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OT: Help on Relocation

loki_dog

loki_dog

Senior
Nov 3, 2006
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Central Jersey
The Stroudsburg thread got me thinking that this board has lots of people in lots of places. My current position allows me to work from home with limited travel. The position will most likely exist for a few years until the company is bought up or I decide to move on. We've been thinking about relocating out of NJ. Given the following criteria , where do you consider a good landing spot.

1) Warmer weather - wife is sick of the northeast
2) Decent schools (public or reasonable private) - kids are entering 6th and 7th grades (private)
3) Reasonable taxes/ home prices- I guess everywhere is reasonable outside NJ
5) Good Technology sector economy
4) Good State University System - if not RU they are going in State on my dime
5) Close to airport - within an hour or so (Travel to Europe and most states)
6) Outdoor recreation - more mountains then beach but either works (wife love beach, I love mtns)

We've got relatives in Milton GA and my wife loves it, but I'm not sold yet. Other ideas are Research Triangle NC, Austin Tx (never been there but hear great things).

What do you think? Given the choice where do you think you would want to live?
 
I've never heard bad things about the research triangle. I almost moved there myself. My wife has relatives there that love it.
 
San Diego. Just relocated here after 18 years in NYC and North NJ. It checks off all your boxes. Homes here can be very affordable compared to NJ if you are willing to live 30 min from beach, in the mountains. Poway specifically if you are looking inland for great schools.
 
I've heard good things about Houston...if you're not opposed to oppressive heat and humidity. Research triangle as mentioned...and Northern VA, which is not that much different than here, but slightly warmer. The VA state college system is second to none in the country.
 
Lived in NJ, Maryland, Illinois and now to California. Cannot beat the Southern California weather and lifestyle. I'm near Thousand Oaks and the coast and mountains are nearby. Great schools and reasonable taxes. The home prices are high but stable. Highway traffic can be brutal. Forget No. Virginia. No master plan, out of control development and crazy traffic. Illinois - crappy weather 8 months of the year and taxes that make NY and NJ seem cheap. From my experience Howard County Maryland was perfect. It's located in the triangle between Baltimore, Washington and Frederick. Great schools, reasonable home prices and taxes. Maryland is not a home rule state so all services and schools are managed at the county level. Easy travel to the water or mountains. Lots of culture and things to do. Reasonable weather. Under 3 hours to Rutgers for football game day. I do miss that!
 
RU205 said:
This discussion come up a lot on this board. And everyone complains about NJ recruits leaving the state......
Click to expand...

Exactly the reason we should focus as much recruiting effort out of state as inside. As a born southerner moving to NYC and NJ to go to school and get started in life was amazing but the area wears on you if you were born there or have been there a decade or two.

I will always understand when a kid moves out of the region to play ball and go to school. Staying local and going somewhere other than RU stumps me though ....
 
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PhDKnight said:
San Diego. Just relocated here after 18 years in NYC and North NJ. It checks off all your boxes. Homes here can be very affordable compared to NJ if you are willing to live 30 min from beach, in the mountains. Poway specifically if you are looking inland for great schools.
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This. I went to a convention in San Diego in May. Been there before. Always leave thinking about moving there. I never explored downtown until this last trip--what a fabulous, accessible, and safe place.
 
Many on this board recommended moving to South Carolina but I guess if you are only white. 9 blacks killed while praying in church by 20 something white man yesterday.
 
Would choose San Diego in a heartbeet but its too far away from HPSS.

I chose the next best option, Ocean City, NJ. I honestly feel this was the best thing my family did, quality of life is great and its a great place to raise a family. I still see kids playing kickball in the street and I feel safe having my daughter ride her bike around town with her friends at 10PM. If you are into family, outdoors and exercise this is the place. Most people I know run, ride bikes, paddleboard or do something. The # of overweight people here is minimal except in the summer when they come from PA to visit, but you put up with it because thats what keeps our taxes low. I know all my neighbors up and down the street and around the block because they all talk to each other and watch out for each others kids just like it used to be. When we lived in So. Brunswick, I knew the guy next door to me and never even saw most of my other neighbors let alone had conversations with them. Its not uncommon to be walking the dog and a neighbor will offer you a beer as you sit and chat about life.

