Relocating? This isThe Thread for YOU!
 

OK, as of today, I have 363 days left before I graduate from law school. YAHHH ME!! During my so-called summer vacation and the upcoming fall semester, I am hoping to land permanent employment. The thing is that I don't want to stay in the (great) state of Louisiana. I am ready to branch out and explore other parts of the US. I've even considered moving abroad, but I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to do that, considering the state of international affairs these days.

So, here's where my wonderful GC family comes in. :D I'm looking for some recommendations as to where I should consider moving. I am open to just about any place, but I would like to live somewhere that would afford me a good blend of cultural experiences, ability to mingle with a collection of young, professional, upwardly mobile African-Americans, low to moderate crime (I know that no place is perfect, but I can't live in the murder capital either), affordable housing, and an all-around good quality of life.

So, if you live somewhere, have lived somewhere, or just know a lot about a particular place and can offer me some advice, hook me up! It would be GREATLY appreciated! :D

Houston!!!! When I finished school also in the (great)state of Louisiana I was ready to get! My husband and I considered Dallas, Houston and Atlanta and Charlotte just a little.

I love Houston, at first I hated it....it was wide and I didn't have friends or family but now so many people have moved here and the cost of living is great. Its city but still country, large, diverse and you can do anything you want, in the 5 years we have lived here we have had a SuperBowl, World Series, Baseball and basketball All Start game, etc. Its a great place for young educated African Americans, and there are plenty of suburbs that are within 5 minutes of Houston!

Don't sleep on your opportunities abroad. I have 2 LSs working abroad as civilians. They love it and they have not had any problems with security risks. One is in Dubai.



My cousin graduated from SULC in '05. He got a job with the Fed Gov't in Dallas. He left that and moved back home, when he passed the bar. If you don't want to move abroad, something with the Federal Government is an option. You can get placed anywhere. As with any profession, your possibilities are endless.

You can always do like Eddie in Coming to America...spin the globe and pick a place. LOL :D

ETA: You have to make the decision. You know what you prefer or do not prefer. Are you comfortable with the south? Would you like the hustle and bustle of a large city like New York or LA? Would you like the coldness of the north? Do you want to move far, far away from your family? You have to answer simple questions like that. Only you can do that, and only you will know that. Whatever you decide, you will be fine.

To piggyback on what Soror AKA2d'91 said, one of my LSs worked abroad in France, which might be very amenable to your law degree from a Louisiana school. Don't they teach the civil law of France as opposed to the law that is typically taught in other U.S. lawschools that comes out of England?

Might be an interesting time,
SC

You can check out Black Enterprise latest list of Best Cities for African Americans

Although the DC metro area somehow got #1, I would recommend without reservation Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte (you'd probably make better money there than Raleigh). I also have a good friend who moved to Nashville and LOVES it.

Good luck and enjoy your lil bit of break this summer :)

Darn Soror Wonderful you beat me to it... but to reiterate Houston is a great place to live and prosper in your career, any career. There are so many young Black intellectuals and professionals in Houston and the surrounding areas. There are 5 major Universities in the city of Houston (Rice University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Houston Baptist University, University of St. Thomas) if you want to further your education. Houston is also melting pot having residents from probably every corner of the world. The night life is great if you're into that. There are numerous festivals and events that occur every year (Houston Livestock and Rodeo, Jazz Festival, International Festival, Cajun Fest, and many more) so there's always something to do. Come on to the Bayou City Soror RD!!! The traffic is everything that you've heard... but you get use to it. :rolleyes: Once you learn I-45/ I-610/ I-59 and Beltway 8... driving is a breeze. And I love my Brothas from the The-H.. but you gotta watch them, sometimes they think they're prettier that you are. :D

Hi! I want to second this! (or should I say third!:D)

Congratulations on everything!

