Moving to the US. But where?
 

My wife and I are looking to move to the U.S. for a year. Work and visas are not an issue, but where to live is. After some busy years in big European cities, we want to move out of any metropole and rather be in a suburb or a smaller town for a year of slow(er) pace and recreation. We're in our 30's, no kids, can work from home and are looking to rent a small detached house.

We've got a few criterias:
- Safe 24/7 and low crime rate
- Not too expensive for a 1-2 bedroom house (app. 1800$/month)
- Needs to be east of Missouri, preferable max. 2 hour drive from sea/lake
- Not too cold (min. 40ºF) and snowy during winter
- Not too hot (max. 90ºF (app.)) and humid during summer
- Including, warming community (we're non-religious)
- Maximum 2 hour drive from a larger city (200.000 ++)
- Possibility of get a hold of good, organic (local) whole food

... we've considered North- and South-Carolina, as well as Georgia, but crime rating and the fact that some people say some communities are not very including and open to "foreigners"/non-southern, different religions and diversity is troubling us. We consider our self as forward thinking, accepting and open-minded people and would like to be in a community with (more or less) the same values. Other places we've considered are Louisiana, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. But we're a bit lost, hence this post.

So ... Anyone with suggestions, good tips or word of advise? :)

Thanks!

Well, if you really are accepting and open minded, you should fit in anywhere.

Try St.Louis.

Mark

Look for a community with a university in the areas you are considering. There will be people who are more accepting of diversity.

And learn to drive really fast if you wan t to get to the ocean from there.

The problem you may have is finding a place that isn't hot AND humid in the summer and is still within two hours' drive of the ocean (sorry, but I like lakes, too, but they are NOT the same as being on an ocean beach).

Somebody will come up with someplace they just KNOW you will love and that fits all the criteria.

Well, if it wasn't for the hot-and-humid I would suggest the Research Triangle area, where I currently live. Very safe (aside from a few easy to avoid areas), and plenty of foreigners around. However, if you are east of the Mississippi you are going to have problems with humidity pretty much everywhere. I am tired of the summers here, but if I stay in the US I will be moving west.

Being open minded and accepting doesn't mean we want to live in a community that's the opposite.

And as I mentioned, we're looking to move to a small(er) area. St.Louis is way too big of a city. Thanks though.

Emmaloy, Dukey 1 and thursdaysd: Thanks! :-)
I'll look into that.

I think your 40 - 90 degree band will be the hardest thing to achieve. If you can move outside of that, I'd consider Chattanooga, TN or Asheville, NC. They're both more than 2 hours to the ocean, but there should be lakes nearby.

Out of curiosity for those in the area, what is Richmond, VA like? My guess is that it's not as liberal as the OP would like, but I keep hearing nice things about the community as a whole.

It seems to me that finding like minded people is often a matter of seeking them out. At least in the South and the Midwest (where I live), they're not going to just land on your doorstep. My community is pretty conservative as a whole, but with some effort, I've found a suffcient number of people who generally share my values and politics. And if they don't, we have enough other common ground to ignore those differences. Same with religion.

Janet, time for you to answer the Richmond question where they know all about humidity and heat.

I think your temp zone is going to be the problem. Most places at all north have temps below 40 in winter and those at all south will have temps in the 90s in summer (even many northern places will have that).

I would think there may be places in the Pacific northwest that you might have a chance of the weather you want - have no idea of specific towns.

As for Richmond - summers will be way too hot to qualify.

In terms of people being accepting of differences - we don't want to get into politics - but I would look carefully for the deep blue spots on the map.

Well, I am in Richmond at the moment, looking out the window at the heavy snow falling, ironic because my wife and I come here to get away from the rigors of the northern winter!

We started coming here because our son and his family moved here for work, and we wanted to see our grandchildren. This is a very common story. Our condo building is full of people from New England and particularly from Fairfield County, Connecticut, Westchester, and Manhattan.

What we like is the arts and music scene near VCU, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (free and has great programs and an excellent collection) and various historical and cultural organizations and museums. And our granddaughters.

