<p>(This is in the cafe because it has nothing whatsoever to do with college – all kids involved have already dealt with college.)</p>
<p>My father’s contract was not renewed, my mother’s father passed, the mortgage for the house (in my grandfather’s name) will not be transferred to my parents, I graduated from college, and my brother is still at home but looking at making his own way.</p>
<p>Time for a move!</p>
<p>My parents are preparing to take a couple weeks on the road so they can scout out potential places to make their new home. There are very few absolute restrictions: my father can work through any place that has a major airport within 2 hours, and my mother is stay-at-home but requires access to good hospitals and doctors.</p>
<p>Some of their preferences: not in a city or anything with a metropolis feel (though near one is fine); forests are good; cold isn’t a problem, but ability to get places at need (ie, hospitals) is extremely important; cost-of-living has to be reasonable*; neither too conservative nor too liberal overall, but erring on the side of more liberal.</p>
<p>*We’re comparing to California, for reference. Rents less than $1000/mo for 2 bedrooms, etc.</p>
<p>So, parents…</p>
<p>If you could move anywhere in the United States with this in mind, where would you go?</p>
<p>I’d move to Winston-Salem NC. It’s about 1/2 hour from the Greensboro airport and the prices are modest for housing and such. There are several MAJOR medical centers…Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, and the Forsyth Medical Center…huge facilities. The Wake facility is also affiliated with the WF medical school. W-S is like a big city in miniature. It has a nice concert hall (Stevens Center…owned by NC School of the Arts), lots of theater, dance, art, a new sports stadium slated to open with a minor league baseball team, nice parks, every and any kind of shopping you can think of, nice restaurants etc, and accessibility to the mountains or the ocean within about 2 hours. We would absolutely move there in a heartbeat…and may actually do so when we retire. It’s known as the “city of the arts”. Oh…there are a bunch of colleges too…UNC School of the Arts, Wake Forest, Winston Salem State, UNC Greensboro is about 20 minutes away, Salem College…there are others but I can’t think of the names. Old Salem Village is there too…a small early american Moravian community. Greensboro is nice too…but personally I like W-S better.</p>
<p>I’m moving to near Wilmington NC next month. It has certain amenities that we need (an airport within 30 minutes, in-state tuition at excellent schools, a beach <em>and</em> a river, trending left, and others) and a laid-back lifestyle that we love. Housing prices are reasonable. </p>
<p>Check realtor.com and trulia.com to investigate rentals on line. Craigslist also has rentals for different cities but exercise due caution, of course. </p>
<p>There are also many ‘cost-of-living’ calculators on the 'net where you put in your move-from city and your move-to city and they figure out what kind of income you need to keep up the same lifestyle. Helpful. City-data.com will give you a break down of the towns by a variety of factors but be careful with the comments sections. As usual, there are a lot of cranky people out there!</p>
<p>Gresham, Oregon, and the area about 20-30 miles east of Portland Oregon has lots of lovely, low cost areas with plenty of trees and Mt Hood in the background!</p>
<p>They’re very interested in Seattle and Portland and the areas around there, and it’s probably where they’re going to do the most serious looking. I think my mom prefers to stay on the west coast, but the midwest isn’t out of the question, and I agree with all of you who have suggested NC – it’s somewhere I know -I’d- like to move. As much as my mom might want to stay on the west coast, I know she’s considering going back to school as well and would love the chance to take advantage of “culture” (something that’s been lacking in the current hometown).</p>
<p>VeryHappy: What is it about Hanover that makes you suggest it? Cold and snow and the like aren’t a problem so long as they don’t routinely shut down airports and hospitals.</p>
<p>We went through a similar decision process and moved to Huntersville, NC - just north of Charlotte and near Lake Norman. We are very happy to be here. Very nice area, 15 minutes to Charlotte (non rush hour), that was important to us, 20 minutes to the airport, 15 minutes to Davidson College if you are interested. We visited Asheville and it was a great place to visit but too small for us. I recently checked out local medical care on several levels (nothing serious fortunately) and was absolutely thrilled with the quality of care and it is right up the street. Our local dentist is great also. They are using new technology that my dentist in NJ did not have - instant xrays appear on TV screen in front of patient; digital images require no developing and the thing they put in your mouth is much more comfortable. Everyone is pleasant and seems happy in these doctors’ offices and the doctors are young! My doctors are all suddenly significantly younger than me! When did that happen?? </p>