Still close enough for a less than 2 hour drive to attend the RU home games.
 
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newell138 said:
Would choose San Diego in a heartbeet but its too far away from HPSS.

I chose the next best option, Ocean City, NJ. I honestly feel this was the best thing my family did, quality of life is great and its a great place to raise a family. I still see kids playing kickball in the street and I feel safe having my daughter ride her bike around town with her friends at 10PM. If you are into family, outdoors and exercise this is the place. Most people I know run, ride bikes, paddleboard or do something. The # of overweight people here is minimal except in the summer when they come from PA to visit, but you put up with it because thats what keeps our taxes low. I know all my neighbors up and down the street and around the block because they all talk to each other and watch out for each others kids just like it used to be. When we lived in So. Brunswick, I knew the guy next door to me and never even saw most of my other neighbors let alone had conversations with them. Its not uncommon to be walking the dog and a neighbor will offer you a beer as you sit and chat about life.

Still close enough for a less than 2 hour drive to attend the RU home games.
Click to expand...
How is your commute? Where do you work? Not a lot of job opportunities down in Ocean City.
 
I took a quick look on Zilow at Ocean City. Prices seem very high. A lot of 1500-1700 Square foot older homes. Newer homes are expensive, this one being an example for a 2300 SF house, $600,000 is a lot, and taxes are not all that low at $5100.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3713-Pembroke-Ln-Ocean-City-NJ-08226/38374846_zpid/

I guess if you put that house in Bergen County, it would add a few hundred thousand to the price and the taxes would double, but you could find similar in Monmouth County, just not that close to the beach.
 
Knight Shift said:
How is your commute? Where do you work? Not a lot of job opportunities down in Ocean City.
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I work from home 4 days a week and commute to Lansdale PA 1x a week, 100 miles each way. No, houses aren't cheap but for a shore town thats not trashed in the summer by HS kids like Seaside I think you get a lot for your money being this close to the beach, especially when you compare it to places like LBI. We are only an hour outside of Philly too so there are a few people that commute there on the daily.
 
I too want out of this state. San Diego is to die for but you are just dealing with a lot of the same things that make us want to leave NJ only with the water on the wrong side - taxes, traffic, folks who suck, out of control government.

A friend of mine is doing a toxicology fellowship in Denver and said it is awesome.

I want to be near mountains, low humidity and none brutal winters. Any suggestions?
 
Va beach.....move to First colonial or Cox high school area. Not too far so you can make a few football games. If your kids are smart enough they can go to UVA or William and Mary.
 
PhDKnight said:
San Diego. Just relocated here after 18 years in NYC and North NJ. It checks off all your boxes. Homes here can be very affordable compared to NJ if you are willing to live 30 min from beach, in the mountains. Poway specifically if you are looking inland for great schools.
Click to expand...

Cool! I work in biotech and my company is interested in relocating me -- however, wife works in finance and NYC (where we live now) is the Mecca, whereas San Diego has a dearth of jobs in that industry. Any suggestions? We aren't going to do it if she doesn't buy in and have good employment prospects. We are visiting last week of June to check it all out so any other suggestions are much appreciated
 
jtung230 said:
Va beach.....move to First colonial or Cox high school area. Not too far so you can make a few football games. If your kids are smart enough they can go to UVA or William and Mary.
Click to expand...


Job market isn't so hot there. Especially tech sector, as the OP mentioned.
 
Piscataway said:
I too want out of this state. San Diego is to die for but you are just dealing with a lot of the same things that make us want to leave NJ only with the water on the wrong side - taxes, traffic, folks who suck, out of control government.

A friend of mine is doing a toxicology fellowship in Denver and said it is awesome.

I want to be near mountains, low humidity and none brutal winters. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Seattle is a very nice city. I remember going skiing after work 1/2 hour from the city and skiing as good as Colorado and great hiking. Seldom snows in the city.
 
Randal7 said:
Cool! I work in biotech and my company is interested in relocating me -- however, wife works in finance and NYC (where we live now) is the Mecca, whereas San Diego has a dearth of jobs in that industry. Any suggestions? We aren't going to do it if she doesn't buy in and have good employment prospects. We are visiting last week of June to check it all out so any other suggestions are much appreciated
Click to expand...

