MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Dream with me! It's February. It's cold. I'm dreaming of moving somewhere warmer. Right now I'm outside Washington DC and sooooo over it. Probably not reality, but you never know! I want to live somewhere that meets the following criteria, not necessarily in this order: 1. I want a pool. And I want to be able to use it for a majority of the year. 2. Near a big city but not in it 3. Reasonable higher education choices. DE before age 16 a bonus! 4. Accepting of my family that is of middle eastern descent 5. Good private school(s) for autism (private day) 6. Good medical services for autism 7. Another bonus - Medicaid offered for adults with eligible dependents 8. Near the beach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Well, I was going to say near Phoenix, AZ until I got to the "Beach" item. Possible in TX, near the Gulf of Mexico? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Half Moon Bay, California for the beach (#8). Lucille Packard Children Hospital for autism(#6). Your #3 and #4 won't be an issue. Don't know about #5. Near enough to San Francisco for your #2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Budget????? There are all sorts of beautiful beach areas in CA, but they aren't cheap. I don't know about the autism private day schools in CA though. Charleston, SC or Savanna, GA may be options. VA beach area? How close to the beach do you want/need to be? ETA: Oh, ok, I see now we are dreaming......ok, I would love La Jolla, CA, on the beach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hey, if we're dreaming here, I'd go for the French Riviera or near a beautiful lake in Switzerland! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Somewhere warmer there here. Not in the middle of nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 In America I would say there are several beach towns in Florida that fit your description. (Ormond Beach near Jacksonville, or Sarasota near Tampa come to mind.) Outside America, I would move back to Portugal in a heartbeat. Central and Southern Portugal have beautiful beaches. The town I lived in, Cascais, was 15 minutes from Lisbon. Of course, I really don't know about the education questions, but there are several American and British international schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Well, The Houston area fits those needs. Good medicail care, more that one private school for special needs kids(very expensive thought). Many colleges within commuting distance. Headed pools can be used year round, very multicultural. My kids went to a charter school that served Halal lunches. And close to the Gulf of Mexico. On the otherhand, Houston and the gulf coast are not "pretty" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Some good ideas! Florida is on the short list, though hurricane season makes me think twice (I grew up around Orlando). We've lived in CA before, so that's another maybe. We were in LA and then the Central Valley. Loved LA, the Central Valley not so much. Before our large family, we had an apartment in Venice Beach. I LOVED being able to walk to the beach. I did not love the weekend beach crowd outside my front door! I like the idea of Atlanta, mostly because of the cost of living and that it's a big city. Too far from the beach though. I went to Savanah as a child and remember big trees with moss hanging from them. I'm a little wary of the South since my husband and children are Arab. I've never been to Texas. Though it sounds like it meets the criteria. The Carolinas are a possible option. I've vacationed there and liked it. I think I'd prefer the Atlantic or the Gulf to the Pacific. I grew up in Florida and I was shocked when we lived in LA and you couldn't always swim in the water because it was too cold! VA Beach may be good too. We're in VA now, so that doesn't really feel like much of a change! I highly doubt a move abroad is in the cards soon, but how fun if we could do that!! Portugal sounds lovely! I've never been there. Before I got married and had kids I travelled a lot. 2 places that stood out as possible places to live we're Scandinavia (though that doesn't really meet the pool criteria) and Italy. I did live in the UK for awhile. As far as schools, DD gets private school placement through her IEP; our county pays for it. Since it's on her IEP now, the law says that wherever we move would have to honor that placement (provided there was an acceptable school). They also provide transportation. The boys homeschool. Thanks for dreaming with me!! It's cold in DC and the kids and I are down with colds.... I suppose this is your typical February run away from home daydream? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellen Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I like the idea of Atlanta, mostly because of the cost of living and that it's a big city. Too far from the beach though. I went to Savanah as a child and remember big trees with moss hanging from them. I'm a little wary of the South since my husband and children are Arab. ? Atlanta is colder than you would like. Our neighborhood pool is open from the beginning of May through September. If you had your own pool and it was heated you could do April through October. Right now it is cold and gray here. I looked it up and apparently it is 55 degrees but it feels colder and more importantly it looks cold and uninviting. Houston is warmer and has a reasonable cost of living. Texas beaches kind of suck though. It's not the pretty part of the Gulf like Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I would not do Texas if you need services for ASD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Dream with me! It's February. It's cold. I'm dreaming of moving somewhere warmer. Right now I'm outside Washington DC and sooooo over it. Probably not reality, but you never know! I want to live somewhere that meets the following criteria, not necessarily in this order: 1. I want a pool. And I want to be able to use it for a majority of the year. 2. Near a big city but not in it 3. Reasonable higher education choices. DE before age 16 a bonus! 4. Accepting of my family that is of middle eastern descent 5. Good private school(s) for autism (private day) 6. Good medical services for autism 7. Another bonus - Medicaid offered for adults with eligible dependents 8. Near the beach Irvine, CA is nice. Good luck renting a cardboard box for under a million dollars, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit29 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Not anywhere near a beach, but the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City have nice autism services. It's not progressive in many things, but is ahead of the game in autism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We live a bit north of L.A., there are many areas of southern CA that would fit all your criteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Irvine, CA is nice. Good luck renting a cardboard box for under a million dollars, though. True, but I can daydream about it! Irvine is nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Not anywhere near a beach, but the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City have nice autism services. It's not progressive in many things, but is ahead of the game in autism. What are the services like there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Atlanta is colder than you would like. Our neighborhood pool is open from the beginning of May through September. If you had your own pool and it was heated you could do April through October. Right now it is cold and gray here. I looked it up and apparently it is 55 degrees but it feels colder and more importantly it looks cold and uninviting. Houston is warmer and has a reasonable cost of living. Texas beaches kind of suck though. It's not the pretty part of the Gulf like Florida. It's a high of 54 here today. I'm a little surprised it's so close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 We live a bit north of L.A., there are many areas of southern CA that would fit all your criteria. Cali is definitely in the short list. We moved away a few years ago when the economy there crashed. Is it doing better now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 I would not do Texas if you need services for ASD. Ok, Texas is out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit29 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 What are the services like there? There are 2 school districts in the area that are particularly well-known for their services, Blue Valley would probably be #1, with Olathe up and coming. Particularly for the younger kids. There are a few exceptional ABA therapy companies in the area, with more settling in. Many classes and sports have on-staff paras, or at the very least, are really receptive to their involvement. The movie theaters have sensory friendly days. There are many quality speech, OT, PT services too. JCCC (community college) is welcoming and accepting of ASD students...the transition is as easy as such a thing can be. Highly rated academically as well. Johnson County is an affluent area and Kansas City is a growing tech community. The combination of the two is setting the area up for a quality autism care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit29 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 OH! And there is a private day school outside of the city, with busing I *think*. For the life of me I can't remember the name, but I'll look through my paperwork. I'm not sure about the middle eastern population in the area, but surprisingly, KC is one of the more diverse cities I've lived in. There is a lot of Somalian refugees and other African nations. Smaller pockets of Greek Orthodox and Orthodox Jewish as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit29 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Sorry for all the posts!! Here is the school http://www.lakemaryctr.org/lakemary_school.html Autism society of the heartland is an active group as well. Super helpful. Sorry for all the posts, I'm passionate about Autism! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Sorry for all the posts!! Here is the school http://www.lakemaryctr.org/lakemary_school.html Autism society of the heartland is an active group as well. Super helpful. Sorry for all the posts, I'm passionate about Autism! :) Lol! Don't be sorry!! Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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