Best place to live?

[karenbaco]

Seriously considering escaping the harsh New Englad winters and relocate, but have no idea where to go? Would like to live somewhere with beautiful warm weather all year that won't break our bank. Important things to consider.....great friendly community, great school system, lots to do, low crime etc. We have a high schooler and middle schooler to consider. All of us in my family are on the same page. Southern California would be a dream but the cost of living is so expensive there. Does anyone have any suggestions on great places to live without freezing snowy winters?

 

[xlxo]

Here's some ideas...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_most_liveable_cities

Cascadia is popular, but affordability is a challenge...
http://www.crackshackormansion.com/

 

[havaneselover]

I grew up in NE. At 17 I decided I was done and never looked back. I've been in VA most of my adult life. I've also tried Tampa--wasn't for me--and Cary, NC (lovely place filled with transplants). Central VA ended up being a good fit for us as the schools are excellent, climate is a compromise, and the cost of living (including taxes) is manageable. Plus the state university systems has a ton of options.

 

[lauradis]

http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/

http://www.keysrealestate.com/listing.cfm?id=44301&section=overview&liststart=1&type=RE&ppg=10

Old key west would be perfect. Ill take a crack shack mansion there any day.

 

[MillauFr]

I would check out San Diego. Sure it is expensive but the jobs pay very well. San Diego has about the best weather in the country.

 

[dfchelbay]

Texas has some great communities, good schools and the state economy hasn't been hit by recession of the rest of US. Texas has job growth as well. Hill country is beautiful too. Check out homes online to see how they compare price/sq ft to what you're getting in the north. Shocking how much further your dollar will go.

 

[tvguy]

It just seems to me that all the places with great year round weather have high poverty rates and poor schools.

 

[happybaker]

This is a pretty neat site: findyourspot .com. I've used it a few times. Don't worry about entering your email address; they don't ever send spam

 

[DawnM]

Much of the NE has moved to the South......North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia areas. They aren't warm all year round, but pretty close.

Crime rates and schools are going to be very specific to exact locations.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My cousin & his wife cannot WAIT to get out of San Diego. The weather is great & the recreation unlimited. But, the traffic is horrendous ALL the time - like 90 minute (22 mile) drives to church on Sunday. They both say they just don't bother with most of the fun things to do because it's such a giant pain to GET anywhere and so crowded once you arrive.

The Southern half of TX is a lot cheaper & while growing rapidly, is still nowhere near as crowded. Problem is its surface of the sun hot May-Sept.

 

[ilovebassets]

The Atlanta metro area is great. Relatively cheap cost of living for a big city. Mostly good weather. Lots of great school systems. There are lots of bad ones, too, but if you make a good public school system a priority when picking a house, you have lots of options.

And we are within driving distance of Disneyworld and have direct flights to almost everywhere with Hartsfield-Jackson airport!

 

[wishing4PA]

Seriously considering escaping the harsh New Englad winters and relocate, but have no idea where to go? Would like to live somewhere with beautiful warm weather all year that won't break our bank. Important things to consider.....great friendly community, great school system, lots to do, low crime etc. We have a high schooler and middle schooler to consider. All of us in my family are on the same page. Southern California would be a dream but the cost of living is so expensive there. Does anyone have any suggestions on great places to live without freezing snowy winters?

You're sure you want "warm weather all year"? From New England, I'd think you might enjoy just moving south a little to Pennsylvania or Maryland perhaps? People from the Carolinas might find it cold there, but you'd probably realize how few blizzards there are. In central PA, Spring and Fall seem almost endless and very pleasant. Summer is moderate and enjoyable. And even winter passes before you know it.
Another not-so-far-south place to look into is Lexington, KY. My DH won't consider moving north of the Mason-Dixon line, and he's even ruled out VA and MD, so I've done a fair amount of looking to see what would be nice in the south (I can not recommend my current location at all.) For the most part crime rates seem high almost everywhere in the SE US to me, but of course you can find pockets with less crime and better schools in most areas if you have the means to live in wealthier neighborhoods. It's tough if you're trying to match up low cost + good schools + warm weather, though. OTOH, it's even tougher for me because I'm trying to add in "+ mountains" If flat is okay, it might simplify things (for example, Lexington.)

 

[eliza61]

Seriously considering escaping the harsh New Englad winters and relocate, but have no idea where to go? Would like to live somewhere with beautiful warm weather all year that won't break our bank. Important things to consider.....great friendly community, great school system, lots to do, low crime etc. We have a high schooler and middle schooler to consider. All of us in my family are on the same page. Southern California would be a dream but the cost of living is so expensive there. Does anyone have any suggestions on great places to live without freezing snowy winters?

