Best place to raise a family in the U.S.?

I'm in my mid 35, earn US225k base per year and a 25% bonus that is pretty much like clockwork. Pay goes up 8-10% each year. Wife doesn't work so I'm the sole income earner and we have a baby.

Currently live in London and my work is transferring me to the U.S. to work remotely and said I can live anywhere I want.

We don't mind snow or cold but would ideally like somewhere that has some sunshine. Best weather/vibe is San Diego but I can't afford a single family home there.

Top priorities: Safety, good schools, reasonable weather, some kind of natural beauty

Are there other places in the country which people would recommend? Recommendations received thus far:

-Denver - looks all around great but I don't think I could afford a mountain view and worry that the look and feel would be more like Kansas -Tampa/St. Petes - looks beautiful but worried about hurricane/floods and insurance as well as extreme humidity -Dallas - seems pretty boring with hot summer. I do however like the idea of owning a house with a pool -Phoenix - weather seems unbearable. -Salt Lake - looks beautiful but I worry about segregation with the mormons and how that may impact raising a kid -Chicago - horrible winters, couldn't do it.

Thx for your help.

195 Comments
 
Most Helpful

OP here. Before moving back to London my wife and I spent 4 years in Toronto and we absolutely hated it. Totally overhyped city relative to the cost of living. A shit little townhouse in a mediocre area is 1.4mm, taxes are absurd, no one can find a doctor, and the overly left wing social policies have run the country into the shitter. There is zero innovation, weather is grey as hell and ski club memberships costs 50k to join. Hard pass on that entire god forsaken country.

 

I think he was referring to move to Boston. But you're not wrong on Canada lol, it's a good country to spend your 40s/50s if you're rich otherwise its hard to live here now

 

I really just want people to remember that Toronto is not the only part of Canada. As a Canadian, Toronto stinks. I visited for a few days to get a visa, and I have never been happier that I said no to going to university there. 

But commonly, people are saying Denver or Kansas on this thread; please check out Alberta! Moutains, less than a three-hour drive from the major cities (plus views), have smaller populations (less than 2mil) and are regularly ranked as some of the cleanest cities. Calgary also has a track record for sunny weather. It gets cold, sure, but there are frequent enough chinooks that the weather is relatively mild through the winter. Its also incredibly affordable compared to Toronto. There are cheaper tax rates. On GST, it is 5% in Alberta rather than Ontarios 13%.

Alberta is just one possibility. There are at least three other provinces I can think of that offer similar situations. and universal healthcare. 

Summary: Toronto stinks. Avoid. Other places deserve consideration. 

 

I love that the guy was talking about enjoying Boston and you immediately went to shitting on Canada. You're right, it's just hilarious how you went there hahaha

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 
CondoDeveloper
Ferisio

Live in Canada but just got back from a trip in Boston. Everyone was so nice and the overall vibe of the city was amazing. That being said, I was surrounded by likeable people and fun activities so bias should be considered, but the trip definitely made me consider living there one day. Look into Boston for sure. Could be a shit place but it seemed nice to me during my 3-day stay.

Expand

"Boston" and "nice" don't go together. The mountains and water are further than is ideal, winter and spring suck. Summer is decent if you have a car.

This is underselling the fact that Boston is one of the best places in the country to live without a car

 

I grew up around Boston and went to college there. I currently am living in Boston but will be moving out after 7 years. For you Boston is perfect, it caters to your demographic and the city fits what you’re looking for. Boston is for people 18-21 and 30 onwards. Seasonal weather, winters are more mild than what they used to be. Spring is rainy and cloudy, summer and fall are nice. Nightlife is subpar, no happy hour, everything closes at 1am. Extremely walkable city, if you live in the city you do not need a car. Extremely safe, the safest city in America. Food is average to above average depending on where you go. Lots of university students and families. Increasing becoming very liberal (could turn into the next sf). Cost of living is high. Prices have increased steadily for a decade. Hard to make friends and talk to people. Great schools. With your salary you could buy a house in a wealthy suburb close to the city.

