Where to move

[Alphaville]

i like parts of hell-ay but i absolutely detest the traffic there. that freeway... would not move there on that basis alone.

otoh i love driving in new york ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ everyone is quick in new york, but not aggressive. i love the vehicular flow there when not stuck under the holland tunnel or something. those traffic cops rule!

vibes, vibes, vibes. vibes matter A LOT. i love new york

[Mister Imperceptible]

Actually I was not knocking LA rather using Faulkner’s opinion on it to introduce how R-D is perceived. I have lived in both and dig both for different reasons, but the OP is not after aspirational platinum blondes and fame, paying $20 for a sidecar while the late 40’s bartender serving him says he is an actor and that anyone can make it out here. He and his girl want to roast weenies under the stars in someplace like Appalachia and dream ERE dreams. But I think being geographically near opportunity is a good move too. Especially when that person has the intelligence to exploit those opportunities to make more hay.

You know the best bet maybe would be something right on the edge of major, growing city, but still currently rural / sparse suburban.

Then in 5-10 years when everything starts growing up around the area, can sell presumably at a profit after enjoying the benefits of a more rural life with still having the conveniences of the city (grocery and shopping delivery)....

[Viktor K]

I'm definitely leaning towards renting in small town now, rather than buying. At least at first, and probably for the foreseeable future.

I don't want to get stuck with something that I might not want after living there for a few months.

Social life, not a big concern. Again, I played soccer for exercise. Before that, it was rock climbing. Before that, running and lifting. When I first signed up on this site, I was big E, now I'm almost always E/I 50/50. I like people, I don't agree with most of them, and I live with someone who (+video calls with friends and family) is enough for me, most times.

Thing is... looking around Chicago...

So take this small town called La Vernia, Texas. It is 20-30 minutes from San Antonio (7th largest city in the US), but has a population of <2k and population density of <500/sq mile.

However, 30 minutes outside of Chicago, it doesn't seem like that's the case? Where does Chicago even end? On Google Maps, it just looks like more and more square blocks with houses crammed together.

For income, hopefully both remote. I am remote now, girlfriend will apply for remote positions. There's a chance that she gets a non-remote offer that we feel the need to accept, but, otherwise, hopefully location-agnostic.

Is it unwise to not give a about playing the corporate game and networking? That's kind of why I took it on myself to learn web dev. A nice hard-skill that I could apply at any place, and earn above average salary.

Small university town would be nice. Culture, can attend classes if I want, we're in our mid-late 20s so can get along with the post-undergrad crowd...if we want to make friends at some point.

Maybe not full-hermit from now until death, but I think it would be nice for the next year or so.

Is healthcare an issue in more rural/sparse suburban areas? Because my girlfriend does need specialists on a regular basis.

I think a year outside of the city, renting, waiting for COVID to become more manageable, and then maybe we'll jet off to Uruguay, or some southeast Asian country with good air quality (does it exist?), or prove some of you all right and flee back to the city, bored to tears.

[ertyu]

southeast Asian country with good air quality (does it exist?)

no. even where there's no industrial pollution, people burn shit for heating.

[Alphaville]

rural health care in america sucks big time.

as a compromise you could move to a suburb, but you will need a car (or 2) to do anything.

small and low density cities will require a car as well—or any cities that developed during the postwar. a lot of american cities are just suburbs by another name. same with small towns, which could be better described as exurbs, or large highway rest stops.

da dios almendras al que no tiene muelas...

https://www.smartertravel.com/10-most-w ... n-america/

seattle btw has a large tech industry and is near the most amazing nature if you can stand the gloomy weather

[Jean]

I'll soon have a 3 room, 1000 sqft appartement for rent. It's in a nice village with fields on one side and mountain forest on the other. You Can leave the house with your ski boots to walk to a ski track, and lake, shoping center, numerous outdoor climbing spots(ranging 4 to 8) and 2 different cities with both hospital and universities are within a 15 minute drive. There is a garden and two parking spots. Public transports are good and 3 intl airports are a big hour away.

[Alphaville]

I'll soon have a 3 room, 1000 sqft appartement for rent. It's in a nice village with fields on one side and mountain forest on the other. You Can leave the house with your ski boots to walk to a ski track, and lake, shoping center, numerous outdoor climbing spots(ranging 4 to 8) and 2 different cities with both hospital and universities are within a 15 minute drive. There is a garden and two parking spots. Public transports are good and 3 intl airports are a big hour away.

ah, switzerland! great healthcare too (mandatory well-regulated insurance).

meanwhile, in america...

