Where is the perfect place to live?

Butterflie6381

In the continental US, small-ish city/town, near a large city (for sports/ museums, etc), weather warmer than cold, not rainy, safe, affordable housing, access to organic food, good schools?

Do you live in a place like this? Where is it?

I'm thinking about a change of scenery......

katers1279

Sioux City, IA

Ha.  Just kidding. 

Love you R.

AshNicole331

Charleston, SC? This is my dream place to live.

Ashleysred

You just descibed Monte Rio, CA....except the rain part.  The winters are wet and town floods.  But, as long as your house doesn't flood, the floods are fun - think lots of block parties with wine, beer, and damn good comfort food.

Windsor, CA is just what you described and super family frendly.  I love Windsor!

ETA:  Affordable housing by CA standards.  Not sure what is affordable in your area.

siba1119

I LOVED working in downtown Beaver (in Beaver County).  It's about 30-40 minutes to downtown Pittsburgh and it's such a charming little town.  Most of main street in Beaver consist of mom & pop shops and it's really a stereotypical Main Street USA type of town.  If Aaron and I move back out west that's where we'll be living.

A few of the other 'small towns' in PA that I like are Hummelstown (20 minutes from Harrisburg) or Hershey, Tamaqua (Schuylkill County), Downtown Indiana (Indiana County) Downtown Clarion (Clarion County, but it's def. more of a 'college' town)

 Oh and Oakmont (Allegheny County about 30 mintes from Pittsburgh)  It's a trendy 'small town' with similar mom & pop shops.  Plus the Oakmont Bakery is SOOOOOOOO yummy!

Alexandra&John

Funny you should ask, there's an article on the Parenting magazine.  They tell you the best places to live.

Butterflie6381

Ashleysred:

ETA:  Affordable housing by CA standards.  Not sure what is affordable in your area.

think single mom affordable, though your suggestions sound lovely

chickymel

I think that sounds like somewhere in VA or NC/SC area.

natalee215

You mean it's not Philly?!?! 

AprilJT

siba1119:

I LOVED working in downtown Beaver (in Beaver County).  It's about 30-40 minutes to downtown Pittsburgh and it's such a charming little town.  Most of main street in Beaver consist of mom & pop shops and it's really a stereotypical Main Street USA type of town.  If Aaron and I move back out west that's where we'll be living.

A few of the other 'small towns' in PA that I like are Hummelstown (20 minutes from Harrisburg) or Hershey, Tamaqua (Schuylkill County), Downtown Indiana (Indiana County) Downtown Clarion (Clarion County, but it's def. more of a 'college' town)

 Oh and Oakmont (Allegheny County about 30 mintes from Pittsburgh)  It's a trendy 'small town' with similar mom & pop shops.  Plus the Oakmont Bakery is SOOOOOOOO yummy!

I LOVE Beaver!  I told my DH that the only way I'm moving to PA is if he moves me to Beaver.  (he really wants to live closer to his family).

Its funny that you should ask this because I've been trying to research places like this.  I HATE WV but we have to be here for 3 years due to his guard contract.  We plan on moving after that.  I want exactly what you are looking for.  I'm thinking of heading back to the South.  I LOVED Little Rock, AR when we lived there.  Top places on my list also include Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.  But we'll have to see if he's still based in Chicago when we decide to move because commuting is killing him!  

FutureMrs.McC

Ellicott City, MD. Baltimore suburb, close to DC and a little over 2 hours to the beach or mountains. One of the best school systems in the country and lots to do. Within an hour of 3 major airports. And the best part? Several nesties in the area. I need a clear definition of affordable though.

Ashleysred

I have a friend who is from Savannah, GA and if she didn't make so much money in SF she would move back.  She loves it there and her family is all in CA now.  So there must be something there...

spiritenergy

The southeast does have some great locations, but the access to organic food is very limited.  Charleston, SC is nice, but housing can get pricey fast. The school in SC are terrible in general.  Not a lot of produce is grown in SC, so food is generally expensive and trucked in.  Savannah, GA is a beautiful town but also pricey.  There is more organic food there, but still not a great selection.  The politics of SC and GA are ridiculous especially if you own a business.  They are both very hard states to crack.  Plus, there have been numerous gas shortages there in the past few years...not fun. It also rains a lot in both places.  Asheville, NC would be my pick.  You still get seasons, but winter isn't that bad.  Plus you get mountains.  The beach is a few hours away.  The schools are good.  It is a total hippie town so you can get organic food.  The downside is that housing there is not cheap.  It isn't as bad as the research triangle, but the housing prices seem to be holding there better than other areas.  Austin, TX is also a great place.  Good schools.  Affordable housing. Great farmers market downtown.  San Antonio is 1-1.5 hours away.  It has very mild winters and lots of culture.  Austin has better job prospects than many areas right now, so it might be a good place to look.

ludyjanboltz

Irvine, CA!!!! Hands down.  Although housing is a little on the higher side.  They have awesome parks all over the place, the weather is to die fore, it's the FBI's safest city for 4 or 5 years in a row now.  Close to beaches, mountains, desert - You pick the terrain you want to see that day and you can be there in less than an hour.  Schools are great.  I could go on and on....  I miss that place.  I would move back in a heartbeat.

