Looking to escape the cold...

Old Oct 18th, 2004, 10:00 AM
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Looking to escape the cold...

Well, it's that time of the year again here in New Jersey--the cold weather is beginning to descend. If I were to consider relocating, I'd be looking for someplace where it gets no colder than the 50s in the wintertime. Other considerations would be somewhere with decent job market, a good school system (my daughters are 10 and 6) and someplace near a hospital with a reputable oncology department. Given those limitations, does anyone have any suggestions for me?
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 10:49 AM
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Jacksonville, FL has a Mayo Clinic, and would meet your other criteria.

I think you are confined to Florida on the east coast and perhaps So. Calif., Ariz. and New Mexico on the west coast with your requirement of "no colder than in the 50s". I live in Georgia, and we get days and nights in the 40s, and occasionally 30s.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 10:55 AM
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Charlotte, North Carolina
Atlanta Georgia
Charleston, South Carolina

Not sure what the average daily highs in Jan & Feb are for Charlotte and Atlanta but I think Charleston is close to 60 degrees.
 
Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:01 AM
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If you mean it never gets colder then 50, I think you'll be surprised to know that very few places qualify.

For the winter months, the average minimum tempature is below 50 in places with large, well known Universities and medical schools like: Phoenix, Tucson, Austin, the East Bay of SanFranciso including Palo Alto, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

If you're ok with nightime lows below 50, then you have some nice options. If it's never below 50, then you're really talking about South Florida near Miami.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:04 AM
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Go Travel,
FYI, the average tempature for January and February in Charleston is slightly below 50.

http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/...0+1302+381544C
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:06 AM
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Daytime highs for Charlotte and Atlanta from December through the end of February are in the low 50s. You can expect 70 degree days and many days in the mid 60s.

Raleigh, which has Duke University Medical Center has average daytime highs December-February from 49-55 degrees.

Charleston is the warmest of the three with the coldest average daily high at 62 degrees.

While Charlotte, Raleigh, and Atlanta will see snow or ice, it is a rareity in Charleston. In fact, it has been years since I've seen it snow down here. Same with Jacksonville.
 
Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:09 AM
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Thanks--nighttime lows below 50 are fine. I've lived in NJ my whole life, and as I get older I realize how much I really hate the cold weather. I'm not saying I'm going to make a move this year, but I can at least start lobbying the rest of my family to get them to think about it.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:26 AM
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If you are seriously considering a move, you might consider doing a google search on something like "cities with the best job markets" and checking something like the Information Please Almanac that has detailed data for many larger cities.

People tend to be a bit defensive of their hometown (as I can be with NJ, you traitorous carpetbagger) and might not accurately state the job market situation. Not because they have ill-intent, but because what seems good or bad, might not really be when compared to other locations where they have no knowledge. One of these independent sites might paint a more accurate picture.

I might also suggest you check with residential real estate websites, like Pru or Weichert, as they'll likely have have links to area information such as school quality and job market data.

For what it's worth, the level of educational reporting data in New Jersey far surpasses what you can get from most states. Here, you can get detailed information on every public school in the state. At a minimum, you can compare your current district to where you might be relocating.

BTW, one thing you didn't mention was tax rates. Relatively speaking, the total tax burden for New Jersey residents is near the top 1/3rd. But, with a public school system ranked near the top of the nation, that's the cost for some great school sytems.

Here's some links on tax data and school data:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/statelocal03.html

http://www.nea.org/edstats/

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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:28 AM
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Thanks, Ryan. This is some good stuff. Where in NJ are you? I'm in South Brunswick, Central NJ. Love everything about it except the weather.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:34 AM
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Ryan, if you reread my post, I was stating the Average Daily High not the average temperature for Dec-Feb.

Personally, I could give a rip about the temp in the middle of the night. I want to know the temp during the day.
 
Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:36 AM
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GoTravel, Duke is in Durham, NC.

It does get below 50. Woke up Sunday morning to temps in the mid-30's. We do get snow and ice: we don't know how to deal with it and we're not willing to learn. December 02 had an ice storm that knocked out power in my neighborhood for 4-5 days.