[hijack]I didn't know there were so many Houston people here! I knew Wonderful1908 but I didn't know so many others![/hijack]

i went to Charlotte and fell in love...now i will be relocating there next summer. the housing market is ridiculous. one of my friends had a house built, 2200 sq. feet, for under 180k. it is also very diverse, coming from the south (i live in Richmond now) i know how important it is to be around more people of your education level, etc. Charlotte also has pro teams, which means lots of parties, lots of places. i dont plan to return to VA once we get down there...

also if you dont want to deal with as many people or travel time, Savannah GA is absolutely gorgeous! that same southern feel without all the people. i want to retire there one day!

congrats!

Ditto!!
I'm biased because its home but Charlotte is a very up and coming city with great housing options and tons of local and transplanted progressive AAs...nightlife here is slower then in a major city, i.e. NYC or ATL, but most things here are great...

I've been hearing great things about Charlotte. I also fell in love with the "look" of Savannah from watching "What You Get for the Money" or "National Open House" on HGTV (my FAVORITE channel!). But, I have a professor that's from there and she was like "Don't be fooled by that mess you see on TV!"

I am going to spend some time traveling this upcoming Fall semester. I'll be attending job fairs in Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC. I may even schedule some weekend trips to Charlotte, Savannah, and Minneapolis. Aside from the fact that I want to live it up during my senior year :D, I want to see some of these cities firsthand.

Hey we don't see Houston on your list!:p

Call me when you come here so I can show you around a bit. ;)

I've been to Houston SOOOOO many times already! LOL! Most of my family relocated there post-Katrina.

I certainly will! I've been looking for flights, but they are kinda pricey. I'll let you know what weekend I settle on.

Soror, if you move to Minn., please do get used to shoveling your car out, scraping ice off your windows, trudging through the dirty snow, getting stuck in the snow and hoping that a nice stranger will help push your car out. Take it from a Chicago soror who got tired of that mess. Watching the tv each night to see if you will be snowed in for 3-4 months out of the year is not too much fun. But you may enjoy it, who knows! :)

It is also very cold there. (Sorry Delph :) ). It was always much colder there than in the Chi when I watched the weather - and that's with the windchill in the Chi. Ouch.

But hey, check it out. I know a couple of people who have moved there voluntarily. LOL.

SC

Yeah we come out the wood works when necessary... If we can rep our city, we can, and we will! :cool:

Houston is crazy. Is that where Cheaters is filmed? j/k

I love living in DC. It's full of young professional black people and all kinds of young professional folks. If you want more info, feel free to PM me

SisterGreeks & Sorors, If I could detour briefly....

What do we think about the city of....Detroit? :o


:o I think that's where the boss-man has me going next. :(

End Detroit detour.

Oh and for the record, 2 of my Specs live in Charlotte,NC and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!

One is having a gorgeous 3-bedroom house built for under 160k.

And from what I hear it's just a hop skip and jump from ATL, in the event you want some more nightlife.

Cheaters is filmed in Dallas.

To me, Savannah is another Charleston. One of my friends lived there and winding up moving back to Charleson within a year. Both of them are tourist towns and at least in Charleston's case, not many young black professionals because it is SO HARD to get a professional job. That's why I left.

Cosign with Charlotte and Atlanta. Raligh(sp)/Durham/Chapel Hill is on fire right now. I know two sorors who just moved there and they enjoy it. Columbia is nice and there are plenty of days I want to move back there. There are a lot of professional blacks there but the night life maybe dull sometimes. Luckly it's only an hour from Charlotte and and three from Atlanta.

HOUSTON........HOUSTON...............DID I SAY HOU-STON!!!!!:D

Thats in Dallas.

Either way if Cheaters were filmed in your city or town your city would look equally crazy!:rolleyes:

Hi Infamous,
I heard that you can buy a house there for less than the cost of some cars so it might not be all bad if this you're in the market to purchase.

SC

Hi Soror,
I posted a thread inquiring of Texas and Dallas sorors re Dallas but no one responded. Is it not the place to be? There seems to be alot of backing of Houston. How do the cities compare in your opinion?