get squiggy with it
 

Good schools, close to the Shenandoah, not far from vineyards, great public schools, good dining scene, diverse. One could do a lot worse.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
monkey0114

Charlotte

Houston

Dallas

San Antonio

Nashville

Tampa

Miami

Phoenix

SLC

Miami is the only option here with activities, amenities, and educated people (in large part retirees and recent transplants). TX/Nashville are not worth the cost after the COVID price hikes. Phoenix is too hot. SLC would get old fast unless you are obsessed with winter sports, then it can make sense. Tampa is too cheesecake factory.

 

You say price hikes then mention a top 3 most expensive city lmao. The crazy part is you think people in Miami are educated 😂😂 there is literally an instagram page dedicated to broward/Dade county craziness. On top of that Miami is hands down one of the worst cities to raise a kid in. Texas and Charlotte are wayyy better options for what OP wants. Miami is great if you want to blow money, blow coke and bang strippers. Great place for a younger person but horrible for raising a child. I love Miami I really do, but you gotta want to be there for the right reasons and safety, education and raising a family are not the right reasons.

 
CondoDeveloper
monkey0114

Charlotte

Houston

Dallas

San Antonio

Nashville

Tampa

Miami

Phoenix

SLC

Expand

Miami is the only option here with ... educated people

never thought I'd see these words together.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

I absolutely love the atmosphere of the Pacific north west. You get the beauty of lush greenery/woods, mountains, and the ocean. The only issue is my wife gets massive seasonal depression due to the greyness of London (and from several years in Toronto) so I don't think I could subject her to somewhere that is pure grey for 8-9 months of the year.

 
m_1

I would definitely not raise kids in SLC, it's way too "small town" and your kids will grow up without good context for a lot of things. SLC is like a really shitty version of Denver.

Also Denver in areas without super crazy views etc isn't that expensive, it's quite reasonable.

What about Seattle? Similar weather to London lol :)

Seattle weather is worse than London and full of weirdos. Denver is far from the mountains and congrested.

 

I was born and raised in Canada. Have lived in PNW, SLC and Phoenix. All three are great options depending on your preferences. If you like San Diego but COL is too high, consider Phoenix. Weather is great 9 months a year. Chill west coast vibes with pretty decent art/food/retail, and a generally moderate business and political landscape. I have two small kids and we love it (consider uptown/biltmore/arcadia lite areas over the suburbs).
SLC is pretty boring unless you absolutely love outdoors stuff. PNW is dope but politics were too pervasive in everyday life for my liking.

 

I have relatives that live in St. Petes. They were telling me that insurance costs depend on if you're in a flood zone or not. If you aren't, costs are THAT bad apparently. They've been there for 3ish years now and love it. 

He's a wizard
 

Boston suburbs Westchester - NY Fairfield area - CT

These are (arguably) the best places to raise a family in America. The public schools in these areas are similar in value of education to most private schools. All have suburban neighborhoods close to cities with the best job/higher education opportunities.

I wouldn’t go anywhere else in my opinion.

The only issue is price, these are very expensive areas but it’s worth it if you can manage it.

 

Boston suburbs might be an option. I've always loved New England but need to check pricing. Winter gets a bit cold there not terrible. I think the entire NY/NJ/CT area is a hard pass - the cost of living is just absurd and I wouldn't even be going into NYC often.

 

Look into Boston’s suburbs, or even some of the nicer areas of urban Boston. If you’re in the position to prepare your kids for admission into a feeder public school, Boston Latin is unbeatable. Alumni include the Kennedy family and many more Boston Brahmin types.

Boston in general has superb public schooling either way, and the environment is incredible. Boston is that perfect blend of city life without major issues like homelessness, drug use, etc etc.

Pretty clean and safe city comparative to most. Some areas more affordable than you think.

