Great places to live in the US??
 

Okay, it's decision time. Having been here 20 years I'm thinking it's time to move on from CA due to various personal reasons. Where is a good place to relocate

i.e stable economy, safe, good school districts for kids, relatively affordable housing etc. etc.
I'm thinking somewhere that is accessible to major eastern cities such as NY, Philadelphia???, Washington DC for some culture, history and art galleries. Being a city boy I don't think I'd like to be too far out in the sticks and nowhere too hot like AZ, TX, NV.

Any ideas or recommendations, please give me your reasons why you would recommend it?

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I have a friend who lives in Boston (Brookline). She says it's very civilised - quiet English in some ways - but can get a little humid in the summer/cold and miserable in winter.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I like it here for all the reasons you mentioned...could do without the winter but all in all its a good place to live. Like Elvira mentioned the countryside is reminiscent of England. We're 45 mins from NYC, the beach and the mountains.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Can you be more specific, I guess you mean New Jersey, if so where? What about property prices?

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Boston is lovely (for the reasons given-it's fairly civilised), I like Virginia with it's 'older' towns and proximity to DC. All the little states are possibilities, too, such as Connecticut, Delaware, MD. We've family in the Philly burbs and it's lovely there, too, with good schools and such. They work over in Delaware as it's a quick commute.

Would you mind east coast weather? Will you need to find work?

North Caroline has some good cities, if you don't mind the humidity and occasional hurricane warning. Good for IT jobs.

You've probably seen this, but if not it might give you some ideas. You can search on 'best' places to live (not always the best, but ideas at least), or by most educated, cultural activities, housing. There's a little survey thing on the right on which you can indicate the level of importance for certain elements (housings, culture).

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money.../educated.html

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Nashua NH appealed to me.

not far from the wilderness of northern New England
about 1 hr drive to Boston.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Thanks Jen, very helpful. As far as weather goes I've done 20 years in CA, I'm not that bothered about being hot year round, seasons might make a pleasant change.................. not sure I'd want to freeze my ass off though

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I live in Morris County...NW Joizey. Depends on exactly where you live as to the cost of housing...generally NJ is an expensive place to live, ie property taxes, utilities, healthcare, auto insurance etc. Only 6/7 hrs away from the UK and flights are pretty reasonable too.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

no such thing as bad weather - only inappropriate clothing ;)

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Definately recommend Washington DC. Its a bit pricey living in DC but you do get the advantage of being close to museums (practically all of them free) lots of good restaurants, lots of interesting job ops, the metro is fantastic. Downside public schools are abysmally underfunded, politics are the constant source of conversation, the summer is dreadfully hot and humid. It does have the seasons and even cold wintry days are sunny.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I love Washingon DC (for all the reasons you mention), but I'm not sure I would want to live there. For one thing it's full of bloody politicians :eek:

However, Virginia is lovely and some parts are quite civilised. One of the nicest towns I've been to is Charlottsville (though I hasten to add I only know it as a tourist). But it's in an extremely nice part as far as landscape is concerned (Blue Ridge Mountains etc), and not very far from DC.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I agree with you and Kate...DC area is a great area to live.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Seasons are refreshing, and I like the 'Englishness' of the east coast. There are lots of village-like towns near the large cities. We ended up in Ohio for family reasons, but even here we found a suburb/village that reminds me of west London (Chiswick/Richmond) where I lived. It was founded in 1800s, old church on the green, town centre with post office, shops, cafes, library, 2 pubs, all within walking distance, yet parking is free/plentiful when we need to drive. And, the historical committee has blocked the fast food guys from moving in--not a McDonald's in site. Just an example of the type of suburbs that can be found, if you're not interested.

If I had my choice where to live then I would go east--all places suggested thus far are worth a look.

Try these, too for more info (I can't remember specifically how helpful any of them are overall).

http://www.bestplaces.net/city/

http://www.city-data.com/

http://www.findyourspot.com/

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Chicago's a good choice! :)

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Agree with DC: try Georgetown (or is that George Town?) - really pretty, a bit pricey. DC has everthing that you could possibly want.

Annapolis is gorgeous - may be a little small.

Baltimore is a hell-hole!

Have you ever been to Minneapolis? Quite busy, happening, lots of cultural things to do, easy access to everywhere, nice seasons (OK, ass-freezing in winter), affordable, scenic countryside.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Bismarck North Dakota .... not overcrowded ...

how about this on 27 acres .... $310k
http://www.prairieroserealty.com/windy.htm

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

<--- grew up in Boston. The city itself is compact compared to other cities and very beautiful. The housing stock is very different compared to California: most houses are older and more worn. Boston's expensive (but nothing like California), the job market is very weak right now...not a great combination. Traffic is not too bad compared to other cities but the drivers are simply insane. Public transportation is actually good. Falls are spectacular, summers are steamy, winters are wet and miserable, springs are termed "mud season".

It's an OK place to live, but not that great.

