where would you move if you could live anywhere in the US?

[Anonymous]

San Diego

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Austin is GREAT. The suburbs are nice, friendly people, good schools. Really a beautiful and interesting place to live- and so much good food! The bonus being that Texas is practically recession proof and jobs are just as plentiful as ever there. And no state income tax!

no state income tax, but they make up for it in real estate taxes. The traffic in Austin if you live in the more affordable areas with "good schools" is miserable - they are pretty far from downtown. There is really no decent option for public transportation. Oh, and great jobs? Trust me, we looked - it wasn't the jobs mecca you're making it out to be. If you're a computer person, you're good - otherwise, the jobs are not as easy to come by.

You also couldn't pay me to live in any of the other Texas cities - it was Austin or bust for us. We had narrowed our options to some of the higher end areas because we refused to live in a cookie cutter TX ranchers waaay out in the burbs - we wanted to be close to downtown, and possibly even in downtown.

And again, while Austin is a more liberal place, it is still TX - and all the insanity that comes with that.

DH is from Austin. I just read him the above and couldn't agree with you more!

[Anonymous]

Minneapolis/St. Paul. For real. My recruiter friend tells me it's tough to recruit people to this area, but once they've lived here, he can't get them to leave (little success recruiting them for jobs outside MN once they're here).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DH is from Austin. I just read him the above and couldn't agree with you more!

tell him we basically came down to woodhaven in westlake or allandale in downtown. My in-laws live just north of san antonio. My husband had been hoping to keep his job from here and work remotely, but no dice. He isn't a computer guy, and there was NOTHING in his line of work anywhere close to austin. I am NOT moving to the middle of nowhere TX, that's for damn sure.

We really did like downtown Austin a lot. But after this past year of insanity in TX politics, I am SO glad we're not there now. Not that VA is all that much better, of course, but MD isn't really an option for us commutewise.

[Anonymous]

Love college towns: Ann Arbor, Austin, Charlottesville...

[Anonymous]

Omaha. Good medicine being practiced there, believe it or not, since it's a regional center.

[Anonymous]

Hawai'i

[Anonymous]

Check out "Findyourspot.com"

[Anonymous]

We moved to Indiana -- not here. Charlottesville? On the beach? Yep, next time....

[Anonymous]

Philadelphia is surprisingly affordable, nice burbs, arts scene. I have lots of friends there and really like the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Philadelphia is surprisingly affordable, nice burbs, arts scene. I have lots of friends there and really like the area.

many of my friends from my home state migrate to Philly after finishing college. They all seem pretty happy. If my husband's job was available up there, I wouldn't mind moving there.

[Anonymous]

Santa Barbara, CA (or nearby - Goleta, SLO, etc)
Boulder, CO (or NW Denver, Ft Collins)
Portland, OR (or Bend, Eugene)

[Anonymous]

Philadelphia. Affordable, interesting houses, art, restaurants, universities, etc. Also green spaces. Wissahickon is an urban walking refuge.

Lots of community minded, diverse neighborhoods with people of varying professions. Some OK suburbs too.

The schools aren't great unless your kids have test scores that jump them to the top. If so, those few public high schools have brains and diversity. If not, there are some suburbs that offer good schools with diversity too.

Weather is eh, but here too.

Doesn't have the lush natural beauty of Seattle or Western Mass, and there are run down crummy areas, for sure. I'd take it in a minute over most of the DC area, but then, I'm not a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:San Fran
Chicago
San Diego

Dh is from Austin. I love it there however the politicians are crazy and the schools are crappy.

There's an exception. The Eames public school district almost always ranks ahead of any local public schools here. It's in the Weslake part of Austin.

There are a couple of private schools with fantastic college placement -- and the price is about half of what top schools in DC charge. So, don't let schools be the reason not to move to Austin.

[Anonymous]

Have any of you PDX lovers ever actually been there? In fact, its small, and although it has some great aspects, the city/surroundign are itself isnot really that pretty -- Seattle and SF are both, objectively, way, way more attractive and scenic. And the weather is as bad, if not worse, than Seattle. It is also not very accessible. There is a very small professional community. For example, all lawyers know each other. There are good restaurants and a lot of counter culture living type things. Hipsters everywhere, very upscale baristas aabound, and they all know each other.They don't let chains in. A lot of people ride bikes. There is nice stuff about it, but the reason it has such a cohesive hippy feel is because it is SMALL. Like, really small; I cannot stress this enough. Seattle is a big big city in comparison, and it, again, is fairly small.

Charleston, SC actually has a great organic crunch-y type culture, the cost of living is low, it is gorgeous, and has great resturants, etc. There are a ton of artists, live music, etc. and the beach is close. Now, if only I could convince my DH and deal with the humidity...