Duke and UNC in Chapel Hill have excellent health care, the schools are good (well, the kids score well on standardized tests), if you're a nurse or a teacher, no problem finding a job. If you are a computer nerd, there are a bunch of laid-off people looking for jobs.

Isn't the Medical College of SC in Charleston, SC?
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:41 AM
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We've just moved from Hoboken to the Chatham-Summit area. My wife and I are having a hard enough time transitioning from our active town to the 'burbs to even consider leaving the NY area for a less active environment.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 11:56 AM
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ncgirl, I wrote Raleigh instead of Durham because many people have no idea where Durham is located. It is about 20 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Yes, Charleston has the Medical University of South Carolina. We do have freinds who would rather go to Duke than MUSC. Can't imagine why
 
Old Oct 18th, 2004, 12:04 PM
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On an older health insurance policy I think rule #1 was DON'T go to Duke.

Anyway, folks around here are lucky having two top ranked medical facilities. Also, since both want to be ranked higher in everything than the other, they do their best to keep the ranking.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 12:07 PM
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Average Daily High:

City Dec Jan Feb

Durham 53 49 53
Raleigh 52 49 53
Charlotte 54 51 56
Atlanta 55 52 57
Charleston 62 59 62
Jacksonville 66 64 67
Houston 65 63 67
Dallas 57 55 61
 
Old Oct 18th, 2004, 12:23 PM
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I don't know if you we're suggesting Dallas or adding it for whatever reason. But, if you've ever been to Dallas in the winter, you certainly wouldn't confuse it with Miami.

Speaking of Miami and Dallas, all one needs to do is mention, Leon Lett, Dallas-Miami, and Thanksgiving Day to understand that Dallas does indeed get snow and at times plenty of it.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 01:23 PM
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dfr1966-
May I come? Oh yea, and my husband and kids? I love living in the Flemington area. It really is pretty, the folks are kind, and the taxes (compared to Essex County) are OK. Why leave? The d#*% cold. Now, if I can only convince my Dad who lives with us.
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 01:30 PM
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Ryan, Thanksgiving Day, 1993. My husband and son were permanently scarred by that play! Irreparable damage. Lett it snow Lett it snow, Lett it snow...

Dallas does get cold in winter, but that was a freaky day.

dfr1966...a little winter weather is nice (take it from a Yankee who would never live back in New England again, but having lived in Tampa for 8 years, realize winter is OK in small doses. What you want is for it to be over quickly. In Dallas we were normally getting leaves on the trees by the 3rd week in March, and there were plenty of wonderful days interspersed with colder ones. Snow got to be an exciting event. So...although I can't recommend a specific town, I don't think you should eliminate winter altogether...just keep it short and sweet!
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Old Oct 18th, 2004, 01:57 PM
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Hi dfr!
We just moved to Jacksonville Fl this past January. We left NY the day it hit 7 degrees at noon, we arrived the next day in Fl where it was 70 degrees. The nights get cool enough to need jackets and we have fires in the fireplace and sleep under a down comforter.
The days warm up to cotton sweater over tee shirt weather.
As someone has said, the Mayo Clinic is here, we have already gone there for our dermatology appointments. I don't think you can beat their oncology dept.
Jax is growing fast, homes are being built constantly, housing market is very good. I got a house that is twice the size of my home up North for half the price. Big and very nice..there are great neighborhoods , great for families, they care about schools here. They have these schools where children in public school who get perfect grade scores, get to go to public schools that only allow highest grade scores in. They are sort of like the Music and Arts schools in Manhattan.
I would recommend that you do what we did. Come here in the spring..see how you like the city and area. Come back in the summer when it is so hot you could die!
and see what you think.
Good luck
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Old Oct 19th, 2004, 04:12 AM
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Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. Actually I'm familiar with Jacksonville as my inlaws live in St. Augustine, so we've been down there a bunch of times. It will definitely take some time to convince the rest of my family to make a move--we all love where we live now, with the great schools and lots of activities for the kids.
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