Moving to a new state looking for advice

Old Oct 23rd, 2016, 09:17 PM
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Moving to a new state looking for advice

My wife and I are looking to move to a new state. We have 3 children they are 7 8 & 13. My wife would like a state with 4 distinct seasons, snow in the winter and minimal natural disasters. I am looking for something with average temperatures that stay pretty close all year long, I would like a relatively conservative area and as for the winters I really don't like much snow.

I realize our interests put us on different sides but we are willing to meet in the middle. We currently live in Michigan and we do not like it here because of the low employment rates, high cost of living and...family is everywhere. We want to move to a new state that we've chosen for us rather than because family lives there.

We have lived in Alabama and enjoyed the winters but summer was to hot and the employment was pretty bad there too. My wife is a cna working on being a nurse and I am working my way up into the information technology field. A state we choose must have a growing I.T. field and it needs to have access to high speed internet. We are not really looking to move to a huge city with a million people but we won't let that stop us if we had to choose we would say less than 100k.

As for the winters I have only really know Michigan winters and it wasn't until I started researching where to move that I realized there's more than one kind of snow. To me Michigan has slushy sloppy snow.

Any thoughts on places we should consider? Thanks for the advice.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 01:40 AM
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One time talking to two guys from KS, I compared NH bizzards with KS tornados. They preferred tornados. I was shocked. If you consider snow, keep in mind that in northern New England, we can get snow while southern New England gets ice and slush. I'd rather have snow. Also on the plus side, schools in our area offer after school ski programs at nearby ski areas. Friends just moved from MA to NH with children about the ages of yours. I see lots of happy facebook posts about all the outdoor activities they can enjoy. They love hiking and are taking classes in rock climbing.

We can have hot spells and it can also snow on Halloween (but that is rare). We live in a town with a tiny free public park on a small river where we can swim after work. It's nothing fancy but there is a choice a nice lakes and ocean beaches within an hour or less.

Your wife shouldn't have any trouble finding a job or more education if she would like to advance. Our dil originally trained as a CNA but then changed to phlebotomy. You would have to check IT jobs. It will also depend on your choice of commuting. We don't like traffic and would avoid southern NH and the I495 belt around Boston.

You should probably look at what church and social organizations are in an area to find new friends with similar values and ideals.

Good luck in your search.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 07:14 AM
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Oregon? Portland has a smaller city feel, and there are lovely suburbs all around it.

Colorado? I've always read that Colorado Springs, Boulder and Denver don;t get as much snow as you'd think, but I have no personal experience.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 07:22 AM
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Texas.

This four season nonsense is overrated. Minnesota has four distinct seasons but winter lasts five months or more. Texas has low taxes, a lot of job opportunities and most of the nice livable areas have greenbelts in or near them. Plus, DFW and Houston have boatloads of flights to Colorado and Utah for you to fly off and experience winters.

Yeah, the summers are hot, but you can do outdoor activities year-round without losing your fingers to frostbite. And AC is ubiquitous.

Boise is also tech-savvy and has four seasons and probably a less slushy snow-bound winter than Michigan. It's a nice small city with a LOT of outdoor activities and a great greenbelt. Idaho is more job-friendly than Michigan (admittedly, that says little - Michigan is up there with Massachusetts, California, New York and Illinois as the least business-friendly states). Boise also has the eponymous university, which gives the city a college-town vibe too and provides some good sports watching. Biggest negatives are that the nearest decent-sized cities are hours away by car and plane connections are not great.

I wouldn't live in the middle to northern plains (this includes the Iowa college towns, Omaha, Lincoln, much of Kansas) - the winters are bloody brutal. You think Michigan is bad, wait until you get the high winds blowing down from Canada. We get those in Texas but when the base temp is in the 40s, that's no biggie; if the base temp is in the 20s, yeesh.

Another place is San Diego, which is relatively ok for housing costs for California, but California is not known for low taxes or low cost of living. San Diego pretty much has one season - spring. If it hits 85, that's a heat wave. If it hits 50, that's a coldfront.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 10:02 AM
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A hard decision for you....maybe take a look at some of the web sites such as:
http://moving.about.com/od/findingap..._best_city.htm
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 10:28 AM
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There's no way winters in Kansas are worse than in Michigan and Minnesota! That said, I wouldn't live in Tornado Alley again, whatever the winters are like.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Alley
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 10:31 AM
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Oregon is what also jumped to my mind. Portland or for something a little smaller but still substantial Eugene. Or east of the mountains in Bend for the more varied climate/seasons.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 10:40 AM
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Try Virginia, it's pretty conservative outside of northern Virginia near DC. It has other things you want, 4 seasons but low level of natural disasters and snow but not too much (unless you go into mountains where some minimal ski resorts, but last year those didn't fare very well due to lack of snow). Weather never gets too cold.

