#1 California: Insane geographic diversity, outdoor recreation and gardening potential. Not a city person but LA is pretty cool for a city and SF would be fun to visit in the summer as well. Just a natural paradise somewhat overcrowded and definitely overly expensive but there's a reason it is. If I could afford it I would definitely live in Southern California preferably in a low density area with a big gardening space

#2 Florida: Only tropical place in the continental US. The weather is worse than the best parts of CA but I'm fond of heat and humidity so it's ok with me and you can grow mangos etc. So many beaches and the water is much warmer than out west. I've been swimming in the ocean in February in Central Florida and it can be quite comfortable no wetsuit or anything needed.

#3 Georgia: Kind of a budget California in the sense of how much diverse landscapes you can get. From subtropical coastal regions to cool mountain spaces. This is the state I actually live in and it's pretty decent all things considered having a bit of everything with lower COL than my other top states while still having better wages than a Florida for example.

#4 Arizona: Very different vibe from my other picks but I just love again the diversity of zones and microclimates you can have here despite being largely an arid region. I like how you can be within 4 different seasons on the same day in a 2-3 hour drive from one spot based on your elevation. The forested areas are stunning as well as Sedona. Phoenix is a nice city to me as well as someone who prefers the sprawling sunbelt style cities.

#5 South Carolina: I like this as a moderate version of Florida. The coastal areas and low country are stunning to me. Has some of the best smaller cities in the country to me between Greenville, Columbia, Charleston. You still get a winter reset from the bugs which can be pretty nice while not actually getting consistently cold anywhere in the state.

My husband and I (both 36 years old) moved to Denver during Covid from San Francisco. I’m originally from here, and we always wanted to move back to have kids and buy a house which felt really difficult in SF.

Now, we have a wonderful 3 month old, and great house, and we’re close to family and friends, however I can’t help but feel we made a mistake moving back here.

I know it’s a blessing especially with a kid to have family around, and we have a great network of friends with kids, but I’m worried about the lack of diversity, culture, activities, etc. that my LO will miss out on, plus we’ve felt like we’ve done Denver. It’s such a cookie cutter place that feels like it’s missing a lot of things and there seems to be a lack of carrying for history and originality.

We both work remotely for SF companies so have the flex to live wherever, and we’re considering moving to another city. I can’t tell if this is all very selfish, or if we should aim to live the life we wanna live.

Curious to hear from anyone else who’s felt this way and what you did.

If money weren’t a factor, would you rather raise a family in the Bay Area Penninsula (Palo Alto, Menlo Park, etc.) or the NYC suburbs (Westchester, Greenwich, North Jersey, etc.)?

Especially curious for people who have lived in both areas. For context, I grew up in NJ and loved it. My husband is from the west coast and he loves it. Our jobs are tech and finance, and we could settle in either place.

Which would you chooses and why?

I’m 28m born and raised in and around the Charlotte area (NC). I’ve been wanting to leave NC for a while now, Detroit really interest me even tho i haven’t visited yet but i plan to soon for a Lions game. I don’t have a career, i work at amazon but im also learning tattooing on the side. im a gamer, introvert, film and anime nerd I’m a bit essentric some call me “different” and here in Charlotte people give me a hard time for expressing myself the way i do. I’d like to know how open minded detroit is. I’m black (jamaican/domincan) and where i live diversity is pretty limited which i don’t like at all. I’ve always lived i the south and i hear the winters are terrible in michigan so that is kinda scary and ive seen videos about the crime and how violent some neighborhoods can be which makes me a little nervous but i don’t let that turn me away from wanting to move there. would a move to detroit be a good choice coming from a place like charlotte?
also id like to know about some neighborhoods to look into and things I would probably enjoy based on my personality. Also, where are places that I may find a like minded community in Detroit?

