously nowhere near an ocean. We may have the opportunity to move within the next year, and we prefer MCOL because the salary bump I'd get wouldn't be enough to fully account for the COL in a place like D.C. or SF (although I would move back to D.C. anyway). Random places that will probably rank surprisingly high on our list include Birmingham, Cleveland, and Portland ME.
About twice a year I have a it's-too-expensive-here, the-taxes-are-insane induced meltdown and I start exploring real estate in Delaware shore towns, Charleston, and some areas of NC, but then I wimp out and resign myself to the fact that I'll be a lifer here.
I recently moved to the capital region of NY and I love it!! It's nice to be back in a blue state after living for so long in the south, lots to do here and within a day's drive, and it's MCOL.
Post by sherbanator on Jun 30, 2017 7:09:49 GMT -5
Oh man, I'm moving to south bay (redondo) next month and I'm worried the hcol is going to drive me crazy. My suggestions from my past expriences are Raleigh, Portland, and Charleston. I'm in Denver now and I'm ready to get back to a coast so I wouldn't recommend that. I hope you find what you're looking for!
You can buy a bigger house there, find a school where your child may not be shanked (and can be ranked higher in her class -- hey, a benefit!), and still be an hourlong drive from civilization.
But I am literally answering your question; this is what I would do, especially because I grew up there, and my mom still lives there.
I have no idea what type of work you and your husband do or what you are looking for in a city.
The answer for you is largely dependent upon whether the area has jobs in your industries.
We did this. We bought a 3,500 SF house for about $200,000 less than we could have purchased an 1,800 SF condo in south OC.
It is hot as Hades right now, though. I think you've always lived close to the ocean?
Amenity-wise, things are improving. Like a GASTROPUB opened near us and that was very exciting for me. LOL.
I don't know much about schools, but apparently our area is pretty desirable and a lot of families have moved here from OC. There's no way in hell I'd move out here if I had to commute back to the OC. The 15/91 interchange is a bitch.
ETA: the commute the other direction is pretty easy (San Diego). Actually, that's something I like about our area. We're an hour 15 from San Diego and OC, an hour and a half from Palm Springs. I feel like we're a leeeeeetle too far from LA, though. I'd like to go out there more but it's usually a 3 and a half hour round trip.
If you're open to the midwest, Michigan cities like Ann Arbor, Plymouth and Northville are quite nice. We considered moving to Chicago when we lived in Michigan; one of my cousins lives in an suburb of Chicago called Elmhurst, and I think it's so lovely every time we visit. Nice, aged neighborhoods, cute little downtown area, about 20 minutes from the city and airport, excellent schools.
i wish I knew. We are going through the same thing. Live in NoVa, near where I grew up, but we both kind of want a change. lower costs of living would be quite nice.
For me, I want some place further south and somewhat near water.
I lived in a DC suburb and we moved to Michigan and I love it. I'm about 30 minutes north of Ann Arbor. My rep is a tea party asshole but there are always protests outside his office, seems to be a healthy pocket of blue here so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in 2018. The winters haven't even been all that bad since I moved here, no different from the winters in DC really (probably due to climate change). I pay the same amount for a 2100 sq ft house across the street from a lake on about .75 acres as I did for a 1200 sq ft house with a postage stamp sized yard that backed up to a strip mall.
We moved here to be closer to my stepdaughters but I really like living here. We moved to Memphis in 2007 and moved back to DC in 2009 when we were both laid off in the recession. I like it here in Michigan much better.
I was going to suggest Michigan. The rural areas are very very red and very very religious. But there are blue/purple areas in metro detroit, and mid michigan. Winters in metro Detroit really aren't *that* bad compared to northern MI. COL is reasonable. But the public transportation system is garbage, as in, there isn't one. (motor city, go figure).
There's a lot of suburbs of metro Detroit that are nice! I grew up in Livonia and I believe people still move into that area to be in the public school system (I think north of 6 mile is probably the most desirable). Every time I go back to Michigan I laugh at what they call a "rush hour." And then I cry because I just hit a giant pothole.