Hopefully you are able to visit a couple of the places that become your "finalists"?

Perhaps a trip to New England to look at Northampton, Mass & Brattleboro, Vermont, & maybe Keene, NH.

Another trip you could easily visit Seattle, Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene in a week or two.

I came to Seattle on vacation several times before I made the permanent move.

Honestly in re-reading this thread I realize that the job market isn't that grand in many of the smaller places suggested. Lack of work was one of the main reasons I left Brattleboro, VT back when. Eugene, Corvallis and towns of that size in Oregon have a very tight job market as well.

I think for opportunities you will need someplace at least as big as Portland, or better yet Seattle. I know you say you both agree that Seattle is too big, but you have never even visited (is that right?). I think you may have an inaccurate vision of what it is like here.

I suggest using a resource like Craig's List on the net where you can get a feel for both job market/salary and housing availability/price.

Hello everyone: Thanks for all your input. The general concensus seems to be Portland (OR). At least this gives us a direction to start looking at. I also have a friend that lives in Lincoln City, OR, so she should be able to give us some insight also - and show us the sights when we come visit.

Maple: I am curious to know what Nebraska town you are from - you never know, we may have been neighbors. :)

We welcome any more comments that people have. We have been reading them all with earnest!!

Thanks - Northward Bound
ps. To: Hoping to Travel - yeah, that PNE was a little typo on my part. Oops!

If you get to Portland, you are close enough that you can check out Seattle (3 hours) and other smaller cities nearby and move to one of those should you prefer it to Portland. By the way, when I first moved to Portland over a decade ago (job transfer), I considered it just a stepping stone to Seattle. It took me a bit to appreciate what a neat city Portland is, and I have long since dropped any thought of moving up there, though I still like to visit Seattle.

Andrew