Margot

To buongiorno, cybor, wayne, suzanne, ausc59, tcreath, cher, wyatt92, christina, shane, happy tourist, saraho, suze, jlm_mi, jj5, and yes, even Pis Pistofferson: I can't thank you enough for your help. I'm amassing a huge file and all of this info. will be in it.

Also, the 50,000 population was just an estimate. The town we currenly live in (Slidell) is about that size, and we like it here.

buckeyemom

Worthington, Powell, Dublin or Hilliard, Ohio. All suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Worthington has one of the top rated schools in the state and the others follow closely. Columbus is a great family town, lots to do for families. Wonderful zoo, 4 indoor ice rinks with year round programs, great youth sports programs, COSI, Columbus Zoo, tons of pools for summer, nice airport and affordable. You should be able to find a nice home in your price range. Columbus also has one of the best public library systems in the country.

www.experiencecolumbus.com/main.cfm
www.home.columbus.gov/about/visitcoc.asp
www.worthington.org/welcome.cfm
www.ci.powell.oh.us/
www.dublinvisit.org/
www.cityofhilliard.com/

Saraho

Oh, Slidell- we used to live in Picayune, Mississippi, right across the state line from Slidell. In fact my step-son works in Slidell. Yes, I think I would definitely move away from Slidell- too much flooding- it doesn't even take a hurricane there, in some areas, just a lot of rain.

Hazelmn

We lived all over the country and chose Minneapolis, but yes, the weather can be extreme.

Of all the places I've seen, I think you are describing the Bend or Eugene Oregon areas. You might also enjoy looking at many of the "Big 10" university towns. They have culture and good school systems. The better ones, in warmer climates, include Bloomington or Lafayette IN, or Iowa City IA.

Don't forget northern Utah. Great communities and schools. Provo comes to mind.

Fodorite018

i can't speak for Eugene, but Bend will be a really tough place to find a home for anywhere near $100/sq ft. The prices have skyrocketed there the last 5-10 years.

suze

Actually I was going to take back my earlier suggestion for the state of Oregon when I realized the housing price they are hoping to find.

sunbabe

Margot,

I would recommend you look into Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. B-N is home to State Farm corporate, as well as Mitsubishi Motors. There are two universities, Illinois State (public) and Illinois Wesleyan (private). I can't vouch for the public primary and secondary schools, but there are several.

B-N is approximately 130 miles south of Chicago (2 hr. 15 min. drive) and 160 miles north of St. Louis (2 hr. 45 min. drive).

I'm providing a link to a website that I found. Good luck in your endeavor to relocate. Central IL does have the four season climate that you mentioned and we definitely don't have hurricanes.

www.bnbiz.org/Demographics/Default.asp

mah1980

Margot,

We live in the Mandeville/Covington area. I'm sorry that you are going to move but I definitely understand why.

Have you ever considered some of the suburbs around Nashville or Birmingham? It wouldn't be too cold, and I think the housing prices are still pretty reasonable.

My husband and I would love to move too, but we are both attorneys so that means we would both have to take another state's bar exam. Since we are young attorneys, it's a lot harder to move.

I really don't like it over here right now- there is way too much traffic and the situation in New Orleans is frustrating and depressing.

Also, is finding a place where you can work a concern? If you are in a specific field that has regional avail., you might want to post that so you can get some feedback pertaining to your career relocation.

My heart really goes out to people in our area that have small children like you AND are trying to figure out where to go after the Hurricane. It's hard, but I'm sure you'll make a good decision and your family will be able to move on soon!

Good luck!

Ike

Good friend of mine lives on Gulf Coast near NO..........he's moving to Cleveland, MS. It's a nice town in the Ms Delta......no hurricanes and a fine place to live. Good schools. Good restaurants.........housing in your requirements..........good luck..........It's my home too...........been here for 22 years.......

JRP

Hello? I feel soooo invisible! We have it all in Denver- excellent public schools, no weather extremes with sunshine most everyday and four very mild seasons, NO HURRICANES, no desert, many choices for small-to- medium size towns within driving distance of an outstanding airport. The housing might be a very slight stretch but it is offset by the community activities and family amenities. Your five-year-old daughter has so many opportunities, regardless of the interests she might develop. Our children are active in organized sports, hiking, boarding, biking and just general playing outdoors- year 'round. Every aesthetic and artistic attraction one could want is available. All major sports are represented as well as superb dining and shopping.
I'm interested...what is the national perception of Denver? I'm thinking cold, buried in snow, difficult to traverse due to the steep and isolated mountainous terrain. I'd like to hear from you.

ed

My son who is a native of SoCal and has lived in Washington DC is very enthisiastic about Santa Rosa Ca..
He has an 8 year old and a 5 year old in the school system and he is very happy with the schools.

