Leaving Louisiana -- Headed to the NE

[imported_Amy]

Hi,
I know that this is usually about road trips, but I wanted to get some opinions on the areas in Northeast US. My husband and I are planning to relocate sometime in the future from Louisiana and we are trying to do a lot of research about the states and cities in the Northeast. Basically, we are looking to find a place to settle down and have a family, a place with good schools, and a place that would allow us to start our own (small) restaurant. We would also like to be near a metropolitan city, so that we could find good jobs in the meantime. We are looking anywhere between Northern Virginia and Maine. We also know that it gets more expensive the further north you go, but we are trying to stay away from cities where the cost of living is high. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know because we are planning a road trip through that area. Thanks,
Amy

Hi,
If you absolutely like to live near a big city forget about VT and NH, they virtually have no metropolitan areas (Concord? not quite a big city!) at all...but they're really scenic and beautiful and in some places, not too expensive to live in. Maine is nice, Portland is not that big, but you have the sea, the history, it definitly must be a great place to live for a family. New England is pretty renowned for its schools. New Haven CT is a very neat place to live, gorgeous architecture, great university, but it's expensive. The Boston surroundings are just as charming...but also pretty expensive. I guess it depends on your tastes and budget.

Then you have NYC, Baltimore and the Washington area...I don't particularly like these areas, but many people do love them, so maybe they would answer you better on these places than me!

Good Luck!

Gen

Gen is right about Vermont and New Hampshire, but they are nice states to live in by their own right, though I tend to like warmer climes. Most of my knowledge regarding day-in and day-out living is central MA, but I'll try to offer some points.

The cost of living in MA and CT is higher than the other states, and living near metro areas can be expensive. Boston is absurd - home prices within 40 miles of the city are unreal. My sister moved from Chelmsford because the taxes were getting so high...on the other hand, she saw a 100% increase in the value of her home in 9 years. So, it's not so much that the further north you go it gets more expensive (Bangor, ME for instance), it's the D.C., NYC, Boston megalopolis that is where the buck stops.

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, 1400sq.ft. ranch homes in Boston suburbs are selling for upwards of $1 million (that is _not_ a typo). And these aren't upscale (ie rich and famous) neighborhoods, either, though they tend to have very good schools. If you follow I-95 up to New Haven, then I-91 to I-84 and finally I-90, I think this will give a good idea of the more expensive areas in that domain.

But, if you're planning a restaurant, the areas between Boston and Worcester and from Hartford south are good for increased traffic. And if you're sports fans, New England has been the place to be. The I-495 and 128 corridors are big on tech and biotech jobs, though the pace has been slow as of late.

Worcester, MA is continually trying to reinvent itself. It has a fairly new airport terminal, unfortunately long-distance commercial flights do not leave from there any more, leaving Boston, Hartford, Manchester, NH, and Providence as the main airports in the area.

Providence, RI has come a long way in the past few years (even if the mayor responsible is currently in prison), and is worth looking in to. My experience with New Haven is limited to a couple times through and a couple of shows at Toad's Place near Yale.

But, all that aside, being from Louisiana (or are you from elsewhere?)...are you used to cold? I mean COLD...you know, 20 below, nostril-freezing cold? Do you know how to drive in the snow and ice? Do you know how to deal with a hungry Yetti on a January night? Things to consider.

Do a search for newspapers online in the prospective areas. That can be a real help giving a feel for what an area has to offer and what problems citizens worry about (for education in MA it has been the standardized testing known as MCAS). They also give good indications of various costs, such as fuel costs (currently averaging around $2.03/gallon), etc.

Hope some of this helps!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Timbo,

What self-respecting Yeti would find itself in New England in January?

Having spend a couple months in Worcester, MA -- it is a very pretty place with both small town atmosphere and urban amentites access.

Thanks for the your able analysis!

[imported_Amy]

Thanks for the advice Gen and Timbo.
My husband and I are planning a trip during Thanksgiving. We are trying to decide if we want to fly to Baltimore, rent a car there and drive from Baltimore through to Maine, or just drive our car from Louisiana!
A friend of ours suggested Delaware - any part along the coast. Do you have any suggestions about that area?
Timbo, I am from Louisiana and have never lived in the freezing cold!!! So, I don't know how to drive in the snow and I don't know how to deal with 20 below weather. I like 60 degree weather - but I want to move North - I know it doesn't make much sense!!
So, maybe I need to rethink the New England states since VT and NH do not have metro cities and Maine is too cold and MA and CT too expensive. What about Providence, Rhode Island? Expensive? Similar to the other New England states?
Delaware and New Jersey might be the two states that I should look into a little more. And the New England states could be the places we visit on vacation. However, my husband and I will still drive through those states so that we could see it first hand.

Again, thanks so much for the advice.

