Quote:
Originally Posted by E92inPHX
Some of you may remember I started a thread last month that I’m looking to move out of AZ in the spring and many suggested I visit Raleigh NC. Well I spent the weekend there and loved it. It felt like a big town or small city in the woods, like they cut down the trees where they needed to build roads/homes/business/etc but left nature alone. Everywhere I drove the were trees going through the different colors of fall, and having lived in the desert since the 90s it was a breath of fresh air. Really the only negative thing that I’d need to adjust to is they don’t seem to like street lights there, even on the highways. I spent most of my time on the west side of Raleigh and in Cary/Morrisville and at night I’m driving around in darkness. Didn’t really like the northern area that much, too business-y.
I’m going to spend three more days in one more place just so for comparison. Here’s what I’m looking for-
-Must be a coastal state, prefer inland but less than two hours to the coast so I can spend a weekend there whenever the mood strikes. Seafood is my favorite and I need plenty of bodies of water to fish on foot or kayak, mostly I go after largemouths but would like to expand the list once I get to fish on a regular basis, fly and saltwater
-Looking of population/size similar to Raleigh. Medium sized town to small city, I’m wanting to live in the suburbs and would only drive into the city if my work is there or occasionally for recreation. Raleigh was small enough that the longest commute I had there was maybe 20 minutes, even the 8AM Monday drive wasn’t no where near as bad as it is here
-Looking for the landscape to be more natural than man made, if any of you have been to AZ, I’d prefer more Flagstaff and less downtown Phoenix, but at most I’m willing to put up with one month of light snow. I like cold but no shoveling snow or needing AWD
-reasonable cost of living, I’m looking to rent for a year to get to know the area before buying a small starter house. For example, a 1300 sq ft house 2 car garage where I am is going around 350-400k in this inflated market. To me reasonable for that kind of a house is around 200k.
-Other info: purple politically, slight left or right doesn’t matter. Trying to avoid natural disasters, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes. Must have decent infrastructure/roads, water/sewage, high speed internet.
Some have suggested the PNW and Tampa. Any suggestions on where I should visit and reasons? I think Raleigh is going to be hard to beat but want to see another area before committing to living there for the next 5-10 years.
|
I said it in your other thread. Check out Tallahassee. It checks like every box.