Help me find my ideal place to live...

[Desnik]

Hello everyone!
My husband and I have finally made the decision to relocate. This would be in the next 2 years. We want to give ourselves enough time to research places and visit them to see if they fit what we are looking for. We definately want to be out of NY, and aren't considering the northeast because of reseaching and noticing not much of a difference to where we are now. Don't get me wrong, the town we are in now is very pretty, and has really good schools, it is just not what we want anymore, NY. We also are sickened by the prices of homes($500,000-$1,000,000) and the taxes($10,000-20,000)a year. The biggest plus will be living somewhere that family members have to take a plane to get to LOL!!!!!!!!
As far as hubbies job, he works for Verizon, phone company,not cellular, so there are some options of transfers with them. Also, he has a BA in business management so we hope he could find something. We will hopefully be able to, depending on what we find, pay almost half up front if not more for a home, so low mortgage. I am a SAHM.

O.K. now to my posting this here. We are having a hard time finding what we are looking for. I thought what better place to ask than here where there are people from all over! So, are ya up to it? Can you help us locate our ideal place to live? Is it where you live or do you know an axact place?

Here is what we are looking for:
Good schools!!! We have 2 children and this is really the most important to us. Luckily they are only 5yo, and 3mo, so a move in 2yrs. won't be that hard school wise.

A treelined neighborhood with sidewalks!

An older home with character, maybe a front porch, a victorian, or traditional colonial.

Here's the catch, it can't be $1,000,000!!!!

We are open to any and all areas. We want a friendly, family oriented place with a low crime rate, you know, what everyone else wants!!
A community. If it helps here is an example of places and towns we like, but know they are too expensive:
Charleston, SC
Salem, Mass.
Cape May, NJ
Remember that movie Father of the Bride, that house and neighborhood!
Also that movie Cats and Dogs, great house and neighborhood.

Please, any and all opinions, and if you need more info, just ask. Thanks everyone, look foward to reading responses

 

[ByTheSea]

there are a lot of tools available on the internet

try a search of "best place to raise a family" or pick up a "Places rated" almanac.

I think you need to look a little further west myself

 

[Kurry]

I am from Southwest Virginia and I think this is a great place to raise kids. I live in a small city but I can reach several medium to large cities in as little as 45 minutes. Crime is pretty low here. I live in an older home with a huge front porch(rocking chairs and ferns)and on a street with trees all over the place but no sidewalks. My house was a little over $200,000 (4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths, Big Family Room, 2 Story Garage). Our taxes are fairly low. I personally think we have great schools- 1 Elementary, 1 Middle, and 1 High School in the City and several others outside in the county. There is a nationally known private school located right outside the county. We are known as the Capital of Oldtime Music and hold several festivals throughout the year. Many will say that there isn't much to do around here but I think there is plenty if your willing to go out and look for it. We have trails, rivers, hiking, etc.

Sorry to ramble but I love where I live. If you want more info, just let me know.

 

[jipsy]

http://www.findyourspot.com/

 

[CEDmom]

I don't know what kind of climate you're looking for but have you considered the midwest? Some places that I've been to or know people who live there are:

Milwaukee
Madison,WI
Chicago
Minneapolis

All of these cities have a number of wonderful suburban communites with good schools.

Good luck.

 

[snoopy]

I work for Verizon in Arlington, VA, right outside of Washington, D.C. Not sure you want to come here though, its also very expensive to live here. However, Maryland and Virginia are beautiful states, with lots of quaint neighborhoods and good schools.

I live in Georgetown, which is a district in Washington, D.C. Here is a picture of my house, probably not what you are looking for, but this is what you can expect if you live in the nicer parts of D.C.:

Our schools are excellent in Georgetown.

The suburban areas of D.C. are quite different, of course. More land and a place to park, for starters!

Good luck!

 

[Aurora63]

What about Florida?

I live in North Florida, in Tallahassee, to be exact. Homes are fairly reasonable around here. Verizon is not here except as a cellular carrier, though...though lately I have seen a few verizon pay phones around, so maybe they're expanding.

We have LOTS of trees, we're not far from the beach (or Mickey Mouse either), and it's a pretty nice place to live. Other than this part of the state, the east coast has some nice places which are not extremely congested but not in the boondocks, either.

 

[Desnik]

Thanks for the replies so far.
I think the direction we're heading will be south, or mid west.

by thesea I tried what you said and it got me to the website
jipsy provided. Thanks to both of you. I took that quiz and it gave towns in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.

Snoopy, I had no idea you work for Verizon, my whole family does! We have been to Georgetown and it is beautiful, but too much like it is here. You have a beautiful home.

We are not afraid of the heat, so a warmer climate is welcome
being closer to Mickey would also be a huge plus

Keep the advice coming!

Aurora63 we have definately not ruled out Florida

 

[judirain]

Wow, it is a small world. My DH works for Verizon (land line) in bergen county and we are also looking to relocate!! I met my husband when back when Verizon was Bell Atlantic (I worked for them too) and boy were we the talk of the office when we started dating.

Schools are also very important to us but we are looking for a small town. We have been checking out Stephens City VA, but haven't made any decisions yet. Gool Luck in your quest.