Wife is an MD and I am in biotechnology so this area was a no brainer for us. Can your wife go "in house" and do her finance job inside a non-finance company? Also, if you stay on the beach and take her for dinner in La Jolla and Del Mar she may rethink her demand!
 
Piscataway said:
I too want out of this state. San Diego is to die for but you are just dealing with a lot of the same things that make us want to leave NJ only with the water on the wrong side - taxes, traffic, folks who suck, out of control government.

A friend of mine is doing a toxicology fellowship in Denver and said it is awesome.

I want to be near mountains, low humidity and none brutal winters. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

City or small town? How close to the mountains? Low humidity is a given pretty much anywhere out West, particularly the Rockies. You can manage the winters by living in the valley instead of the mountains. I've heard places like Portland and Seattle have particularly mild winters because they're so low. Winters in the likes of Denver and Salt Lake aren't nearly as bad as you might think because they're at a lower elevation than actual mountains, but the winters are probably worse than you're looking for.

Based on your criteria, I'd be looking at the Southwest - Arizona, New Mexico, Southern CO and UT, maybe Nevada. The Pacific Northwest would be another option. If you don't like the rain, I hear you get a lot more sun on the eastern side of the Cascades. You might be dealing with more elevation/snow there, though.
 
FanuSanu52 said:
City or small town? How close to the mountains? Low humidity is a given pretty much anywhere out West, particularly the Rockies. You can manage the winters by living in the valley instead of the mountains. I've heard places like Portland and Seattle have particularly mild winters because they're so low. Winters in the likes of Denver and Salt Lake aren't nearly as bad as you might think because they're at a lower elevation than actual mountains, but the winters are probably worse than you're looking for.

Based on your criteria, I'd be looking at the Southwest - Arizona, New Mexico, Southern CO and UT, maybe Nevada. The Pacific Northwest would be another option. If you don't like the rain, I hear you get a lot more sun on the eastern side of the Cascades. You might be dealing with more elevation/snow there, though.
Click to expand...

I dont need to be on a mountain, just see them. The SW of CO is really nice but I think I want to be a bit further north. I would like a small town. A pt of mine who lived from CO to the Pacific also said Denver and Portland. A friend of mine and fellow RU alum is moving out to Denver for a few years for a Toxicology fellowship so I will check it out.
 
PhDKnight said:
Wife is an MD and I am in biotechnology so this area was a no brainer for us. Can your wife go "in house" and do her finance job inside a non-finance company? Also, if you stay on the beach and take her for dinner in La Jolla and Del Mar she may rethink her demand!
Click to expand...

haha that's what i'm planning on doing. The company office is in La Jolla, so looking at areas around there. She could probably go in-house. Thermo Fisher is out there. There are some finance companies too. Will be interesting. Where do you guys reside? Any suggestions? We are pretty young (late 20's) but we do well. But, for the time being should we choose to move we will rent to make sure we like it first.
 
Randal7 said:
haha that's what i'm planning on doing. The company office is in La Jolla, so looking at areas around there. She could probably go in-house. Thermo Fisher is out there. There are some finance companies too. Will be interesting. Where do you guys reside? Any suggestions? We are pretty young (late 20's) but we do well. But, for the time being should we choose to move we will rent to make sure we like it first.
Click to expand...

We are leasing a house in La Jolla for a year or two before we buy. We have been to the area 7 or 8 times in the last 15 years, but it is different being on vacation somewhere and living somewhere so we decided to take the conservative route.

Where you will like living out here will have a lot to do with your personality. If I was in my mid 20s without kids I would probably rent a condo in Pacific Beach and then move north once I was ready to by a house and have kids.

Send me your email and we can talk off line if you want.
 
PhDKnight said:
We are leasing a house in La Jolla for a year or two before we buy. We have been to the area 7 or 8 times in the last 15 years, but it is different being on vacation somewhere and living somewhere so we decided to take the conservative route.

Where you will like living out here will have a lot to do with your personality. If I was in my mid 20s without kids I would probably rent a condo in Pacific Beach and then move north once I was ready to by a house and have kids.

