What about Atlanta? The weather is great, the city is fun, and traffic isn't as bad as you might think if you live close to where you work. There seem to be a lot of jobs here too.

Portland and Seattle fit your requirements, even the housing cost bit if you know where to look. IT is in a relative slump around the country, of course, but the west coast centers (NW, Bay area, LA/SD) have very diverse economies and will likely make the quickest recovery. In the meantime, they're nice places to hang out.

Bay Area-California. Meets all your criteria. Silicon Valley - San Jose, CA is culturally diverse, fantastic climate, semi-reasonable housing relative to income for those in the IT field. Also very near to beaches (within one hour) and San Francisco. Yes, housing may be higher in CA, but relative to wages. Look into the Chambers of Commerce for any suggestions people have posted to get demographics on those cities you'd like to further research.

San Jose definitely would be a place to consider. As the largest city in Northern California and the Capital of Silicon Valley (www.sanjose.org), it is a major business center. In addition, it has a very reputable culinary and arts scene(ballet, opera, symphony, reperatory theater, as well as the American Musical Theater which features Broadway plays). The proximity of the City to the Monterey Bay Area(about 30 miles to Santa Cruz), the Wine Country(3-3.5 hours), Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite(each about 4 hours) make this a great place to live. As Move said, the cost of living is high, but it is all relative to your salary, especially in the high tech field.

Hey Michelle, I'm in the same boat with you, but not willing to go cross country.. so Providence or Portland, ME are my best bets.

Santa Monica, California meets your requirements.

Check out South Florida. Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches. Im am sure that you know of some people that have moved here from MA. There are lot of them. The weather is great always, The IT sector is good ( They call it the Silicon Coast), and we have diversity like no place else. Housing costs are increasing but not as bad as Boston! And you will never be more than a half hour from the beach.

Michelle, I would strongly agree with Rankin. I too, live in Ponte Vedra, and find that Jacksonville has a great deal to offer in the IT/Software industry. We also have Mayport Naval Base here. <BR>Only 30 min from the beach, or move out here with us..Atlantic Beach, Neptune, Jax Beach or Ponte Vedra...many homes in various price ranges. Nice communities and meet ALL of your requirements. At LEAST put it on your list of places to check out. If nothing else you wil enjoy your trip here.

I was just in Jax Beach for the opening of the beaches last week and they have really done a great job of redeveloping the whole area. Atlantic Beach, Jax Beach, Neptune Beach are all cleaned up and new construction is going up where shacks once stood. Good job Jacksonville! It's about time you follow the example of the rest of Florida and keep redeveloping.

I am looking for an IT job and interested in Jacksonville. Does anyone know of a good recruiting agency in the area?<BR><BR>Thanks.

Do not listen to anyone who thinks Atlanta is a great place. I have lived here 8 years and its bad and getting worse. After all Georgia is 50th in the nation in s.a.t. scores, that pretty much says it all. And the people here make fun of "ignorant" Alabama?

Folks, please note that the original post on this thread is from last May, and the OP was planning to relocate in the fall, so it's history. <BR><BR>For some reason, at 12:58 Am today, ck decided that this would be a good place for his question about relocating to jacksonville.

Jen:<BR><BR>If you don't want to visit an old thread then don't and stop complaining. Sometimes people see discussions that are intersting to them and reply.<BR><BR>Also, you assumed the ck is a guy. Shows that you don't have much of an open mind.