Flights were ridiculously cheap this week (are those usually part
of Cyber Monday sales?) so we booked a flight to visit our friends that
moved to Seattle. These are the friends we visited back in March
and hanging out with them is always such a treat. Not only have we
known them since college, our kids are almost the exact same ages and we
all get along fabulously. This is the first flight I can think of
where we have traveled for the sole purpose of visiting friends (and not
gone to a wedding or reunion or something else of that nature). It
feels really grown up.
But I guess the sole purpose isn't just to visit
friends. As I've mentioned once or twice (or a bajillion times), we
have talked pretty seriously about moving out of California in order to
live somewhere with a lower cost of living. Almost anywhere we go would
be cheaper than where we are now (at least judging by my preliminary
research and online house hunting). PJO plans to begin job searching
early next year and at this point, the net will be cast far and wide.
We also have started planning trips to the cities that are at the top of
our list to try and get a sense of whether we can see our family being
happy there.
I'm not sure if this is true for everyone, or if it
just seems like a bigger deal to me coming from southern California, but
the weather is probably the biggest worry I have for any place we're
considering. The temperature here ranges from mid 50s to mid 80s and is
almost always sunny. We never deal with winter coats and my kids play
outside probably 350 days a year. No matter where we go from here, we
will deal with either extreme heat, extreme cold, or lots of rain. I
swore seasonal affective disorder was a thing when I lived in New York
City, but it also could have just been a New York City thing. And I
have no idea what to do with kids when the weather sucks...how will we
all handle it?
Whenever I start doubting whether we would actually be
able to enjoy living somewhere because of the weather, I catch myself
and feel crazy because there are tons of people who live in each of
these places that love it and if they can be happy in that city, why
couldn't we?
I liked living in New York most of the time (but definitely tired of the big city lifestyle while working) and loved
living in Madrid when I studied abroad in college, but other than those
5.5 years, I've lived in southern California my whole life.
I think ultimately, if we can have the change in lifestyle we're
hoping for, that will outweigh any bad weather we have to put up with. But
tell me if you think I'm being naive. There are obviously other things
that are important to us in a city (especially great schools,
walkability, access to big city amenities (major airport, museums,
shopping, restaurants) and lots of things to do and see).
We are heading back to New Jersey for Christmas in a
few weeks, then again at the end of January for a wedding. Our trip to
Seattle is over President's day weekend in February. I am thinking we have time for
one other trip in March before I should stay put because of my May due
date. Where should we go?
8 comments:
I am also crazy about weather and it is a big reason I won't move a lot of places (including Seattle!) We moved from San Diego and perfect weather. Now we live in North Carolina and while it isn't anywhere near as perfect as Southern California it never gets very cold, and I have gotten used to the hotter summers real quick. I love the falls and springs- plus it's so affordable, great schools awesome people, beaches, mountains etc etc!
I backed out of law school in Chicago because of weather worries, so this is relatable! The few years I've lived outside of Southern California were spent in the Bay Area and Austin, Texas, and the adjustments were no big deal but--let's be honest--those weren't really big changes (and the Bay Area was definitely not more affordable). Betting you'll find that a better lifestyle trumps weather worries as long as you don't go somewhere extreme.
Good luck :)
I'm from Southern California but have lived in the midwest for 13 years - 5 in Chicago, 8 in Minneapolis (now home). Winter is tough, I'm not going to lie, but the Twin Cities are very affordable and great for families. Most of the parents that I know say that the Children's Museum and a handful of indoor playgrounds make winter tolerable.
Belatedly, I will comment on this one. I spent my childhood in San Diego, and I've often said it was a huge mistake on my parents' part! I had major S.A.D. issues when I lived in England. To be fair, England is cloudy all but maybe twenty days of the year, which is an extreme. But I'm perennially surprised come Feb about how hard it is for me to deal with cloudy days, chill, and no light.