Send me your email and we can talk off line if you want.
Click to expand...

Thank you- I've heard about mission and Pacific beach but for us assume we have kids we are old souls. My email is karl788 at yahoo dot com
 
The crowd at Pacific and mission is a little too college for us. We may look at gaslamp district as well as some areas inland like Carmel
 
I'd advocate for SF though it is crazy expensive housing wise here--my family and I really like living here--or RTP area of NC--did my post-doc at UNC Chapel Hill and really liked it there...
 
Reno. Within one hour of Lake Tahoe and beaches like Sand Harbor where you can swim, then look behind you and say, "Hey! Mountains! Cool!" Any outdoor activity you can imagine. Tesla building huge manufacturing plant outside of Reno/Sparks, plenty of business migrating from California, lower taxes, plenty of cheap but nice
housing, and a solid state university in
Univ. of Nevada/Reno. Sunny most days of the year, and a downtown that combines very seedy with a burgeoning cultural side. Airport downtown, minutes away. Food for thought.
 
Randal7 said:
Thank you- I've heard about mission and Pacific beach but for us assume we have kids we are old souls. My email is karl788 at yahoo dot com
Click to expand...

Got ya. In that case it sounds like the North County as close to the beach/villages of Del Mar, Solana Beach, or Encinitas would be right for you. We may ultimately settle in Carmel Valley ourselves - good combination of price, proximity to beach and convenience.
 
loki_dog said:
The Stroudsburg thread got me thinking that this board has lots of people in lots of places. My current position allows me to work from home with limited travel. The position will most likely exist for a few years until the company is bought up or I decide to move on. We've been thinking about relocating out of NJ. Given the following criteria , where do you consider a good landing spot.

1) Warmer weather - wife is sick of the northeast
2) Decent schools (public or reasonable private) - kids are entering 6th and 7th grades (private)
3) Reasonable taxes/ home prices- I guess everywhere is reasonable outside NJ
5) Good Technology sector economy
4) Good State University System - if not RU they are going in State on my dime
5) Close to airport - within an hour or so (Travel to Europe and most states)
6) Outdoor recreation - more mountains then beach but either works (wife love beach, I love mtns)

We've got relatives in Milton GA and my wife loves it, but I'm not sold yet. Other ideas are Research Triangle NC, Austin Tx (never been there but hear great things).

What do you think? Given the choice where do you think you would want to live?
Click to expand...


NC sounds like a strong contender, based on this.
 
Denver or Portland. Lived in both and both are great. If you want to do without the winter weather (although Denver can go from 10 inches of snow to 60 and sunny in Feb) choose Oregon. Personally - loved Denver and would go back in a heart beat. The outdoor activities in Denver and the access to world class mountain resort towns in awesome. Also Denver is a GREAT sports town.

It would take a lot to get me back east after experiencing both of these spots.
 
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I lived in San Diego for a year and loved it. But for what a house costs in SoCal I could buy 3 in Florida and have half the taxes. Thats why we moved.
 
loki_dog said:
The Stroudsburg thread got me thinking that this board has lots of people in lots of places. My current position allows me to work from home with limited travel. The position will most likely exist for a few years until the company is bought up or I decide to move on. We've been thinking about relocating out of NJ. Given the following criteria , where do you consider a good landing spot.

1) Warmer weather - wife is sick of the northeast
2) Decent schools (public or reasonable private) - kids are entering 6th and 7th grades (private)
3) Reasonable taxes/ home prices- I guess everywhere is reasonable outside NJ
5) Good Technology sector economy
4) Good State University System - if not RU they are going in State on my dime
5) Close to airport - within an hour or so (Travel to Europe and most states)
6) Outdoor recreation - more mountains then beach but either works (wife love beach, I love mtns)

We've got relatives in Milton GA and my wife loves it, but I'm not sold yet. Other ideas are Research Triangle NC, Austin Tx (never been there but hear great things).

What do you think? Given the choice where do you think you would want to live?
Click to expand...

Raleigh/Durham would fit your criteria. Only thing it's lacking is the beach but Wilmington is only about 2 hours away. I'd also look into the Va Beach/Norfolk area
 
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