wwcdtwins09

I'm new to the forum and not sure if this is the best avenue but at least a place to start. I appreciate any feedback one could give me. My family is looking to relocate someplace in the US that has mild winters and warm, dry summers. I have been dealing with a health issue for the past couple of decades and it's to a point that the cold Midwest winters have been very tough on my breathing. At the same time, high humidity creates a problem for me. Extreme heat also tends to drain me. We still have school age children so we are hoping to find a spot within the US with good school systems and a decent cost of living. Does such a place exist? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks all.

BigRuss

Yeah . . . this post isn't going to do it.

You need to be more specific as to what "decent" cost of living is - specify your jobs or income, what you can afford for lodging or something in that range and specify what you need - 2 bedrooms? 3? more?

What means "school age children"? Kids who attend kindergarten go to school for 13 years BEFORE college - that's a wide range.

New Mexico and Arizona are pretty much as dry as you'll get. "Mild winter" is ambiguous. The upper midwest is really effing cold so by comparison southern Illinois could be "mild."

Fact is, in the US you may have a hard time finding mild winters, warm summers and dry. Arizona is dry, it is blazing hot in the summer. New Mexico is dry, it can be very cold in the winter.

One option could be Oklahoma. The major cities are relatively inexpensive compared to the coasts and the economy is good.

Other options option may be interior cities in North Carolina (Charlotte, Asheville?), Virginia (Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Lexington) or central to Eastern Tennessee such as Knoxville and Nashville (Memphis is a pit, don't do it). Weather changes everywhere except San Diego so no guarantees.

Barblab

Your desire to avoid cold winters pretty much limits you to the southern part of the country. The south and southeast would be out due to the humid summers. The west is mostly desert and is then out due to the extreme heat in the summer. That leaves Southern California that meets all your requirements with the exception of the cost of housing. If you can get past that hurdle the mild weather makes life pretty easy. Good luck in your search.

fmpden

It is always a difficult question because of all of the compromises you have to make. No place is perfect. Milder winter tend to have hotter summers. Is it humidity and cold that gives you problems or just cold or just humidity? Taking an item at a time.

Low humidity - would push in the direction of the west and southwest - areas that come to mind would be Colorado, Ariz, NM.

Extreme heat. Same areas but you cannot get to far south. Southern Colorado, northern Ariz, NM.

Mild winters - that is going to be relative to what you mean by mild winters. Again it is the above areas. Santa Fe, Pueblo, CO, Albuquerque.

School systems - all over the place.

Denver and parts of Colorado could meet a lot of your criteria. Low humidity year around and super low in winter and summer. Having come from the Chicago area, we think Denver winters are mild but can have six to eight weeks of cold and snow in winter (Dec/Jan). Very rare for daytime temps to be below zero and most daytime temps are above 32 in winter. Lows of sun. None of that Midwest damp winter gloom of constant overcast. Summers are nice in that it is rare to be over a hundred and 90s are not that frequent except in July and relative humidity is often single digit. Tough on sign and furniture. And as a metro area schools systems tend to be good but vary some from area to area.

Good luck

HappyTrvlr

Many of the dry area with low cost of living also have poor schools. Colorado may be your best bet.
Look at Intermountain west as a region.

nytraveler

Generally areas with a low cost of living don;t have good school systems.

And for a place with mild winters and summer and not much humidity you are looking at southern CA - which is NOT cheap.

You don't mention the age of the kids (if only a few years to go you could send to private schools in a bad school area with low costs) or how transferable your and your spouses job skills are.

So - we have no idea of what you mean by a decent cost of living. Or by good schools (there are truly excellent public schools some places, good, decent, fair, poor and really dreadful - the comparison depends in part on where you are coming from).

Gretchen

Amazingly, I think Denver area could really be it!

Dukey1

Some places where the cost of living is high don't have such great school systems either.

wwcdtwins09

Thanks for all the responses. Sorry for being so vague. I expect that I won't find everything that I'm looking for. We have 2 kids (5 and 10) so a few more years of school to go. If I had to rank my preferences, I could handle hot and dry over hot and humid. It's really the brutal MN winters that get me. Some humidity actually makes me feel better. I also know that cost of living is very fluid so something comparable to MN would be ideal. I don't think we could swing Southern California.

And again, I really appreciate the comments.

Greenhouse

www.findyourspot.com

AustinTraveler

What about jobs?

elberko

FYI, it isn't till AFTER after you spend time answering the quiz at www.findyourspot.com, that you find out you have to supply personal information to get the result.

~Liz

HappyTrvlr

MN has a lot of high quality and it may be difficult when you move to have to cope with lower standards.
I think CO is the winner and also has excellent healthcare.

John

Look at nw Montana

nytraveler

Co does have a lot of what you want - except the winters can be really cold. I had a business trip there in mid Sept and landed in Denver to 8" of snow (it had been 85 when we left NYC). Granted it had melted the next am - but there is a definite winter.

Dukey1

"I also know that cost of living is very fluid so something comparable to MN would be ideal"

I assume you have or are considering the following:

tax rates both income tax and sales tax
car insurance rates
car registration costs
hazard insurance costs
utilities costs
real estate costs/prices of homes/rental rates

fmpden

Come on NYtraveler. You cannot use one day as an indication of what winter is or is not like. The date of our first snow can range from Sept to November. We came here from the south side of Chicago. Winters here do not begin to compare to what we had on the south side of Chicago. I can remember doing a fifty mile bike ride on New Year's day with typical summer bike gear and being very comfortable. But that is not typical either. Travel 50 miles into the mountains and it will be entirely different. We do have cold weather and some snow in Dec and Jan months but it turns quickly come February. Don't know what really cold means to you but for me, it is day time temps that get around zero or below and stays there for a period of time. That is rare in Denver.

Gretchen

I can probably go one better than NYtraveler--and there is NO doubt--you get ALL the seasons, maybe in one week in Denver!!
DS was married mid-October, temp 75 with the rehearsal dinner the night before under those gorgeous navy blue skies of CO. Sunday (remember, mid-October) it was snowing like a bandit as we headed to Breckenridge for a relaxing weekend. It got to 17 below that night!!
Denver has 300 days of sunshine, and the temp in your car in mid-winter can approach summer temps!!
And the comment about the benefits of MN in many areas is right on (we have friends there), but the winters can be brutal.
Good luck. I would still look at Denver and environs.

wwcdtwins09

Both my wife and I have jobs that can be found in any major city...I'm a CPA and she's an F&B Manager. Once I determine a few places, I'll go through my due diligence on specific COL specifics like insurances, real estate, etc. I do appreciate all the comments. It's great to see so many recommendations from all of you. I've never lived outside of MN/WI so outside of some family travel, I have studied very little of any other communities. And I love MN and the change in seasons...something about the white Xmas but for the first time in my life, I had a very difficult time with the cold winter.

I forgot to mention that healthcare also plays a big part. Looks like CO is a good place to start. I appreciate all the comments.

fmpden

Since you have young children, I am sure it will be driven by school system but that is easily checked. All school systems in Colorado are county wide with open enrollment. Obviously kids are assigned to schools based on address but you are free to attend any other public school as long as space is available and you provide transportation. At the top of the list to avoid is the Douglas County and probably in the future - Jefferson Cty. Jefferson Cty is on the far west side of the Denver metro area and Douglas Cty is on the far south side of Denver. However, there are a number of very good districts through out the metro area that are closer to the center of Denver.