Everyone loves the neighborhoods of Richmond. According to Canadian friends, it is a lot like Toronto. There are locavore restaurants within walking distance of almost everywhere in the Fan, Carytown, Museum District, MacArhur Boulevard, and on and on.

We live within easy walking distance of a neighborhood called Grove and Libbie, and we have a choice of four places to eat or the Libbie Market with a real butcher and groceries and prepared foods or the sub and sandwich shops or Starbucks around the corner. Within walking distance, we can buy high end clothes or oriental rugs, take music lessons, go to the movies. There is a Saturday farmer's market at St Stephen's church where we can buy artisanal sausages and cheeses even in the winter and produce soon. And we are less than half a mile from our granddaughters.

Younger people like kayaking and canoeing on the James, running in the parks, visiting the Botanical Gardens, drinking beer at brewpubs, etc. On Friday nights in warmer weather, the food trucks converge at a brewery, and we take our granddaughters. We drink Hardywood, they drink lemonade. We all eat Korean tacos. Richmond is the headquarters for Peter Chang, whom most people believe is the best Szechuan chef in the United States and perhaps the best Chinese chef of all.

Richmond is racially and culturally diverse, though there are fewer East Asians than I am used to in Boston. Many, many synagogues, a big Islamic cultural center, every flavor of Christianity, including various Orthodox churches. My son used to live around the corner from a fundamentalist Christian Church. In the next block was a fundamentalist Jewish institution, Young Israel. The Society of Friends was about two blocks from that.

Neighborhoods in the city tend -- this is an impression not based on actual data -- to be stratified by income as much as by race, though there are certainly historic patterns of residence by race. "Out in the county" (there are several) it is less diverse, more suburban, and much more car oriented.

What stinks? The impression of the city from I-95 and I-64. Parts of the old downtown that still look like East Berlin. The whole far west development centering around Short Pump. We go out there about once a month to Trader Joe's. There is a Whole Foods also, but I don't shop at Whole Foods. But this area is a developer's idea of paradise: move into one of our condos and shop until you drop.

It is two hours from the beach, two hours from the mountains, and two hours by train from Washington, DC. JetBlue flies direct to Boston and New York.

Winters are mild except this year, spring and fall are long, flowers are beautiful, and summers, sadly, are hot and humid. We leave around Mother's Day.

Richmond doesn't meet the size or weather criteria. We get snow and we get heat. As an Agnostic and liberal, I find it is more accepting than North Carolina was when I lived there. It's also my hometown and I adore it.

However, if you can let go of the "two hours by the water" criteria, I'd recommend Blacksburg, VA, home of Virginia Tech. It's a lovely and diverse community with low cost of living and very nice people. It does get cold though.

Anyplace that fits your winter/summmer/water requirements will not meet the cost of living requirements.

Great info ackislander . . .

OK -- I am MUCH more familiar w/ areas on the West Coast . . . But my impression (from visits, friends, ex in-laws, etc) is finding <i>anyplace</i> east of Missouri that has both mild winters AND mild/non-humid summers is next to impossible? Right?

To get away from humidity, you need to head west of MO, to tne western, i.e drier, states.The recommendation of being near a university or college is a very good one. I don't have a specific recommendation but having grown up and lived in humidity, I understand your wanting to avoid it.

Thanks for illuminating me as to Richmond. I'll keep all that in my back pocket for future reference. It sounds like a nice place.

Kind of obvious...if you give up the weather parameters (and sounds like not much other than San Diego would fit them, and that's west), then your options broaden. And why not experience some infamous weather while you're here? Here's a notion...door county Wisconsin, peninsula smack on Lake Michigan (and waters of Green Bay).....beautiful surroundings, pretty great weather 7 months of the year,and about 3 hours from college town/state capital of Madison and the city of Milwaukee which has quite a lot to offer. Just something to throw in the mix. Your rental range...not too difficult to find something.