<p>Economy here is bad, so people are strongly discouraged from moving here without a job if they need one.</p>
<p>I suggested Hanover because it has the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in next-door Lebanon – excellent!! – and it’s got Dartmouth College, so there’s culture, and it’s liberal, and it’s got lots of outdoor activities. There’s a small airport in Lebanon and it’s about a two-hour drive from Boston. (Full disclosure: S2 goes to Dartmouth, so I probably have a bias.)</p>
<p>It’s amazing how many people mention NC when talking about a dream place to live. It’s mine as well. Would never choose Florida (as many snowbirds do…) but NC sounds perfect. NC residents, is the state experiencing growth???</p>
<p>If they would consider the midwest, they may want to check out the Indianapolis area and points south. Indianapolis has one of the lowest costs of living, for a city, in the country. There are several colleges and universities in the city itself and two state schools about an hour away. Forests are a bit harder to find in Indianapolis, but south of the city there are plenty. There are several fine hospitals and the IU medical school/center. I</p>
<p>FYI–though I’m from Indiana I don’t live in Indianapolis. I previously hated the city, but it has grown on me in recent years.</p>
<p>NJres and I share the same zip code. This area has seen tremendous growth over the last ten years. Raleigh, the state capitol and home of NCSU(the largest univ. in NC) is growing by leaps and bounds. Eastern NC (where I’m orginally from) is far more rural and less populated until you get to the coast.</p>
<p>My parents returned from their RV trip and narrowed the list of possibilities down to two: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and Seattle, WA! My mom decided that she liked the West Coast way too much to move all the way to NC, so even Seattle is winning over Coeur d’Alene at the moment.</p>
<p>Seattle has a lot of the things they were looking for, and it has the added benefit of having a few large companies in my dad’s industry. </p>
<p>Time to start looking for places to live! Again, access to the airports and hospitals is important (+/- 2 hours), but more important is the “right” place. They’re fine living on one of the islands, don’t mind snow/cold, don’t need to live too close to “where it’s at” and are basically just looking for a nice place to rent while they work on getting stable again. Needs to be pet-friendly (they have a 7-year-old border collie and a 2-year-old cat), yardage is appreciated, and 2-3 bedrooms.</p>
<p>Craigslist has shown me there are a fair number of options in the area, so I’m wondering if any parents who know the area have more concrete suggestions. Are there areas/neighborhoods better for people in my parents’ situation than others?</p>
<p>Just based on family experience, I don’t think I’d recommend Coeur d’Alene for someone with existing health issues. Such a beautiful locale, but the Basin is a Superfund site due to years of heavy metal dumping and other mining-related pollution. After over ten years, it’s my understanding that they’re still working on the cleanup. My relatives who live there have had problems of the “you have six months to live” variety and are looking to leave.</p>
<p>I understand that Oregon makes up for the lack of a sales tax by increasing other taxes, including property and income tax. If you really want to save on taxes then you could move to Nevada.</p>
<p>geek_mom: I hadn’t known that about Coeur d’Alene. Thank you! I’ll pass it along. Given the sensitivity of my mother’s state of health, that would definitely be a bad idea for them.</p>
<p>dmd77: I had suggested that too. I am not sure why they aren’t looking at Portland, but I did point out the sales tax issue. Since they’re renting, I doubt the property tax is going to make a difference? Given that my dad is generally self-employed, however, income tax could be problematic.</p>
<p>edad: Yes, good point; they’re really looking for quality location more than anything else, though. After California, almost anything in America short of New York City or Chicago would be an improvement fiscally.</p>
<p>jym626: Wisconsin didn’t show up on their radar; I really think they’re looking for a place like where they live now that just doesn’t happen to be where it is – forest, lake/large body of water, smaller town, somewhat liberal/progressive, readily accessible metros nearby.</p>
As much as my mom might want to stay on the west coast, I know she’s considering going back to school as well and would love the chance to take advantage of “culture” (something that’s been lacking in the current hometown).</p>