 
Frogman99

Boston suburbs might be an option. I've always loved New England but need to check pricing. Winter gets a bit cold there not terrible. I think the entire NY/NJ/CT area is a hard pass - the cost of living is just absurd and I wouldn't even be going into NYC often.

Chicago suburbs. Winter is getting milder and milder thx to climate change. COL isn’t bad either

 

Having lived in both Chicago and New York, yes the NY winters are better. But the Chicago winters really have gotten much more mild, the past few years have been fine. Given the difference in COL, I think it’s very worth it. Friend recently bought a home in the western suburbs, 30 mins to city, great schools, beautiful neighborhood. Mid to high 000’s vs probably 1.5mm minimum for a comparable suburb in westchester or Fairfield county. 

 

Agree that Chicago winters are increasingly mild. Although a few days of crazy winter cold is still a possibility when it’s not a possibility in NYC.

Chicago is the secret best American city. It has its crappy areas but there’s no reason ever to go there, even by accident. The one thing I don’t like is Chicago is a long way to anywhere cool and generally requires boarding an airplane. Weekends out of town from Boston, NYC, Washington, SF are all better on that metric. I miss Chicago in ways I would never miss NYC

 

Does your work require calls/meetings with colleagues or clients in multiple time zones?  If so, I would suggest East Coast US to remain in Eastern Time Zone which allows you to have calls with Europe and West Coast US at reasonable times.  I have had European calls while on vacation on the west coast and the time difference was a challenge.  That said, someone above mentioned Charlotte which has a nice blend of good schools, good weather (4 distinct seasons), international airport, proximity to mountains and ocean, reasonably priced real estate and business culture.

 

-Denver - Talk about weather, winter it becomes undrivable. Decently nice though. Downtown has some bad homeless problems. Also fairly expensive for the size of the market.
-Tampa/St. Petes - smaller but growing markets, could stretch that budget a lot more here
-Dallas - pretty nice suburbia, good family atmosphere, gets a bit of both ends of the weather spectrum. Quickly becoming a very major city in the US. Can be cheap if you don't mind living far out.
-Phoenix - also pretty nice suburbia with good family atmosphere. Summers there are in my opinion better than winters in Denver/Chicago. Not expensive but not cheap.
-Salt Lake - if you like this vibe I would recommend Denver over SLC.
-Chicago - kind of a has been, not a ton of people move there for families, everyone I know left there and went to Phoenix/Dallas or Florida to raise their families.

In my opinion, the "in" cities in the US (moving from left to right) - Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami.

 

Denver doesn't actually get that much snow, it's a semi-arid climate so gets ~15-30 inches of precipitation a year. It does get the occasional snow storm here and there, but because there's so much sunshine it typically melts within a day or two. But yeah you're absolutely right about the homeless problem, the city govt def needs to figure that shit out

 

Charleston, SC

Good mix of nice weather, boating is big, creek life, beach life, and stellar healthcare in the area. Used to be a nice small city feel, but population growth is turning it into a Charlotte or Atlanta type city.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Isaiah_53_5 💎🙌💎🙌💎:

Charleston, SC



Good mix of nice weather, boating is big, creek life, beach life, and stellar healthcare in the area. Used to be a nice small city feel, but population growth is turning it into a Charlotte or Atlanta type city.


Charlestons great but is turning into Palm Beach price and demographics-wise. $250k is legit hard to raise a family there now, especially as the public schools are awful. Charlottesville, VA is a great spot for quality of life, education, natural beauty as well

 

IBASO

$250k is legit hard to raise a family there now, especially as the public schools are awful. 

Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, SC - US News Best High Schools

Academic Magnet is #7 in the country and #1 in the State.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
IBASO


Charlestons great but is turning into Palm Beach price and demographics-wise. $250k is legit hard to raise a family there now

Yeah you're kinda right on this point. The real estate prices have been insane lately. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
CondoDeveloper
Isaiah_53_5 💎🙌💎🙌💎

Charleston, SC

Good mix of nice weather, boating is big, creek life, beach life, and stellar healthcare in the area. Used to be a nice small city feel, but population growth is turning it into a Charlotte or Atlanta type city.

