family relocation advice
 

Hi,
I realize this is a travel forum, but I've read quite a few posts regarding relocation, so here goes.
I am considering relocating my family from my CapeCod location. I've researched many different areas and traveled to a few.
Before I start, some info on me. I have 3 kids, 9 and under. I currently live in a town of under 10,000 and would like to stay that way. I'd like to be within 2 hours of a City and within 1-2 hours of either the Mountains or the Ocean.
I have primarly focused on the South
and the Mountain West.
So far I've looked into the following:
1 - Utah
a. Provo
b. Heber City
2 - FloridaPanhandle
a. Niceville
b. Navarre
3 - NC
a. Ashville
4 - Colorado
a. Just about everywhere

Prime concerns of mine are:
1 - Cost of Living
2 - Education
3 - Safe neighborhoods
4 - Acceptence of "outsiders"
5 - Recreational activities

Thanks in advance :)

Have you considered northwest Montana?

My pick would be Provo or Asheville - I like mountains and both seem friendly enough. Provo is close to an international airport, great skiing, National Parks to the North, South and East.

One question, Why on earth would you want to leave the Cape??

I have and would consider NW Montana. Any suggestions for areas of research?

I do love the cape. However, a couple of factors are pointing me toward relocation. One, is the housing costs are very high and I have alot of equity in my house. Another, is related to employment opportunities. In my profession, software, there are very few.

I live in Tampa, FL. Unless you plan to home-school, I would suggest that you check into the local schools in Niceville and Navarre, FL. My brother lives in west Panama City Beach and the schools are not impressive. Also, if you're in the software business, I don't know what's available for you, although maybe you do. The area is not known for its industry. As for accepting outsiders, in Florida most people are from somewhere else. The natives tend to cluster together and the outsiders do the same. As for property value, waterfront in Florida is escalating at a faster clip than inland properties, but all are rising.

Aside from that, this is a beautiful area that is growing tremendously. Eglin Air Force base in Ft. Walton might be a source of income for you.

I like the options you have laid out, except for the Panhandle. It seems that if you are really looking for natural beauty and recreation, Florida is a little out of place.

As for the others, I like them all. Utah can be a little wary of outsiders, so beward. But a place like Provo might have enough transplants so it is commonplace for outsiders to be part of the community. Colorado = expensive. I don't think you will get any break whatsoever on cost of living, unless if you far away from the mountains which would defeat the purpose. Plus, it is already overrun with outsiders.

I love NW Montana... Missoula.... with the University in town, there might be some creative job opps.

Have you considered Washington State? You can get an hour outside of Sea-Tac and have some gorgeous, smaller areas.

Mark Asheville off your list. Housing has gone through the roof up there. My inlaws live in Asheville.

Hendersonville, about 40 minutes away is very charming and not quite as expensive.

Knoxville, TN is a great place to raise a family. Close to the mountains but only 6 1/2 hours from the coast. Farragut or Maryville City schools are the best. The 4 seasons are great here.

Hendersonville's housing is not any longer less expensive than Asheville's. Unless you are interested in buying a trailer. We did an extensive research for our father and his wife who just moved to Knoxville, TN where they bought a house for a half what they would pay in Asheville or Hendersonville.

If you're not a Mormon, you'll be second or third class citizens in Utah.
M

Post Falls, Idaho

A lot depends on how you define "outsider". Religion, for instance, can make one an outsider regardless of the birthplaces of one's neighbors. This is, of course, an issue in Utah if you are not LDS, but depending on what religion you follow (or more critically, do not follow) it might also be an issue in most of the South, except near secular universities.

One thing I noticed about all of your possible choices is that they are all "red", politically speaking. Very. If you are a liberal who feels strongly about being a liberal, you should probably be looking at college towns only in most of those states. (Note that in Utah, the "college town=fairly liberal" rule does not really apply. Provo is still majority LDS, at least according to my non-LDS friends who live there.)

OK, I live in Utah and also went to school in Provo.

Utah is a realtively safe place to live and has unlimited outdoor recreational opportunities. HOWEVER:

Education - Utah spends more than 50% of its entire state budget on education. Yet, $ spent per student ranks 48th out of the 50 states! Classrooms are crowded and seriously underfunded. Teachers have some of the lowest pay rates in the US.

Acceptance of Outsiders - if you are not LDS, your children will not be included. LDS children are encouraged to socalize with other LDS kids. Their parents are so busy with church obligations and socializing, that they will not have the time or inclination to socialize with you.

You also have to be willing to accept the ugly fact that if you are liberal, your vote will (almost) never count for anything. When Utah actually elected a Democrat to congress (Matheson) four years ago, the state legislature reacted by gerrymandering the district so that the Democratic "hotbed" (Park City & Salt Lake proper) were split up and Matheson wouldn't get re-elected. He did anyway and has since been reelected again this year.

You should also be very aware that taxes and housing costs are high in Utah. Utah ranks 7th out of 50 states in taxes.

If you can accept these negatives, then Utah is a great place to live.

You can lessen the impact some of the negatives by choosing carefully where you live. My town, Park City , is happy to be known as the "sinners" of Utah.

Some neighborhoods in Salt Lake are quite nicely balanced too, "The Avenues", and Sugarhouse.

I would never recommend for someone non-LDS to live in Provo or Heber.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Population under 10,000? I would think that towns so small would really be struggling, especially in the area of education.

North Andover Massachusetts, population about 20,000, made Money Magazines list of top 5 best places to live in the east.

Thanks for all the responses. I've checked out the Niceville and Navarre schools and they are rated among the highest in FLA. Thanks for the tips regarding Ashville. I will look into the Knoxville area as well. Thanks for the Utah feedback as well. I've been in Provo for buisness and feel in love with the area. I'm not really concerned about the red state vs. blue state issue. In any case, I've been researching using all of the "cost of living" tools available on the web, but realize that opinions from people who live in the various area's are much better indicators. I'm also open to hearing about area's in SC, Georgia, etc. Thanks again.

tracys2cents,

Not sure how you got from point A to point B on the small town=struggling education thing...I don't think that's the norm.

Class size in our four local elementary schools (town pop. 14,000) range from 14-19. My husband's on the school board and I know that keeping class size numbers down is a high priority for the district. As far as I can tell, opportunities within the local schools (speaking of technology, course offerings, etc.)is the same or better than those of the city in which we used to live (pop. 230,000). IMHO, education quality definitely has more to do with the city and state's commitment to education than it does anything else.

You might want to check out Columbus, SC neighboring towns. I've visited Lexington, not sure about the size. This area is growing and is so rich in the arts, what with the University and capital in Columbus. SC spends more per capita on the arts than any other state, so they brag.

Do you mean Columbia, SC?

Asheville, NC has way more than 10,000 people and is one of the more expensive areas to live in the state. It might be within 2 hours of Charlotte, but Charlotte is nothing like Boston.

Consider Northfield, MN. It's about 45 south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; it's a college town with a population of 17K; it has excellent schools; and the jobs picture in MN is fairly bright. It isn't near mountains, but it's about 4 hours from the North Shore of Lake Superior, which does a good impression of the ocean! Good luck!

ncgrrl, you're right. columbia is what I meant. Columbia, SC.