SC

Me personally, I don't like Dallas. It has its OK spots but for the most part it looks old to me. Even in the nice spots it looks old. The people are different than in Houston also. Although Houston is bigger than Dallas, its easier to navigate in Houston than in Dallas. I love Houston. I love my the people, my church, the professionals, my chapter, who happens to be the BEST chapter in Alpha Kappa Alpha hands down, and the food!:D

Plus its closer to my home which is in Southern Louisiana!

Dallas is my hometown and while it may not be as metropolitan as Houston, I still think it's a great place. I think it's easier to navigate and takes less time--you get almost anywhere in 15-20 minutes compared to the 30 minutes or more in Houston.

Houston has more restaurants per square inch than any city in the nation!!! That's probably why we listed as one of the FATTEST cities too though! :rolleyes:
All my family is from South LA as well so it doesn't take me no time to hop in the whip and roll down I-10 to see my people!!!

Hi Soror. Thanks. I guess that I was under the impression that Dallas had alot of new housing and development. Your observation about it looking old is an interesting one. I will have to see if that jumps out at me when I visit in a couple of weeks. How are the people different than in Houston? Are the AAs different than the AAs in Houston? There seemed to be alot of places having happy hours each week when I looked online so I just assumed that it was a good place for singles that want to go out and meet other people. Have you found that this isn't the case?

Houston may not be an option for me as I am primarily being led by opps - long and short-term and Dallas appears to have more in line with what I do.

I appreciate your feedback,
SC

Hi MeezDiscreet,
What is the Dallas feel? You mentioned that it's not as metropolitan as Houston. Does it feel like a small and/or country town?
What is it about Dallas that you think is great? What is the AA and dating scene like there for AAs?

SC

Houston has really been well endorsed on the board. I honestly don't no anybody who has moved here and wants to go back to Lousiana. I think Houston is great becuase even though its a city its so wide that there are like 25 mini Houstons in Houston. Plus as I said earlier the cost of living is awesome! I had a brand new 2500 sq. foot house built 4 years ago and after upgrades we only paid $123,000, so whatever the occupation Houston is the place!

I recently moved from Columbus, OH. I thought that is was a great place to live especially for young professionals. It made someone's list of best cities for African American young professionals. I found the shopping and cultural experiences to be top notch. Good luck!

The only persons that want to stay are those that went voluntarily. Ask the folks FORCED out by Katrina and they sing a different tune! They ALL want to come back!

But, damn! A brand new home for $123K doesn't sound bad AT ALL!

Any opinions of Chicago? A bunch of folks have gotten jobs there from my school. I've never been, but I have one classmate that is originally from Chicago and says she will NEVER go back. What's up with the Chi?

Thats a good point, let me back track all the people who came voluntarily love it!:)

Yea the house thing is awesome, I caught my house right before that big buidling explosion but one of my friends just bought a 2 story 3 bedroom house for $147,000 and another just closed this week on a new home for $127,000.

I don't know but Mayor Bill White needs to come pay us Houston gals on this board!

Wow, with all the information you all have provided on different cities, it makes me wanna take a trip!! But I can not let the DC metro area just be a simple pass through, though I know someone has mentioned it. It is a GREAT place to be, what ever you like to do, you can and will find it in DC Metro and talk about professional AA's :D, we are all over the place. But like all major cities we have our goods with the bads. When you're in town RD, let me know :)

This really surprises me. I guess I would call Chicago my second home from visiting my dads side of the family over the years, and I LOVE it! Of course some areas are better than others, as is the case with most cities. But from what I understand there are LOTS of job opportunities there for professionals, the night life is excellent and there is always some type of cultural festival, play, concert etc. going on in the city. I'll actually be moving there in less than 3 months for law school and I plan to start my career there. If you have any specific questions about the city, feel free to PM me. :)

Now Soror RD, you know that I love Houston (born and raised and coming back at the end of the month) but I'm not going to tell you to come here. I have a lot of friends for law school as well getting jobs in Chicago. But it is called the Windy City and my little azz would blow away.

