Need input on a warm place to live

[judge_smales]

The wife and I have decided that Penn is just too cold. We hate it!!

So where can two white collar, degreed liberals and thier kids go where they will be warm and employed (both currently in IT but willing to change). It'd be nice if the place had decent schools and a good cultural life. Close to a city would be good to.

And it should be warm/hot all the time.

TIA for any input you may have.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Austin, TX

I'm biased though. :7

[Kamika]

4. Houston !

Maybe slightly biased here

[XNASA]

15. Austin, yes. Houston, no.

Sorry Kamika. I'm an ex-Houstonian. Warm is nice, even hot is nice......but Houston is an effin' autoclave. A stinky autoclave.

Austin is great.

If it were me, I'd move to Taos.

[Kamika]

23. softie

to quote my relative visiting from korea

"i feel like i just stepped into an oven"


poor guy had jeans on when we left the airport hehe

[elfwitch]

26. Houston blows!!!

You must be an iguana or something.
Houston is like a pressure cooker filled with doodie.
It is hot, humid, stinky, crowded, and a traffic nightmare.
AND... it is second to LA for the most polluted city in the US.

[Kamika]

29. heyy

its not stinky

[elfwitch]

31. it is too...

It smells like southern Louisianna, all swampy and oily smelling.

[XNASA]

32. I have many, many good friends in Houston still.

It's a great restaurant town, that's for sure.

But that's because it's too hot to cook at home. :hi:

But I'm no softie. I like living someplace where it could snow in October, or be 70 in January. I love the extremes and the changes. That's why I live where I do.

[Syncronaut Seven]

54. You guys are just trying to sell your houses

before the groundwater ignites.

Harrad.

[elfwitch]

8. Austin is nice

San Antonio is not too bad if you can stand 10 months of heat. It is also hella cheap to live there. You can buy a 5000 sq ft home in a nice neighborhood for about $200K
Stay away from Dallas / Ft. Worth.

edit: added info

[Sandstorm]

34. What's wrong with DFW?

I love it here.

[elfwitch]

36. It blows too...

You can't breathe the air because the pollution alerts never get below orange. Everything is too damn expensive. The people are stuck-up about the city. Dallas people act like the city is as hip and happening as NY or LA. That is bullcrap. There is WAY more to do in Austin or even San Antonio. The traffic is stupid. There are too DAMN many southern Baptists here. The whole dry county thing sucks donkey. You drive 5 miles in any direction and you either can or can't buy alcohol. The people are rude and snotty. The grocery stores suck. I could go on and on about how much Dallas blows. I am just happy that as soon as my husband finishes school we can escape this nightmare of a city and go someplace else.

Whew... that feels better.

[GOPisEvil]

39. Nice rant!

:7

[elfwitch]

41. thanks

Been needing to get that off my chest for a while.

[TEXASYANKEE]

47. Wow.

You really hate Dallas. I felt that way about my hometown (in Michigan) and moved to Dallas in 1980, fell in love immediately and have loved it ever since. I guess we live in different parts of the city and have different interests, so I won't debate you about the what's to like and not like about Dallas. I don't see HumVees or meet rednecks very often around here. If you live in Texas, you're going to experience Attitude, it just comes with the territory. I'm sorry you're unhappy here. But luckily we live in a country that (at least for now) is still free. I hope you and your husband find a town that you enjoy as much as I enjoy Dallas.

[TEXASYANKEE]

38. Huh?

Why should someone stay away from Dallas? Granted it's majority Republican, but housing is affordable and the climate is great. We have the Dallas Stars, Mavericks, Cowboys, year-round golf. A world renowned zoo. Theaters, museums, botanical gardens, a thriving downtown, and a transportation system that is improving yearly. What do you have against Dallas?

[elfwitch]

40. see message #36 above...

All that sports stuff is only good if you are in to sports. And i feel that it greatly contributes to the whole blustering swaggering redneck vibe in the city. In driving around the 5 mile area around Noth Central expwy and Preston, in fifteen minutes I saw 8 different brand-new H2s. This city is all hat and no cowboy. All glitter and no function. People act like it is NY, LA, or San Francisco level of metropolitan coolness, and it isn't even close to as hip as San Antonio, much less Austin.

[judge_smales]

9. How long does it take to get to the beach from Austin?

n/m

[elfwitch]

14. depends

If you want to go to a good beach, the closest are in Florida and California. If you just want any beach Galveston/Corpus Christi is about 3.5 hours.

[GOPisEvil]

16. Galveston is about 3.5 hours.

S. Padre is closer to 6, I think.

If it's beaches you want, try the Houston area. Not the most pleasant air in the world, but lots to do, and close to the water (ugly that it is). Houston's also got a Pacifica Radio station and lots of cultural stuff, if that's important.