LOL, that's a lot of "requirements" for one place. you may have to do trade offs.

I love Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is a great city buuuut the school system sucks! everyone I know put their kids in private school or moved for a time to the suburbs. for a major city the crime rate is pretty low, cost of living is probably the lowest of the surrounding cities (NY, Baltimore and DC).
Winters are not as harsh as ne but they are also a pain. absolutely tons to do.

my kids are young adults in college so no worries about school systems.

I'm retiring soon and plan on being a snow bird. stay in Philly from April to December. get the heck outta dodge January, February and March.

It's going to be 2 degrees tomorrow.

 

[tarheel618]

I don't live here but have a sister that does. Don't know about the school systems but Greenville SC is beautiful. Warm enough but still get some seasons. Its the reason my sister likes it. She hated Florida because we have no seasons but loves Greenville

 

[MillauFr]

But, the traffic is horrendous ALL the time - like 90 minute (22 mile) drives to church on Sunday.

Yes that is just like Seattle. The key is to live in the city so you don't have to drive more than 5 miles to get anywhere. I rarely drive out to the suburbs because it takes way too long to get anywhere. I never drive to work anymore because it is too stressful. I started biking for the exercise and it is actually faster than driving. The weather is great for biking as you can ride year round.

 

[coastalhh]

Seriously considering escaping the harsh New Englad winters and relocate, but have no idea where to go? Would like to live somewhere with beautiful warm weather all year that won't break our bank. Important things to consider.....great friendly community, great school system, lots to do, low crime etc. We have a high schooler and middle schooler to consider. All of us in my family are on the same page. Southern California would be a dream but the cost of living is so expensive there. Does anyone have any suggestions on great places to live without freezing snowy winters?

We moved to bluffton/Hilton head sc 4 years ago from PA and love it. Low crime. Lots to do for a small area because of tourism and under 40 min to savannah ga and 2 hours to charleston sc. 5 hours to disney is a +.

If you think about coming to the area let me know and I can tell you more about it. Also the schools are fabulous. South Carolina as a state is not known for good schools but this area is because 5 to 10 million dollar corp beach houses and a large retired population pay into property tax for the school system without using the schools. The result we have a school system that has a Chinese immersion and Spanish immersion program if you choose. Your children will be fluent in a language by the time they are out of grade school.

 

[karenbaco]

Wow! Thanks for the great suggestions. I have some researching to do. Schools and safe community are my top priority. Do not want to deal with traffic!

 

[lovin'fl]

We are in Maryland and saying the same thing this morning (where can we move that's warmer and cheaper?). We have a condo in Durham, NC (where we lived for 9 years) and plan to move back there when our twin DDs-16 graduate HS. But DH was saying, this morning, that we may need a condo farther south as Durham isn't warm enough right now. We were discussing options like Hilton Head, SC or Savannah, GA. Shoot, I recently saw an episode of House Hunters where they were buying in San Juan and that looks really appealing to me (though I bet they have some big tropical bugs/spiders). I think we will be just fine in Durham...just 28 months from now. We can shoot down to Florida for lots of winter trips (we own DVC and I say we just buy more points so that we can do one week per month from like Oct-March...we can throw in some cruises too).

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

What is considered affordable to you? There are cities outside of L.A. and Orange County that I would consider affordable but others may not. We live in North Orange County about 12 miles from Disneyland. One of the more affordable cities in Orange County called Brea. However, many would not consider it affordable.

What are your job options out here? Temecula is a great city. Closer to San Diego than Orange County with great weather (can get warm in summer). Great schools and more affordable than Orange County, San Diego and L.A. County. I personally wouldn't even consider anything in L.A. County. Try researching different cities in Riverside. But depending on what you think is affordable, Temecula might be a good option for you if you really want to do So Cal.

 

[tzolkin]

We decided to move out of the Syracuse, NY (winner of the snowiest US city) area last year. DH and I both grew up in FL, so weather was an issue but there were other factors for why we wanted to move.

We did a lot of research and decided to move to NC. We have been here for 9 months and absolutely love it. We have found a sense of community, the kids are thriving in school, the area has so much more to offer, and the weather is wonderful.

My oldest is a HS junior and is considering a state university, so that would also be a bonus financially since we are now residents. That wasn't "why" we moved to NC, but it's certainly something that weighed into our decision.