Where would you move to...

[Rhea]

if you could move anywhere? Why there? Assume your work could be done anywhere, but money is still a consideration. (Not suddenly wealthy.)

 

These are things my husband and I would like:

 

• Near a major airport (within a 5 hour drive)
  
• 4 seasons
  
• An actual growing season
  
• Near Arts
  
• Variety of upper educational choices
  
• History
  
• Beauty
  
• Land. We like our animals.
  
• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:
  

 

 

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

[Harriet Vane]

Michigan or Wisconsin.

 

There are four seasons, there are minor airports and also access to O'Hare in Chicago for international needs, and there are both college towns and Chicago for the arts. Plus the water-rich, hilly region is just sooooo beautiful--there are lakes and rivers sprinkled everywhere in addition to the Great Lakes. I personally dream of moving to either Madison, Wisconsin, or the Lansing, Michigan area.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I would throw Iowa in for what you're looking for :)

[ktog29]

Upstate NY is quite nice.

[chiguirre]

Northern New England meets those criteria. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont or western Massachussetts depending on which factors are most important.

[Danestress]

Around the Shenandoah.

 

Beautiful beautiful land, not too far from Charlottesville and other universities, near enough major airports. I think theirs counts as four seasons. I guess it depends on how dramatic you like your seasons:)

[catz]

if you could move anywhere? Why there? Assume your work could be done anywhere, but money is still a consideration. (Not suddenly wealthy.)

 

These are things my husband and I would like:

 

• Near a major airport (within a 5 hour drive)

• 4 seasons

• An actual growing season

• Near Arts

• Variety of upper educational choices

• History

• Beauty

• Land. We like our animals.

• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:

 

 

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

 

Twin Cities area, MN. We've got all of that. And it's a lovely place to homeschool. Lots of cultural and educational resources at your disposal!

[oasis]

I would move to the Smoky Mountains.

 

Dh and I vacationed in Gatlinburg several years ago, and it was simply gorgeous!

 

We've dreamed of moving there every since then. :closedeyes:

[RoughCollie]

Here's a chart which tells you growing season lengths in the U.S.

 

http://www.almanac.com/content/frost-chart-united-states

[ahousefullofjs]

okay, there aren't four seasons here but we love, love love, the big island of Hawaii.:D

[*Amber*]

I like Boise,ID or Tenn. or Missouri.

[The Girls' Mom]

East Tennessee/NC/Virginia area. You get milder versions of all 4 seasons. You have close access (within 1/2 day drive) to mountains, beaches, etc. It's beautiful there. Closer to the cities, it isn't po-dunk like it's portrayed many times. The cost of living is reasonable, as are the housing prices. Depending on the state/area there are museums, colleges, private schools, etc.

[Perry]

Wisconsin.

[cin]

Well, Alaska is one of my top choices to visit, and maybe move to, but the Wyoming/Montana area are a close second. The air is dry, unlike that in Cincinnati, where the humidity can be in the 90% range. There's plenty of land, wildlife, beauty, and I'm sure there's a college somewhere around :D Actually, Missoula Montana is quite an up and coming college town, I believe.

[nmoira]

Portland, OR

[gingersmom]

I'm in Massachusetts right now and every time I visit I want to put out a for sale sign on my house and move there.

 

Oddly enough I am always telling my kids we are moving to Alaska.

[holdoll]

:iagree: We're in Utah now. It's gorgeous here, but I miss No Carolina and all the Carolina Pines!

[Annie]

Madison, WI

 

Oh, how I miss living there.

 

You'll have to live a little outside of the city to find land.

[smrtmama]

We're trying to plan a move to Asheville. It has everything I want! Liberal "hippie" kind of town, inexpensive (by comparison to here) land for small farming, beautiful views.

[KrissiK]

Well, where I live is very nice. We have 4 seasons, though they are not all of equal length - summer is hot, winter is foggy but short and we have very lovely springs and autumns, though our autumns are not nearly as spectacular other places. We have a year round growing season, although politically we're about the last place you'd want to come. Our economy and state gov. is in the dumps. But, otherwise, the Central Valley of California is a wonderful place to live. We love it here.

