gillybrit

Currently living in PA. Considering relocating somewhere warmer - time for a change. Have 2 kids, so need suggestions on somewhere that fits the following criteria:
Warmer than PA!
Safe environment for family
Good schools
Reasonable housing cost (current 4 BR, 2.5 BA home valued at $325M, so would like to be at least close to that range)
Strong economy - I will need a new job. I work in purchasing, so not limited to a specific industry.
Suggestions?



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nini

Atlanta would fit your requirements. The Marietta area has excellent schools and housing choices. Wishing you luck in your big decision.

canterbury

Hi gillybrit

How about Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texs?

I live in So Cal, but I recently spent time in Dallas area looking for a home for my parents. We really liked Granbury (an hour from DFW) but do not recommend for schools.

Certainly warmer than PA, but maybe overwhelming (compared to So Cal)?

Schools seem to be pretty good in the following areas near DFW:

Highland Park
University Park
Plano
Southlake
Flower Mound

We looked at homes in Northeast Tarrant County - huge, cheap and really beautiful.

$325k will buy you a very nice home indeed.

GoTravel

This subject has been done ad nauseum.

If you do a search it will help you narrow down your options and we can help you refine your search.

gillybrit

GoTravel - I haven't had much luck with searches on the Fodors boards. What would you recommend I search under?

DebitNM

type in the word RELOCATE in the box at the top of this page that says Search this forum...lots of threads come up...read the original post to see if they are asking a similar question if you can't tell from topic title.

Hope this helps...
Debi

AustinTraveler

gillybrit,

Try this relocation site for some ideas.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/

You'll have to do a lot of research and then try to narrow down your choices. In the meantime, I recommend you check out Austin, TX. Austin's economy is booming right now. You can find housing in your price range and it is definitely safe, not to mention a whole lot warmer than PA.

Good luck!!

JJ5

www.findyourspot.com

And it truly works. But you must answer truthfully and not idealistically.

Abby43

What about the Raleigh-Durham area? I saw some nice developments there back in April and someone who works at Duke told me the area is totally affordable. Don't know about the schools, but if your kids are smart maybe they can go to UNC and save you heaps of money!

GoTravel

gilly, search:

relocate south

You'll particularly find a lot of southeastern relocation requests.

Diana

Raleigh-Durham is currently not accepting any new applicants for relocation.

We will notify the general public as soon as our overwhelmed infrastructure has caught up with growth and our schools make it out of the bottom 5% of national rankings.

We appreciate your patience during the approximate 10 years it will take to complete our improvements.

Have a nice day!

Barbara

Diana, LOL!

ncgrrl

Diana,

LOL!!!

However, Chapel Hill, the third part of RTP has better ranked schools, but does not provide parking for anyone in town. Busses, bicyles, and pedicabs are available.

And coming soon to CH, the monster traffic circle. Watch people go round and round in circles trying to stay on the same road.

christy1

That findyourspot.com site does NOT work for me-I'm pretty sure it's sponsored by certain towns chambers of commerce. I've gotten very bizarre results that totally ignored the search criteria I put as most important. Once I did it answering very specifically to try to get my home town of Seattle, and Seattle still didn't show up anywhere in the list-I guess they don't give $$ to the site.

Patricia_Green

I am new to posting but I have been reading here for weeks.

Gillybrit, there are so many questions just like this, if you just put out a little effort you would find plenty of advice.

JJ5

christy that site does not work that way at all. You probably put in criteria like population count or something that discounted your town or city. It is not meant to work backwards, and it sure works for me. Found two great towns to visit and check out from that site that are in lake country, exactly like I wanted.

Austin

bestplaces.net

steviegene

what about Phoenix.
Much warmer and more reasonable housing. The job market there is also booming.

ChristieP

I also thought of Dallas/Fort Worth area. I live here, and my mother came from Pittsburgh, PA in the early 1970's to escape the cold, too! Yes, the summers here are hot, but there is a/c everywhere you go.

One BIG suggestion for DFW: find a job BEFORE you buy a house! The area is very big and sprawling, and you do not want to have over a 30-45 minute commute to/from work!

Canterbury gives great advice, with one exception: you cannot buy even a toolshed in Highland/University Park for $325k.

Southlake schools are OK, but many of the families there are extremely affluent, and unless you're willing to buy your kids a brand-new Lexus to be like their friends, you may not fit in.

Kealoha

Have you tried Colorado? My brother lives there, and he thinks the winter are manageable--not harsh at all. And from what I've read, parts of Colorado get more sunshine than San Diego! I also have friends who moved there from So Cal because real estate is more affordable, and they love it. I would move in a heartbeat there since I'm tired of CA's cost of living but DH is tired of taking state bars (he took HI bar when I thought I wanted to move back there), he took NV bar and I refused to move, and of course CA bar. Maybe someday...good luck with the search.