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... -without-c

[Kriegsspiel]

Athens OH is a college town with hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor stuff nearby. The rec center has a climbing wall too.

[chenda]

I'll soon have a 3 room, 1000 sqft appartement for rent. .

Out of interest what sort of price ? I love Switzerland and it's a place I could see myself living. You are in the French speaking part I believe?

[Jean]

1100.- to 1200.- cold. Cheapest health insurance would be 214.- per month.
Yes, I'm french speaking, as are my fellow villagers and my phone's autocorrect.

[classical_Liberal]

Is healthcare an issue in more rural/sparse suburban areas? Because my girlfriend does need specialists

In college towns you'd be fine, as long as specialist means "cardiologist", not "one of only 100 cardiologists in the US that know about this condition". COVID is much, much better here than in cities... Like, you barely even realize it's a thing outside of masks in stores. I've been pretty much back to life as normal, but with mask indoors, for three months now. Healthcare system is nowhere near overwhelmed.

I can't help you about a chicago exburb. Don't know it too well because I purposely avoid it most of the time.

[jacob]

Thing is... looking around Chicago...
...
However, 30 minutes outside of Chicago, it doesn't seem like that's the case? Where does Chicago even end? On Google Maps, it just looks like more and more square blocks with houses crammed together.

Chicagoland ends about 1hr on from downtown. Once you go much past Yuppieville (Naperville), civilization pretty much ends There's a definite transition in how built up things are as you proceed to exit civilized land. For example, we're 20 mins out (right at the edge of the L) and here, it's mostly 2 story buildings (residential and shops) closely packed on a grid with a bit of trees in between. As you go 5-10 mins further out, it drops a level and you rarely see 2 story buildings but it's still gridded up. 40 minutes out would classify as burbs with cul-de-sacs and you begin to see open spaces ... usually listed for sale for industrial development. Actual farms/countryside doesn't happen until after the 1hr mark after which it continues that way with streets and cows being identifiable by number only until you hit civilization again five days later in California

I'd suggest looking along the Metra lines. For example, at one point we seriously considered Fox Lake. It's the IL tourist trap for where the city-folks do their fishing, etc. IIRC, Metra takes about 80-90 mins to get downtown if you need it. As you probably know, Chicago's public transportation is laid out on a hub, so you usually have to go downtown first to go anywhere. We can get to ORD from here in 40 mins, or we can walk 30 mins, take pink to the loop and the blue to ORD for a total of 2+hrs. Or we can take the bus to the blue in 40 mins too.

If you're adventurous and don't mind the "smell of progress", there's also Whiting, IN right on the other side of the skyway.

[Scott 2]

Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US. If you want premium living space, and proximity to the city, you're going to pay for it. In wealthy areas, nature is penned off into nature preserves, parks, and golf courses. Living by them is expensive.

The corporate game and networking is how you earn a 6 figure salary. It's up to you if that matters. I'm sure you can make enough without it. But, for the same effort, if you'll make your work circle your social circle, you'll make a lot more money.

[Alphaville]

Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US. If you want premium living space, and proximity to the city, you're going to pay for it.

thing is op doesn’t seem to want it

i’d gladly trade him

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/chi_ha ... n_ha_denti

[Laura Ingalls]

I would vote for smaller towns not tiny 1k-3k. Look for towns that are pretty far from other more major towns. One of the problems with living in the county or in a really small town is it is easy to tire of the same damn evening walk over and over. The grocery store of a town that small generally sucks unless you are in the middle of nowhere like Harrison, NE then it will just be meh not bad.

Example from my very Midwest centric self. Richland Center, WI, Columbia, MO, Decorah, IA, Fort Madison, IA, Pepin,WI, Bayfield, WI, Madison, SD

Athens, OH is a choice I would second.

Decorah is close to the Mayo clinic

[jacob]

Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US. [...] In wealthy areas, nature is penned off into nature preserves, parks, and golf courses.

Yeah, check this out (zoom out slowly).

https://maps.lakecountyil.gov/trailmap/ ... 4%2C102100

A 15 mile "trail" no less ...

