I want to move, just not sure where to...

My wife and I have started having a similar conversation as the OP with similar goals in our location. 

I grew up outside of Baltimore. The better suburbs have a lot of what you’re looking for and the weather is warm enough that I only had a motorcycle for 3 years and only had to take the bus to work maybe three times due to weather. It can get cold and snow but it never lasts long. The airports connect or fly direct to everywhere. The food scene is great plus you can get blue crabs, lots of arts and shows and new York Is only a few hours away,, and one of the best ball parks in Camden Yards. I left because I needed a change, didn’t like the taxes/govt nor my chances of getting a good enough job to afford living in the city. It really is a different feel from anywhere else on the east coast. I’d move back eventually maybe, for the right job, but I’m not done with the rest of the world yet. 

I lived in Eastern/central Michigan in college (Kettering, Flint) and you couldn’t pay me enough to move to any where in central or eastern Michigan. Grey long bullE36 M3 winters, lots of economically depressed areas and high crime (at least they were 10 years ago), godawful roads, and I found a lot of people there a lot like Curtis’s pittsburghers except ex UAW instead of steel workers. Traverse city was gorgeous however it’s a long way from anything. 

My wife lived in Chicago for 7 years before we met and while we visit and think it’s a great city neither of us want to live in that big of a city again we don’t think. 

My wife and I actually met on the ferry to Alaska and have lived in Fairbanks for almost 6 years now. We love it here but want to be closer to family in the lower 48, feel that we have both more or less topped ourselves out job-wise since the town is so small, and want our 2yo daughter and soon to be born son to live in a place with a bit more access to the rest of the world.  It was also -35F today, that gets old but doesn’t last as long as it used to according to the old sourdoughs. You do kinda get used to it but I’d really like to wear my motorcycle jacket more and my down parka less.  Still, the northern lights are out tonight...

We wanted to try Seattle but we didn’t hit the megamillions, powerball, or the Amazon/Microsoft lottery so we can’t afford to live close enough for us to the city.  Love everything else about the city though.

Portland seems... nice.  Funky, but not necessarily in a good way, yet bland and definitely had a “second place is ok!” feel to it. 

Our short list is topped by Albuquerque/Santa Fe, partly because of the qualities mentioned elsewhere in this thread, partly because my wife is from New Mexico and has family there, and partly for the chile (red or green, there’s no wrong answer). I feel that ABQ may be on the upswing economically and it’s still affordable to live there. Tucson also has its appeal but dang it’s hot there in summer...

San Antonio is about the only place in Texas we’d consider. We got engaged there and need to go back for a longer stay to feel the city out more but we’ve both been several times and liked it.

Honestly after reading this thread we’re probably going to investigate Huntsville a bit too. 

I am still reading, and loving, this thread. It has ranged a bit all over the place and that is perfectly fine by me because all of the info is helpful. I've consulted with my wife and a few others to help distill my thinking and I have a lot of research to do.

Sometimes, all that we really know about something is how it made us feel in the end.

Can anyone tell me more about Denver and its environs (Boulder?) or CO in general? 

Thanks!

I too have liked this thread.   I am not recommending my locale because I do not think it will interest you.  I too have intentions of moving away eventually.  My wife is eligible for State Teachers retirement in 6 years.  Realistically, by then both of our mothers will have passed leaving less immediate family in the area.  

However, I have a friend who has already made such a move.  He and his wife were both born/raised in metro Chicago and met at U of Illinois.   He took a job that put them in Benton Harbor, Mi.  She was not crazy about it but a short drive to Chicago and Family.  The next promotion took him to Sandusky, OH.  Still a small town (and not her thing)  He loved the water and The Great Lakes.  The next promotion put him overseeing various business entities in various cities.  

