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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am the pp you quoted. We looked at Westlake when thought about moving there. His uncle lived in Allandale. DH is a little older than me and went to A&M with crazy Rick...oh the stories! So no way we will move there..even though we just inherit ed a house there!

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP about Portland. It is a lovely place but it is small, there's not much diversity, and there aren't a lot of jobs. And the weather is kind of dismal a lot of the time. But it's great if you are outdoorsy...can surf and hike mountains in the same day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out "Findyourspot.com"

It always tells me to move to Little Rock. Whaaaaa???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's Eanes ISD - we were looking there. It is where most of the Dell execs live (hence the crazy amount of multi million dollar properties in that district). We, of course, could NOT afford those homes, and were going to have to settle for probably a house in need of repair for less than $400K. We were in love with the neighborhood we had zeroed in on, though. Here's a current listing - actually not in bad shape for the money: http://www.realtyaustin.com/idx/homes/texas/austin/78746/3418-pinnacle-rd/4813933.html

There are some very good elementary schools in Austin ISD (or at least, there were - they are GUTTING public schools in TX). We were pretty excited about Gullett Elementary school. The magnet HS in AISD is always listed in the top HS's magazines (LASA).

We were looking into an IB immersion school in downtown as an option, which was still only $1K/month. Much cheaper than anything comparable here. There are also charter schools, but a lot of them are income/area limited - we wouldn't have qualified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out "Findyourspot.com"

It always tells me to move to Little Rock. Whaaaaa???

haha - ME TOO!! I mean, really - Arkansas?

[Anonymous]

Love Austin despite the fact it's in Texas. Also Marblehead, MA (though it's not cheap), and Berkeley / San Fran.

[Anonymous]

HAHA Findyourspot.com tells me about 14 cities in Louisiana... and then Little Rock! Hysterical.

[Anonymous]

San Luis Obispo, CA; Oakland CA; Santa Fe NM; Philadelphia (I realize that one of these kids is not like the others!)

[Anonymous]

Another fan of Austin - but I am in IT, so job front is easy. There are crazy politicians everywhere. And good and bad schools everywhere. Austin is a fun little city with a good vibe and lots to do.

Boulder, CO and Denver, CO area. NOT Colorado Springs - ultra conservative. I grew up outside of Denver, then moved to Colo Springs as a teenager... The HQ for Focus on the Family is there if that gives you a clue.

The findyourspot site comes up with Johnstown PA for me. I like PA, but Johnstown is a dump. Harrisburg is really nice. Currently bankrupt, but the burbs aren't part of city proper so their services & schools are still good.

Madison WI is totally cool. The campus is on the lake. Fabulous. Wouldn't mind moving there.

[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.

Yes, but what large metro area DOES have all these things? Not DC. It does a lot to offer. No, it's not perfect. To live close-in/downtown, in a non-cookie cutter house, but also have good schools, and jobs for the picking, and a decent tax rate, and good public transportation is going to be a tough bill for any metro area to fill. DC can't.

[Anonymous]

That website told me to live in Baltimore, So. CA or Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but what large metro area DOES have all these things? Not DC. It does a lot to offer. No, it's not perfect. To live close-in/downtown, in a non-cookie cutter house, but also have good schools, and jobs for the picking, and a decent tax rate, and good public transportation is going to be a tough bill for any metro area to fill. DC can't.

I didn't say DC was perfect in all of these. We wound up staying here because my husband is easily employable here - which at this point in time, is a critical factor in picking a place to live. We are about 20 miles from downtown DC, and we now live in a pretty cookie cutter neighborhood, although a subdivision developed in the 60s/70s so we have mature trees and decent sized yards. We are not completely car dependent, since we can walk to all 3 well-rated levels of school, the local public library, several parks and a decent sized shopping center with most of the basics. There are busses and park and rides we have access to which can get us to downtown within an hour during rush hour. Neither of us work downtown, so this isn't a problem for us.

Austin is a pretty great town, which is why we considered moving there, but people shouldn't go into it blindly. TX has no state income tax, but has high property taxes. Food, childcare and gas costs tend to be cheaper there, which would have made up for some of that. But let's be honest - TX is NOT perfect. If you just want a big cheap house, good for you - move to Houston or San Antonio. But, make sure you work in an industry that is still hot there, because otherwise, many the jobs created have been low paying and lack benefits.

[Anonymous]

Vancover, WA

No income tax and benefit from the no sales tax in Portland, OR across the river.

Denver, CO and the suburbs

Or Dallas, TX suburbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but what large metro area DOES have all these things? Not DC. It does a lot to offer. No, it's not perfect. To live close-in/downtown, in a non-cookie cutter house, but also have good schools, and jobs for the picking, and a decent tax rate, and good public transportation is going to be a tough bill for any metro area to fill. DC can't.

I didn't say DC was perfect in all of these. We wound up staying here because my husband is easily employable here - which at this point in time, is a critical factor in picking a place to live. We are about 20 miles from downtown DC, and we now live in a pretty cookie cutter neighborhood, although a subdivision developed in the 60s/70s so we have mature trees and decent sized yards. We are not completely car dependent, since we can walk to all 3 well-rated levels of school, the local public library, several parks and a decent sized shopping center with most of the basics. There are busses and park and rides we have access to which can get us to downtown within an hour during rush hour. Neither of us work downtown, so this isn't a problem for us.

Austin is a pretty great town, which is why we considered moving there, but people shouldn't go into it blindly. TX has no state income tax, but has high property taxes. Food, childcare and gas costs tend to be cheaper there, which would have made up for some of that. But let's be honest - TX is NOT perfect. If you just want a big cheap house, good for yo- move to Houston or San Antonio. But, make sure you work in an industry that is still hot there, because otherwise, many the jobs created have been low paying and lack benefits.

New poster here -- it has ALWAYS been harder to find a job in Austin than anywhere else in Texas. UT has 50,000 students, and at least 75 percent of them would stay in Austin if they could.

It is amusing to hear folks complaining about real estate prices in areas with good school districts and high taxes, when this area is worse on all those counts. Guess what -- if a place is really great, lots of people will want to move there, and real estate prices will go up and traffic will get bad. LA was paradise 60 years ago. There's an Eagles song with the line "Call a place paradise...kiss it goodbye."

[Anonymous]

OP here

thanks to all! I am going to comb through this post and make a list and start researching areas one by one. As I mentioned in my initial post, we're both in healthcare (physician and nurse practitioner) so we're very flexible when it comes to finding employment. Our salaries would likely be similar (if not higher) elsewhere than they are in DC.

However, that is besides the point. We're moving mostly because we want to drastically simplify our lives. Also, I'd love to live in a community where there are some white collar professionals (academics, doctors, lawyers, IT professionals) but also the whole range of blue collar jobs. I don't need to live on the same block as my plumber or hairdresser but I'd like to rub shoulders at the grocery store, attend the same church, have our children attend the same school, etc. In NW DC our world is almost 99% wealthy and ultra educated. It's fine and exciting and stimulating but it's just not for us and not what we want to live around for the next 40 years. Also, in DC (outside of Takoma which we live no where near) there are no hippies, no artists, etc. Even the college kids around here are ultra preppy (where are the starving artist alternative/grunge kids?) I hope to find some of that where we move next.