I can't help you on jobs, because it is conservative it is business-friendly (and anti-worker in terms of workers' rights) if that appeals to you. Not to mention you can open carry guns without a permit, yahoo! I don't think you even need a permit to buy one, that's how conservative it is.

There is a lot of IT up near DC but that is the problem, a booming tech/IT economy doesn't get you the low cost of living, it gets you bigger cities and higher costs. Also that is the area that is less conservative.

Other than that, I'd look at Tennessee for what you want. Tennessee has one of the lower state unemployment rates, and is definitely more conservative and more moderate climate. I think jobs are best around Nashville and Knoxville. Forbes says tech is good around Knoxvill
http://www.knoxvilleoakridge.com/new...s-by-forbes/6/

I would suggest North Carolina for the climate and tech jobs in the cities, but it's less conservative than the others I named, it seems to me.

I think some of the places named may be nice but are a whole lot more expensive than TN or most of Virginia.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 12:40 PM
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Tennessee is a good choice. Knoxville especially if you're not into larger cities (Nashville has the population of Boston but a larger area, Memphis even more people and more crime than Nashvegas). Raleigh would also be good.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 01:49 PM
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Facebook and Yahoo have data centers in the Prineville OR area. More IT is planned for the future in central Oregon.
Mt. Bachelor outside Bend is expanding its ski able area.
Bend is one of a few places where you can ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 02:27 PM
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One thing I realized after posting, Oregon, especially western may be way too liberal for this folks!
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 02:45 PM
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I agree Suze. Eugene might put them into shock- and not a lot of job opportunities here.

Nice thing is proximity to ocean, mountains, beautiful nature, only snows occasionally in town but short drive to go and play in it if you choose.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 03:36 PM
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Western Oregon may be too liberal. On the east side of the Cascades, Trump signs outnumber Hillary signs by at least 20-1.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 03:53 PM
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Man, there are TOO MANY places that fit your description (spoken as a west coast lib.)

Boise ID or anywhere around Salt Lake City or Provo UT or Spokane or Moses Lake, WA come to mind.

All of the above:

conservative, good schools for the most part, 4 seasons (warm and sunny in summer, cold and sunny in winter ... warm & sunny springs and fall ... when it snows it tends to be dry light snow.

Moses Lake (small town of 20,000) may seem a strange suggestion, but its in the heart of the Cloud Sever Farm country - to many it may seem in the middle of no-where, but its within an hour or 2 of

Few natural disasters: no tornadoes, hurricanes, or earthquakes.
Relatively short winters with light dry snow, hot but not overly hot and not humid summers
good economies (Spokane being weakest of the lot), IT-centric. And are near lots of natural attractions and near forested mountains with snow in the winter.

I'd prefer the west coast, but if "conservative" is important, that wouldn't fit the bill ... I'd move to Bend, OR in a heartbeat, but I'm not sure that would meet your needs.

Make sure you do ts of research and visit your short-listed places extensively before committing
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 04:35 PM
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Actually Colorado in the Springs area might suit the singlemindedness need.
Not SO far away from family, Ohio might also.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 07:25 PM
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singlemindedness?? Let me guess: auto correct.
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Old Oct 24th, 2016, 09:30 PM
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Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four seasons, good opportunities for your wife and, most likely, for you as well.

Lee Ann
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 05:37 AM
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If your wife is currently in college to become a nurse, I would recommend she finish before you move. It is very difficult to transfer from one nursing program to another without losing substantial credit hours.
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 06:39 AM
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....singlemindedness??.... I am guessing Gretchen comment was in reference to the OP's request for a " relatively conservative area". Colorado Springs is home to "Focus on the Family" plus another 50 organizations related to conservative and very conservative themes around the bible, family, etc. It is not a place I would want to live but if that is one of your criteria, then you will feel right at home. Winters are mild, snow is min, and schools are decent.
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Old Oct 25th, 2016, 08:57 AM
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This is so interesting because everyone is guessing what conservative means to the OP. Does it mean libertarian and small government (Oregon could still fit the bill) or Christian evangelical? (Oregon would be out) Fiscal conservatism? Business/Corporations over environment? (much of the W Coast would be out). Traditional family values? Censorship? (Texas would fit the bill)

Regarding an earlier post, Salt Lake City elected an openly lesbian mayor last year (I believe she just married her wife in SLC).
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