 

[Megan's Mom]

Look at Huntsville Alabama. One of those polls that list best smaller towns had Huntsville near the top of the list. We have great schools in most parts of town. It is fairly close to Birmingham, Nashville TN and ATlanta. It is a very friendly town with lots of things to do and things that are close by. If you would like to email me for more information feel free to. Housing isn't too bad depending on where you want to live. There is a nice subdivision that the yuppies like to live in and you pay for the name only.

 

[torismom]

Desnik
" thesea I tried what you said and it got me to the website
jipsy provided. Thanks to both of you. I took that quiz and it gave towns in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia"

out of curiosity what towns did they give you?

 

[Dan Murphy]

I must say our hometown area of Chicago has a lot to offer. Verizon is here, any type of community, good suburban school system, middle of the road housing costs, normally four seasons, from the 90's to below zero, snow.

Plus we have the most DIS meets next to WDW.

 

[helenabear]

To throw out another midwest city... I live in Columbus. We are a larger city that doesn't realize it. It has a lot to offer but I don't feel lost around here as I do in a few others. We have great schools and great neighborhoods. I feel very safe and we live in an area where the kids still play in the streets, you can walk by yourself at night and not worry and our doors are rarely locked (usually only during the night or at work when I remember). Just a nice friendly area where you say hi to people you walk by whether you really know them or not. We get all the seasons too... usually not too much snow, but we do get the cold (below 0) and the heat (90s and sometimes 100s). It would take a lot to get me to move from here

 

[Harambe]

Former New England Telephone - I mean Nynex - I mean Bell Atlantic - I mean Verizon employee! I left the company about 5 years ago to raise the kids. I was a manager, and left to become a teacher's aide. Oh, just a slight income adjustment (!).

We live in Marblehead, MA which is the next town to Salem. Excellent schools with a brand-spanking new high school, state of the art! All Elementary schools will be k-3 by 2005, with 4-6 being in the middle school. Grades 7-8 have their own building, and 9-12 are at the new high school!

It is an easy commute to Boston, where there are a lot of Verizon buildings. My brother works for the company out in Lowell, MA. A longer commute but not bad.

We are on the ocean on three sides of town, which is like a free summer vacation. It is a little expensive to live here, but it is very family oriented.

 

[Desnik]

These are some of the towns I was given:
St.Mary's, Ga
Paris, TN
Woodbury, TN
Aiken, SC
Gainsville, GA
Myrtle Beach, SC
Eufaula, AL
Oxford, Miss
Guntersville, AL
Alexander City, AL
Rockport, TX
Brunswick, GA
Fairhope, AL
Beufort, SC
San Marco, TX
Alpine, TX

 

[CarolA]

The Father of the Bride movie with Steve Martin's house was in Los Gatos CA. Wonderful neighborhood but the cost of living in WAY Up there. (I was offered a job there years ago and there was NO WAY!)

Franklin, TN might be someplace to consider. The older downtown area meets your requirements and there are also lots of suburbs.

 

[Megan's Mom]

Boy they really gave you small towns. Guntersville is about 30 minutes from Huntsville and part of it is on the lake which is the appeal to some people of course property on the lake is rather high. Fairhope is around Mobile and is on the beach. Don't kow a lot about it. Eufala is in East Alabama and is a rather old town. Knew someone from college that is fromthere the problem there might be finding a job. Lots of old antibellum homes there though and also in Fairhope if I recall. Hope that helps.

I have been to Oxford Miss home of Ole MIss. The campus is one of the prettiest that I have seen in the south. Great old town. Home of John Grisham.

 

[d.kurz]

It's kind of heartwarming to see how everyone loves where they live. Ditto for me, although it IS northeast. We are in the Philly burbs where you have NY and DC culture and history without the high cost of living.

Here is our house:

<img height="200" src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid65/p675440e8a537f358fb8b13e02b539c61/fbeaf065.jpg.orig.jpg">




judirain said:

I met my husband when back when Verizon was Bell Atlantic (I worked for them too) and boy were we the talk of the office when we started dating.

OMG!!! This is my life, too! Except I wound up being his boss....NOT a good situation!! DH still works for Verizon. I left to have our kids!

 

[torismom]

I live outside of gainesville, Ga in Flowery Branch. I have lived in this area most of my life, I absolutley love it here. We are close enough to Atlanta, 6 hours from the coast, an hour or so from the mountains, lake Lanier is right here. Our school system is great.We do have 4 seasons. Fall here is beautiful. We do not get much snow though. Definately , look into this area.Also, housing cost are very reasonable. You even get quite a bit of land with your home.

 

[LuvTigger]

This might be too far for you, but I was thinking Seattle or a nearby city. One of my friends went to the University of Washington, met her husband in Seattle, they moved back to Hawaii for a few years, but decided there really wasn't a whole lot here for them. They went back up to Seattle, for many of the reasons you mentioned! (And believe me, my friend researches EVERYTHING, even down to the type of dog she wanted!) She really likes the school system, feels the area is safe, for the most part, got a big house for a good price (anything is good compared to Hawaii), and they both have jobs in their field that they enjoy.