Moving to the US...need to determine best location!
Oct 14th 2011, 7:18 pm
#16
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Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Vermont
Posts: 3,264
Re: Moving to the US...need to determine best location!
Personally I would stay close enough to family/friends that I could see them for the weekend or whatever occasionally. Maybe closer the SF might be better.
Oct 14th 2011, 8:20 pm
#17
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Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Herts to CA for nearly 10 years and now MD
Posts: 351
Re: Moving to the US...need to determine best location!
Try this as a resource for schools in California. It doesn't replace actually going to a school to see what it's truly like and talking to some of the parents who have their kids in those schools but it should give you a general idea as to the areas with the best performing schools.
http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...30139%2C10%2C1
http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...30139%2C10%2C1
Oct 14th 2011, 9:46 pm
#18
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 0
Re: Moving to the US...need to determine best location!
You don't like Houston? Wow...that's a first
Oct 15th 2011, 1:55 am
#19
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Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Hong Kong, mostly.
Posts: 5,214
Re: Moving to the US...need to determine best location!
You're facing the same dilemma of a number of people who have career portability but want "the little things" in life to be a bit better. My first recommendation was to consider a place in the Washington DC area, where the suburbs have some excellent schools and you are in a city with 3 major airports in the area, but the cost of living is quite expensive and probably a non-starter.
California is the "golden dream" for many, but under the surface their are significant budget problems such that it's called "the Greece of America". The state government is essentially dysfunctional and schools and services are being cut left and right.
Others have mentioned "the middle" bits of the US as convenient for airports and whatnot. The culture is a bit slower there but you can find mid-level cities that might be a tad more interesting. A place like Minneapolis - St. Paul has some very good suburban school districts, though after one winter there you'll begin to realize why so many Scandinavian immigrants came to that part of the country--the snow and cold reminds them of home.
$2,500 is a mortgage of about $450,000 US (assuming you can pull together the down payment and have credit). When you look at different towns take a look at realtor.com and put in about $400k-$500k for a house. That will give you a general view of you what sort of housing quality is available for that price, and you can then start searching sites for rentals and have a bit of an idea of what to expect.
California is the "golden dream" for many, but under the surface their are significant budget problems such that it's called "the Greece of America". The state government is essentially dysfunctional and schools and services are being cut left and right.
Others have mentioned "the middle" bits of the US as convenient for airports and whatnot. The culture is a bit slower there but you can find mid-level cities that might be a tad more interesting. A place like Minneapolis - St. Paul has some very good suburban school districts, though after one winter there you'll begin to realize why so many Scandinavian immigrants came to that part of the country--the snow and cold reminds them of home.
$2,500 is a mortgage of about $450,000 US (assuming you can pull together the down payment and have credit). When you look at different towns take a look at realtor.com and put in about $400k-$500k for a house. That will give you a general view of you what sort of housing quality is available for that price, and you can then start searching sites for rentals and have a bit of an idea of what to expect.
