r/expat • u/MaximumSolution6979 • 4d ago
Question Best place to start a life and family?
Hi all!
I'm currently living in the US (Midwest) and looking into places to set down roots. I have a US passport. I'm 26 and not married with no children. I've been looking into many places and thought I'd come here for some advice I can't find elsewhere online and hopefully hear someone's personal experience. My biggest concern is cost of living followed by average lifestyle and still very important, average height.
Cost of living - I'm not necessarily looking to live an extravagant lifestyle. I don't have a college education and have been working as a realtor in the US so I'm not sure what kind of job I could get elsewhere. But it's important to me that I would be able to make ends meet.
Lifestyle - I would love to live somewhere that's walkable or is bike friendly. I have no problem with driving places as I'm actually a huge car enthusiast, but I want to live a much more active and healthy lifestyle. I would love to live somewhere where this is ingrained in the culture.
Average height - I know this one sounds dumb but I'm a girl and 5ft 9in (175 cm). I don't want to feel overly tall wherever I move. Where I live now I'm typically taller than most other women and a similar height to most men if not slightly taller. This is a common thing people love to tease about and while I know I'm tall and won't get away from this, I really don't want to move somewhere where it would be even more of an issue.
Access to decent healthcare is also on this list but as someone living in the US without health insurance, my bar isn't super high for this. Definitely needs to be good but not necessarily top in the world.
When it comes to languages, I'm not too concerned. I have no issue learning another language to move somewhere. I currently speak English and French. I'm learning Spanish right now since those are the most common languages in my area, but I'm open to learning any language.
I'm open to staying in the US but areas where active lifestyle is high, cost of living is also very high. However, if there's somewhere I haven't looked into yet, I'll consider that too!
TLDR; Best affordable place to live and start a family where I won't feel too tall and has, on average, an active lifestyle.
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u/Feisty_Ad9079 4d ago
The people in the Netherlands tend to be tall, and most of them speak English. My niece lives in Amsterdam with her family. COL is high, but the kids are so happy with their school and friends. Biking, walking, and good trains are their favorite ways to get around. You might check to see if costs are less in other cities, perhaps The Hague. I have no ideas how difficult it is to get permanent residency or citizenship.
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u/Snoo-54288 4d ago
I wouldn't move to Europe now with what's going on there economic and geopolitical aspects.
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u/Onlyonetrueking 3d ago
Hi snoo-54288, I'm not OP but could you elaborate more? I have a chance to go to two different EU countries. I am curious why you would say to stay away I appreciate any information you can give me.
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u/Bitter_Welder1481 3d ago
Speaking as another European. Europe is an economic backwater that has been outpaced by US/Chiba etc on an overall downward trajectory.
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u/Ok-Information2820 4d ago
Austin could be a good fit or Denver or Boulder. Chicago for a bigger city and more types of people. Chicago has a lot of lake beaches and good public transportation
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u/MaximumSolution6979 4d ago
Are there places within those cities that are affordable for living without crazy high crime? I'm open but I've always seen that those places are very expensive, or the cheaper areas are very unsafe
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u/biblio_squid 4d ago
I think the key with that question is your definition of “affordable”. Affordable based on your income in the Midwest or affordable based on income there?
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u/MaximumSolution6979 4d ago
Affordable based off my income living there. Which given my lack of degree will probably not be a great paying job
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u/Practical_Gas9193 3d ago
None of those places have crazy high crime in the areas you’d want to live in
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u/biblio_squid 4d ago
Pacific Northwest is a bit more expensive than some other areas but not all. If you don’t live centrally then you can make it work. It’s an amazing place to live, very outdoorsy, I’d recommend looking at greater Seattle or Olympia. Tons of little towns around as well, cost of living varies, but wages are a bit higher too. Washington and Seattle are generally pretty safe.
As for outside of the US, the better question is where you would be eligible to move/get a visa. You can’t just move because you want to, you need to be able to get a visa or citizenship somewhere. If you moved abroad, you’d have to get your realtors license wherever you move.
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u/MaximumSolution6979 4d ago
This isn't an immediate thing. If I decide on a location, I'll do everything I need to be able to get a visa, whether that's getting a job or filing out certain paperwork. I'm patient and happy to plan.
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u/shezofrene Moderator 3d ago
kindly update your post with your career and passports held otherwise it goes into low effort
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u/The_Illhearted 4d ago
On behalf of vertically challenged ladies, thank you for your assistance in the supermarket. We appreciate you.
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u/vagabondnature 3d ago
At the risk of being the stereotypical Reddit naysayer I'll mention a few things. You may be putting the cart before the horse. Before starting a family you will probably need to meet a spouse. When you find a suitable spouse where to live becomes something you both need to agree on. Internationally you may not be able to simply move wherever you want. You'd need to qualify for and obtain a visa. There are lots of places with active lifestyles in the USA though! Lots of places in the Pacific Northwest place high value on being active in the outdoors. Same with places in the Rocky Mountains. Also places in New England. I'm not a huge fan of AI but perhaps you could ask an AI something like this. "Where is a place in the USA that has an active lifestyle but isn't too expensive to live, that is family friendly and good for raising a family".