[Rhea]

Thanks ladies! You've given me many places to research further.

[bairnmama]

I LOVE northern New Mexico for the beauty of the land and variety of things to do. Albequerque and Santa Fe are fairly large cities without being too large and I know there's at least one college in the area with an awesome Shakespeare festival!

[kalanamak]

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

 

Le Grande OR

[Liz CA]

If you wanted to stay on the West Coast or at least "this side of the country", I'd think Washington and Oregon fit the bill.

I heard WA can get quite expensive for housing but I am in CA and housing has never been anything but expensive here.

[creekland]

I love the Gettysburg (and slightly east of it) area of PA. We have four seasons without any of them being too rough considering I grew up in upstate NY (endless winter) and hubby in NC (really hot summers). For big city action, Baltimore is an hour away, DC just under 2, Philly just over 2 and NYC 4. Harrisburg, PA has options as a smaller city. Shopping and various eateries are in Gettysburg, Hanover, or York - all close.

 

And there's plenty of farmland still around. It's absolutely gorgeous here. The mountains and the Appalachian Trail are just to our west, flatter land to the east. Growing things is easy. Animals are common. Taxes are lower than surrounding states.

[jenL]

I vote for the NC/TN mountains... everything you want is there! Or if you want a milder winter, but access to winter things, you could come to Charlotte, NC where we get a little snow and are very close to the mountains for winter activities. You'd get plenty of arts in the city, access to an international airport, plenty of land in the counties surrounding the city (within 20-40 minutes out), and lots of access to a variety of colleges. Yes, I'm a little biased :)

 

My other suggestion would be the southern NH (lakes region to MA border) area. That's where I'm from originally. Manchester/Boston have arts, lots of educational opportunities, 4 seasons, a growing season of about 3 months, and plenty of areas for land/animals, and access to two airports. It's more expensive than NC though cheaper than Alaska from what I've heard.

 

Have you tried www.findyourspot.com? It's a fun way to explore where you could possibly go.

[Crimson Wife]

Northern New England meets those criteria. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont or western Massachusetts depending on which factors are most important.

 

That's what I was thinking too. Portland, ME, Hanover, NH, Burlington, VT, or the area around Amherst/Northampton MA are all nice little metro areas.

[FeFe]

Fort Wayne, Indiana seems to fit your criteria.

 

http://www.city-data.com/city/Fort-Wayne-Indiana.html

 

if you could move anywhere? Why there? Assume your work could be done anywhere, but money is still a consideration. (Not suddenly wealthy.)

 

These are things my husband and I would like:

 

• Near a major airport (within a 5 hour drive)
  
• 4 seasons
  
• An actual growing season
  
• Near Arts
  
• Variety of upper educational choices
  
• History
  
• Beauty
  
• Land. We like our animals.
  
• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:
  

 

 

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

[milovany]

 

• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:

 

 

 

Oh, rats. I was going to post my hometown but we didn't make the cut with this last one, LOL. We're the first "big" town (pop. 17,000) two hours east of a major metropolitan area, over a mountain range and into the rural side of the state. Last time a civilization crisis loomed (Y2K?), there was talk of blowing up the roads over the mountains so the city folk couldn't come this way. :lol:

 

BUT you could go further north, or south, from here. We're in central Washington state, so check north central or south central (or further east central) Washington. LOVE, love, love it here. Someone above mentioned a high cost of living in Washington -- TRUE that, on the west side of the mountains. On the east side, not as much. We just got a fabulous deal on a great 2 acre property w/1650 sf rambler house built in 1965 -- so glad we were able to buy now while prices are low.

Edited July 19, 2010 by milovaný

[Renee in NC]

I would throw Iowa in for what you're looking for :)

 

I would agree. Dubuque is very nice and fits all of your criteria. We would move there if they would just move it about 1000 miles south!:D

[mycalling]

I'll add another vote for the mountains in Western NC.