Crediting. It blows away Charlotte or Atlanta for outdoors activities, dining is better than Charlotte. 

True. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

grapes123crepes

Charlotte/Atlanta type city? The population is like 200k max. Waaaayys to go. 

Yeah you're right. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

lol completely disagree. NOVA and Chicago burbs are among the worst ROI in the country. Nevermind that NOVA is soulless region with no real identity outside of keeping up with the joneses and bragging about your job - but both Chicago/NOVA burbs you are paying a premium and getting nothing in return.

Seriously, you can go to a suburb in Columbus, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, etc. and have the exact same life as living in a norther Chicago burb or NOVA but with less taxes, more safety, your house costs 50-70% less, and you still get big city access. No, Im not going to pretend like some midwestern city is the same as DC in terms of employment opportunities or things to do, but it's close enough - especially if you are in your raise a family phase and NOT in your right out of college building a career phase

 

San Diego really is perfect but insanely expensive. If you can figure out a way to make it work I would 100% recommend. Otherwise, Chicago (North Shore suburbs are excellent and the cold is overblown), DC/Maryland/Virginia, and Boston suburbs are all great places to raise families. Austin is getting a little overrated but is still great if you can tolerate the heat. 

 

le_petit_tourette

San Diego really is perfect but insanely expensive. 

San Diego isn't insanely expensive versus LA or NYC. I agree with you though, it is a great place. My favorite area is Encinitas. La Costa Canyon is a great public high school.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

One option could be to look at suburbs of Providence and Worcester. That income could get you a mansion outside these cities, and public schools in RI/MA are some of the best in the country. Many private school options as well. Worcester and (especially) Providence are lively, more intimate cities which still retain aspects of the walkability of some larger NE cities. I'd look at Shrewsbury, MA. It's 10 minutes from Worcester, top public schools, access to nature, and newer construction homes go for ~1M.

 

DC/NOVa/MD is worth checking out. High density of well educated people all in the vicinity of the US capital. Relatively high COL but nothing compared to the likes of SD/NYC.

 

Grew up in the Dc area for a good amount of my youth.

For some, its probably the best living in the US.  Probably the safest place, cyclically, from any sort of recession, and the jobs here are pretty secure. 

Biggest complaint seems to be that the NOVA suburbs in particular are soul-less.  Yes, they're suburbs, that's the end goal.  The US has no great city living spots besides Manhattan anyways, so I don't see why people keep parroting this comment.  

If you're from an ethnic community/immigrant, don't listen to any idiot here who tells you to move to OKC, or Kansas City.  The DC region has way more to offer on that end.  

 
Daemon145

Biggest complaint seems to be that the NOVA suburbs in particular are soul-less.  Yes, they're suburbs, that's the end goal.

Everyone out here saying the nova suburbs are soulless as if the suburbs anywhere else are much better. The suburbs suck everywhere for a reason.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

All fantastic as long as you don't actually need to go to Center City/Philly itself.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

Given your work is remote, you may want to consider some of the nicer suburbs of San Diego / OC that may be cheaper just because they're further out / a far commute if you are having to drive into the office every day.

I'd also consider Austin over Dallas considering you're remote. Dallas has a bigger industry, but that won't be important to you given your job and most families are living in the suburbs which IMO are pretty bland.  Housing prices in Austin have actually come down considerably this year and on your salary you should be able to afford a solid home in an infill area or one of the nicer suburbs with good school districts. Austin feels more interesting than Dallas but the down side (or could be upside for you) is that the people feel less "big city". I travel for work often to both Austin and Dallas, and i meet a lot more people in Dallas that came from New York or other big cities. Austin has it's fair share as well, but in my opinion the people feel more like midwest / Chicago people (setting aside the techies) than Dallas. Still lots of people in Austin gunning for careers and the atmosphere also feels pretty entrepreneurial, but I can't think of a single person I've met in Austin that moved from New York (have met plenty from LA), but in Dallas i feel like I'm meeting a couple of them every time I'm there. Again, that could be an upside for you. Also given the size of the city, Dallas has a much larger airport with pretty much any international flight while Austin has like 2 - 3 direct flights to Europe and a couple to Mexico.  I'd take Austin's downtown vs. Dallas' Uptown any day of the week though, and Austin has some more interesting things to do outside. Both are hot as hell in the summer, but lots of execs or remote workers will actually spend 1 - 2 months of the summer working remotely from some other location.  Austin from February - May and September - November is pretty great though. 

