where should I move??? desperate for honest advise!
 

I currenty live in southern ohio, for those of you who have never been here, the job market and economy leave much to be desired. But all it lacks in those aspects, it makes up in natural beauty. Nevertheless, I want to move. I am hoping for a good economy, warmer climate and beaches, but I don't want to sacrifice my beloved fall foliage and appalachian culture. Any suggestions???

North Carolina maybe? I don't know specifics about their economy though.

I'm a lifetime Arkansas who went to live in Virginia for five years. Relatively warm, not more than an hour from an okay beach, lots of history, friendly people, decent economy - and, for me, who had lived in the South my whole life, an opportunity to explore Washington D.C. and much of New England on several occasions. Although much of New England has pretty cold winters, the states are close together, have beautiful Falls, and are filled with history.

My advice - live somewhere very different from home for awhile. You'll return home filled with love for new places AND an appreciation for home as well!

Dothan has a good economy, warm climate and beaches 90 miles away ( about 1 1/2 Hr. due north of Panama City Beach, FL. There is also alot of people from other states as a result of the Army Base, Fort Rucker, so the community is a mixed culture of down home southerners and adopted 'yankees' (anyone not from here)lol. The people are friendly and welcoming.
Although they get some hurricane winds, they do not generally get the devastation that you would incur closer to the Gulf of Mexico.
There are several bodies of water around besides the beach: Lake Eufaula, Lake Seminole and Chattahooche River for a start.

What kind of work do you do?

That is Dothan, AL.

I have to second North Carolina.

How about some qualifyers?

Age?
Income?
Own? Rent?
Education?
Occupation?
Field?

dont come to michigan our governor granholm sucks and so do jobs here. and taxes

Evidently so does the public school system.

:) GoTravel!

Not everyone here in Michigan feels the same as Vgronek! I live in Grand Rapids and it's a beautiful city on the Grand River with a fairly good economy, although it does depend on what you do for a living. The automotive industry is going through a hard time around here, as I'm sure it is around the country.

Felinesiren - what do you do for a living? Have you considered anyplace in North Carolina?

Hi,

I'm from Ohio too and I also am planning to get out of here.(read my post " Help me relocate OUT of Ohio)

Anyway, we have traveled in the last 2 years to Florida 3 X (we were looking at Cape Coral. Last time we were there we were renting a house by the yacht club and the house was broken into by some man high on heroin (I don't even know if I spelled that right, I'm not real familiar with drugs LOL) Anyway, it forced us to look closer at the area and the crime and then the hurricanes told us to move one. Also, we went to Arizona 3-4 times and were focusing on Sedona. We love Sedona be the more we were there the more we realized we would be in a remote area to get to the airport (we travel a lot) and there really isn't a lot to do in Sedona. Plus I think the hot/dry would get to us after awhile.

Now we are set on Southern California. we are making our 5th trip there in about a month and this place we are not finding issues we can't deal with.

It is expensive (homes)but we look at it like an investment. Better than Ohio where the houses go down. We are focusing on DelMar La Jolla Area.

The reason I am blabbering on about what we did is to let you know, if you do come up with an area, you can't go just once and see if you like it. I suggest going back at least 3 times at various times of the year. That way you can see the various tempatures, etc.

We went to Sedona in the fall and then the winter and it was beautiful. Skipped the summer and and went back the follwing late spring and it was HOT! It got us thinking, if it was 98 in May, what would it be in August?

I just wanted to make sure you visit an area seeral times before making a decision.

Also, I use www.bestplaces.net to compare the cities I am interested in. it lets me know cost of living, crime, taxes, home prices, etc. It's great and it's free to join.

Also, you might want to find the local newspaper for the area and read it online for a few months. It also helps you put your finger on the pulse of an area so you can get a feel for a place before you make any further plans.

Good luck and I hope you get out of Ohio as quickly as you can!
Jenny

Thank you to everyone for all your help. At first, North Carolina seemed the most tempting but there are a lack of jobs in my area there ( I'm a vet tech, hopefully someday veterinarian, 24, low income).
Florida is soooo beautiful but I can't live without my autumn. So we are currently investigating southern california and virginia. Haven't studied enough yet to come to a final decision but any thoughts would be appreciated. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!

If you are a vet tech, and want to further your education, let me suggest that you look into those areas around a good veterinarian school. You may be able to take some of the course as night classes, and there may internships that would help out too. The North Georgia mountain area might suit you and the Univ. of Georgia has an excellent School of Veterinary Medicine.

bestplaces.net seems to be a good site, but the do have the population wrong for Dothan, AL. The 2000 census shows population 57,737 while bestplaces says 28,984. So, be sure to cross reference.

NC State has one of the best vetinary schools in the country.

I would probably skip Southern California due to the expensive housing and higher than average cost of living and your current lower income status.

Birmingham,AL gets some fall color and the 'mountains' show it off pretty well...although B'ham is too busy for my liking.

Auburn, AL is a good campus and good vet university.

