Hi seetheworld, honey :)

&lt; B &gt; gets you <b>bold </b>

<b> Thank you, Scarlett :D</b>

East Coast, West Coast, Bi-coastal. Check out some of that Fly-Over country. It has all the qualities you are asking about at half the price. Check out Duluth Minnesota.

Scarlett and Seetheworld - I feel better, at least I'm not the only Einstein!! And I just learned how to bold-I'll do that the next time I cut and paste. O:-)

now jor, that is just mean, Minnesota, for a CA native ... heh ;) I've lived in and around Chicago my whole life, so I've been around the Midwest (and after my travels am currently quite happy in my current location exactly 3 miles north of the Sears Tower), some of those smaller towns are really a bit rough to deal with unless you've grown up there. In addition, my whole family is from the east coast, so I'm quite familiar with how lovely, but expensive, it is out there (I'm still planning my out escape out east). I'm not quite sure that is what he's looking for. As far as the East Coast weather being unpleasant, I really don't think it is all that bad (but what do I know, look where I live) and autumn there cannot be beat. Besides, houses and cars are heated these days ;) Go for it SoCal boy, the seaside towns in Maine might be worlds apart from the California beach (although perhaps not, I?ve never been to California), but they are a lovely way to spend a day.

Westchester County in the Hudson Valley. You have the best of everything. Small quaint towns within an hour of NYC. The landscapes are very scenic. There are rolling hills and beautiful lakes. Long Island is nice for the beaches but there is always too much traffic to do it everyday. You don't have to worry about crossing bridges/tunnels and paying tolls. You could always drive to beach on the weekend in about an hour or so from most parts of Weschester and for longer beach weekends you could also drive further to Cape Cod or Cape May in New Jersey. IF you like to ski, there are a few mountains within 90 minutes and Vermont mountains within 3-4 hours.

Vittrad, how right you are. After thinking about it a southern California boy would never survive in Minnesota. He would probably be whining to death about the cold weather, lack of expensive boutiques and very low cost of living. My bad. The polar bear gangs would eat him while he floats away on a ice berg in Lake Superior.

You mentioned Manassas Va. As a Va native Manassas is not a desirable place to live. No views, bad bad traffic,lots of spawl.
The weather is not bad - great spring and fall- seasons for sure-very humid summers
Ont thing no one has mentioned is the lack of history and architecture out west which is what I miss the most when I leave the east. Sprawl looks the same whether you are in CA or VA- I miss the old buildings when I go west. An old house in CA was built in the fifties. I have lived in several houses built before the revolutionary war and let me tell you those houses were built to last.
By the way-1,000,000 is about what you would need to spend on a nice house close enough to the beltway to work.
yes- people back east especially in rural areas can be snooty to californians- sorry

I live on LI and will trade with you!

I can't wait til we retire so I can give up the snowy winters and the changing leaves that need to be racked and move to Southern CA for the nice 70s temperatures.

I guess it's as they say - The grass is always greener...

donnapg,

I'm with you. We live in the NE as well, &amp; plan to retire to the SW. We've pretty much had it with the &quot;seasons&quot;, which include endless winter &amp; hot wet summer. We have, however, done our research based upon our own likes &amp; dislikes in order to choose a location. This is not like a vacation, to be debated on a travel board. And if you make a mistake, it's your own mistake and it can be corrected.

Thanks again for all the info! In response to Leona - we have been researching this topic on and off for almost two years. It's easy enough to get statistics on weather, crime, school systems and home prices - and then make a &quot;logical&quot; decision based on likes and dislikes. There are several web sites that even do this for you. What statistics don't prepare you for is the cultural adjustment - which in my mind can be far more difficult than dealing with bad weather (unless one plans on living in a concrete box). We learned this firsthand from our experience living in Europe. This is an ideal forum to discuss personal experiences with respect to moving, which is travel, albeit with a longer time frame! It is another small, but important facet of the research process. There are no mistakes - just new and different experiences, which is perhaps what we crave when we say &quot;the grass is always greener.&quot;

Lived in CT most of my life, been in AZ for last 8 &amp; 1/2 years - would NOT, repeat, NOT give up my new home to go back to CT. Sorry but in comparison to West Coasters, East Coasters are snooty, rude, and I am sorry to say can also be very unfriendly. I encounter this more and more every time I go back to visit. Yes, you can find the neighborhoods were families have grown up for generations but those same families are not always accepting of the &quot;newbies&quot; on the block...
All that being said, if you want to give the East coast a try don't forget areas in Connecticut like Brookfield/Ridgefield which basically border New York. These are still small towns, with small town values where many young families are flocking to for their good schools, good real estate values (probably comparable to California in cost) yet still convenient to New York City, shoreline and not more than an 8-10 hour drive to areas like DC.