 

I'm shocked at people's definition of "four seasons." To me that doesn't include 6mo of snow!;) My husband's from MI and we have the "four seasons" debate often.

 

(Rhea, your name is my middle name and was also my grandmother's middle name, but it's pronounced Ree. It's rare to see another Rhea!)

Edited July 20, 2010 by MyCalling

[Sarah CB]

if you could move anywhere? Why there? Assume your work could be done anywhere, but money is still a consideration. (Not suddenly wealthy.)

 

These are things my husband and I would like:

 

• Near a major airport (within a 5 hour drive)

• 4 seasons

• An actual growing season

• Near Arts

• Variety of upper educational choices

• History

• Beauty

• Land. We like our animals.

• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:

 

 

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

 

Well, if you can leave the US then I'd recommend Kelowna. It has four seasons - there are ski hills close by, outdoor skating, etc. Summers are gorgeous - lots of people have pools, plus the beaches are beautiful and the lake is great for swimming.

 

There is a lot of agriculture - orchards, wineries, veggies, etc. You could easily find an acreage.

 

Arts is something that is developing. We've got a symphony orchestra, quite a few concerts come to town, the art gallery is small but at least it's here. We do have some theatre and lots of arts opportunities for kids.

 

We have an international airport.

 

We also have a very good university (UBC), plus a community college.

 

This is the first place I've lived that I absolutely love.

[Crimson Wife]

I'm shocked at people's definition of "four seasons." To me that doesn't include 6mo of snow!;) My husband's from MI and we have the "four seasons" debate often.)

 

Four seasons means that there are distinctly different weather patterns in winter, spring, summer, & fall. Winter can be long and summer short (or vice versa) but that would still be a place with 4 seasons (as opposed to say, LA or San Diego where there's basically the same weather year-round).

[Renee in NC]

Four seasons means that there are distinctly different weather patterns in winter, spring, summer, & fall. Winter can be long and summer short (or vice versa) but that would still be a place with 4 seasons (as opposed to say, LA or San Diego where there's basically the same weather year-round).

 

That's how I took it. There are not 4 seasons here in FL - there is hot and then 3 weeks of "less hot"! :lol: (Just kidding. Sort of.:tongue_smilie:)

 

It does snow in Iowa quite a bit, but there are definite seasons.

[Scarlett]

Hmmm....no one has mentioned AR. AR is a beautiful state, with 4 distinct seasons (summer can be very hot) I love AR. I think it gets a bad rap. I used to travel to the High Point NC area several times a year and I though the geography was similar...and the people...

[Melinda in VT]

Four seasons means that there are distinctly different weather patterns in winter, spring, summer, & fall. Winter can be long and summer short (or vice versa) but that would still be a place with 4 seasons (as opposed to say, LA or San Diego where there's basically the same weather year-round).

 

:iagree:

 

Although if you only want four seasons, you can forget about Vermont. We have six: winter, mud, spring, summer, fall, and stick. :D

[whitestavern]

That's what I was thinking too. Portland, ME, Hanover, NH, Burlington, VT, or the area around Amherst/Northampton MA are all nice little metro areas.

 

 

I agree, especially Hanover, NH area.

[Margo out of lurking]

Around the Shenandoah.

:iagree:with this and the several who suggested western NC. We moved to southern VA three years ago from Colorado. I loved CO; I love it here. We are far enough west that we don't get the swampy humidity from the coast. The weather is fabulous and the scenery beautiful.

 

There is definitely history and lots of land. VA has dozens of great schools. (I assume you mean colleges, but the K-12 schools in general stack up well compared to the rest of the country.)

 

Major airports include Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte. (Is Greensboro "major"?)

 

Nope, it's definitely not the humid, hick place I thought it might be.

[Parrothead]

Maybe about 45 minutes south of me, which is 45 minutes north of Bangor. Close enough to get there, far enough to be away from the crazies.