Having grown up in McArthur (in Vinton Co.) I can certainly relate to your plight. We now reside in Charlotte & I would also suggest this area. Based on your job type though you may want to consider the Louisville, Ky. area. No shortage of your job type there & the cost of living is much less than anywhere down here. In Va. look at Charlottesville. To Jenny - the housing market in Cali is more than likely to crash, or at the very minimum, flatten out very soon. You are buying at what may very well be the 'top of the market' right now...you may want to continue looking.

SAnParis: I will respectfully disagree with your assertion that the CA real estate market will crash. It will definitely soften-- housing prices will stabilize, and possibly slide a bit in some markets. But the market here is much more resilient than in other states, where housing prices are indeed softening and sliding. I'm guessing that if one doesn't get one's house on the market by September, one will have missed the real estate "high", and will have to moderate their selling price expectations. But I'm preparing a condo for listing in June or July, and I expect to get a price near the top of my range (one-bedroom, 625 square feet, $279-300K). And it should sell quickly.

But for the OP: Southern California is very, very, very different from southern Ohio. Not just in climate. You really need to come out here and see if you can take the culture shock as well as the considerable hit to your pocketbook vis-à-vis housing, fuel and other costs.

Funny you mention that about the housing market rjw. I recently read an ariticle on Southern California in particular and the synopsis is that even though the market will soften, real estate will hold its value and will not drop.

personally I think Nashville Tn. would be a great place to live. My fmaily and I were there in Feb. and it is growing with jobs,things to do, yu name it everywhere. The people were so great. I guess it is one of the fastest grwoing cities in the whole USA, something like 5th out of all cities in USA. good luck! i wish I couild move there! At least go there for a vac..

Virginia Tech also has an excellent vet school and is in a beautiful area, if a bit isolated.

I would not consider moving to go to any vet school unless you KNOW you can be admitted. Vet schools most certainly have waiting lists, as it is one of the specialities that is kept artificially small in numbers, IMHO.

Every vet grad I know had to wait for entrance to a vet school and they had very specific requirements. Find that out first if this is a strong factor.

And I LOVE MICHIGAN. All of it. I plan to move there myself.

And in my opinion, if you want warm weather and beaches you ARE sacrificing fall foliage in the sense that I have experienced it in Appalachia or anywhere North of that area.

Boone, North Carolina, home of Appalachian State University.

Actually similar rhetoric was being touted 10-12 years ago when the housing market in Cali (& other locales) did, in fact, crash. You can use whatever adjective you would like. The stability there, & again, in some other places is bound to falter at some point. Cali will be most impacted due to the large prices on homes, & the plethora of 'inventive' mortgage products people have used to get into those homes, to begin with. Many folks out there are living off of their equity, as they can't really afford the housing they are currently in. I hope I am wrong, but at some point a correction will likely take place in the housing market in general. I am merely suggesting that Jenny relook at her choices, as her timing may not be the best.

Totally agree with you, SAnParis. Housing markets do crash and timing is everything in real estate. I've had cousins that thought it was just "softening" and went bankrupt on Colorado housing a couple of decades ago with the same, "it's just a phase" research.

A housing phase can last 5 to 7 years. And housing markets do crash. I remember in '99 when the same "overlook" was being said about NASDAQ.

I think, felinesiren, the timing for you is now very tricky in quite a few markets. Research before you buy. Housing markets with large numbers of people living off their equity value is not universal in the USA. They vary greatly.

SAnParis: The problems you list for US real estate markets (not just California-- or are you indeed talking about Cali, the capital of Colombia?!) are indeed serious, and one already sees their impact in some markets. But the timing of the cycle on the west coast is different.

For whatever reason, California's markets' price surge was a bellwether for the rest of the country, but the rest of the country's real estate markets are softening and falling faster than California's. The last reversal in CA was pushed by the collapse of the aerospace industry out here. However, the dot-com bust of 2000 hasn't caused housing prices up in San Francisco and the Bay Area to shrivel. Inflation fueled by higher gasoline prices may ultimately burst our real estate bubble-- which is why I'll be getting my condo on the market ASAP....

HI..
Jennyjjj..
Lived in San Diego all my life in the La Jolla and Del Mar area and I got to tell you that California is very expensive on everything and if you are coming in from Ohio, you will be in culture shock and sticker shock.. alot of the country has risen to alot our cost like gas and etc.. but the housing market has softened but not dropped like other parts of the US...
We have very little humidity, no bugs to speak of and the weather is gorgeous..that is why everyone wants to move here but you have to have money to live here or work in a job that pays very well and if not 2-3 jobs to make it work..
We are protected from the big Earthquakes but we still get them from time to time and they are really no big deal..I don't know how people deal with the hurricanes, tornadoes and the wicked storms you get...
I wish you all the best...
felinesiren..
Have you thought of North Carolina as a place to hang your hat? My friends just moved from La Jolla to Wilmington and they just love it!

I love Wilmington, NC myself and am considering a move there in the future. However, I think many of the kind responders on this thread have overlooked felinesiren's desire not to "sacrifice my belove fall foliage and appalachian culture." Many places that have been suggested for relocation are about as culturally different from Appalachia as that of the Outer Mongolia.