I noticed that you put Louisiana on your list. How about someplace between Baton Rouge and New Orleans?
You can learn to live with the humidity in the summer.

Savannah, Charleston or Asheville.

They don't meet all your criteria but based on what you are asking for I think they are your best fits.

Let me add my $.02 as someone who moved from a community in the northeast to to a southern community.

OP says - "we've considered North- and South-Carolina, as well as Georgia, but crime rating and the fact that some people say some communities are not very including and open to "foreigners"/non-southern, different religions and diversity is troubling us".

For us "crime rating" wasn't the issue but acceptance by the locals was, despite the reputation southern folks have of being "friendly". We found them to be "courteous" but not openly friendly. We found for the most part, the "locals" interests centered around schools, churches, local service organizations and what college you graduated from (as in which college football/basketball team did you support). Like OP we didn't have school age children when we relocated therefore we didn't get the opportunity to meet people through school events. We didn't follow college football/basketball and we weren't particularly active in any specific church so meeting new people came mainly through work. Even after 20 years living in our "new town" people still treat us as outsiders who recently moved to the area when they invariably ask "Well, how do you like living in NAME OF TOWN/STATE" to which we respond "Great, we've been here for 20 years now". That comment seems to go over their head.

We have lots of acquaintances but few who we would call friends. By contrast, we have a second home in a different country where there are many expats from different parts of the US, England and Canada and it's just the complete opposite - everyone goes out of their way to meet new arrivals and make them feel welcome. We are 10x's as social active there than in our "southern town".

My point being, that if OP is only planning to live for a year or so in the US finding an area where the "locals" will rush to befriend them might prove difficult - it could take years for the locals to even acknowledge you are living among them. Let me make it clear we never felt "unwanted" but rather it was always up to us to make the first step (and sometimes second or third sets) to gain acceptance.

Now, I agree with others that say the limits OP placed on Temperature ranges is going to be a major stumbling block and being within a 2 hour drive of the ocean is going to limit their choices even further. If OP can put up with summer temperatures in the mid to high 90's F. with high humidity and occasional winter temperatures below 40 F.then North or South Carolina would fill the bill. Look at Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, Wilmington or Charlotte, North Carolina. In South Carolina look at Charleston, Florence, Columbia.

Another vote for tossing your weather criteria and considering Asheville or Charleston or Research Triangle. Your weather criteria are impossible east of the Mississippi.

Charlottesville, VA is nice, too. It would be extremely easy to get into the social scene because the University ensures there are plenty of 20-30s there for advanced degree programs/teaching, etc. It's a liberal pocket in a conservative area.

You'll be able to find a farm share (known here as a CSA or "Community Supported Agriculture") in any decent-sized community, I expect. So food access won't be a problem. But if you want a community that really supports that type of eating/lifestyle, the ones I mentioned above all have that "feel."

I'm with starrs. Savannah GA or Asheville NC. August will be hot but you'll have AC! Maybe Providence RI? College towns are a good idea. Amelia island FL is cute too.

SD & SIL have been surprised at how liberal Charleston is.....they say it's like not even being in South Carolina ;-) Of course, they are both rather conservative.

I would relax either the hot/cold/humid (tornadoes? hurricanes?) weather criteria or the "east of Missouri" (why?) criteria. Otherwise it's an imaginary needle in a big haystack.

New England will get you away from religion...they are the least religious states in the country. If you stay closer to the shoreline, you tend to get more temperate weather and less snow. The problem is, it's not very diverse...the cities are, but the smaller towns are pretty bland overall.

It's virtually impossible to find that temperature range in the eastern U.S. Add in your other criteria and it is an impossible task. Truly, there is nowhere that has a 40 to 90 degree temperature range east of Missouri - take a look at the horrible winter we just had and you'll see that locations in the deep South were getting freezing temps and snow. Its not unusual to get above 90 with humidity in the northern states either.

Since work/visas are not an issue, you are better off picking two locations (one for the colder months and one for summer). That gives you the chance to experience two different areas and enjoy the best of both.

