Affordable place to move? Young family

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Wife and I currently live in Seattle (from California and hate it there...).
We love Seattle but it is just way too expensive here for us to raise a family. We are planning to move away from Seattle to somewhere more affordable to raise our soon to be here baby girl
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We are thinking about:
Minnesota (Minneapolis, Duluth areas?)
Maybe somewhere like Idaho or Utah???

We hate the dry California heat and love seasons. It needs to be affordable and have jobs available.
Only drawback about Minnesota is the RUST....I love my cars too much for that!

Ideas please!
 
Albany NY, or the Capital District in general. No, stop laughing, seriously. We have 4 seasons, the job market here is quite strong, it's a pretty affordable place to live, and you are an easy drive to Montreal, NYC, or Boston, if you are so inclined for a weekend getaway. I love living here. Lots of stuff to do here, if you are the outdoorsy type. Hiking and skiing in the Adirondacks, lots of lakes for fishing or boating, lots of great public schools (especially Ballston Spa, and Shenandehowa), and lots of good colleges for down the road. Lots of street and music festivals during the warmer months too if you are into that sort of thing.
 
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Originally Posted By: Nick R
Albany NY, or the Capital Region in general.


Oh lord, stop punishing the guy, he hasn't done anything wrong. Maybe send prisoners there from the overcrowded joints. Don't forget the sky high taxes there.
 
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There are guides that list the cost of living in various areas of the country.

Do you enjoy the ocean?

You need to consider job availability. At least one of you (husband) needs to be able to find a job quickly.

Forget the northeast. Taxes, especially property taxes extremely high.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
There are guides that list the cost of living in various areas of the country.

Do you enjoy the ocean?

You need to consider job availability. At least one of you (husband) needs to be able to find a job quickly.

Forget the northeast. Taxes, especially property taxes extremely high.


Taxes are relatively high but that just means average pay is higher. And that's why I mentioned the Capital District, because the job market here is very strong, and unemployment is low (4-4.6%)

Not to mention he said they love Seattle, the Northeast will feel a lot more like home than the middle of nowhere in the midwest.
 
There is no better place on earth to raise a family than in Duluth (if the cold does not scare you off). There are so many family and kids' programs throughout the year in a million different things. There is more park space per capita than in any other city its size. The top three employers are tourism, colleges, and hospitals. It gets many tourists (more than any other place within hundreds of miles) due to its natural beauty and things to do. It is on a hill overlooking Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. Most houses have a great view of the lake and are near parks that are acres and acres in size. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the US. Almost no one owns A/C because the summers are so mild. The public schools are what Garrison Keillor called well "above average." The college dorms are filled all summer with retirees from FL, AZ, etc. Lots of camping, boating, fishing, biking, climbing, etc. There are a number of ski hills in the area (a few have more than a mile run). Most kids can ski and skate (there are plenty of non-profits in Duluth that teach these skills to kids). And the cost of living is very low.

Minneapolis is nice too, but it is more expensive and "big-city."

http://www.outsideinduluth.com/5-ways-to-find-cool-things-to-do-with-kids-in-duluth/
http://www.midwestliving.com/blog/travel/top-10-things-to-do-with-kids-duluth/
https://www.duluthwaterpark.com/local-attractions/
 
Seattle is very expensive right now and getting more so. Texas has a good jobs market right now, depending on your careers. Idaho is nice but limited in opportunities unless you are highly wanted.

Have you considered east of the mountains in WA or OR? Tri-Cities comes to mind. Lots of choices, just depends on your priorities.
 
wow a nice thread u made.

i just wanted to ask same question for affordable living in America. the reason is i got job in Texas next year but i still have 2 other choices of city. one is California and the other is New York.

which one is good for living and having also raise a family? FYI i am taken and planning to marry my girl in America
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also i have interest in automotive and do frequent roadtrip. i just think Texas is affordable but i still need some suggestion here
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Colorado is great. We retired here from socal. However, what type of work do you guys do? What kind of activities does your family enjoy? What kind of housing budget are you working with? Do you want big city, suburb, small town or rural? Sperling's best places is a great website to compare cities and help you narrow it down. I live in a small mountain town up the pass from Colorado Springs. 4 seasons, lots of sunshine, 15 minutes from the nearest fishing hole, tons of hiking trails, etc.. if you can provide some more info, we can help you more effectively.

Good luck!
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Albany NY, or the Capital District in general. No, stop laughing, seriously. We have 4 seasons, the job market here is quite strong, it's a pretty affordable place to live, and you are an easy drive to Montreal, NYC, or Boston, if you are so inclined for a weekend getaway. I love living here. Lots of stuff to do here, if you are the outdoorsy type. Hiking and skiing in the Adirondacks, lots of lakes for fishing or boating, lots of great public schools (especially Ballston Spa, and Shenandehowa), and lots of good colleges for down the road. Lots of street and music festivals during the warmer months too if you are into that sort of thing.


I live 20 min east of Albany. My combined property and school taxes are out of the universe, then high income and sales tax. We are moving when we retire.

The territory within driving distance have beautiful areas to hike or camp. But the taxes are a killer.
 
I think its good to be within a couple hours of a big city, but live in or near a smaller city.
Some place like Duluth or a bit smaller.
I think I'd pick somewhere along the Appalachians, maybe somewhere uphill near Asheville, NC would get a decent winter, or atleast you could drive to an area with winter easily?
 
New Yorker here. Stay away. The taxes and rust are both astronomical.

I like North Carolina and Northern Arizona for mild seasons, decent job opportunities, and reasonable cost of living. Asheville and Flagstaff are lovely.

The Philadelphia, PA suburbs are nice too, but the taxes again.
 
Colorado is what I'd pick if I had it to do over again. It's also in many ways the cultural and political opposite of Texas.
 
Originally Posted By: Bandito440

I like North Carolina and Northern Arizona for mild seasons, decent job opportunities, and reasonable cost of living. Asheville and Flagstaff are lovely.


Not many job opportunities in Flagstaff and the cost of living is relatively high. They did get 11 feet of snow a couple of winters ago.

OP didn't mention occupations yet. Building trades are in demand in Az right now.
 
Richmond, VA. You get most of the benefits of the east coast, without being in Florida. Lots of up and coming young families there.

Some places in NC are like this too, but then you're further from the economic powerhouse of the nation. Richmond is as far as you can practically be, and still be in the corridor.

Lots of nice places in the Midwest, if you can stand the distance from the ocean.
 
Last year I was working in North Dakota on the Dakota access pipeline. The area had some very new buildings and fairly cheap rent (Wiliston). Everyone was looking for workers so jobs wouldn't be a problem either.

My son, daughter in-law, and myself where eating out at a restaurant and they offered my daughter in-law a job on the spot. Pretty much everyone is desperate for workers. A women also informed me the local Walmart starts out at $17 a hour so there is decent pay for even entry level workers. I don't know your education level so please don't take it as a insult but the jobs are there and the living is certainly affordable for the pay.l
 
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