As Leona said, a mistake can be corrected. We thought that moving to Florida from NY would enable us to be outdoors all the time, enjoy ourselves with no extreme seasons.
We made a mistake:)

We are now in the midst of taking care of that mistake, so my feeling is that whatever appeals to you and feels right, do it, if you think you are not stuck once you have done it.

Good luck and please do tell us what you ended up doing ((F))

People are the same everywhere. It is easier to be friendly when the sun is shining and the weather's warm. I am also sure that life is slower when the weather is the same all the time. It feels like no external deadlines. Cold or leaves or thaw breathing down your neck makes you hurry along. Culture in the East is much more prevalent. History, plays, museums, etc. are all within driving distance of just about everyone. Lots of political discourse, lots of community interaction, lots of opinions in general comes from living in close proximity. I could never leave it but I can see how some could never stand it.

I am not from So Cal but have been there several times to visit family, found it nice but boring weather, I am from Portland Or, born and raised, I recently moved to the NE, MD actually and I am now moving to NW PA, Somone suggested NW, cant recommend it wet wet wet, nill snowfall unless you go to Mt. Hood, and yes the ocean is pretty but windy and cold most of the time. There arent really four seasons, more like two, summer which is usually nice and the second being rain. I love the NE give me seasons, I have met a few Californians who have moved here and love it, lots of history and people are really nice. Good Luck

I moved from suburban D.C. to suburban San Diego several years ago, and I love it. However, I would love it more if everyone from SoCal should have to spend 12 months in a Mid-Atlantic state. Then I wouldn't have to listen to them whine when the temperature falls below 60, it rains two days in a row, or the humidity is greater than 70 percent.
To quote a local comedian, southern Californians are such weather wimps that they complain whenever its so &quot;cold&quot; they have to where socks with their sandals.

I think the East Coast is lovely and lived in CT when I was younger. If you can get used to the cold, go for it!

I lived in Southern California most of my life but for the last 20 years I've lived in New Jersey in a middle-class to upscale community in the Northern part of the state.
I love the change of seasons. We have a lot of trees in our yard and right now the leaves are glorious in bright yellow and orange--really beautiful. Sitting by the fireplace is wonderful when there is snow outside. Negative is when there is an ice storm creating challenging driving conditions.
Prices are quite high here but there is no sales tax on clothes!
Crime is very low in our community but it all depends on what area you live.
We can be in Manhattan in 40 minutes from our home. There are some outstanding restaurants in the City. Lots of good Italian restaurants here in NJ.
There are wonderful historic areas in NJ such as where George Washington and his troops lived during the war. The area is beautiful with many hiking trails. Some of the actual living quarters are still located on the hilltop.
You'll see deer crossing signs as you drive thru sections of the state. In some areas you'll also see horseback riders by the road and foxhunts are held.
The schools are very good in our area and there is a high percentage of students in New Jersey who continue on to college ranking us quite high nationally.
As far as recreation there are many places to go hiking, biking and Vermont is very good for skiing. There are also skiing areas in New Jersey and Pennylvania is not far away. You can drive to the seashore or drive to Atlantic City. It's a few hours drive to Newport Rhode Island.
Europe and the Caribbean are not far away by airplane and are wonderful places to vacation. The QE2 is right now docked in NYC harbor.
Good luck with your plans.

Scarlett: Are you departing sunny Fla and returning to wonderful NYC???? I'm so sorry to hear that things did not work out! :O

Dear sb_fool, I am at a similar crossroads, as I am a Los Angeles native who has never lived on the East Coast and my fiancee is a Rockland County, NY native who has lived no where else but the New York/Northern New Jersey area. He would like me to move there, but I am apprehensive about adapting to the weather and the culture, and I would really miss the mild, dry climate. Have you and your wife made any decisions on whether to move, and to where?