 

The whole DFW area in Texas has some great satellite cities and areas. Would take some looking but you could find a place that suits all your needs and get a big house with a pool with no issues given you are remote. Summer is hot but not very humid so not terrible and get to raise your family in Texas which is a plus.

 

DFW on average is much cheaper to live in than a HCOL area. Especially if you’re remote and can live farther out.

I guess opinions on raising a family there is subjective though, you don’t think it’s a good place?

 

Really confused why you have a lot of these cities on your list if you can live anywhere: Phoenix, Chicago, Dallas, SLC??

If I could live anywhere, first I would look at much smaller cities. (Nicer, lower cost of living, good place to raise kids). Thousand smaller towns to choose from in Florida, pick any nice little town in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, those type of areas, thinking even places like Asheville, NC and the Blue Ridge mountains, smaller off the beaten path towns in Colorado like Durango, the list goes on and on)

The problem with these places is always that there is no work. But if you have a stable remote job earning that much, there are a ton of places that are paradise.

 

Second-tier cities are worth considering. Kansas City, Fort Worth, Charlottesville. But not Durango, Asheville and similar because by start of your second month you will have exhausted what they have to offer. Oh, and the schools, public or private, will absolutely suck.
 

When your kids start third, you will be looking to leave because the gap between good schools and bad schools starts to matter. If your kids fall behind, they will have trouble catching up. I grew up in such places my parents finally sent us to Andover and Exeter on scholarship. It saved our lives.

 

Austin has some more natural beauty than Dallas and it’s got a great flagship state school + booming tech center. Has slowed down in growth recently and central texas suburbs are way cheaper than Dallas suburbs. Lived there for a bit and thought it was a solid city, summers are inevitably going to be brutal. Ideally you want something in orange county/newport beach/santa monica imo but those areas are largely unaffordable unless you’re pulling 500k+

Array
 

Phoenix weather is actually not that bad and I wouldn't write off Phoenix based on weather alone. I'd argue that for a good chunk of the year you have some of the best weather in the country. June through September is hot, but in my opinion it's better than winters in the northeast (having lived there for many years). Dry heat is a real thing. Arizona is also very scenic with lots to do outdoors, and it's an amazing place if you like golf. 

Boston is also a great city, though a totally different vibe. As others have mentioned, the Boston suburbs are a great place to raise a family. 

I've only visited Miami, but it had the worst traffic of any city I had ever experienced. 

San Diego seemingly has everything, and the price tag to go with it. 

 

Richmond, VA or Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach, VA. 

Two of the most underrated metro areas in the country. Mountains, beach, great public and private schools. Tons of history. Have nearly all of the big city amenities. 

Richmond's finance scene is smaller than it used to be prior to Charlotte's emergence, but still very prevalent. Money is going to go much further here. City center (fan district, carytown, museum district) has a nice urban feel with residential and retail space intertwined. Suburbs are a mix of old money and more modern urban sprawl depending on neighborhood. Park system scattered along the James River is fantastic. City has come along way from its lows in the 90's. 

People see Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach as a summer tourist town, but many overlook the fact it has approximately the same population as the Northern Virginia counties with year-round industry (albeit with a large help from the military presence). Traditional finance/corporate jobs are harder to come by than Richmond/Nova, but lots of money in this area if you can find the right niche. 