Exactly, that's why I re-mentioned it. Seasons are 4 seasons- not just no rain or a little colder with rain; fall foliage comes with seasons.

I have lived in SoCal my entire life, besides 2 years on Oahu. SoCal is NOT what you're looking for if you "need your Autumn". There is no real change of seasons here. It is very boring as far as that goes. It can (and has) been just as hot on Christmas as the 4th of July. There is also no "culture" to speak of unless you are from another country...then your culture will rule sumpreme over any perceived US culture issue. The weather is great if you're after consistently warm but not too hot.

I currently work in the Mission Beach/La Jolla/Del Mar area. It has to be the most expensive housing around...except for Rancho Sante Fe. Houses have to *average* $800,000 - 1,000,000 there. Gas prices in San Diego are routinely documented as being the highest in the country. However, crime rates are low, especially in Del mar.

If your a vet tech, I would like to suggest Colorado....just because I watch "Emergency Vets" on the Animal Planet all the time and their suppose to be one of the best...Alameda East Animal Hospital. It may be way off on where you want to be...but I just love the show!!! May be a dumb way to find a place to plant your roots, but I heard they were one of the best.
www.alamedaeast.com

Wow, I can't believe there aren't many vet tech positions in NC. Everybody complains about the shortage of vet techs. Are you registered or licensed? Do you get the NAVTA journal or Veterinary Technician? If you are truly interested in becoming a vet, I would look at positions at teaching hospitals. Don't just look at the journal postings. Go to the teaching hospital web sites. I know UPenn always has vet tech listings. Of course, they almost always require you to be licensed (as they should). There are many advantages of working at a teaching hospital. For one, you establish residency in that state. They get to know you and you have established a history of experience. You can usually specialize which usually pays more and gives you better experience. Also, after a year many offer free tuition in university classes if you need to get some prereqs such as biochem. NC State may be a good choice for you. Its in a pretty area but near a good economy and has a lot of what you desire. VA Tech is out in the boonies. UPenn is a top vet school and will give you the most experience because of its city location. Its close to the beaches but may not have the other desirable aspects you are looking for.

Southern California has no Autumn. That's why I left San Diego.

What about the Pacific Northwest. Oregon or Washington. Washington State University has a terrific Vet program, although that's eastern Washington.

Are you interested in rural or something more cosmopolitan. Seattle and surrounding areas can be pretty expensive (cost of living), but Tacoma could be significantly less.

I agree with the poster who suggesting visiting some locations. Do a road trip around the PNW and look for a place you like. Everyone else's opinion of the "perfect place to live" will be different from your own.

Hi Tahiti,

Thanks for the advice. we have been traveled to the area 3-4 times and we are going back again in about 4 weeks and then again in July. I want to be sure, you know?

The last time we actually went to some open houses so we are aware of the prices of homes. we are looking at it as in investment :)

Our goal is to retire in Hawaii so we have to get on the train with the higher prices of homes or we will be living in a hut in Hawaii when we retire...Wait....I don't know if a hut in Hawaii is that bad! LOL

I really think Del Mar is the place we are going to move to. We love La Jolla but with the college there, we would rather be farther away from that.

We are looking for a place where the real estate will hold it's value. Our home here has dropped almost $100,000 in value so we have to find a better investment :)

Thanks again for confirming what I was looking for!

when dick devoss wins the election you might consider michigan once gov. granholm is gone-not a good govenor.

Don't come to Denver, you'll hate it (wink, wink). We left Ohio 5 years ago and we shovel our driveways all summer to get to work.
There's no such thing as sunscreen here. It's not necessary.
If you can't cross-country ski you'll never have milk or bread.
We miss Ohio- stay there.

Original Post:
Author: felinesiren
Date: 04/29/2006, 04:38 pm
I currenty live in southern ohio, for those of you who have never been here, the job market and economy leave much to be desired. But all it lacks in those aspects, it makes up in natural beauty. Nevertheless, I want to move. I am hoping for a good economy, warmer climate and beaches, but I don't want to sacrifice my beloved fall foliage and appalachian culture. Any suggestions???


My response:
I definitely think you should wait and see what vet school you get accepted into and THEN move to whereever that is. If you don't do that, then I also recommend the Charlotte Metro area, which is where we're moving to this summer from NoNJ. 3 hours from the beach, 2 hours from snow, enjoy four seasons, lots of activities available. Stay out of Mecklenburg Cty which has higher taxes, but consider Iredell Cty, NC or York County, SC which is in the C'lotte area but has the cheaper taxes. Economy is decent because of all the banking and insurance companies there, and more companies are coming to Charlotte metro every month!

Glad to read your response, k2rider! I read felinesiren's post that So Cal was in the running and wondered if that area had EVER had a fall. :)

I second N.C. The education system is great, economy is good in many areas, and close to mountains or beach--your choice on any give day . . . not to mention all 4 seasons.

Good luck! Let us know if you ever make a decision.

Paducah, Kentucky
We do not have beaches, but a beautiful place to live. Take a look on the internet.