The reason that I'm not going to tell you to come to Houston: IMO, it's boring as hell. Maybe because I'm from Houston but there is no excitement to the city. The transportation sucks. The H looks like a big slab of concrete. Although I would rather live in Houston than Dallas, that's not saying a lot.

Keep your options open. If I could, I would move back to DC (or the surrounding areas) in a second. Yes, the cost of living is high but I just love that part of the country. It's much more progressive.

Hello all, long time no see.

Soror RD, I wanted to move to Houston as well. It was probably my top choice of places to relocate to after graduation. But I simply was unable to secure employment there. So of course, you already know that I am moving to Miami. Therefore, I recommend that you move to Miami simply so that you can be there with me :-)

I am from Chicago (raised there anyway) and I think that it is a great city. Lots of cultural activity, museums, festivals, theater, music, a lot of diversity in that respect. Of course, Lake Michigan is beautiful, my family has a home a couple of blocks from the lake. Public transportation is good--you almost don't need a car--and the shopping is pretty good too.
The complaint that I have heard most often about Chicago is the weather--its cold and often gray during the winter which lasts really from November to April (so if you do not like the cold, it is probably not the place for you). Also, housing is becoming increasingly expensive, especially if you want to live anywhere near the city. There are some neighborhoods that are being revitalizing about 15 mins from downtown (on the southside which is where most of us live), but those prices are rising quickly too.
If you enjoy cold weather, and I am probably the only person on the board that prefers cold to heat, Chicago is a pretty nice city to live in.

Soror RD,
Being born and raised in Chicago too, I co-sign with everything Little32 has said. It's a great place for AA professionals and tons to do if you like museums, etc. It is often said that there is no better place to be in the summer than Chicago. Now, the emphasis there is "in the summer." If you are ok with the cold, below zero temperatures and gray, dark skies from November to April, as Little32 said, you are good. It is more expensive than down south but it is a very reasonably-priced northern city. It is nowhere near the cost of living (esp. for real estate) as say a DC, a NY or an LA - yet, it is just as cosmopolitan. If you're just interested in renting for now, I could point you to areas that I lived in in Hyde Park over near the lake with one bedrooms from 675-875 per month, radiant heat so you only pay electricity and cooking gas. There are lots of professionals in this area. Also, it is a bit of a student community b/c UChicago is there also, so it can be a bit of a walking community the closer you are to the lake. I took the #2 or the #6 right past my house straight into downtown so it's convenient into downtown. If you want something out in the suburbs, the commute is longer (I think it's about 45 minutes to an hour) but there are nice places out there too. Sububs not so nice if you don't drive, however. There are also other places in the city that you may like. But trust that it is *real* inner city life. My parents live in GA so I know the Atlanta (or other souther inner cities that I have seen) are not quite like what I would consider to be inner city - buses all the time, train stops in walking distance, etc.. This is Chicago so if that's what you like, it may be cool for you.

Chicago is more fast-paced than say any other city in the midwest, if that's what you like. It is also true that you can survive w/out a car. One of our sorors has been doing it for over 5-7 years now and she sees all sorts of plays, etc. downtown regularly. The reason that I moved from Chicago was b/c I got tired of the dark, gray skies for so much of the year. It was kind of dreary and depressing to me. But during that season, the sun does manage to peek through at least once every couple of days for a little while, for a very little while, at least. I also got tired of watching the news each night from Nov to March to see if there was going to be a snowstorm and, hence, I would have to get up even earlier to shovel my car out. Then I got tired of my car getting stuck in the snow on the streets when I parked on the street or my car getting stuck in the main thoroughfare of my gated lot b/c my management was too trifling to have the snow trucks out there at a reasonable hour. It is one thing to deal with snow and bad weather when you have a parent that will go out and shovel your car out for you and warm your car up and scrape the ice off the windows for you, as a teenager, and quite another when you have to do it yourself.

But if you're cool with the cold and gray skies won't bother you, then Chicago is a great place!

SC

Let me know if you have specific questions.