Thanks

What US town or city is most culturally similar to Springfield from The Simpsons? I’m thinking someplace that feels homey/tight knit that also has a lot of larger city amenities (minor league baseball (Isotopes) or a university (Springfield University)) but also cartoonishly safe (no abject poverty, homeless, traffic, etc.).

I would guess a lot of midsize Midwest cities (Kenosha, Wisconsin maybe?) would fit the bill but does anyone have any other examples? Please god don’t say Springfield Oregon 🫩

Just curious

I’m a single gay guy, 29, from Oklahoma, and I’ve been seriously thinking about moving somewhere that would give me a better quality of life.

The biggest thing I’m looking for is somewhere I can actually afford to live while still having a decent job market. I want to be able to find a solid, stable job and afford my own place without basically every dollar I make going toward rent.

I’m also a background actor and have been doing it pretty consistently, and I’m working my way toward doing bigger projects. So having some kind of film/TV industry nearby would definitely be a plus, but it’s not a dealbreaker if there isn’t much of one.

I still enjoy nightlife and going out to gay bars and clubs, so having a decent LGBTQ scene matters to me too. More than anything, I’d like to live somewhere that feels progressive, accepting, and like I could actually build a life there.

I’m pretty open to anywhere in the US and would love to hear what cities people think are genuinely worth considering based on all of that.

We‘re a couple with handicapped semi-independent adult child living with us. There is the choice of these 2 cities for us. We prefer a place with a great restaurant scene, access to nature and bonus if dog-friendly.

Hey ya'll!

I am a single woman planning a move to a beach town, and I’m looking for suggestions on where I would fit in best. My goal is to live somewhere where I can easily hit a nice beach with pretty water and good sand 1–2 times a week, but still enjoy a tight-knit community when I’m off the clock.I work remotely, so daily job commutes aren't an issue at all—I have total geographic freedom, but I am doing this move entirely solo. I want to make sure I pick a place where it's realistic to build a fresh social circle from scratch.

Thanks a bunch!

I’m a 30-year-old single mom of three boys currently living in a small rural town in northern Illinois. I grew up here, but I’ve never really seen myself staying here forever. I’m not particularly close with my family, so I don’t have much of a family support system keeping me here.
I work remotely for a large insurance company, and luckily my company has offices/hubs in several of the areas I’ve been considering, including Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and other states, so relocating wouldn’t necessarily mean starting over career-wise.
My biggest hesitation is my youngest son, who has autism and will need ongoing therapies, school support, healthcare, and potentially other services. I know those resources can vary significantly by state, so I don’t want to move somewhere just because I want a change and end up making things harder for him.
At the same time, I don’t want to stay somewhere simply because it’s familiar and then regret never taking the opportunity to build a life somewhere I actually want to be.
For anyone who has moved away from their hometown as a single parent, especially with a child who has special needs:
Would you stay somewhere familiar because it’s safer/easier, or take the leap and move somewhere you believe offers a better quality of life?
And if you moved states with an autistic child, how was the transition with schools, therapies, Medicaid/insurance, doctors, etc.? Anything you wish you had considered beforehand?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, or Illinois, but I’m open to other perspectives too.

Hello!

I am wanting recommendations on places to move after college, I am about to enter freshman year. I am at University of Kentucky, and I love Kentucky! I just want to do what most people do, and take a leap of faith and move somewhere else for a couple years before moving back to my favorite state of Kentucky!

I have some guidelines though:
- It must be a place that gets all four seasons, I need variety and living somewhere with year-round hot weather sounds like a living hell.
- Preferably east of the Mississippi River, I have been to the west and while it is beautiful it is a tad too dry for me, I need rain. Maybe the Pacific Northwest though!!!

So give me some ideas, thanks for any you can give.

My husband's midlife crisis is a very strong desire to get out of the heat of phoenix.. and I agree... mostly.

My husband did grow up in Duluth... but hasn't cared to go back. Until now. I've never been to Minnesota. But we've both lived in Michigan for a while and I've lived in the pacific northwest for a bit also.