Both he and his wife have doctorates so they are picky about the schools.

He likes the location of the town and the feel of the town.

The surounding area is beautiful :-B

emd

I am surpirsed that no one has asked this, but what kind of skills do you have and and what kind of work are you looking for? Because if you don't have work it will be hard to live wherever you want to go, unless you are independently wealthy.

LeslieC

Santa Rosa, CA - did you notice her price range for a home??? There is not a prayer of getting it in Santa Rosa!

Binthair

You are probably talking about research triangle area of North Carolina.

Stephanie

I'd second Philadelphia. Its winters aren't that bad, its close to all major cities on the east coast and the benefit of having nice NJ and DE beachtowns nearby for weekend getaways. No hurricanes (just possible rainfall from it), tornadoes, earthquakes.

Ryan

One of the issues you don't mention is employment.

Here's a link to Bureau of Labor Statistics website which shows unemployment rates by state and major city. You'll note on the right hand column the unemployment rate for each state.

http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm

Not sure what you and your spouse do for a living but I'd think that employment potential would be equal in importance to weather and an airport.

That said, taking weather into account published unemployment rates, I'd suggest you look at parts of Virginia. If you can stand colder winters, states like Minnesota and New Hampshire fit the other criteria.

BTW, someone mentioned Michigan. Given GM is closing multiple factories and Delphi is pushing to cut wage rate by 50 to 66%, those job markets are going to become brutal.

Fairhope

After being hit by Ivan, Cindy, Dennis and Katrina our friends wisely moved to Waynesboro Va. It seems to fit your needs.
There is a large thread now about living near DC that might interest you

Hazelmn

A previous poster asked about the national perception of Denver. I’ve been there many times, and have enjoyed it. We were considering living there, but chose not to. A couple reasons:
- Wasn’t “green” enough. Denver is near the mountains, but is actually on the high plains. As such, it seemed really arid to us. And the drive into the mountains on weekends can be brutal (traffic).
- Growth was alarming. There are subdivisions going up at a torrid pace. Traffic problems are worsening. It just felt like Southern California might have 20 years ago.
- We like old, quaint neighborhoods. In Denver, they are areas like Wash Park, and are terribly expensive. If you go further east, you get nice old neighborhoods that are reasonably priced. We could have lived in a cheaper subdivision, but that isn't what we want for our home.

With all that said, Denver is a nice metro area and should be considered for many people. It is true that the weather in Denver is fantastic.

Cargillman

I've travelled extensively, and would rank these at the top of my "family quality of life" list. I should note that I haven't seen every place, so I'll leave some off. In no particular order. Also, some of these areas might require digging to find good housing prices.

Northern California, Napa area
Portland, OR
Colorado Springs
Salt Lake City
Minneapolis
collection of midwest towns (Sioux Falls, Iowa City, Rochester)
Madison, WI
Charlotte, NC
Nashville

For what you are looking for, Margot, I'm surprised people haven't highly recommended Nashville. Schools are not great, but they certainly aren't bad.

JJ5

Ryan, the GM closings aren't going to hit Michigan as much as Oklahoma and a lot of other places in the South and Prairie states.

The truth is that GM's jobs haven't been centered in MI for a long time. The two biggest closings are going to be in Oklahoma and McCook,IL- and both have already been decimated to a quarter or less of their original numbers, so it is no great surprise.

Because I have looked and do know- getting a job in MI, especially in the South Central part, is not going to be as hard as many other places, especially if you are in the financial fields.

And if you really want mild, mild weather- that price scale is not as doable unless you hit areas of OK, Northern AL, KS, MO, TN or AK. Kentucky pricing is greatly increased, but around Bowling Green, you may have some good choices.

Also Southern IN may do the trick- around Evansville. They do get tornados, and just had one- but it's a very nice town for families.
Indianapolis is good.

Colorado's housing market- I just don't think you can buy a house for this price range- not anywhere I looked.

If you want green color, and seasons- you have to have some cold and some snow or you are just kidding yourself that you "enjoy" seasons. That's IMHO and not everyones, I know. But Canada has extreme weather or ID and MN- not Michigan.