 
Maltese falcon

Avoid California at all costs

I'm fairly conservative and like Cali and NYC.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

CondoDeveloper

Maltese falcon

Avoid California at all costs

Ridiculous comment. Best outdoors, best weather, best access to vacation destinations (Rockies, Hawaii), best cultural amenities short of NYC and Boston. Just make money and you can easily avoid the homeless, illegals, and drag kween story time.

SoCal also has the most consistent somewhat warm waves in the nation. And Big Bear is only 2hrs away for snowboarding and Mammoth is 6hrs away. Very close to world class waves and snowboarding. I used to have a season pass at Big Bear Mountain when Snow Summit was around. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

OP here. Wife has decided we are moving to Denver Metro area, most likely Castle Rock or Parker. Not exactly happy about it but it is what it is.

 
Frogman99

OP here. Wife has decided we are moving to Denver Metro area, most likely Castle Rock or Parker. Not exactly happy about it but it is what it is.

Nice - Denver isn't too bad. Are you an ex-SEAL (frogman username)?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Too small to be a big city, too big to be a cool small town. But lots of big city problems. Great restaurants, however. Low Country cuisine is terrific 

 
puppydoge
  1. Naples, Florida it’s getting much younger each year.
     
  2. Central or Northern Jersey
     
  3. Suburbs of Atlanta
     
  4. Suburbs of Chicago
     
  5. Glendale Arizona
     
  6. Suburbs of Nashville
     
  7. North Carolina Raleigh or Charlotte areas
     
  8. Ohio Cincinnati or Columbus areas
     
  9. Pittsburgh
     
  10. Boston area

    These are in no particular order

If they are in no particular order, why didn't you use bullets instead of ranking them in numerical order?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Charlotte is your best option. It's the banking capital of the country, has good schools, close to the beach/mountains, greatest restaurants in the south (besides maybe Jacksonville), and plenty of breweries. 

 
Stop_Charlotte_Hate

Charlotte is your best option. It's the banking capital of the country

NYC is the banking capital of the world. What crack are you smoking, I want some.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

He means commercial banking of the retail variety. It’s full of people who dream of running a small town credit union for teachers and firefighters. I once saw ad for Charlotte chamber of commerce bragging the city had a bigger tech scene than Silicon Valley.

I’d die if I had to live in Charlotte. Dreary af.

 

U.S the only place where you will enjoy living is Houston in TX. $450k you have a Castle of a house with underground pool, a garage or 2, high seelings, Central A/C and at least 4-5 large rooms.
I my self lived in Canada, Studied in Montreal, worked in Toronto and Calgary which was absolutely mundane and expensive. I'm in commodities and I moved to Houston ( booming sector ) bought a crib there even though I'm alone with no kids. Then bought another crib in British Virgin islands where I spend most of my time and only come back to Houston for Business ( I run a family office )

 
world.for.sale

U.S the only place where you will enjoy living is Houston in TX. $450k you have a Castle of a house with underground pool, a garage or 2, high seelings, Central A/C and at least 4-5 large rooms.
I my self lived in Canada, Studied in Montreal, worked in Toronto and Calgary which was absolutely mundane and expensive. I'm in commodities and I moved to Houston ( booming sector ) bought a crib there even though I'm alone with no kids. Then bought another crib in British Virgin islands where I spend most of my time and only come back to Houston for Business ( I run a family office )

If you live in Houston, your neighbors (like yourself) are the type who:

1. Settle on a house that only costs $450k (=trashy people)

2. Can't spell ceilings properly

3. Brag about central A/C (this isn't the Turd World, anyone middle class can get this)

4. Have to specify it is an underground pool (I thought aboveground was only in the movies....)

5. Think Houston is preferable to FL/SoCal/NYC

 
  • You are funny. Boy I owned a house in Toronto worth $4M that had no pool while most my neighbors had a above-ground swimming pool. And no it's not every house that have central A/C. You live in a delusional world. You are probably born rich. I came from nothing straight West African village. I had to get it out the mud. So yeah I can speak of experience. I came from nothing got my education built myself and made millions. You are a pathetic little twinky who cries in his bed. Nyc, Cali & FL is not ideal for a man who is the only one working, wants a great education for his kids and want a great quality of life for the price he is paying. So little boy whipe your tight ass and get to work.
 