He oversees all the activities of a media company who owns newspapers and radio stations in many small markets. Benton Harbor, MI, Sandusky, OH, Kingsport, TN, Ogden, UT and places of that size.  The vast majority is Eastern Time Zone and Utah is a small portion of the business so that was not a perfect place to live.  His final decision was to not live in any of them.  He now lives in the Old Historic St. Petersburg, FL.  This gives him ability to fly out of  small St Pete (15 minutes away) large Tampa (30 minutes away) and on the occasion that those two won't work; Orlando (2 hrs away.)  To his tiny markets he can get a flight from this combo.  The  only choice that might have been better for him would be Atlanta but he did not want Atlanta and my guess was he did not want to be that far from water.  

For him, his move was much about giving his wife a move that she really wanted since the previous moves to smaller and smaller cities were not what that Chicago-girl wanted.   

I suggest inland Empire California. I lived in rivers side for 3 years. Lots of things to do and a hour from a beach, the desert, skiing, mountains. It is very diverse in culture with food from everywhere. It isn't cheap but isn't southern California expensive. It's right next to orange county but isn't as uppity or fake. I recommend Temecula as well which is smaller and a lot nicer. I'll say it's one of the most culturally diverse areas I've ever been to. The other being DC metro area. I miss it to be honest, my family being a interracial family no one batted an eye. Can't say the same for Texas, where we still get some stares.

tb said:

Can anyone tell me more about Denver and its environs (Boulder?) or CO in general? 

 

Thanks!

I really like visiting Denver and Boulder.  It is a bit isolated for me.  I don't mind living in small areas, but there isn't much around those towns except Tundra and mountains.  I like to live where I have a choice of machine shops (not one shop 60 miles away), access to good parts supplies, enough retail diversity to make shopping for daily goods easy and cheap, and a greater diversity of people (which often happens in larger metro areas).  I don't want my Tomatoes to cost three times as much because transporting tomatoes to a remote area where there is only one store means they can charge whatever they want.  Its one of the reasons I liked L.A.  Aside from the cost of living in other aspects, much of the grocery store items were very inexpensive.  CA and northern MX have so much agriculture that things are close by.  Milk and Eggs were expensive because there wasn't much dairy or chicken farming around, but I loved getting Avocados at 4 for a dollar.  The Glendale meat market had whole beef tenderloins for $5.99/lb and whole Briskets for $0,99/lb.

One of the things I couldn't help but notice was the significant difference in engine power when I visit Denver, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, etc.  I know it sounds dumb to rate a town by the percentage of BHP you see at the wheels, but it is kinda significant for me.  I guess I'm enough of an enthusiast that it is one thing I consider when living somewhere.

I've never lived in Colorado, probably because I'm not a fan of winter and the cities are just a little too far spread out for me, but it sure is a beautiful state.  I found Denver people to be fun, open, and happy.

In reply to Curtis :

I have found Denver to be much the same but have never looked to move there until now.

This move may see me consolidate to one vehicle. It will almost certainly be my Subie wagon; with a STi motor and a few mods it should be ok above sea level. We will not suffer a slow car in this household!

Denver is awesome for outdoorsy people, or folks who like Jeeps and lifted 4x4s to explore the old mining towns or NM/CO/UT/WY. 

Pueblo is cheaper and closer to Toas and Durango, and I think a bit warmer as well. Not as swanky as Boulder.

Unfortunately, anything to the east of the front range is hours of boring flat land. 

The Rocky Mountain States are much like living on an island, we're isolated, hundreds of miles from anything in every direction, which drives up local prices because there isn't any competition. On an island, you get used to doing water stuff. In the southwest, you get used to mountain stuff. You'll never run of places to explore, but you might get frustrated about the lack of new restaurants. 

I think this is one benefit to the Inland Empire of SoCal. You get mountains, you get beaches, you get the nation's biggest city, you get Vegas, you get Death Valley...all within 2 hours. 

John Welsh said:

My wife is eligible for State Teachers retirement in 6 years.  Realistically, by then both of our mothers will have passed leaving less immediate family in the area.  

