Considering relocating... whats your town like?

[sneakymom]

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

I live in Richmond VA and I like it here! Plenty to do and lots of shopping. And we don't roll up the sidewalks at 10pm either

No hurricanes either really.

The heat... well, I can't do anything about that. Its hot and humid in the summer. It gets cold in the winter, but we rarely get much snow or anything. The last 2 years we had maybe 1 inch total of snow and no ice.

and best reason of all, I'm here!

Um, AlleyGirl- we do SO get hurricanes. Remember Isabel? Richmond didn't get hit as hard by it as we did (I'm in Hampton Roads). But there was still an effect. Ok, so they're not usually Cat 3 and above. But they can be nasty.

Isabel was nasty. We had no power for 3 days. I was in a hot house with 2 very bored kids b/c we had no school. I lost 7 trees in my backyard, thankfully nothing hit the house.

And you can get ice storms. We've had a couple of bad ones here too. There was one a couple years back where it took my husband 2 HOURS to get home, he lives 30 minutes from work.

Taxes in Hampton Roads are kind of nasty. And housing prices, well, where I am you really can't touch anything new for under $400,000. My neighborhood's houses are going from the 290's. And they aren't huge, 3-4 bedrooms, about 2000 sf.

Plus side of living in the area-
You live really close to the beach.
There's a ton of stuff to do here.
The school system (at least in my town) is AWESOME.

 

[techiegirl]

Well Santa Cruz, CA would fit all those requirements except the price - average condo/townhome price there is $450,000-550,000 Home prices are much higher.

Actually, #2 pretty much rules out all of CA - at least any of the parts you would actually want to LIVE in!

I grew up in the SF Bay Area and LOVE it there - my family is still all there. NorCal is the best! I moved to SoCal for college and stayed and really like it here too. NorCal is superior though.

I live in South Orange County, about 2-3 miles from the ocean. The weather is awesome - altho June gloom has me super depressed this month.

There is a lot to do - close to tons of action and adventure, but my city and neighborhood themselves are quiet with parks, hills, and a nice sense of community - people are really nice here. No crime and very clean.

You can go snow skiing in the mountains, surfing at the beach, scuba diving, kayaking in the rivers, waterskiing in the lakes, gambling at casinos...... Las Vegas is close, San Diego, Mexico, Catalina Island...... LA is an hour away - well 2 hours with traffic haha, so there are all the party and amusement things to do there. Disneyland is 20 miles away.

Drawbacks - it's expensive I guess - not as bad as NorCal, but bad. Gas is almost $4/gal, housing prices are crazy - condos are $400,000-500,000 - median price of a home where I live is $837,000 - with a good portion in the $1-5 million range, with several all the way up to $7 mil
But we make more money here too, so I guess it helps -haha

I would never consider living anywhere else but CA, Southern or Northern - and close to the ocean - heck, even the other side of the freeway is too far for me.

 

[salemwitchchild]

I'm in Lawrenceburg, KY and I think it would fit your needs almost perfectly.


1. Not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter. I'm from NY, so I'm not big on heat. DH is from FL, so he's not big on cold and has never seen snow. But also (if possible) still somewhat on the east side of the US... would like to visit family without crossing the country.

-- We've had mild winters for awhile. But we can get an occasional blizzard every few years. The worst is the back roads. Even with an inch of snow they can get hazardous.

2. Can get a 3/2 house without spending millions. (Preferably under $200K - will not shy away from a fixer upper. I joke that I am the original toolbelt diva... she just got the show first

)

-- Lots of nice homes under $200K.

3. Taxes won't be more than I make in a year.

-- KY sales tax is 6 %. Property tax I have no idea. I don't own my home.

4. NO HURRICANES! (Ok, at least fewer hurricanes than FL)

-- Nope no hurricanes. We might get a good storm out of one on the coast though. But that is rare.

5. Has something to do... even if it's just a main street with mom 'n' pop shops or something. I work from home, so sometimes I just want to get out... and here the only thing to do is either go to walmart or barnes and noble... both good choices, but get really boring after the 50th time.

-- Lawrenceburg is very mom and pop. But we are located centurally. Frankfort, Louisville, and Lexington are all close.

6. Preferably near some kind of water. I've always lived on a coast... so while I don't really need to be on the ocean, having some kind of water nearby is comforting to me... *shrug*
-- There's a couple lakes here. I'm afraid that's all the water property you'll find here.

7. Not an overly religious community. Ok, please no one take that personally. I truly don't mean any harm or offense to anyone. DH and I are just not really religious people and some of the towns in the south are a little overly religious for dour taste. People can worship whoever they want for all I care.... I'm just not a fan of being stalked in the grocery store parking lot by someone trying to preach at me. (Happens about once a month) Or like one time when I was trying to walk on the beach one night and was surrounded by a group of 5 who wouldn't leave me alone until they said their whole speech and shoved pamphlets in my pockets. Religion is fine... stalking is annoying.

-- People are very religious here. But if you stick to yourself they normally don't bother you.

8. Would love an 'arty' or 'eccentric' community... but I don't know how likely that is. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?

-- Not real eccentric or artsy here. But I'm sure you can find those in the larger cities here.