We moved from Brooklyn to Charleston, SC last year. We enjoyed living in NYC but didn't want to raise our kids there--the cost and the fact that we don't have any family up north. DH is from Charleston and I went to college here, so we were happy to come back. We love it here; the weather is often beautiful, there's some city life as well as a beach nearby, people are very friendly (we actually know our neighbors), and the restaurant scene is awesome (though not like NYC). Our rent in our 1-br, 400 sqft apartment in Park Slope was $1950; our mortgage on our 1800 sqft house, not downtown but within walking distance of a bunch of stuff, is $1400.
BUT, a huge but, the job market here pretty much sucks, unless you're in food/bev/hospitality. If you're attorneys (DH is), stay away! He's terribly underemployed, and he had a really prestigious job in Manhatthan. I work from home, so I have the same job, but there isn't much out there if I want a charge. Anyway, all that to say we really like it here otherwise
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We are in the Hudson Valley a little over an hour by train. It just made more sense for us and we live in a beautiful area. Public transportation is non existent but there is a ton to do. I do miss the city but luckily my parents still live there so we stay with them a few times a year.
DH I moved out of Brooklyn 2 years ago and bought a house in Putnam County [thats just north of Westchester, only the housing market is affordable] I still work in the city. It's not particularly cheaper once you account for taxes and gas and the need for multiple cars and commuting costs [which is long], but what we spent for a 800sqft 2 BR apartment in Brooklyn, we traded for an acre of land that backs up to forest, a house plus a detached 2 story garage [which DH converted to a recording studio, instead of the tiny place he rented for an arm and a leg before] OB a private road, a quiet peaceful life where we leave the house unlocked and the keys in the car. I love coming home everyday to my house in the woods, and I can't wait to eradicate the city equation from my life except when I want it.
And re: school costs. Rule of thumb If you're looking for a good school district, then the taxes are going to be killer. You basically trade that for the cost of private school in NYC. The advantage though is you only pay one set of taxes no matter how many kids.
Married My Love on 6/18/2006 BFP#1 10/1/2011. Our perfect little girl, Her heart stopped @ 12w1d. D&E 11/23/11 BFP#2 3/13/12 Weird CP/Possible EP @ 6w0d BFP#3 5/28/12 CP @ 5w0d BFP/WTF#4 10/26/12 CP BFP#5 12/10/12 EDD 8/23/2013 Baby Boy Born 8/22/13
Wow there are a lot of NYC'ers on this board! I live in southwest OH and i'ts just okay. I hate cold weather so I am miserable about 5 months out of the year. I lived in Chapel Hill when I was younger and would love to move back there sometime. Or San Diego but not sure if we could afford it!.nbsp;
Southwest Ohio here too, good 'ld Cincinnati. It once was "the queen city", now I would say it resembles NJ a little. It's working hard to change. I honestly love it here because my family has so much history in this city.
If I were to go anywhere Austin or somewhere in Colorado would be my first choice. GL!
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I am so glad you said Kansas!! I was goin to say it but thought I might get a few "are you kidding"s ... I live in Lawrence and I absolutely love it... It's a bigger city than I was used to but still has a small town feel! So many electic shops and nonchain restaurants! I love every min of Kansas!
I grew up here in the burbs, have lived in the city for 9 years and love it. It's like a mini New York. We have great public transit, it's cheaper, amazing food and restaurants, great entertainment. Day care is about 2000/mo, but you can nanny share for half that price (what most people here do). You can get a nice place for a reasonable price, compared to NYC. It's a gorgeous city, we have great beaches (which one might not think, haha) and there is a ton to do!
Id highly recommend it!
Off BCP since 1/12 TTC since 3/12 High LH/FSH Ratio 8/12 DX with PCOS 11/12 Clomid 50mg - 19.5mm Follie - Trigger + TI = BFP! 11/12 EDD August 11, 2013
We live in Madison, NJ and I love it here and hope we can afford to stay. Still expensive, but nowhere near what it is in NYC. Wonderful schools, and a great neighborhood feeling. We're only a 45 min train ride from the city, it was a good change for us.
we've been looking in millburn, we're just wondering if it makes sense to leave the area completely instead!
I like Millburn, and Summit is wonderful. I hear you on leaving the area, we have seriously considered it. Living here (even in the suburbs) is hard, cost of living and keeping up with the pace takes it's toll. But, NY Metro is home to us, and I'm not sure we'll ever leave!