MrsBlayne

Austin Tx! Suburbs being pfleugerville, round rock, Georgetown, hutto. I haven't priced in a while but I'm pretty sure you can get a decent house for less than $200 K, less if you go further out like Hutto. Lots of culture, lots of hippies, great food, minor league baseball and the longhorns. Tons to do outdoors. I'm pretty sure the schools are good. Weather is mostly hot to hotter, that is the only drawback, but I am pretty used to it. I have been trying to convince DH to move back to the Austin area but his family is close now - otherwise we would be there! There are Dallas suburbs that would meet your requirement also (Plano, probably others) but I personally like the "vibe" around Austin better.

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Buttercup29

Being from SC and living in NC I thought I would give my 2 cents. Columbia, SC has some good schools but it's a little old school thinking for me - and small townish. But it is truely affordable. Charleston, SC is awesome but hotter than anything in the summers. Lots of tourist but the beaches are awesome - we hopet to retire there one day. With that being said it is expensive. Asheville is a favorite of ours to visit - but it's a boring little city. Not sure I could ever live there. It's a bunch of great places to eat and see - lots of movies are filmed there too and not too expensive to live. But I think it is WAY too small for me. We live in Charlotte, NC and have grown to like it. We do live uptown where rent can vary, but it's much cheaper on the outskirts. Our town home that we sold back in Feb was $85k when the market was at it's peak. It was located 12 miles from the center of town. Lots of people love it here and lots of people move here from Cali and NYC due to how much cheaper housing is. The school systems are not that great - but I don't know much since we are only scouting daycares at this point.

We thoguht about moving once and thought about Austin - that's a really cool city and affordable if you ask me. Good music scene too. VA or FL are other great places to check out. Good luck with your search - and feel free to come for a visit if you need to check out Charlotte!

Mrs.Gale920

Being from NC and have spent a lot of time in SC, SC is waaaaaaaaaaaay hotter and humid in the summers and can be unbearable. Plus you have the threats of hurricanes/tropical storms which you do in NC also. NC is great, I live in a small way behind the times town so I like the Raeligh/Durham area and Charlotte like Dana suggested. Asheville is nice too, the weather is great but I agree there is not much to do. Schools are ok, depends on where you choose and the cost of living here is much cheaper, housing is cheap, etc.

aleikela

Butterflie6381:

Ashleysred:

ETA:  Affordable housing by CA standards.  Not sure what is affordable in your area.

think single mom affordable, though your suggestions sound lovely

????

...and I second Austin. I go there often and you would only be 5 hours from me.

ludyjanboltz

Austin gets hot as friggin hell!  But it has a very young, alternative population.  There are lots of things to do - it's a very outdoor, healthy conscious community as well.  My brother lives there and has his kids out doing fun things every weekend.  They go canoeing on Town Lake, biking, there's the lakes with nice beaches, the hill country is gorgeous, wine country is not far away.  He lives north of the city in Cedar Park which is near Round Rock.  I think that's a very affordable area.  Plenty of other affordable areas.  Personally, I would love to live more in town - they have the cutest older neighborhoods.

I'll be there in August for an outdoor wedding and will be sweating my arse off though!

aleikela

ludyjanboltz:

Austin gets hot as friggin hell!  But it has a very young, alternative population.  There are lots of things to do - it's a very outdoor, healthy conscious community as well.  My brother lives there and has his kids out doing fun things every weekend.  They go canoeing on Town Lake, biking, there's the lakes with nice beaches, the hill country is gorgeous, wine country is not far away.  He lives north of the city in Cedar Park which is near Round Rock.  I think that's a very affordable area.  Plenty of other affordable areas.  Personally, I would love to live more in town - they have the cutest older neighborhoods.

I'll be there in August for an outdoor wedding and will be sweating my arse off though!

I guess I am just used to Texas weather; I have lived here pretty much my whole life.  And the time I did move away, I lived in AZ!!! 

It is already been in the 100's here but it doesn't really bother me!

sillybiochemist

siba1119:

I LOVED working in downtown Beaver (in Beaver County).  It's about 30-40 minutes to downtown Pittsburgh and it's such a charming little town.  Most of main street in Beaver consist of mom & pop shops and it's really a stereotypical Main Street USA type of town.  If Aaron and I move back out west that's where we'll be living.

It's too funny you mentioned that.  DH went to Beaver Community College (sorry if I messed up the name) for his associates degree in air traffic control.  It was definitely a change of pace for him after growing up in Minneapolis (& suburbs).

For us Indy seems to work pretty well.  Cost of living is really good, it doesn't get too hot in the summer (like Texas, Arizona for comparison) but in the winter we do get some weather.  Most of it isn't too bad to deal with though.  You can get organic foods here, including Whole Foods but that's on the north side of the city (we're on south side).  We have options on this side just not as many that I know of yet.  If you live in the suburb area (like I do) you can easily have every day conveniences but head to the city for the Zoo, Children's museum, etc easily.

For me I wanted a bigger town where I wouldn't have to drive and hour or more to get to an art museum or that sort of thing.  I grew up in a smaller town (~40,000) and the closest larger city was 1.5 hrs away.  It had its benefits but for me I wanted easier access to certain things.  My parents don't agree with me.  Then again they didn't have to drive 5 hours to go see Les Miserables in Memphis.   The smaller town also has its job options limited which is the main reason I realized as soon as I left for college at 18 I probably wasn't going to move back.  Not something you like to think about but I decided to go for a job that I loved rather than a job that paid the bills.  In that town I couldn't do both.