Where would you live?
 

I just wanted some opinions on what are some great places to 'settle down'. My husband is really close to his exit from the Army, and we're looking at where we'd like to settle. Right now, we're looking at:

Roanoke, VA
Raleigh, NC
WV (maybe)

I've briefly been to all of them, but my husband (who hasn't seen much of the US) is worried about racism. (He's Hispanic.) We've always lived in Texas, but we're ready for FOUR seasons! I was just wondering everyone's opinions of those places...or perhaps somewhere else we should look at!

aj

what kind of question is that! TEXAS of course ;).

I love Texas too, but I have been to NC and VA and they are high on my list of most beautiful places to live!

In NC, the triangle is really developing and there are a lot of colleges and great shopping. In VA, the college areas are fun --- Charlottesville, etc. And you would have a chance to be invloved with a collegiate chapter in the area and see what another chapter is like.

ETA - If I recall, Roanoke is pretty close to Blacksburg where Va Tech is and there is a DG chapter there. I heard the area has trouble with recruiting and retaining advisory boards because of the more remote location and graduates tend to leave for the "big city" - they could probably use you there and you would have a great experience - http://www.deltagamma.org.vt.edu/

Upstate NY (Orange County) is a nice place, good schools, good to raise a family. The cost of living is seriously higher then the south though.

Roanoke is beautiful and the people are friendly and the cost of living is very, very low. Mr. KR almost took a job there and I was disappointed when he decided not to.

One thing to keep in mind...you have a little one, right? Virginia has some excellent state universities (UVA and William and Mary especially) and state residents have a much easier time gaining admittance plus the instate tuition is practically painless. Never too early to consider college! :D

Anywhere that is warm all year round. Someplace where you only need a light jacket or where jackets are just decorative.

Why go somewhere where three to four months out of the year are cold and inhibit activity?

Why do that to your children?

You can always visit cold and snow.

Also ya need a place with sun! Not where it rains and/or has clouds 360 out of 365 days a year
Snow and ice...ewwww! One of the reasons why Mr. 1228 left Montreal

James, you are my new hero!

I have been telling Mr. 1228 I need lots of sun and warm weather!

South Florida... that's the ticket. My opinion is more than a little biased, considering I grew up there. :D

But don't knock out Central Florida... it's a little colder than down south but there's lots of things to see and do.

i like el paso...simply because the winters are light and you can get to snow within a couple of hours with plenty of skiing. i spent high school in the chicago area....and i can do without excessive cold.

Cape Town

http://www.capegolf.co.za/images/Cap...by%20night.jpg

Kansas City Metro Area.:)

What I love so much about the area is while a City, is small town enough. Lots to do and see, history wise or other. BBQ being a biggie, NASCAR, Negro Hall of Fame, WW 1 Memorial (The Only One), One of the biggest Train Stations, and a bunch of other things to do.

But, the best is setting on a deck eating breakfast or dinner during the change of seasons.

Spring Green, and Fall Colors.:cool:

Middle of The Country so go any direction you want to go!

I'm a fan of Georgia and South Carolina....especially Georgia, of course, lol. The weather is beautiful, and the Metro Atlanta area where I lived until 6 months ago is a great place to raise kids. The cost of living is relatively low, the city is at most an hour away, and there is so much to do. Plus, in-state residents with a 3.0 or higher in HS get FREE tuition to all state schools, inc. Univ. of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, West Georgia, Kennesaw State, Valdosta State, etc. Plus there are great private schools, especially Emory.

South Carolina also has just about perfect weather, a decent job market, and it's a good place to live. Everyone is nice and friendly...plus again, SC has great schools ie. Clemson, USC, etc...

I like NC a lot too, but it's a little too cold for me....lol! I like my sandals 10 months of the year!

Roanoke is about 45 minutes from me (I'm in Lynchburg). It's bigger than my city, and the costs are low. It's a really central city, and it is close to Va. Tech and a little over an hour to UVA. Washington & Lee, Roanoke College, and Hollins are also close by, as is Lynchburg College. I believe they all have Greek Life. You can get to the big cities in WVa easily from Roanoke, and Greensboro is a little over an hour, too, I believe. It's a nice city :) We shop there a lot and my fiance and I have also talked about moving there.

Have you ever taken the quiz at find your spot? It's somewhat helpful, although it seems to be pretty east-coast-centric in terms of results.

Hm, very interesting to say the least!

Picked for me,

Cinn., a lot like KC
St. Louis, a lot like KC
Oaklahoma City, near now where.
Loiusville, lot like KC.
Norfolk, ?
Memphis.

Been to all of the above except Norfolk, Spent time in all of the above except Norfolk. Maybe need to visit there?

Still like KC Better!

:)

I second that!!! Although I prefer upstate SC. The Clemson/Greenville area is absolutely gorgeous, nice weather all year round, man I miss living there!

I lived in southeast GA (savannah area) most of my life and its wonderful too. Even the hot humid temps in the summer!

I always told myself that before I settle down and get married, have kids, etc., I'd love to live somewhere urban -- LA (with Maria), or Boston (with Nic), or even Chicago (with Jules!).

However, after my trips of last year and this year, NC and Baton Rouge are pretty nice too (because of K of course).

Still, there is no doubt in my mind that Hawaii is where I want to raise my children. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I'm going to have to third that one. I love living in Georgia. I grew up in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, which is beautiful and a great place to raise your kids. Plus, you've got to love that southern hospitality! ;)

i took this quiz and it placed me mainly in the state of oregon.

If I had Lots of money, I think I'd like to settle in Atherton, CA, or Palos Verdes, CA.