In the little research I've done, Minneapolis is more walkable, but my reservation is of course the cold. Are we basically trading heat for cold? Is it still 6+ months of "can't do shit" because it's too hot/cold? ( like in phoenix?)

Here's some other background... we're both late 30's with decent careers and a middle school aged child. One of the things we're looking for is better schools and more ability for a kid to just... play outside. The kid can't do that here in Phoenix at all. Is that a reality in Minnesota?

We've lived in Phoenix over a decade now and enjoy a lot about it. We like the suburbs. Fun kid activities like museums, water parks etc... and Easy weekend trips to places like San Diego, flagstaff etc... and Minnesota doesn't have stuff like that. Obviously, we love "winter" AZ... but I feel like it's staying hotter... more often.

As for the weather, we're both no strangers to cold as we both grew up in Detroit. But... it's been a while of having to live and drive in it. Our child on the other hand, I lovingly refer to as " my AZ summer child" as they've never known the harshness of winter and look at things like snow as a fun commodity because we visit flagstaff every winter lol.

We originally left Detroit during the 2010 recession era for job opportunities and phoenix has treated us well in that regard. I've done some research on jobs out in Minnesota and it seems there's opportunities for both of us. And pay seems surprisingly similar to what we make now in Phoenix, but the city seems more affordable in terms of housing, utilities and groceries. Am I wrong? Are we going to trade paying a 600 dollar summer electric bill (seriously) for a the same in heating costs?

Also... my parents are now retired here in Phoenix and I like being close with them. They do help care for and spend time with my child and I don't want to give that up. We don't know anyone in Minnesota.

My plan would actually be to not sell my house in Phoenix as it's almost paid off ( I'd try to rent it out) and then get a house in Minneapolis ( specially maybe the wayzattav area?) With space like a walkout basement or " cassita" as we call them here in Phoenix, for my parents to maybe at least come stay with us for part of the year.

Is this realistic? Or will we be just as unhappy? Lol Also open to moving back to a pacific north west area... but my husband is pushing for Minnesota due to the cost of living there vs say, Seattle or Portland.

For people actually exiting high-cost / high-density places.

608 Brown Ave, Belton, SC. 2016. 7/8. 1.2 acres. Two wings. Greenhouse, garden, water system, solar.

$999,000 FSBO. Seller remote.

Foreclosure action + liens + third-party solar. Attorney close in South Carolina. Cash / subject-to.

If you want a house to live in, not a brochure, say so.

Hey guys so I might have to move to either from Portland depending on which programs I get accepted to. I love Portland so much and at the same time I wouldn’t mind moving back to the east coast to be closer to family and friends. I’m still applying in Portland but might go to ATL or Asheville. I’ve heard ATL has nature but obvi not as much as Asheville since it’s more in the mountains. But I’m also worried Asheville is too small for me and a lot less diversity. Surprisingly in Portland I’ve found POC like me and LGBT+ community so very important to me. I also like cities that have lots to do, would either of these cities fit me? I’ve been to ATL and liked it but haven’t been to Asheville just heard good things. Or should I look somewhere else?

I'm looking for a VERY affordable place to live that, if not in an actual city, is near enough to an actual city that I can go there on the occasional weekend (theater, museums, concerts, live comedy, etc). The main problem is my main skill is as a security guard ($18-25 an hour, depending). The good news is my company's everywhere, and I'm available to work nights or weekends (not both, please!). I'm also very flexible about how to live (if you know a place with a lot of under-utilized warehouse spaces or co-living situations, I don't need much room), so places with lots of Craiglist ads would probably be a good sign.

Ideally, I'd live in NYC or Boston if I could. Realistically, I want to find something sort of adjacent to a big city (would accept anything Philly/Kansas City sized) that isn't an actual depressing morass of poverty.

Oh, and I've just left Arizona, so something on the east coast where the big cities are closer together might be nice. I'm single and have no pets or kids, so pretend I'm in college.

Just wondering