I don't know where I should move
 

I have been looking to move for quite some time and just have no clue where I should move. I currently live in Illinois and am sick of the cold weather. I want to go to a cheapish Communications College to get an associates. I'm gay so I want a community which is gay friendly and has a somewhat big gay community. I'm looking for an area with warmer weather and an area where cost of living is not to high. I'm looking for an area with apartments under $600. I'm also looking for an area which has jobs in the areas of either customer service or Distribution Centers/Ecommerce etc. Jobs which are above $10 but don't require any education. Would be thankful for some advice thanks!

Boy, this is tough.

Gay friendly places in warm climates tend to be places with high rents. They also tend to be urban. Most of our gay friends are refugees from small towns in red states.

The exception may be college towns.

How old are you?

If you are under 25, you may want to be a little bit more ambitious about your educational goals, looking for financial aid and working part time at a college job or nearby.

Good luck.

Look into Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors..largest concentration of gay folks in the US

Take a good look at Albuquerque.

College towns w/ rents under $600 and in warm locations and high paying/low skilled jobs . . . That would be a tall order.

You have tagged your thread for Illinois -- which the one place you don't want to move apparently. That may seriously limit the number of people who read your question since many just click on the states they know or are interested in . . .

You might want to re-post and tag for some of the states you are considering (don't tag it California because rents in any college town there will be much higher)

There are all sorts of colleges down here in South Florida, many offer AS and AB degrees. Does that mean that Fort Lauderdale is a "college town" like Urbana, Illinois? No.

The OP needs to do some more internet-based homework IMO.

I was going to suggest my home city, Seattle, until I got to the part about the rents. Way more expensive than that here. But very gay friendly :-)

Check out Eugene (U of O) and Corvallis (Oregon State). They are only 45 miles apart near I-5. The Willamette Valley is on the "blue" side of Oregon and has better rents than most of California.

Austin, Texas?

There's no 600/month rents in Corvallis or Eugene either.

I'll also suggest Albuquerque, depending on what you want to get your degree in.

Lee Ann

I suggest Houston, TX. Cheaper rents, good job availability. Gay mayor, diverse city. Some community colleges as well as four year institutions.

I don't think $600 rentals are nearly as hard to find as some would make it sound. You may have to adjust your expectation - are you going to get a huge 1 or 2 BR condo for that? No. But there are always studio apartments, shared living quarters where you have your own bedroom but share the rest of the living space with 1 or more, cheap tiny 1 bedrooms, etc.

Really though, you'll have to do some more research and narrow it down. Virtually every major city (warm or cold climate) has some gay friendly neighborhoods so we could spend hours listing off the cities. What areas of the country interest you? On a deeper level than just being warmer than Illinois....

Reading the OP he says apartments for under $600 which doesn't sound like he's looking at renting a bedroom in a larger place. But until we hear back from the OP we really don't know.

In my (low cost for California) area the only $600 rentals are in REALLY bad neighborhoods or are bedrooms w/ kitchen privileges in Victorians in the central city.

Wherearewe, where are you?

$600 a month is undoable in a safe neighborhood anywhere I have lived in recent years, though that is New England.

Maybe San Bernadino, CA?

Sorry, I have to disagree with LeeAnn (first time ever) about Albuquerque.

First, our winters are nicer than Illinois, but they aren't warm. It's cold at night and we do have snow sometimes.cway less than IL but still...

Jobs here will pay barely $10 for no education call centers. Jobs are very tight here for your demographic.

Rent will be tough for $600 all in utilities,chichi add up.

The Community College is great, but not sure how quickly you qualify for "resident tuition".

As far as the gay aspect, there is a gay population as most University towns are. I am not sure how big the community is, but tolerant/friendly is there.

Ackislander: I'm in Minneapolis, very gay friendly and we definitely have rents under $600 for apartments in safe neighborhoods, even the more popular gay friendly neighborhoods.

>> I'm in Minneapolis, very gay friendly and we definitely have rents under $600 for apartments in safe neighborhoods, even the more popular gay friendly neighborhoods.<<

. . . but there is that little detail of winters :)

Not sure Minneapolis solves the "I'm sick of cold weather" issue though...