I lived in DC for five years about ten years ago (so my comments could be well past their sell-by date). DC is really two cities: a very upscale and mostly white area (NW) that is almost subsumed by a larger, crime-ridden mostly black area (anthing not NW). Racial tensions were readily noticable to me living there. Georgetown is absolutely gorgeous (one of the best urban neighborhoods in the US, IMO) as is most of Capitol Hill, DuPont Circle/Mass Ave and parts of Adams Morgan. IMO, most everything else in the city is either pretty bad or downright scary. Frankly, the DC government brings ineptness to the level of art, it's the worst run place I've ever lived. The Maryland burbs are either fairly unexceptional (Silver Spring) or very swank (Chevy Chase). The northern VA burbs are typically huge, sprawling towns of brand new developments of McMansions. Alexandria and Arlington are both more urban and more interesting suburbs (to me at least). DC is very slightly cheaper than Boston (much cheaper than California). Summers are tropical, Winters are fairly mild (with occassional ice storms), Spring and Fall are both delightful (particualrly spring with the cherry blossoms). Traffic is awful, just awful. Public transportation is fairly good but the Metro doesn't go to Georgetown.

I wouldn't pick either city. Guess which city I'd pick.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Was discussing the same thing with my friend earlier today, she lives in Fairfield, CT, hour from New York, houses prices are starting to come down. Have never been but looks nice.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

It looks like you've picked Chicago?

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Minneapolis and Chicago are both lovely cities that are :eek: in the winter. Elina might not have trouble with that much snow though. :p

If humidity is an issue, and it will be if you live on the East Coast, what about Colorado (Boulder comes to mind) or Northern California/Nevada (eg Sacramento, Reno)?

For culture and connectivity to the UK you can't beat NYC but you'll encounter high property costs and quite a bit of winter.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Reno is a cess pit and Sacramento is not far behind. (Sorry if I offended anyone :)

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Ooookay .... they didn't seem that way to me, but I was a too-rist. :)

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Well, Reno is a cess pit, maybe Sacramento's not that bad. The in-laws live there so that's probably why I don't like the place :D .

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I wouldn't go quite as far as LeedsGirl but...

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

The governor's mansion was very nice (I didn't see the governor himself so that may have helped :D ) and having a large liberal university nearby (UC Davis) seems attractive. :)

What about northern northern California (as in the w(h)ine country)? :D

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Apart from being in CA, 6000 miles from the US cities I named in my original post, expensive housing, nowhere near any museums and art galleries ( unless you drive to SF) and no other matches to my original outlined criteria ........ that's a great recommendation :rolleyes:
Do you have ADD???

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

thought about FLorida - i hear Orlando is superb, near International Drive :D :D

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

[QUOTE=lionheart] I don't think I'd like to be too far out in the sticks and nowhere too hot like AZ, TX, NV.

QUOTE]

We didn't want you to come here anyways! :rolleyes:

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

As part of my quest to visit all 50 states, Bismarck is next on my list for a weekend visit.... North Dakota, btw, was the last of the 50 states that Clinton visited when he was President.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I'll second that!

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I just did one survey and it came up with numerous citiies in Virginia and North Carolina, 3 cities in Pennsylvania, Albany and Long Island NY were other options

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

You don't want to live in a city with small children do you....a village or as they say here town...with city access is best. I did post a link to the 'towns' around here then deleted it...I'll PM it to you Tom.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Sorry to be nosy but what are you planning to do for work?

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

As Ray would say....You nosey cow.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I know you said you'd like the East, but you might want to consider the Pacific northwest. Seattle is a wonderful city, though rent can be a bit pricey. There is a lot of cultural life there and jobs. Portland is cheap to live in and one of the most beautiful places you can live in the U.S. It, too, has a lot of cultural life. In both places the people are unusually sane, friendly and happy and the crime rate in low. There is very little illiteracy in that part of the country and most people are fairly well educated compared to the rest of the country. The religious fanaticism that afflicts much of the U.S. is less evident there, too.The air is very fresh and clean and there is a lot of greenery everywhere. Eugene, Oregon is another great place to live, a university town, though jobs can sometimes be scarce. There is a lot of rain and some snow in the Pacific northwest area, but it has mild winters compared to the Eastern cities.

I agree with the other people here that Boston has a good cultural atmosphere, civilized etc.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Williamsburg, Virginia. (or the surroundings)
Its close to Yorktown - but lets not mention the war (also 4 hrs to DC).
As far as the US goes, it is quite historical, low crime, nice weather, clean and good for work: not sure what you do for a living, but the place is quite affluent.

PS There is a grocery store which sells bangers and real beer also.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Despite what everyone says I love living in NJ - Mercer County to be exact. We are about an hour from NY City, 40 minutes from Philly and 40 minutes from the shore.

Housing wise you get more for your money here than in Northern Jersey.

NJ is ranked as one of the best states in the country when it comes to public education.

We like to walk along the D&R canal and visit lots of the historic towns along the Delaware River. We live about 10 minutes from the center of Princeton and love to stroll around the university area - plus there are quite a few decent restaurants in Princeton.

We have proper seasons, hot/humid summers, cold/snowy winters and very colorful autumns.

All in all I would thoroughly recommend NJ (even though I have never lived anywhere else in the US).

Oh I nearly forgot we also have a lovely Wegmans very close by too.

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

:) Even I would say it's very nice there Tom, only an hour from the Sea, very Posh you would fit right in :)

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

Only Gruff was allowed to use the 'W' word. :mad:

Re: Great places to live in the US??
 

I think I was the one who introduced Gruff to W. :o