[E_Zapata]

17. 5 hours to Corpus......

But you won't need to go to the beach. It's really hot in austin, and there are lots of majestic cold spring pools...and rivers..and .....

[GOPisEvil]

19. Exactly - there's plenty of waterfront in Austin, just freshwater.

Then there's Hippie Hollow. :D

[elfwitch]

20. and...

In San Antonio and Austin you get the greatest grocery store to ever exist on the face of the planet... HEB

We don't have any in Dallas. GOD I miss HEB.

[GOPisEvil]

25. They've invaded Houston, too...

D/FW will be next. Resistance to HEB is futile. :D

[elfwitch]

28. all we got is Central Market here

Dallas is too stuck up to import regular HEBs.
They only like Central Markets here.
Central Market blows!!

[Zech Marquis]

52. I'll second Austin

Apple has a big opeartions there--if you need tech support or customer service, you'll speak with somebody from...the US :wow: unlike that asshole Dell and company. University of texas area is quite nice, despite the stink from the Governor's mansion...Houstons seems lik another nice place, but you'l have Bug Man DeLay as your Congress creature!

[GOPisEvil]

55. I live right across the street from Apple here in Austin!

:D They're my neighbors!

Oh, and Houston also has Sheila Jackson-lee, so it isn't all evil. ;-)

[geniph]

2. Boy, if I could afford it

I'd move to San Diego in a heartbeat. Always liked it there.

[judge_smales]

6. SD?

It's really not all that warm there. Yeah, it never gets cold, but it never gets really warm either. There are some really beautifull places in So Cal though.

[geniph]

50. I'm from Seattle, San Diego is the perfect climate to me

I don't do actual heat! Phoenix, for example, would be the antechamber of hell to me.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

3. How much money do you have?

San Diego is really nice, but the median price for a starter home is some ungodly number in the 300,000's.

Sacramento also comes to mind. It's not warm/hot all the time, but the winters are quite mild. Much cheaper than San Diego, too.

[TEXASYANKEE]

5. I second the first two.

Having been to both cities, I could easily live in either Austin or San Diego (although some parts of SD are extremely Republican). Another area might be Charleston, South Carolina. I've heard good things about that area.

[absyntheNsugar]

7. Sacramento, CA

Housing prices aren't that crazy, and any Sac-ites will tell you its HOT here!

On the con side, Sacramento just got this new resident who's a serial sexual offender...you may have heard about him in the news...

[judge_smales]

13. Need the beach too so SD is a contender.

And Sacremento could be a possibility if you can get to the coast in a reasonable time.

In fact- I was concived in Sacramento.

[ClintonTyree]

10. NOT Florida.................

the weather is fine, but the schools, for lack of a better word, suck. Jebbie runs the state like Dumbya runs the country. All smoke and mirrors, telling you how great you've got it, all the while giving the farm away to big business. It's conservative as hell down here as well.
I moved down here a year ago and already am considering selling the house and moving somewhere else. I can't stand it.

[RebelOne]

24. Definitely, not Florida, especially South Florida.

I wouldn't even advise my worst enemy to move there.

[bobja]

11. San Diego

The most even temperature year-round of any US city. Go inland a little if you like it hotter - toward the coast if you like it cooler.

And we are not a gigantic morass like L.A. But close enough to visit. And we have culture!

[elfwitch]

18. and the ComicCon

Been there. San Diego seemed a nice enough place to settle.

[fishnfla]

12. Check out orlando

I would say this: grass, greener,other side of fence yadayadayadayadayada

[LadeJarl]

21. I was going to suggest Orlando too..

Reasons:

- Weather
- Theme Parks
- Beaches (close by)
- Golf
- Lot's of high tech industry
- Kennedy Space Center
- City Beautiful (Orlando's nickname and it's true too)

[fishnfla]

42. An up-and-coming liberal city

Disney's gay-friendly policies make it so, combined with international residents. Good schools too.

The new mayor, is cool.

[judge_smales]

43. I was thinking about Tampa/St. Pete too

Just to be closer to the water.

[RebelOne]

22. Atlanta, Georgia

We have the best of everything. And we have the Braves, too.

[SoCalDem]

27. Sadly, most of the "warm places" have been overrun with developers

and consequently, the cost of living there has skyrocketed..

The days are long goen, where a middle class family could move to Southern California , and actually afford to live there..

Vegas has inexpensive housing, tons of brand new schools, and a healthy economy, thanks to the "visitors" who drop cash in their state by the truckload..