It's a morbid reality, but one definitely on my mind as I think through my career and my residency in the future. I've got a lot of family on the east coast, Pennsylvania and Florida specifically. My in-laws want to move to Florida. I do not. I do however, want my child to know his/her grandparents and great grandparents. My parents are in their 70's, my in-laws in the 60's, my grandparents (in Orlando) in their 80's. If I'm lucky, my parents will be around for 10-20 years. Her parents 10-30 years. My grandparents will only be around another 5-10 years. 

I don't want to move to Florida, but I don't exactly have the ability to visit with my grandparents 2000 miles away on a regular basis. 

I could see moving to Florida with the sole purpose of "get in and get out" long enough for my kids to remember their great grandparents. Maybe combine the wife and I work jobs that allows to bounce back and forth between Pennsylvania and Florida for a few years. Once family is gone, we'd come back west (or move to Europe/Africa/South America/New Zealand). 

Boulder is great but it has gotten pretty expensive overall. In many ways worse than California. 

Look at the commute to the airport from there because it is at the almost opposite corner of the city. You can come from the Centennial or Englewood area much easier up I-225 or E470. Winter is not really that bad honestly.  I spend a good amount of time there now with work.

There is a traffic jam in and out of the mountains on the weekend especially on I-70. If you aren't into the outdoorsy stuff, It may not be the best place though. I am and the front range will probably be my next home. 

pheller said:

John Welsh said:

My wife is eligible for State Teachers retirement in 6 years.  Realistically, by then both of our mothers will have passed leaving less immediate family in the area.  

It's a morbid reality, but one definitely on my mind as I think through my career and my residency in the future. I've got a lot of family on the east coast, Pennsylvania and Florida specifically. My in-laws want to move to Florida. I do not. I do however, want my child to know his/her grandparents and great grandparents. My parents are in their 70's, my in-laws in the 60's, my grandparents (in Orlando) in their 80's. If I'm lucky, my parents will be around for 10-20 years. Her parents 10-30 years. My grandparents will only be around another 5-10 years. 

I don't want to move to Florida, but I don't exactly have the ability to visit with my grandparents 2000 miles away on a regular basis. 

I could see moving to Florida with the sole purpose of "get in and get out" long enough for my kids to remember their great grandparents. Maybe combine the wife and I work jobs that allows to bounce back and forth between Pennsylvania and Florida for a few years. Once family is gone, we'd come back west (or move to Europe/Africa/South America/New Zealand). 

You might rethink being right on top of your children. Close by and you are the automatic go to babysitter.  Once in a while if you are young enough that is great!!!  However as you approach your seventies and your grand children are 2 or 3  a day will require bed rest to recover.  As you get into your 80’s a few hours babysitting will demand the same. 

 If you live someplace warm and tropical the weather will draw them to you for vacations which end and you can recover from. Besides with Skype etc. you can see them whenever you want. 

Yet more reasons to consider the MS Gulf Coast, and one of the reasons we ended up here.

In reply to pheller :

For a few years after we moved from GA to PA, I would travel to my mother's parents for a month or so during summer break. The first time, I traveled back with them after a visit and then flew home solo (age 11). The other 2 times I flew down and back solo.  I stopped when I turned 14. It helped my grandparents had a large house with plenty of room, although there were few children my age near them. I never visited my father's mother in this fashion, but that is different, long and sad story.

Talk of Boulder.

We love it, it's a perfect place for us in many ways.  We're a great fit politically, culturally and interests wise.  If fact my wife's family have strong roots in Colorado, her Great uncle founded Aspen (Could be Great, great uncle, I get confused) and was buried by a cave in, there's still a 'Tourtellotte Park' in Aspen to comemmorate him.  The family also donated much of the land University of Colorado in Boulder is built on.  Unfortunately that wealth and power is long long gone, but she (we) feel a strong draw there.  There are only two issue.  The fist we could over come by me being told what to do by the boss  and that's the fact I want to live closer to an ocean (or great lakes) I feel a bit land locked.  The other and bigger hurdle is housing prices.  If you were moving from LA or SanFran it's OK, but the median house price is over 3/4 of a million $.  Way out of what we ever want to afford. 