Amy

[imported_Amy]

Thanks for the advice Gen and Timbo.
My husband and I are planning a trip during Thanksgiving. We are trying to decide if we want to fly to Baltimore, rent a car there and drive from Baltimore through to Maine, or just drive our car from Louisiana!

A friend of ours suggested Delaware - any part along the coast. Do you have any suggestions about that area?

Timbo, I am from Louisiana and have never lived in the freezing cold!!! So, I don't know how to drive in the snow and I don't know how to deal with 20 below weather. I like 60 degree weather - but I want to move North!

So, maybe I need to rethink the New England states since VT and NH do not have metro cities and Maine is too cold and MA and CT too expensive. What about Providence, Rhode Island? Expensive? Similar to the other New England states?

Delaware and New Jersey might be the two states that I should look into a little more. And the New England states could be the places we visit on vacation. However, my husband and I will still drive through those states so that we could see it first hand.

Again, thanks so much for the advice.

Amy

Amy -

I like 60 degree-plus weather, too! And every day from November to May I look forward to it.

Southeast MA and RI generally don't get as much snow as the rest of MA. Where I live, in central MA, we can get 12-24 inches of snow and they will get a dusting. The road crews in my area generally keep the roads quite clean, even in bad storms. I had a boss from Mississippi who managed to drive 40 miles in a blizzard without getting injured, so it can be done. Snow isn't so bad, it's freezing rain and "black ice" that gets many inexperienced drivers.

Cold - well, last winter was especially bad for that. It didn't snow so much as it was just plain cold. This is why my wagon has heated seats and mirrors. Everything outside just feels like it's going to break if you touch it. It was 31 degrees when I went to bed last night, so it's coming.

I haven't really explored Delaware much, though I have driven the length of it, and thought it looked pretty nice. I've been exploring Virginia quite a bit for the past ten years.

NJ has some very nice areas - I enjoy the Northwest corner, which is far enough from NYC to not have suffered the effects of suburbanization.

Thanksgiving can be pretty hectic on the highways (everywhere), so be careful! Too bad you'll miss the beautiful color show nature is putting on right now!

Hopefully you'll be able to chat with some people to get a better "feel" for the area. Many of us yankees (c'mon Red Sox!) have been considered curt and judgmental, or just downright rude (so I've been told). We're just not quick to offer up much other than an opinion (you will find this especially so in Maine, since you're from "Away".) I think it has something to do with getting the crops in before the first frost and making sure ...but it is probably a different lifestyle than what you're used to.

Eventually I'll be making a big move like this, too, and now that I think about it - it's gotta be quite stressful. The cost of living indicators, neighborhood changes, is it soda or pop? Grinder, hero, hoagie, or sub? I hope that any of this helps with the decision!

[imported_Amy]

Well, I wish we were travelling during the autumn months where everything was changing colors rather than travelling in the freezing cold looking at dead trees! When does the changing colors usually end up north?? Will there be any chance that we could still catch it if we are leaving the 22nd of November? Our colors haven't begun changing!!!! I don't think that we really have a fall, it goes from summer to somewhat of a winter!

My husband actually lived in an area where it snowed, so he knows how to drive in the snow - I would just need to learn how. But, I think that I would want to stay a little further away from those areas with freezing temperatures and snow most months out of the year. However, I think that I would like cold weather better than hot weather. I would also need to get a whole new wardrobe when I move north - I don't have winter clothes!!!

Yes, it is hectic to move when you don't know where you want to move. We are looking at so many places and it is hard to find the resources we need - that is why we have been travelling some to actually see if we like what we see. We don't do much research in these cities while we are there because are not there long enough - we try to cover as much ground as possible and if we see something we like then we will look around more. It is hard though. There is so much to consider: education, job market, crime, weather, and many more.

The first step though is the next trip. Hopefully it is a good time to go and we find what we need.
Thanks for everyone's replies.

Well, 22 November is well past the season for us - we're at peak now, Eastern MA will be this weekend (I was out there on Sunday for the Cranberry Festival). Looking at things in the Summer vs. Winter really changes perspectives, too. Like the ocean on a foggy day versus a sunny day.

A web site to consider for research is www.census.gov which gives all of the relevant information for the entire country, though statistics can only go so far towards painting a picture. I've also looked at www.findyourspot.com and some others, too (names escape me).

[imported_Amy]

Our trip is coming up. We are flying into Philadelphia, and so far, we know that we will be driving through DE and some part of NJ (not too interested because the cost of living is high). We are also going to drive up to Albany, NY and maybe some part of Pennsylvania - the cost of living is not high in some cities, but I heard that it is mostly farmland. We will also go through the eastern part of Maryland - Annapolis and around. If we have time, we will go down to the Norfolk, VA area - but I really doubt we will have time for that.

If you know of any other great areas that we should visit, please let me know. We are really trying to find the city that we want to live so if anyone can give us any more tips about these areas or any others, I would really appreciate it.

Y'all have already given me some good information, so thanks.

Amy