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Best places to Live for a Family (young children)

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TheISHT

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Ok, I know I can go to sites and they rank places. I feel like most sites are full of shit though. I'd like to maybe hear people's actual perceptions of places they've been or know of. Right now I'm in the Health IT realm. I manage multiple Epic Applications at a health system. I make about 90k a year and with small children, wife is not working.

I haven't lived a lot of places, but I can tell you where I have lived and my perception of it.

Southington/Champion/Cortland Ohio near Warren/Youngstown
  • Grew up in the sticks, didn't mind it, had affordable housing and property growing up but school system sucked. I don't really love the economy in that area, it seemed like any decent paying job I'd have to drive to Akron or Cleveland.
  • I hate the 8 month winters and the shit tons of snow. Probably have seasonal affective disorder from it.
  • I love the summers in Ohio in General.
Lima, Ohio
  • Moved their for my first real Job
  • Nothing there, farm country, kind of hood
  • Really disliked it being an hour from Dayton which I thought was a shithole and Toledo which also seemed shitty.
  • Winters weren't as brutal.
Burlington, NC/Greensboro, NC
  • I liked it in the winter when I moved down here on Christmas 3 years ago, was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
  • Everything closes if they call for an inch of snow. All bread and milk is gone from the grocery store like it's gonna be a snow-in apocalypse.
  • It seems way overpopulated - Gone out to Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh and shit seems crazy overpopulated, shit overpriced track builders an arms length away from the next house.
  • NC in general seems to be like this (way overpriced real estate)
  • Property tax sucks
  • No Spring, It's Winter and then March/April it just gets crazy hot where you can't do anything outside until about mid September.
  • Allergies are terrible in Spring and Fall.
  • Schools really suck in NC. If you live in a good school district near Greensboro you are going to pay about 450-500K for a house.

I was thinking about moving out West. It needs to be somewhere realistic though; I can't live in LA, NY, Chicago, etc. I would prefer a smaller type city. I'd like to have some space between me and the next house. The most important things to me at this point is:
1. To have a yard so kids can play
2. Good Schools
3. Affordable real estate
4. Temperate Climate
5. Available Jobs in my sector

I've met some people that lived in Corvallis, OR and claim it's an awesome town. I'm open to really moving anywhere. The muggy heat though I don't think I can take. I'm OK with clouds growing up in Ohio.

I just thought since we will have more time to talk about other things now might be a good time to ask others about their suggestions from actual knowledge and experience.

Thanks anyone who can provide feedback, I appreciate it.
 
Maybe somewhere in Colorado, not too far from Denver? Denver itself is expensive but I don’t think the surrounding areas are awful, and Colorado has very low real estate taxes. It snows, but there’s also like 300 days of sun.

Me personally, I’ve lived in central IL where I grew up (college town), Cincinnati, and Columbus. I’m personally pretty tired of midwest winters so I’m actually considering moving myself. Not trying to hijack your thread, but I’m interested to see the responses.
 
I’ve heard Los Angeles is a great place to relocate to for family reasons.
 
Zog said:
Maybe somewhere in Colorado, not too far from Denver? Denver itself is expensive but I don’t think the surrounding areas are awful, and Colorado has very low real estate taxes. It snows, but there’s also like 300 days of sun.

Me personally, I’ve lived in central IL where I grew up (college town), Cincinnati, and Columbus. I’m personally pretty tired of midwest winters so I’m actually considering moving myself. Not trying to hijack your thread, but I’m interested to see the responses.
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I would not recommend NC. Too hot and muggy for too long.
 
camakazee said:
I’ve heard Los Angeles is a great place to relocate to for family reasons.
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It is actually.. :chuckle:

You've got fantastic schools in many parts of the county; it's diverse; multi-cultural; tons of things to do... It's really a great place to raise a family, IMHO.

As someone who personally feels Hawaii is Heaven on Earth, I will say, Hawaii (every island actually) is NOT a great place to raise a family. The schools are shit, the standard of living is horrendous in most parts of the island (Oahu), and there really isn't anything to do other than go to the beach (best beaches).... But we would joke "you can only go around the island so many times."

So IMHO, it's Cali, all day long.

.......

Anyway.. Go Cavs!! We'll get this shit together sooner than many people think!
 
I live in Greensboro very nice, been here 13 years.
 
King Stannis said:
Seattle.

Good schools. Educated place.

Everyone is expected to be outdoorsy. Great fishing.
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Seattle cost of living is insane. Kitsap County area any better?

*I used to recruit in the state of WA
 
FiveThous said:
Seattle cost of living is insane. Kitsap County area any better?

*I used to recruit in the state of WA
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A lot cheaper.

Edit: Cheaper if you avoid the glitzy island communities. Rental market is reasonable though.

I will say that the Hood Canal side of Kitsap is some of the most beautiful country I've seen in the lower-48 states.

The immediate suburbs of Seattle, 10 minutes in any direction, are 35% cheaper. One can also live in Tacoma which is very reasonable. Different scene than Seattle, more Red if you will, if that is something folks care about. They have a Cabelas.
 
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@Cratylus, your disagree about the fishing in Western Washington has been refuted.

Behold, three hours work right off the docks.

TFT2GzV.jpg
 
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King Stannis said:
@Cratylus, your disagree about the fishing in Western Washington has been refuted.
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It's too bad the fishing wasn't the target of my "Disagree" or you might be correct.

And another thing... has anyone ever told you that you have creepy eyes? A visit to the dentist might not hurt either.
 
Every area of the US will have different strengths and weaknesses. I knew plenty of families in the Cleveland area who prioritize low cost of living over infrastructure and good public schools because they use private. I actually have discussions with the wife about all the services we rely on in S.F. for a special needs kid that other areas don't provide; we need the infrastructure. So I dont think this is a one size fits all families type of topic.
 
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