On the power loss thing the last couple of times we've gone has been in turbo charged vehicles and while noticeable it's not the end of the world.  This summer we'll be going back in a V6 NA Duratec Edge so we may notice a far bigger difference.

skierd said:

My wife and I have started having a similar conversation as the OP with similar goals in our location. 

 

I grew up outside of Baltimore. The better suburbs have a lot of what you’re looking for and the weather is warm enough that I only had a motorcycle for 3 years and only had to take the bus to work maybe three times due to weather. It can get cold and snow but it never lasts long. The airports connect or fly direct to everywhere. The food scene is great plus you can get blue crabs, lots of arts and shows and new York Is only a few hours away,, and one of the best ball parks in Camden Yards. I left because I needed a change, didn’t like the taxes/govt nor my chances of getting a good enough job to afford living in the city. It really is a different feel from anywhere else on the east coast. I’d move back eventually maybe, for the right job, but I’m not done with the rest of the world yet. 

I lived in Eastern/central Michigan in college (Kettering, Flint) and you couldn’t pay me enough to move to any where in central or eastern Michigan. Grey long bullE36 M3 winters, lots of economically depressed areas and high crime (at least they were 10 years ago), godawful roads, and I found a lot of people there a lot like Curtis’s pittsburghers except ex UAW instead of steel workers. Traverse city was gorgeous however it’s a long way from anything. 

My wife lived in Chicago for 7 years before we met and while we visit and think it’s a great city neither of us want to live in that big of a city again we don’t think. 

 

My wife and I actually met on the ferry to Alaska and have lived in Fairbanks for almost 6 years now. We love it here but want to be closer to family in the lower 48, feel that we have both more or less topped ourselves out job-wise since the town is so small, and want our 2yo daughter and soon to be born son to live in a place with a bit more access to the rest of the world.  It was also -35F today, that gets old but doesn’t last as long as it used to according to the old sourdoughs. You do kinda get used to it but I’d really like to wear my motorcycle jacket more and my down parka less.  Still, the northern lights are out tonight...

We wanted to try Seattle but we didn’t hit the megamillions, powerball, or the Amazon/Microsoft lottery so we can’t afford to live close enough for us to the city.  Love everything else about the city though.

Portland seems... nice.  Funky, but not necessarily in a good way, yet bland and definitely had a “second place is ok!” feel to it. 

Our short list is topped by Albuquerque/Santa Fe, partly because of the qualities mentioned elsewhere in this thread, partly because my wife is from New Mexico and has family there, and partly for the chile (red or green, there’s no wrong answer). I feel that ABQ may be on the upswing economically and it’s still affordable to live there. Tucson also has its appeal but dang it’s hot there in summer...

San Antonio is about the only place in Texas we’d consider. We got engaged there and need to go back for a longer stay to feel the city out more but we’ve both been several times and liked it.

Honestly after reading this thread we’re probably going to investigate Huntsville a bit too. 

I think you have a very much 10 year old perspective of the area.  Don't forget that while the 'great recession' hit on a National level in 08/09 things had been desperate in Michigan for several years before that.  Nationally we were in a massive recession, Michigan, particularly SE Michigan was in a depression.  Most areas are coming back really really strong.  Detroit has gone from literally houses being sold for $100, yes one hundred dollars, to down town and mid town being at full occupancy, house prices in the suburbs up 50% since the bottom, thousands of un filled jobs, crime improving etc.  Flint has massive issues still, but is better than it was then.  But really don't count out Michigan as a great, vibrant, fun place to live and work.  

Now, E36 M3ty roads and E36 M3ty winter, those I can't argue with.

I was thinking about this thread the other day while driving around the neighborhood:

My culdesac is made up of a new development of houses (built in 2006) and outside of us, everyone else is Vietnamese and either knows each other or are related.  Great folks and we all watch out for each other and lend a hand.