Hi ! H and I are looking at houses in Summit, Madison Chatham this weekend, we are also in Manhattan right now.
Blessed with double the love. C and J born May 2013
We live in southern CA. I like it here a lot, but if you're looking for somewhere with a better cost of living.. well, this ain't it. : It does, however, have amazing weather, great foods, so many outdoor activities, farmers markets, etc. I grew up in Fort Collins, CO.. and I have to say, it was a wonderful place to live. Despite what you may have heard, they really do have great weather in CO. You get all four seasons, but even in the winter, you still get a LOT of sunshine and 60 degrees sometimes. And the summers there are AMAZING. Also a cheaper cost of living, nice people, and it's a college town so there are tons of restaurants, bars, etc. It's been on the Best Place to Live list or whatever many, many times.nbsp;
My fianc grew up in FoCo! Mmmm Big City Burrito! We currently live in Oklahoma City. We love it! The cost of living is fantastic, we have a wonderful basketball team, nice people, great food and shopping, and we are only 3 hours away from a Dallas weekend get away and 1.5 hour inexpensive plane ride to Denver.
I live in Florida. Honestly, I love it here. Just not my particular condo.
The beaches, the sun, the relaxed way of life. Much better than the hustle and bustle of up north. We live on Island time down here. It's much nicer that way.
I love Florida!! I live in Central Florida/North Orlando and just love the area. We have great rated public schools, low-rate of crime [my area not Orlando in general], a very decent cost of living. I'm just a 30 minute drive to the beach and a 30 minute drive to the amusement parks. I can stay clear of all the tourists or act like one myself when I'm in the mood. Lots of great shopping and eating on my side of town.
Move to Canada!! I about an hour and a half east of Toronto. The weather is not too bad here, down by the St. Lawrence Bay area. We miss alot of the snow and have milder temps. It's -10 today, which is not too bad and probably not a big difference than the weather where you are, since it's not very far. We have free health care in Canada, my pregnancy and birth will cost me zero dollars and I get a full year off on mat leave. We live in a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom bungalow (brand new) for $330K. There are much cheaper options though, you can get a decent house for around $200K. There's lots of outdoors things to do. Canada is awesome!!
I've also been to upstate NY, theAdirondaks, skiing at White Face mountain and it's beautiful up there! It's only about 4 hours from where we live. But in all honesty, I prefer living in Canada.
BFP #1: 12/26/11, EDD 09/05/12; m/c discovered: 02/22/12 @ 12w u/s, D&C: 03/08/12 Waited for AF for 146 long days! Hysteroscopy/D&C on July 10th to fix blocked cervix (DX: Cervical Stenosis) BFP #2 12/8/12, EDD 08/21/13 Our rainbow arrived 08/24/13!
We live in Madison, NJ and I love it here and hope we can afford to stay. Still expensive, but nowhere near what it is in NYC. Wonderful schools, and a great neighborhood feeling. We're only a 45 min train ride from the city, it was a good change for us.
we've been looking in millburn, we're just wondering if it makes sense to leave the area completely instead!
I like Millburn, and Summit is wonderful. I hear you on leaving the area, we have seriously considered it. Living here (even in the suburbs) is hard, cost of living and keeping up with the pace takes it's toll. But, NY Metro is home to us, and I'm not sure we'll ever leave!
Hi ! H and I are looking at houses in Summit, Madison Chatham this weekend, we are also in Manhattan right now.
Oh yay! I love when new moms come to the area:) Those are the exact 3 towns we looked at, and we haven't regretted it for a minute!
I live in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's a very pretty area and I like it, but I would much prefer to be back in the Ft Worth, TX area where my family lives. It's not pretty there, but it's home to me and I love it. Charlottesville is a very good place to live though. We live in the most expensive county around, but if you lived in one of the other counties, it's a lot cheaper. I would definitely recommend it for a place to raise a family.
Re: NBR: Do you like where you live?
We moved from Brooklyn to Charleston, SC last year. We enjoyed living in NYC but didn't want to raise our kids there--the cost and the fact that we don't have any family up north. DH is from Charleston and I went to college here, so we were happy to come back. We love it here; the weather is often beautiful, there's some city life as well as a beach nearby, people are very friendly (we actually know our neighbors), and the restaurant scene is awesome (though not like NYC). Our rent in our 1-br, 400 sqft apartment in Park Slope was $1950; our mortgage on our 1800 sqft house, not downtown but within walking distance of a bunch of stuff, is $1400.
