Where is a State in the U.S. that has.....

[Keli]

Ok, just to make it official, I'll let you know that KY doesn't fit that criteria either, lol. No white Christmas, not a mountain in sight, but we do have some water! KY lake is pretty awesome and I kinda like little Barren River Lake too.

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by Tinkbell
Cleveland We don't have the mountains but we usually have a white Christmas. We've also got Lake Erie.

I can vouch for that as well.. there are some nice suburbs right off Cleveland..

For example where Towncrier lives (PM him for the town, don't want to broadcast it, w/o his knowledge) is a pretty nice mix of country/city, but not too urban. Another town not far from him is Solon.. another nice town

We lived in Shaker Heights and University Heights. Both pretty good towns. Shaker has a better school system than University, but some don't like Shaker since it borders Cleveland.. (so does University Hieghts, but thats besides the point)

The western suburbs are nice as well. I had many friends that lived in Lakewood, Strongsville, and Parma.

I also had friends that lived in Mentor, and Independence as well.

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

My Dad lives in Vail, CO and they always have a White Christmas.

 

[pumba]

Some great cities that have a great reputation with the schools and life for the familes .....Falmouth Maine.....nice location...great schools....Sebago Maine.......everything within your reach.....atmosphere ....good schools ....and great location....Topsham Maine is another nice town.....close to it all.....then as you go farther north.....you can hit some of the great areas of Boothbay Harbour....Bar Harbor.....Brunswick Maine has a great school system ...close to the ocean...lakes.....mts......and they do have the snow.....our city is one of the top taxed cities in the state...so would not recommend it

 

[I <3 Eeyore]

Originally posted by Beauty
Deb,

Could you suggest some cities. We don't want to live in a large city but not in the sticks either.

The largest city here is Manchester (where I live) and it's only about 100,000 people. It has both urban and suburban sections so it's a nice mix. There are a number of towns that border it like Hooksett, Goffstown, Bedford, Auburn and Londonderry that are more country but still only 10 - 20 mins from shopping.

The other cities are Salem and Nashua (on the Mass border), Concord (20 mins north of Manchester), and Portsmouth (45 mins east of Manchester on the seacoast). Manchester and Concord are the most economical - housing prices in the other 3 tend to be a little prohibitive.

 

[sharbear]

Traverse City, Michigan. One of the most prettest places you will ever find. Snow in the winter, ski hills, lakes inland, Lake Michigan. Lots of Lake effect snow, not too hot in the summer. It's about 5 hours from Detroit.

 

[Serena]

Hey Beth, how about Indy? We don't have any mountains and not much water, we have a white christmas about half the time, but I'm here.

 

[PamOKW]

A place that's great in the summer and plenty cold and snowy in the winter? Has lakes and mountains and yet is developed with shopping, etc. and good schools? Sounds like Burlington Vermont (on Lake Champlain) and the surrounding suburbs like Shelburne, South Burlington and Williston. You've also got the great ski area of Stowe and the city of Montreal an easy drive away.


If you're considering New England, you might want to add this as a possibility. Can't guarantee a White Christmas every year but chances are good and you'll have PLENTY of cold weather.

Before you make a permanent move, have you ever really lived in a cold climate? I know where I live in CT it gets cold and we have some very cold days (and last year was really tough) but when you get up into areas like Vermont and upstate New York the term "cold" can take on a whole new meaning and can be tough to deal with on a daily basis. 32 degrees is cold but doable. Cold with wind chills of -40 is a whole different "cold".

 

[Mermaid02]

Augusta Maine, Waterville Maine, Bangor Maine.... you are not GUARANTEED a white Christmas, but the chances are good (you might even get a white Thanksgiving or Halloween! and often a white Easter!) Lots of mountains for skiing in the western part of Maine- there are lakes all over the place- and of course our rugged rock bound coast. As of right now there are still 2 Disney Stores in the state too!

 

[disnee15]

Yup, she's right about KY. Well all accept the White CHristmas part. I'm 14 and I can remember one or two so its not guarenteed but it could happen. And I like Barren River Lake too!