Down the street we have a Chinese immersion school, plus any number of day care, churches, private schools and there's an elementary and a middle school within 4 blocks of us.

Much of the rest of the neighborhood is made up of older homes that historically were owned by white collar workers that worked nearby at Precision Cast Parts, Jantzen Textiles, etc.

The freeway is nearby as is the lightrail and bus system, the lightrail runs directly to the International airport terminal avoiding the parking or drop off/pickup lines, etc.

The wife and I are thinking of moving North for a larger home and to avoid paying income tax in a state where neither of us really works.  We'd still keep the house and rent it out.  Depending on your timing, etc. it could be a heck of an option for your family.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

I have visited four of the places on the list and they receive my vote.

 Don't forget Pascagoula (sp)

In reply to Adrian_Thompson :

Interesting stuff, thanks. I know that I will be checking out the Denver area soon, probably within the next month and will probably need to start my own thread about that...

In reply to Stefan :

Thanks for thinking of me, but don't count on it working out. Portlandia is great; we love it there and it would be nice to connect with friends and family out that way. PDX, however nice, isn't really a very big or busy airport so we really need to study that issue.

Note:

A major airport is kinda a major deal. We take at least 50 flights a year in and out, could be closer to 75 or 100 in the coming years. I know that there are a million ways to work around it but access to a hub city for one of the big three carriers automatically puts a place up near the front of the list. Sadly, that is only a couple dozen cities and I feel like we have already done half of them...

More on the Colorado front - do a little research on Fort Collins. Random thoughts: It's about an hour to DIA, not quite as pricey as Boulder or Denver proper. The downtown area is really pretty nice, lots of bars and restaurants. I heard from one of my kids that main street Disney was modeled after it, don't know if that's true or not. Traffic is NOT an issue in town, but I-25 to Denver can be pretty busy. I think that the motorsports scene leaves a little to be desired. I head out to HPR a few times a year, but it's about 130 miles from here. I really think that it's a pretty good balance between a larger city and a smaller town.

Oh, almost forgot, at last count there were ~20 breweries in town.

Here is a list of airline warm climate hubs for some of the US’s largest airlines:

United Airlines

• Denver – Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Houston – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International (LAX)
• San Francisco – San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

American Airlines

• Charlotte – Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
• Dallas – Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Miami – Miami International Airport (MIA)
• Phoenix – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Delta

• Atlanta – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Salt Lake City – Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)

Southwest

• Dallas – Dallas Love Field (DAL)
• Houston – William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
• Atlanta – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Denver – Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Las Vegas – McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Oakland – Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK)
• Orlando – Orlando International Airport (MCO)
• Phoenix – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Jet Blue

• Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Long Beach – Long Beach Airport (LGB)
• San Juan – Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
• Orlando – Orlando International Airport (MCO)

Virgin America

• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• San Francisco – San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Dallas – Dallas Love Field (DAL)

AngryCorvair said:

Oh, and Greenville SC for the win

I spent a week there once, 10 years ago?     

I absolutely LOVED that place. Not small, but felt like Mayberry in every good way you can think of. If it weren't for the humidity I expect they have, I'd be looking to move there.  

Greenville is nothing like Mayberry.  You need to go back for another visit.  It is a great place, but a little crowded. 

When I graduated as a shop teacher in 1966 I could have gone anywhere I wanted . Shop teachers were in short supply.  Every Friday we had ~20 shool districts on campus recruiting.  I chose Frederick, MD and am still here. I have not seen any place else I would want to go.

spitfirebill said:

Greenville is nothing like Mayberry.  You need to go back for another visit.  It is a great place, but a little crowded. 

That was better than 10 years ago. And I don't mean it was small, but it felt small. Nice people, clean, well laid out, just a nice place to spend some time

I read this thread with interest. My wife and I are considering a big move. Maybe Utah or parts of NM or AZ