That said, my favorite places in the world (excluding CA - and note the summer humidity in all of these places is also difficult for this dried out California baby to endure) include:
Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Want to go back. Love love love. Asheville is also nice, though colder and farther from the beaches. I never lived in Asheville - it never gets really warm in the summer - but it's within striking distance from the Research Triangle of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. You can also get to several beaches in a few hours, and the Outer Banks in 4 or so. The Research Triangle area was an absolutely perfect place to live, and I miss it every day.
Nashville/Knoxville/Chattanooga, Tennessee. Fun, funky towns with lots going on, and a latitude I love - near the mountains, seasonal changes but not too wintry.
Louisville, KY. For real. I straight up love Louisville - it has a great subversive element that keeps live local music, wacky local bookstores, fun local restaurants . . . you get my drift. Nobody thinks of Louisville as cool, but I went to college near there and I remember all of the unique local color very fondly.
I currently live in Mobile, Alabama. So we get a lot of flack for being in Alabama, but the cities along the gulf coast are pretty cosmopolitan, given all of the shipping that comes through here. I cannot describe how much I love mardi gras, which takes a lot of the blah out of February. And the weather is as close to San Diego as I've ever gotten - occasional chilly days, but average 60s-70s in the winter (like today! 71!) The beaches are amazing too - no waves, but white sand and much warmer than the pacific. Cost of living down here is ridiculously low.
Greenville, South Carolina is surprisingly bad ass. Small, but super cute. The husband grew up near here, and we go there all the time. Shakespeare in the park, restaurants galore, local theatre and live music . . . great little town.
Santa Fe, NM is my spiritual home. Lots of crazy art, and some beautiful old adobe buildings. But the desert landscape would be hard to get used to - no green.
I did not enjoy Indianapolis much, nor do I care much for Charlotte, NC, and I love New Orleans but won't live there again by choice, or anywhere else in Louisiana for that matter. I have no experience with New England, Florida, or the Pacific Northwest. Midwest is too chilly and blah for me, though Milwaukee is a surprisingly cool town.
Thus endeth my essay on these great United States.
I have lived in Cali by whole life. I was born in the central/northern area, then lived in Oceanside near San Diego. Love. But we moved back after we had our first child to be closer to family. I just spent the weekend in SD and oh the weather...beautiful even in December! We hope to possibly retire in SD if we can afford it. But we are also considering Oregon. We loved the area of Ashland, and then just spent a week last summer on the coast in Gleneden Beach. Beautiful.
If you are looking to stay in Cali but not southern, there are some great places up here. You can get to the beach or mountains in an hour or so. You could still drive to LA in a day. I'm about 6 hours from LA....1.5 hours to SF or Half Moon Bay. I went to college in Sacramento and lived there for 5 years. Its a great city if you want stay closer but more affordable. You have the "big city" job market but tons of suburban areas so close. I would find it very hard to leave Cali as well.
I'm an associate at a big law firm who moved from Chicago to LA in the past year, in large part because of the weather. Do not underestimate the weather! It has been everything I dreamed of being somewhere with beautiful weather by the ocean. When I was in Chicago I had a trial over the summer and basically "missed summer." Here, when you happen to have free time you can enjoy it outside. In other places, when you happen to have free time there's a good chance it's going to be gray and miserable.
I am a native born Southern Californian. I moved to Seattle 10 years ago, and the weather is not a big deal. I worried about SAD too, because I got that in January-March while I lived in Southern California. I don't have it here, you know why? I discovered snowboarding. Having something I enjoy and look forward too really helped me not feel so sad in the winter months. Whenever the weather is terrible in the winter, I cheer up because I know it means more snow for snowboarding. For me, it wasn't the weather - I had heard about the rain - but the DARK that bothered me more and no one talks about. In December, the sun isn't up until 8 a.m. and it is down by 4:30 p.m. But conversely, in the summer, it is really light really early in the morning and it stays light until 9:30 p.m. or so. I think the weather affects you as much as you decide it does. That said, I was in northern california recently when it was sunny and mid-60's, and I wondered why I left. It didn't last long though. Cost of living, outdoor activities yearround, etc. here make up for it.
Boston. Best city hands down.
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