whistleway

What liveable cities or states are out there where a well-off liberal 35-something family would feel at home and also raise kids?

Prerequisites are
- warm weather most of the year
- liveable downtown/community
- inspiring nature closeby
- low consumerism, organic markets
- fairly low cost of living
- access/exposure/opportunity for kids
- good schools/pride of education
- social equality (+ diverse culture)
- good economy/growth in future
- relaxed low pace of life/low crime

Thank you.

nanabee

I would recommend Portland, Ore, except for the 'warm weather most of the year!'

San Diego, except for the 'low cost of living.'

Honolulu, again except for 'cost of housing.'

Los Gatos, CA (in the San Francisco area) except can get a little cooler in the winter, and cost of living.

janisj

none of the above have 'low consumerism' - whatever that means???

Toucan2

I suggest Austin, TX.

nanabee

I would hazard a guess Janis, that it might mean you don't get caught up in a buying frenzy? But, I would think that is something the consumer can control. Housing prices you'd have no control over.

Brian_in_Charlotte

Wow, good luck. You realize that if such a place existed, it would be overrun by people and ruined quickly.

But if you're just looking to come close to the items on that list, than Austin is probably worth a look.

jayne1973

The liberal part is probably the most difficult match... the suburbs are more conservative than Dallas itself but typically have the good school districts.

Highland/ University Park has high rated schools, but a toney, aka snooty, reputation.

You might also check into homes on historic Swiss Avenue in Dallas which are amazing. But that probably means private schools.

nytraveler

I think you're going to have to give on something.

From your title description I would have said NYC - yes, there are a ton of great places here to raise kids. But it's not warm most of the year and the cost of living isn't low.

IMHO finding good schools/pride of education and a low cost of living with social equality and ethnic diversity is going to be very difficult. Good education is NEVER cheap.

Agree - if there was such a place everyone would move there (well, not me - but a lot of people).

Gretchen

Where do you live now?

thursdaysd

Chapel Hill, NC, aside from the cost of living. Or the Research Triangle area in general. I find the summers here too much of a good thing, but YMMV.

Seamus

You have basically just described San Antonio. Moved here from DC, left twice, returned both times.
Do NOT succumb to the gated community developer propaganda touting yuppie wannabe ghettos on the periphery - look in older neighborhoods inside loop 410 such as Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills.

330east

Northport, NY

Connie

Some of your criteria just don't go together but I agree with Austin, except it is an expensive place to live--at least by Texas standards. From wherever you come from, it may be much cheaper.

yarrl

How about Fairfax in Marin County California. It has most of the qualities you are looking for.

starrs

Asheville NC

Decatur GA

janisj

>>How about Fairfax in Marin County California. It has most of the qualities you are looking for.

dfrostnh

funny how one develops a criteria list. Warm weather most of the year would mean No Snow! I consider good sledding and building snow forts to be important ingredients for a happy childhood.

Michael

Except for housing, cost of living in SF is not necessarily that high. The fairly even climate means that utilities are fairly low and going to the oldest farmer's market in SF (Alemany) on Saturdays and the Civic Center market (Wednesday and Sunday) will reduce food costs considerably. Over the years the property taxes will be going down relatively speaking because of Prop. 13 which limits their increases (they do not keep up with inflation). It's the housing cost that's the deal breaker, but that might not be a problem for the family that is well off.

Snow! I consider good sledding and building snow forts to be important ingredients for a happy childhood.

The Sierra is readily accessible for weekends. I've been taking two day ski trips for 25 years.

ROVERTD

Dfrostnh has great point. My advice, don't fear the winter. I always did and it was a huge mistake. And I will admit to having the exact same criteria for where to live as you have, as impossible as they are, and having spent years looking for the right place to live in the South. We've lived in Austin, San Antonio, and the Chapel Hill area and now live in New England. The problem with the south is that you can find liberal enclaves but you won't feel at home in the state in general, and unless you plan to ignore all local news and activities and keep your children completely cloistered or discuss all kinds of negative things they will hear at school about liberals, gays, non-Christians. You will eventually want to get out. We finally did when oldest kids hit middle school, as the religiosity is impossible to shelter your kids from at that point. And, its the kind of religiosity that is completely incompatible with the word liberal. And it drives a tangible wedge between your children and their friends.

I actually lived in Alamo Heights (one of the communities mentioned), which is an inside the loop community in San Antonio and has famously good schools which my children attended. SA is a relatively liberal city due to the Hispanic influence in politics and I do like the city and would return to Alamo heights if I had to go back to TX; however, it's still Texas, so don't fool yourself. When my children were in elementary school the mom's all dropped their kids off at school in giant Cadillac Escalades. These were our neighbors and we chose our home so we could walk the kids to school so that should tell you something key about the place when the majority of people will drive 5 or 6 blocks rather than walk their kids to school. And consumerism IS the official culture of TX,just so you know. We also lived in Austin before kids and while it is also a great city with a deservedly liberal rep, you will find the same kind of thing there even in the inside the city neighborhoods and it's still unbearably hot 3 to 4 months of the year. So, while I love both Austin and San Antonio as far as Texas cities go, they are not happy places for "liberals" necessarily.

We finally moved to New England, and kids are so happy. They love the snow more than anything and they spend about 10X more time outside than we ever did in the South because the heat is actually much more difficult to handle than the cold (seriously, and I grew up in Texas). The summers here are amazing, the Fall is even better and the winter is the most fun of all. The only bad season is spring because it's muddy and wet and the outdoor activities are unpredictable. Nobody will hassle your kid if they don't want to pray (AT SCHOOL ACTIVITIES, NO LESS) and the only thing that will annoy you if you move to New England is that everybody believes they have celiac disease and gluten free stuff tastes horrible. Small price to pay really. And, ironically, the housing prices in Austin and Alamo Heights are no better than where I live (New England college town).

Give up the criteria that your hometown be warm most of the year and suddenly you will have so much more to choose from, I wish I had done it so many years ago. And I am not even going to be rude and say: don't listen to me, I don't want more people where I live, because I'm southern and we are friendly people.....but contrary to what I'd always believed, we really can survive above the Mason-Dixon line.

HappyTrvlr

If you didn't require warm weather, Vermont would fit your criteria.