[tiredbuthappy]

I'll add my vote for Eastern TN!!!! Specifically Chattanooga. The biggest small town in the Country. And there is plenty of land in the surrounding mountains and valleys for any of your needs/wants. :001_smile: It is also incredibly affordable

[Mothersweets]

Oh, rats. I was going to post my hometown but we didn't make the cut with this last one, LOL. We're the first "big" town (pop. 17,000) two hours east of a major metropolitan area, over a mountain range and into the rural side of the state. Last time a civilization crisis loomed (Y2K?), there was talk of blowing up the roads over the mountains so the city folk couldn't come this way. :lol:

 

BUT you could go further north, or south, from here. We're in central Washington state, so check north central or south central (or further east central) Washington. LOVE, love, love it here. Someone above mentioned a high cost of living in Washington -- TRUE that, on the west side of the mountains. On the east side, not as much. We just got a fabulous deal on a great 2 acre property w/1650 sf rambler house built in 1965 -- so glad we were able to buy now while prices are low.

 

We're in north central WA - I think I know city you are talking about, milovany! :) Housing prices are much more reasonable on our side of the mountains. And we have 4 seasons (absolutely beautiful autumns) and most everything else on the list, too! It would be easy to come here from Alaska.

 

Sarah CB - we are just down the road from you!

Edited July 20, 2010 by Mothersweets

[Guest janainaz]

If I could have a blowdryer outlet and go without the bonnet, I'd move to Amish country.

[gaillardia]

if you could move anywhere? Why there? Assume your work could be done anywhere, but money is still a consideration. (Not suddenly wealthy.)

 

 

These are things my husband and I would like:

 

• Near a major airport (within a 5 hour drive)

• 4 seasons

• An actual growing season

• Near Arts

• Variety of upper educational choices

• History

• Beauty

• Land. We like our animals.

• My dh adds, "When civilization collapses, I don't want to be the first stop the city dwellers make on their way to the countryside.":001_smile:

 

Can you recommend an area that fits those criteria? We are in Alaska and want to move. This is our first step, finding areas to investigate, and I would love input.

My question: Why do you want to move from ALASKA?

Having never been to Alaske, I daydream about living there. I read books about it, watch movies about it, search the 'net.

I haven't been enough places to know where I want to go, I just know that it is not where I am right now -- I just don't like 100 degree days, day after day. :D

[PollyOR]

Portland, OR

 

:iagree:I love Oregon! Every evening when I take a walk with my family I can't believe how lucky I am to live here. North Carolina would be my next choice.

[WishboneDawn]

Nowhere. We have our dream house in the country that's close to most of our family. I would however buy a couple of cabins. One in Victoria, BC close to my SIL and her daughter and the other in Ontario close to my mother's family.

[....]

Monterey, California.

[mom2denj]

:iagree:

I would move to the Smoky Mountains.

 

Dh and I vacationed in Gatlinburg several years ago, and it was simply gorgeous!

 

We've dreamed of moving there every since then. :closedeyes:

[gemrae]

Traverse City, Michigan. Some seasons are longer than others but over all very beautiful, clean, surrounded by lakes....overall a great place to live! Also not very expensive :)

[JFSinIL]

Whatever state/areas has support services, FUNDED, in place for people with developmental disabilities. And where we could have more than a 50' x 150' plot of land. Preferably NOT humid. Snow fine, but not required.

 

Ideally - halfway between San Francisco and Big Sur, with a view/access to the ocean....or IN Yosemite. But you said still have to be financially feasible, so the ideal will not happen :glare:

[JFSinIL]

I'll add my vote for Eastern TN!!!! Specifically Chattanooga. The biggest small town in the Country. And there is plenty of land in the surrounding mountains and valleys for any of your needs/wants. :001_smile: It is also incredibly affordable

 

We drove through a lot of county when we went from Nashville to Sewanee to Smokies, including a zip through Chattanooga. Pretty area - I would like to be near Nashville just because it seems as walkable a big city as Chicago only with sweet tea, grits, and really polite folks! But I think the summer heat/humidity would be worse than N. Illinois and I just can not take it!

 

I grew up with drier heat and smog in S. California. I can take dry heat ( you can keep the smog!)