The southern states are a lot more purple than most realize -
http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/...ection2012.pdf

I am curious why you want to live east of Missouri when there are so many beautiful places west of Missouri that meet your criteria.

Also, what kind of recreation interests you? That might help nail down a destination for you.

HTtY

The southern states are a lot more purple than most realize -
____
Yes but who are making the laws that people have live under?

I agree with some comments above. If people are making the same generalizations about how liberal or conservative places are based on their experiences from 20 years ago in the area, they may be very surprised. There's a whole lot of blue in the southeast, where 20 years ago one found almost all red. Places like Asheville NC or Decatur GA are as liberal as Provincetown MA or a lot of the northeastern US.

Thank you all for great responses. I understand that our temprature/weather criteria are out of range, so we'll reconsider that. Now we're currently living in Northern Europe, so we want to get away from the minus degrees (celsius, that is) and snow from November to April. I guess hotter summers are acceptable. It's far more important for us to live somewhere safe and friendly, than a place matching the temperature criteria mentioned.

Main reason for why we want to live east of Missouri is that we want to live in, or close to, the eastern time zone - as we'll be working with clients in Europe (on the phone and online). Which rules out living in the Wester Time Zone, at least.

We'll certainly look into many of the places mentiond. And keep advices and tips coming :-)

Thanks!

Ah, the time zone issue tips it, believe me.

My wife in Boston had clients in the UK and a branch office in San Francisco.

Her UK clients went home for the day before the SF staff arrived at the office. The Boston office opened at lunch time in the UK, much handier, and an earlier call was not impossible.

Flights from the East Coast to Europe are frequent and relatively brief.

Be aware for other purposes that the Eastern Time Zone is very broad. Though Boston and Tampa are in the same zone, Boston as earlier dawns an earlier sunsets than Tampa or Columbus.

Good luck!

Except for price, the outlying northern VA suburbs of Washington might fit the criteria. Most winters are mild (this one was the exception). You will see days in the 90s in summer, but it's not as oppressive as DC.

Diverse community, lots of outdoor activities, close to Washington and a couple of hours' drive to the shore. But again, you might have a problem finding housing in your range.

The issue with NOVA is traffic. The god forsaken traffic.

You could give me a house in that area and I would not move there solely because of the traffic.

If you are currently living in northern Europe you have no idea how miserable a southern US summer can be. (I grew up in England, but live in central NC.) Here in NC we were happy that it never went over 100 last year, but 90s with high humidity is still very uncomfortable. Then there are the mosquitos. There are days I can't walk to the mail box without breaking a sweat and getting bitten. I spend the summer indoors with the AC. If you are thinking of the south, think Asheville, which is high enough that the summers aren't so bad. Or possibly New England, but then you have to cope with the winters.

BTW, you mention working with clients, do you have a work permit?

There may be liberal enclaves in the south, but just look at their elected officials and the type of legislation they support on the state and federal levels. It is frightening.

"...and snow from November to April."

I'd find six months of snow undesirable too. We normally don't have six days of snow a year. When it does snow, we wait a couple of days until it melts. The south definitely is humid in the summers though. At higher elevations, you'll find relief from the temps and the humidity. Asheville is really lovely and several of us have mentioned it. Western NC, eastern TN and north GA will give you a lot of what you ask for. Good luck with your decision making.

"Main reason for why we want to live east of Missouri is that we want to live in, or close to, the eastern time zone - as we'll be working with clients in Europe (on the phone and online). Which rules out living in the Wester Time Zone, at least."

Here's a time zone map of the U.S. just for clarification. There is no Western Time Zone.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/c...s/timezone.htm

I don't understand the part about living close to the Eastern Time zone....if you are in the Central Time zone it is the same time whether you are close to the Eastern side or the Mountain side. I mean, the entire state of Texas is in the Central Time Zone but you've apparently ruled them out because it's not geographically close to the Eastern Time Zone (which doesn't make sense to me). 1 pm Central Time is 1 pm Central time....