I'm looking for a good place to move and want your suggestions. Here's my wish list:
- sidewalks
- LDS church within ten miles
- children in the neighborhood
- safe enough that responsible people let their children play outside alone
- reasonably priced
- casual
- no annual anti-Mormon events
- a good library
- higher education located within twenty miles
- no free roaming alligators or huge cockroaches
- low crime
- low community drug use
- a vibrant homeschool community
- mild winters
- normal everyday people walk and bike to their destination sometimes
- political, ethnic and religious diversity
- low unemployment
- neighbors who intend to stay in the area until their children are raised
- not located on a fault line, a floodplain or on the edge of a cliff
There are two or three local communities that fulfill most of desires, but that pesky "reasonably priced" doesn't bend. At all. And those great communities do not come cheaply. If I come into a half million dollars or the ability to pay for a $500,000 mortgage, I'd have it all under control, but so far I haven't and I don't. SO give me a name to match my dream, your favorite "nice places to raise a family."
18 comments:
When you find your Utopia let me know. I'll be your neighbor that will stay until my kids are grown (and maybe even after).
Fairfield, OH
Plus, our ward is AWESOME!!
Snowflake, Arizona. I think it fits most of those requirements.
Hmmmmmm. Let me know what you find!
Uhhhh...Arizona somewhere? House prices are supposed to be low. I see Annette already mentioned it. I think it even meets the homeschool criteria.
We've moved more times than I can count on two hands - and still not found that elusive place :-)
Provo Utah. Except for the mild winter part, it's got it all!
Julie, Kristina, and Anne,
I will let you know when I find the place. We will have amazing block parties!
Ray,
Fairfield, OH. I'll have to look into it. I was born in Dayton, and still have lots of very dramatic family who live there. I thought you meant Fairborn which would be way too close to my beloved loonies.
Annette and Melanie,
Snowflake. Hm...pause while I go check real estate prices. Hm...maybe a bit out of the price range. I'll investigate further.
Heidi,
Provo's not too good on the diversity. But I liked it when I was at BYU. I think Utah culture might smoosh me though.
(This is Thora, who's too lazy to change over from her husband's account).
Yeah, maybe somewhere in Arizona, that's not near the big cities (the mild winter is the toughest part, I think.) There are all sorts of midwest countries areas that are cheap, and your kids can play outside, and I'm sure even have the homeschooling support group. But the mild winters? Those places tend to be the more expensive parts of the US, because everyone else wants mild winters too. Maybe tennessee. Except that doesn't really register on the diversity scale. (certain parts of Utah are very, very diverse. I grew up in Salt Lake, and my junior high had 35 % caucasions, and 65 % "minorities" (Mostly polynesians and hispanics). It was very diverse, culturally. Salt Lake isn't very cheap, housing wise though. (And I didn't grow up in a very safe part of Salt Lake, either). I think you're best off randomly inheriting lots of money, and moving to a CA neighborhood.
I was going to say LAIE!!!! But then I saw that you don't like cockroaches. And community drug use.
Shucks! We were almost neighbors!
Thora,
We've been pondering the Midwest, but the chiggers and snow really get me down. The bad part about inheriting money is that someone I love has to die. That'd be a bummer.
Crash,
Yeah, Laie would be perfect except I would go bankrupt buying 85 spf sunblock and $6/gallon milk.
My ideal is close enough to visit but far enough away to not be expected to visit. Otoh, I don't want to move; we absolutely LOVE it here.
Ok, as requested, I'm here to confirm the lousiness of your neighborhood: Yesterday, as I went to round the corner of a front porch a half-dozen houses down from you, the neighbor across the street came running over to warn me of a body lying on said porch!As I turned to her, a motorcycle officer pulled up. He was followed by more police,a fire truck and an ambulance. The mail was delivered and the young man was apparently ok, just incapacitated by ......insert your choice of poison here.
Of course, I feel I must point out that I (your sweet mail-lady) walk these streets safely each day, albeit in the bright light of day! My second point must be: How much worse would this neighborhood be without your sweet influence, loving children and neighborly example?!
Wonder why I dubbed you Wendy the Wonderful? No one else does!
You're right about the neighborhood being safe in a non-mugging sort of way. It's just the general level of chaos, crisis and despair in the neighborhood gets to me. Ya know? Anyway, I've decided to stop coveting a nice, big house in a calmer neighborhood and just buff up my own as best I can.
I am pretty sure that would be HEAVEN.
It could be Utah except for the mild winters part, oh and there are too many Mormons here! (not the good kind)
There's a house for sale up the street from me. I love my neighbors. The price is far less than you mentioned, it's got a really nice yard. Best of all, it's right down the street from me. You can sit outside with me and my neighbors while the kids go nuts outside. We even have our own neighborhood Easter Bunny who leaves eggs on everyone's lawns. No chiggers (I hate chiggers!). You know most of the rest of my neighborhood.
Oh, I forgot to mention that most on my street are in it for the long haul!
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