 

[Kitty 34]

The Upper Penninsula in Michigan

 

[WishingStar]

Erie Pennsylvania is the place for you, in my 29 christmases here, there may have been 2 that were not white. We have what the meterorologists refer to as lake effect snow. The cold air hits the warm lake and we get blasted with snow. We had the second largest amount of snow in the country this past winter (I think rochester n.y. was first). But they are both the same reason lake effect. And the funny thing is we can get 4feet of snow at a time and nothing closes, no one bats an eye, everyone is just that used to it. My one very firm suggestion is, if you want to live here: invest in a 4 wheel drive. Also for the summertime, we have beautiful weather and beaches. Best of luck where ever you decide to go.

 

[Beauty]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

These are all WONDERFUL WONDERFUL suggestions and I plan to look into all of them!

We have always lived in the South and have always hated it. The way we are looking at it, you only live once. If you hate the environment you are in the only thing you can do is change it. Mississippi comes in dead last on everything. Public school systems, state of living EVERYTHING! We want to give John-Cole the opportunities that he deserves and that just isn't here!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[caitycaity]

i was going to suggest syracuse (or someplace in central/upstate ny) too. syracuse is very centrally located. there are lakes (huge, big, and small), and rivers. the adirondacks (which are absolutely beautiful) are only 1-2 hours away. there's lots of fun outdoorsey stuff to do, and you're are almost guaranteed a white christmas every year! and you can live out in the boonies (my best friend in high school lived next door to a cow farm LOL) but also 15-20 minutes away is a nice sized city (not too big) with lots of great shopping and cultural things to do. the suburb that i grew up in, manlius, is in a great public school system, and there are plenty of decent public school systems besides that as well.

the other great thing about that area is that the cost of living is a lot less than most places on the east cpast and house prices are still pretty low (compared to a lot of the country).

i spent most of my teenage life dreaming about leaving it, but now i'm dying to go back. i'm sick of city life.

 

[PamOKW]

It's great to make a change and I don't blame you for looking for better places for your son. You are also smart to do some research first. There are a lot of things to consider including the job market in the different areas. You may also suffer "sticker shock" on the prices of homes and/or rent versus what you see in Mississippi. Keep asking questions as they come up!

 

[Magickndm]

How cool to just be able to pull up stakes and find a new place to live. We've visited Asheville NC several times and love it there. I've lived here for 26 years, my family is here, my daughter's friends are all here, so it just wouldn't work for me. Plus, I'm not sure I could move too far away from the Mouse. Going just once ot twice a year is NOT an option for me.
Good luck on your hunt, can't wait to hear where you pick!

 

[Beauty]

The sad thing is our family consists of me, my DH, our 11 year old DS and my mom. My grandmother is also with us but she is in poor health and 87 years old. You know though God is the only one who knows what we all have in store. She may outlive us all. But at the rate she is going she won't be with us in 2 years.

J.C. will be going into the 8th grade so he will still be young enough to make good friends wherever we go. We are starting now doing all the research and hopefully we will be able to take some vacations to the places we decide are promising.

 

[jsmith]

Colorado-most mountain towns have a white Christmas (and a white Thanksgiving and a White Easter) But you can also live on the Front Range or over at Grand Junction and have the best of both worlds-great weather where even when it snows it melts off in a day or so with great snow that lasts all winter an hours drive away. However, the one place you really want to check out that will meet your criteria, provided you can find a job is the Jackson Hole, Wyoming area. You would not have to live in Jackson-there are a number of small towns in both Wyoming and Idaho that are beautiful, have white christmases, the schools are good and the communities are friendly. Wyoming has no state income tax and relatively low sales and property taxes. The only down side is being pretty far from a large center of population where there are things like large malls, largeairports, and large hosptals (Salt Lake City is about 5 hours from Jackson and Denver is about 8)-and it is a long way from WDW.
Be aware that the cost of living in the Rocky Mountain West is MUCH higher than anywhere in the south-Housing is much more expensive, fuel costs are higher, groceries are more expensive and so on-this is also true of the Pacific Northwest. Wages are also higher, so be sure when a job sounds really good that you find out how much it costs to live in an area.

 

[marlasmom]

I still insist that NH is a much better than Maine or Vermont because of the tax situation. Try Warner, Bradford, Sunapee for small town feel, reasonable prices and water.

 

[PamOKW]

hopefully we will be able to take some vacations

Sounds like you are doing this right! Once you narrow your choices, be sure to visit in the winter so that you get an idea what it's like. Playing in the snow and scraping it off your car every day are two different things.