That is quite an interesting site! I was amazed that almost every place we've talked about is listed on there! They suggested like four cities in Tenn...my husband is terrified of running into the KKK or something. That's his only drawback with VA...one of his buddies told him about all the very 'Confederate' people that still live there! Oh well, we're still looking! Thanks for all the feedback though! It has definitely helped!

aj

I like it where I am, thanks.

It's not bad at all. Seriously. I've never seen a problem.

Go and live in a different country for a few years. Live in countries where you never expect to live. Countries in SE Asia, Southern AFrica, South America, etc. You'll thank me later.

WV isn't too bad.

Just depends what you want. There are a lot of undeveloped area's if you like the country and a few decent sized cities that have a lot of the things you may miss from an urban area.

I do find it kind of funny when I hear someone say that they are afraid of all the rednecks and the KKK in certain states. I mean, it's not like we have awareness days and parades wondering down the street.

I've that stuff on tv, but never in real life.

Interesting; I got VA and NYC for my top choices. In all likelihood I'll be in DC within a couple of years, although eventually I'd like to come back to the Boston area (especially the suburb where I live now).

I visited the site...pretty interesting! It placed me pretty much where I wanted to be....warm, beachy climates. Now if I could only find someone to move with me....

I have never really noticed a racial problem in VA. I grew up in the Tidewater area (Norfolk, Cheaspeak, VA Beach). Now I live in Wilson, inbetween Greenville and Raleigh. Not much difference in the two areas. I have been living in Wilson for about 7 years now (4 during college and going on 4 teaching). I think it is about time to move out! Both areas are nice and would be wonderful places to raise a family. Wilson is much more of a family place instead of a single girl in her 20's place.

Since I went to Virginia Tech, I know Roanoke pretty good and then have visited Raliegh and different parts of WV here and there.
Roanoke is really nice, you will get all four seasons as you say and the city is on the smaller side if you are looking for something like that. Winters can be very cold and snowy in the mountains/valley area, but spring through fall is so nice. I like the atmosphere and it was a great area to go to college, so I can imagine it would be nice to have your kids grow up around there. Roanoke has really good schools, some of my friends went to Cave Springs which I hear is really nice.

Someone spoke about the Delta Gamma chapter there, at Virginia Tech they are great. Shari Malone was the advisor for this chapter for many years. It can be hard to find advisors/Alumnae Board members in this area. My Pi Phi chapter is lucky enough to have a great AAC board who live in Blacksburg, but the closest alumnae club is in Roanoke so we dont do that much with them. Since there arent many other alum in the area it can be hard on them though.

As far as racism goes, the Roanoke area is definately primarily white. I dont think there is a problem with racism though, but I cant speak from that perspective of course. But for goodness sake you do not have to worry about running into the KKK as you put it in VA. I guess some people might be considered still "confederate" as your husband's friend said, but thats bc they have confederate flag stickers and the such on their trucks. From people who I know who have them always say its bc it means being proud of being from the south or something like that.

Lots of retired military folks and a fairly large Hispanic population along Colorado's Front Range -- particularly Colorado Springs with Fort Carson, Falcon Air Station, Peterson AFB, The Air Force Academy, NORAD/Space Command, etc. (Also Buckley AFB in Aurora, just outside Denver)

What most people don't realize about Colorado is that the seasons are fairly temperate. Most of the snow is really in the mountains -- not in Denver or the Springs. We've been in the 40's most of January which is not unusual and Denver has as many sunny days yearly as San Diego (altho it's not nearly as warm, obviously)

When we get big snow storms, they can be really big, but because of the bright sunshine and very low humidity year round (another real calling card), the snow burns off much more quickly than other parts of the country.

Hey now, have you been here so long you forgot the vows you took when you became a citizen of Colorado? We're supposed to perpetuate the myth that it's REALLY COLD AND SNOWY HERE ALL THE TIME because if people knew how nice it is, they'd all move here. ;)

South Florida.

I love the unique atmosphere and the weather is a big plus. I love that it is summer-like weather for 10 months out of the year. I'm currently in Central Florida which is ok and I'll be moving to Atlanta soon but as soon as the boyfriend finishes school, we're moving back to SoFla!

Will you still have access to military benefits? If so, a city near a military base might be your best bet--especially since those areas tend to have more ethnic minorities than civilian towns of comparable sizes. Military areas tend to have excellent public schools as well. The only downside I can see to raising a mixed family around a military area is that most of the towns have NOTHING in the way of arts and culture.

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I just did Find my Spot--Boston, San Francisco, Providence(!), and Chicago were all in my top 10. I think I'll stay here for a bit, but it's good to know that three of my 5 favorite cities are on the list. I'm really trying to get off the East Coast for a few years, and SF is high on the list.

After my fiancee & I get married in December, we're looking to relocate at a few places but it all depends on the job situation.
First, we could stay in CA but move farther away from Long Beach & Los Angeles. We like Santa Cruz, Palm Springs or San Diego. Or if we decide to leave the state, our top choices are 1) Colorado Springs 2) Baton Rouge 3) Anywhere in Hawaii ;)

Newark.

-Rudey

to the original poster

i live in Raleigh and you do NOT get 4 seasons here

its more like 2 and a half (the half being fall)

I live smack dab between Pearl Harbor, Schofield Barracks, Hickam AFB, and Fort Shafter...and their schools have achieved outstanding marks within the public school system. Kaneohe Bay MCBH is also an award-winning community.

If you're not hard core conservative Christian and/or military (and maybe you are -- I have no idea) you might not like Colorado Springs.

i've decided that i'm going to move to hawaii and live with sandy.

Liked that test, but it told me exactly what I knew: I'll be back in New England; Providence in particular....I LOVE NEW ENGLAND!:D :D :D

I'm not conservative or Christian or military. Hmmm...I have visited there before w/a friend who is all three of the above & never had a problem but then again, I was only visiting for a few days.