[Mister Imperceptible]

The corporate game and networking is how you earn a 6 figure salary. It's up to you if that matters. I'm sure you can make enough without it. But, for the same effort, if you'll make your work circle your social circle, you'll make a lot more money.

This. Especially important when net worth is below zero and need to accumulate. Not necessary to make work circle your social circle as it is to make middle-aged decision makers compete for your services out of mimetic desire and outbid one another. When they hire you they do not just add to their own business but subtract from their competitor. This requires having a face and being a known commodity.




Triangle Area

Big schools:
Raleigh (NC State)
Durham (Duke)
Chapel Hill (UNC)

Lots of smart people and access to quality healthcare.

Cities in a forest. Hiking trails. Few hours drive from Blue Ridge Mountains. Or few hours drive to ocean. Option to live in a city less dense than larger cities or smaller outlying community. Affordable.

Very low crime.

RDU is an international airport.

[classical_Liberal]

True small town living like what @LI suggests is culture shock if you’ve never done it. At least it was for me when I tried. Small city is not nearly as much. Two totally different vibes, so if you try one and don’t like it, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like the other. Like alphaville says about big cities, smaller ones have different vibes too.

Regarding hustle/network culture... blek!!! That shit almost drive me to a breakdown in my late 20s. IMO ERE is the cure to that wretched disease.

[unemployable]

Chicago, RDU, dance clubs, hiking towns, wanting to live somewhere else. I guess if there were ever a place for me to jump back in, this is it.

I moved to Chicago at age 24 and didn't really start to appreciate what it had to offer until I was around 29 or 30. Before then I was just using the city to build up assets and career cred. And in that respect I don't buy any argument that you're "bored" there. Now I moved out when I felt I had squeezed out of the city all it had to offer me, but you strike me as being far more on the front end of this than the back end.

One thing I grew to appreciate was in fact the club scene. EDM really spoke to me and Chicago is one of those places every DJ stops in. Now I never went clubbing to pick up chicks -- after all, I'm a dork -- but if you want to release some energy to five hours of loud pounding music at 136 bpm, perhaps under the influence of one or more reality-altering substances, where else are you gonna go? I get it, people hate clubs and I'm pushing 50 myself, but the comment about every tour stop including Chicago applies to every musical genre. My other point is I didn't really cultivate this interest until my late 20s -- before that, working two jobs I didn't have the time to go out.

The other big change that occurred around 30 was that I started flying out of town for fun, and in this respect Chicago is one of the easier places to leave. Going somewhere with more nature was no problem. Eventually I recognized that so many of my trips were to Colorado that I cut out the middleman and moved here. That was 10 years ago now and I am in a similar boat, of being ready to live somewhere else but still being held back by the details.

So I think any complaints about being bored by Chicago aren't because the place has little to offer, but that, putting this the diplomatic way, you haven't found a niche.

Now, as far as finding a new home goes. You have to go out and explore these places yourself. Checking out the housing stock, the kind of people who live there, what sort of economic activity is going on, how vibrant the downtown is, the prices of goods in stores and what the drive is like to the nearest type of business the town doesn't have. This takes a lot of work, about which I have recent experience. I spent most of July exploring the northern Rockies, and one objective was to check out several smaller towns with reasonable housing prices and good access to mountains. Turns out most of those cheap apartments and houses are cheap for a reason, and I can safely cross off Anaconda, Montana and Challis, Idaho from my personal Best Towns List. Bud I did find two or three places that hit all my personal bullet points and where I'd be comfortable packing up and moving to tomorrow. Eighty/twenty rule, I guess.

I was doing this in North Carolina as well, but in the mountains, not Raleigh or Durham or Winston or Salem. Been there, done that. They're nice places to live but you wouldn't want to visit there.

[unemployable]

My recent month or two of searching for low cost of living, close to hiking trails but still cities search turned up Boise, Idaho and Dayton, OH as candidates.

Both are on this list: https://runrepeat.com/americas-most-liv ... king-towns

I think that most of that list is too expensive though.

Not sure about Boise. I find a lot of Idaho to have pretty boring mountains: indistinct, homogeneous jumbles of peaks that aren't very interesting to look at or go up.

Durango is a solid choice, however, with housing cheaper than in the ski towns and winters that aren't as harsh. Hell, I might move there myself.

Most putative "hiking" east of the Rockies feels like a glorified walk to me nowadays, which is all I'll say about anything in Ohio as a candidate for "great hiking town".