I would not be concerned about the "corruption factor".. We have friends who have lived there and never even been to the strip.. Most of the suburbs are sufficiently away from the strip, that until it gets dark, you would never even know you were in Vegas.. Henderson comes to mind..

You might want to take a "field trip" to Vegas.. (strictly for investigative purposes :evilgrin:..)

[judge_smales]

33. True

Sadly, most of the "warm places" have been overrun with developers" We need to be on the coast somewhere though- the wife needs a beach. Guess I'd better boost my savings rate. Looks like I'm gonna need it.

[patdem]

30. IT Professionals. Calcutta seems to be your choice of state as opossed

to your state of choice? IT is going to India so I suggest you learn the native tounge...and forget about hamburgers since cows are revered? Just a thought?

[judge_smales]

35. Actually

Americans are not welcome in the Indian IT industry. If/when I get offshored I'm gonna learn to fix cars. Can't send that to India.

[felonious thunk]

37. Capitol City, Ogdenville

They are much nicer than Springfield.

[AndyTiedye]

44. San Francisco Area

Not too warm, not too cold, and not too far to the right
(unlike most of the places that have been posted).
Rents are down from their formerly stratospheric levels.

[judge_smales]

45. Been there

WWWWaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy to cold!!

[elfwitch]

46. that is where I plan to go next...

As soon as I can scrape the scum of Dallas off my shoes, I'm heading to San Francisco! My husband is studying to ba an animator. Lots of animation work in the SF bay area.

[Bossy Monkey]

48. Savannah's the best, but I have no idea what the IT situation is like

and would assume that schools are, uh, less good than you're used to. Beautiful town, infinitely charming, subtropical.

Short of that, you could try Bermuda or the Bahamas and try to catch on with the offshore banks. Ditto on the schools though, most likely.

[catzies]

I absolutely adore Savannah. That whole stretch of the coast from

Jacksonville FL to Charleston SC calls me.

[Wickerman]

49. San Antonio is a nice town

Reasonably liberal, close to the coast, close to Austin - far from Dallas :).

Live in the Hill Country and enjoy the scenery, though you won't like the traffic into town.

[rusk2003]

51. California

I know as soon as Iam able to move there that is where I will be living most of the year.

[MGKrebs]

53. Atlanta!

I'm from PA too. Georgia looks a lot like PA, except warmer.

And I sometimes say about Atlanta, "Nice place to live, but wouldn't want to visit there" because there is not much tourist type stuff to do. Which is fine with me.

Having said all that, Atlanta is close to being to big for me, so when I retire or am ready to move, I'm looking around Memphis!

By the way: Atlanta is:
-5 hours to the FLA panhandle
-5 hours to to Charleston
-5 hours to Savannah
-3 hours to the Smokey Mountains

On the down side, we're only one hour from Alabama! LOL!!

[TrogL]

56. Warm places have bugs

I spent some time back in Ontario where I grew up.

• mosquitos
  
• wasps
  
• midges
  
• horseflies
  
• 15 kinds of houseflies
  
• mayflies
  
• blackflies
  
• bumblebees the size of golf balls
  
• hornets
  
• yellowjackets
  
• psycho honeybees
  
• killer bees (just kidding, but coming soon)
  
• regular ants
  
• termites
  
• stinging flying ants
  
• moths
  
• earwigs
  
• carpet beetles
  
• cicadas (do they absolutely have to sing all fscking night?)
  
• water beetles (enough to clog the swimming pool filter)
  
• june bugs
  
• corn borers
  
• grass hoppers
  
• locusts
  
• crickets (*screams* shut up shut up shtup stutup)
  
• luna moths (they're the size of a bird, you try waking up with one of them attached to your window)
  

and a bazillion other things ready to get in your face, down your clothes, in your shoes, up your nose, down your throat, bite you, eat your or just drive you bonkers.

[anakie]

57. make the break - Australia

Why?
1. no George Bush and his puppet masters
2. no radical religious right ie Robertsons, Falwells etc
3. A really cold winters day in Melbourne is about 5 degrees C, Sydney about 10 C and here in beautiful S.E. Qld in almost every winters day is about 20 C.
4. We speak English (or a variation of it)
5. for every US dollar you get about 1.40 Aus - but hurry before your economy goes any further south
6. Beaches
7. no GWB
8. no guns in society
9. universal free health care
10. really nice people

Thats a few reasons off the top of my head.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

58. Even tho Ahnold is out theh-a now

California. I think if I could move I'd go to California. Just because I think it would be kinda cool to live there for a little while, never been there though =)

ps- your kids are willing to leave all their friends and stuff behind? yikes, I'd never!