Erin

My husband and I are newly weds, and are in our twenty's. We live in Atlanta and are looking towards to North/East for a new home. Atlanta, is getting a little overwhelming (very crowded). We'd love to find and area that has a lot more nature than Atlanta and a little more peaceful yet not in the middle of no where. We are still young and enjoy night life and outdoor activities. My husbands carrer is in the computer industry which means we'd probably need to be near a somewhat happening city and my career is with horses. Two completly different careers demanding very different environments. We started our search in Dever, CO but found the housing was not so great. Didn't get much for our money (little house, and little land). So now we are looking north. Let me know if you know any areas that would be a good fit. Thanks!

Beth

have you considered North Carolina? I don't live there, but I have friends that moved from Massachusetts because there were jobs in the computer industry there, and the housing prices were so much better than here. In the Research Triangle Park area (Raleigh/Chapel Hill) there are lots of high tech companies including IBM and Cisco. Since Chapel Hill is a college town there is supposedly a fair number of restaurants and cultural happenings. And yet, I think you can live in a more rural area too. A native could enlighten you more.

I'd recommend Massachusetts, but I imagine you'd hate the weather, and the housing situation is way worse than Denver.

brenda

Not too far north is Lexington, KY - great for the horse business, Lexmark, and in Richmond is Toyota. That area is beautiful country but has all the modern conveniences of city living.

anon

Virginia is BOOMING in the computer industry. They even advertise in the Silicon Valley to attract away talent.

lisa

Yes, look in Virginia. The high tech industry outside Washington, DC is booming in the Virginia suburbs. And the area around Middleburg, VA is also great horse country. The only problem is that housing is very expensive, definitely more than Atlanta. But if you look around Virginia you can find some pockets that are a little less pricey. So long as your husband was willing to commute to work I think you could find something that would work. Lots of great hiking and outdoor activities nearby. And being near DC has its advantages in terms of nightlife.

I would also second the vote for North Carolina. I have lived in Charlotte and Chapel Hill and both are very nice. Your husband would probably need to be near research triangle in the eastern side of the state for high tech stuff. I have friends (both lawyers) who bought a small historic farmhouse in the country between Chapel Hill and Durham. It was very inexpensive, they renovated it and now have cows and the whole caboodle. The best of both worlds.

Also think about the area around Austin, TX -- another booming high tech area, although it has some of the same high growth problems as Atlanta, including bad traffic and a very tight and overpriced housing market. But it is a fantastic city and has lots of ranches in the neighboring Hill country which would be good for your horse business I would imagine. Austin is a fantastic town.

Another friend of mine recently left DC for many of the same reasons you want to leave Atlanta, and he moved to Burlington VT and LOVES it. This is a college town so there is lots to do, but also has rural areas nearby. I don't know if it has any high tech industry however.

Good luck -- I'm sure you'll find something!

Kathy

I, too, live in the Atlanta area and moved here two years ago from Connecticut, prior to that, Northern Virginia, Vermont, and Minnesota. Before moving up north, I would spend some time there in Feb to see if you can handle the weather.

CT is still experiencing an economic depression; housing is far pricier than Atlanta when it comes to price per square foot. Great horse country in Litchfield county, but the high tech jobs are on "the Gold Coast" area of the state. Northern VA is okay if you stay away from the Fairfax/DC area - very pricey and that Beltway traffic is actually worse than here, but the public transportation is great.

Of the places I've lived, and all of the places I've visited, Vermont is my favorite. The hippies still hang out in the Burlington parks, there's a great rec trail there along the lake, and a vast array of outdoor activities. Montreal is the closest metropolitan area and is about a two hour drive from Burlington. This truly is a college town and there are a significant number of entrepreneurs in the city as well as all over VT. The drawback for you is that the night life is limited compared to here. There aren't a lot of options for big computer firms, however, small start up companies have been springing up recently (New Yorkers tired of the city life) and both IBM (Essex Jct.) and GE (Burlington) have plants nearby. The University of Vermont raises its own Morgans on their farm (very close to Burlington) and the Morgan Horse Farm is in nearby Weybridge.

As other folks have noted, the Raleigh/Durham area is the new techie place to be; I'd check that out as its climate and cost of living are similar to here. Good luck!