Yeah some areas of Houston are super livable day to day. Can live in some nicer suburbs near downtown with good restaurants and parks nearby in Houston proper or live in one of the surrounding cities like the Woodlands for a more normal suburbs life.

Houston like anywhere has its issues but I think a lot of the issues will be fixed by WFH with a good income. Morning traffic won’t be an issue, can live farther out in nicer areas, cheap and can buy a big house which will be great to WFH at, plenty of money and smart people in Houston so I’m sure can find some good schools.

 

From SoCal myself but having later grown up in Houston, you’re spot on which is why I am keen on being here - specifically in commodities. Are you in physical trading? Would love any advice as it seems you made it pretty far in the game.

 

I was born and raised in Canada. Have lived in PNW, SLC and Phoenix. All three are great options depending on your preferences. If you like San Diego but COL is too high, consider Phoenix. Weather is great 9 months a year. Chill west coast vibes with pretty decent art/food/retail, and a generally moderate business and political landscape. I have two small kids and we love it (consider uptown/biltmore/arcadia lite areas over the suburbs).
SLC is pretty boring unless you absolutely love outdoors stuff. PNW is dope but politics were too pervasive in everyday life for my liking.

 

Lived in Austin TX for 7 years and 3 years ago moved to the northern suburbs of Atlanta and couldn’t be happier.  Moved from MN to TX for the weather but found out the schools in TX are not up to our standards plus the landscape of brown during the summer and brown during the winter was depressing for us. 

We moved to north Fulton county and found

-Incredible Schools - north Fulton county schools are ranked high on many lists with diverse student bodies

-Diverse Population - going to Costco is like going to the United Nations, City of Duluth has more Korean signs than English, Any type of grocery store or restaurant you would want. (Chinese, Korean, Indian, etc…)

-Development done very well in that while there is a  large population they have managed neighborhoods and green spaces by keeping the trees in the neighborhoods. 60+ foot trees everywhere and lining every street. 

-Housing prices are higher than three years ago but haven’t gone astronomically high like in AUS/PHX.

-Location in north Atlanta provides benefits such as major Airport you can fly anywhere nearly direct, mountains to the north 1 hour, ocean to the west 4 hours, gulf of Mexico 6 hours south, Disney 9 hour drive, etc….

-Traffic is not bad if you don’t have to leave North Atlanta. If you have to drive daily into downtown ATL that would be terrible. Working from home that would be great which is what I do. 

-Great Hospital Systems like Emory with strong medical practices for GP and Specialities. 

-State College Schools are great and if children go to college in state it is nearly free with the scholarships state provides to residents if students keep a minimal GPA. 

-Growth is tech driven with many tech companies

-Incredible city centers/shopping/restaurants with places like Avalon in Alpharetta. 

-Two “towns" up here are Alpharetta, Johns Creek to help you get your bearings. 

I could go on but PM me if you want more info and if you're considering Austin as I can provide good/bad there also. Some people love it, but it wasn’t for us. 

 

Hey there,

I’m a university student but I grew up in Boise ID and let me tell you going from there to a big city I really realized how great it was. Your kids will have the opportunity to try just about any sport or outdoor activity there is. Warm summers snowy winters and great scenery in the fall and spring. It’s growing quickly and there’s definitely a lot of people like yourself there that you would be able to connect with. It’s super safe and extremely clean.

 

Anywhere in Fairfield county, CT is pretty solid, asides from Bridgeport. It is a bit more expensive compared to other parts of the country, but even the public school systems are all solid.

 

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incentives trumph ethics
 

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SafariJoe, wins again!
 

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