BUT, a huge but, the job market here pretty much sucks, unless you're in food/bev/hospitality. If you're attorneys (DH is), stay away! He's terribly underemployed, and he had a really prestigious job in Manhatthan. I work from home, so I have the same job, but there isn't much out there if I want a charge. Anyway, all that to say we really like it here otherwise
IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/qpqv84.jpg[/IMG]
Patiently waiting for little brother!
And re: school costs. Rule of thumb If you're looking for a good school district, then the taxes are going to be killer. You basically trade that for the cost of private school in NYC. The advantage though is you only pay one set of taxes no matter how many kids.
BFP#1 10/1/2011. Our perfect little girl, Her heart stopped @ 12w1d. D&E 11/23/11
BFP#2 3/13/12 Weird CP/Possible EP @ 6w0d
BFP#3 5/28/12 CP @ 5w0d
BFP/WTF#4 10/26/12 CP
BFP#5 12/10/12 EDD 8/23/2013
Southwest Ohio here too, good 'ld Cincinnati. It once was "the queen city", now I would say it resembles NJ a little. It's working hard to change. I honestly love it here because my family has so much history in this city.
If I were to go anywhere Austin or somewhere in Colorado would be my first choice. GL!
I am surprised no one has recommended Chicago!
I grew up here in the burbs, have lived in the city for 9 years and love it. It's like a mini New York. We have great public transit, it's cheaper, amazing food and restaurants, great entertainment. Day care is about 2000/mo, but you can nanny share for half that price (what most people here do). You can get a nice place for a reasonable price, compared to NYC. It's a gorgeous city, we have great beaches (which one might not think, haha) and there is a ton to do!
Id highly recommend it!
TTC since 3/12
High LH/FSH Ratio 8/12
DX with PCOS 11/12
Clomid 50mg - 19.5mm Follie - Trigger + TI = BFP! 11/12
EDD August 11, 2013
Hi ! H and I are looking at houses in Summit, Madison Chatham this weekend, we are also in Manhattan right now.
My fianc grew up in FoCo! Mmmm Big City Burrito! We currently live in Oklahoma City. We love it! The cost of living is fantastic, we have a wonderful basketball team, nice people, great food and shopping, and we are only 3 hours away from a Dallas weekend get away and 1.5 hour inexpensive plane ride to Denver.
M/MC at 9w4d 5/23/12.
DS1- 8/2013
DS2- 11/2015 (Second round IUI)
DD- 9/2017
Baby #4 Due 5/10/20 TEAM GREEN
M/MC at 9w4d 5/23/12.
DS1- 8/2013
DS2- 11/2015 (Second round IUI)
DD- 9/2017
Baby #4 Due 5/10/20 TEAM GREEN
I love Florida!! I live in Central Florida/North Orlando and just love the area. We have great rated public schools, low-rate of crime [my area not Orlando in general], a very decent cost of living. I'm just a 30 minute drive to the beach and a 30 minute drive to the amusement parks. I can stay clear of all the tourists or act like one myself when I'm in the mood. Lots of great shopping and eating on my side of town.
Move to Canada!! I about an hour and a half east of Toronto. The weather is not too bad here, down by the St. Lawrence Bay area. We miss alot of the snow and have milder temps. It's -10 today, which is not too bad and probably not a big difference than the weather where you are, since it's not very far. We have free health care in Canada, my pregnancy and birth will cost me zero dollars and I get a full year off on mat leave. We live in a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom bungalow (brand new) for $330K. There are much cheaper options though, you can get a decent house for around $200K. There's lots of outdoors things to do. Canada is awesome!!
I've also been to upstate NY, theAdirondaks, skiing at White Face mountain and it's beautiful up there! It's only about 4 hours from where we live. But in all honesty, I prefer living in Canada.
D&C: 03/08/12 Waited for AF for 146 long days!
Hysteroscopy/D&C on July 10th to fix blocked cervix (DX: Cervical Stenosis)
BFP #2 12/8/12, EDD 08/21/13 Our rainbow arrived 08/24/13!
Oh yay! I love when new moms come to the area:) Those are the exact 3 towns we looked at, and we haven't regretted it for a minute!