Where to go while the going is good?
June 18, 2015 8:55 AM   Subscribe

My wife and I are age ~30, working and living in Cola, SC. We are considering moving somewhere else in the continental US. Where should we go and what should our plans be?

We're both being underpaid here relative to national and even local averages, so we don't have much money saved up. We have paid off enough of our mortgage to get ~5k back from the sale after all costs.

We have 8ish years experience in Graphic Design (she has a degree in that as well) and. for me, IT management (unrelated degree.) No kids or plans for them at the moment.

Ideally we'd like to live somewhere a little cooler, with a more metropolitan feel, and where we could conceivably bootstrap up to eventually buying a house/3 bedroom apartment in a few years. A long-time friend from CA (also potentially looking to move) is up for being a semi-permanent roommate if we can make that work, but obviously we're not counting that as a sure thing at this point.

What would you do in our shoes? Any up and coming places with favorable job markets and affordable living? I know the default answer here would probably be "wait until you have more money saved up," but we'd be looking at 5+ years before that would happen at our current income level, and we're trying to do this while we're still at least pretending to be young.
posted by Phyltre to Work & Money (23 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think the key here is the balance between cost of living and payroll. For example, IT here in the DC area is booming - seriously booming - and while it pays pretty well (depending on your specific sub-skill-set) the cost of living here is nightmarish. I think you're going to find that in a lot of cities, though.

Can you be more specific about your needs/wants? Climate? Politics? Things you guys like to do for fun?
posted by Thistledown at 9:02 AM on June 18, 2015


Take a look at Pittsburgh.
posted by MsMolly at 9:10 AM on June 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


Pittsburgh and Raleigh/Durham both come to mind.
posted by barnone at 9:30 AM on June 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


Pittsburgh, Asheville, Denver, and Madison all come to mind when I think about up and coming places. (Although Denver's cost of living is driven up a little by retirees living there.) I'm starting to hear things about Cleveland though it's still behind and may not have as much of a job market.

Re: the above comment about DC, I live in DC proper and while the cost of living here is indeed "nightmarish", the tech center is in Reston, VA where cost of living is much lower. It's suburban but has a community feel (and is also very pretty!). But, it's also crazy hot here in the summer.
posted by capricorn at 9:40 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I can’t say enough good things about the Albany/ Troy NY area, and once you scrape together a down payment, housing is very affordable… plus I know a lot of people who have purchased two-families to allow rent to pay the mortgage on their own place. Easy access to NYC, Boston, Montreal if you like more urban weekend trips.
posted by metasarah at 9:42 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Cleveland is probably a little behind in terms of creative, but to capricorn's point above, it's definitely the next Pittsburgh. (I say that not without irony.) If you can line up jobs first, you will find a lot to like here, though. Low cost of living! Parks and waterways! Rust belt chic!
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:43 AM on June 18, 2015


Austin TX. Start-ups there are all reaching the "Oh hey we need professional designers and/or IT professionals". Cost of living isn't terrible yet, though rent is high in cool areas there are lots of lame suburbs that are relatively (compared to, say, DC) cheap. Also, it's a freaking great place to be.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:05 AM on June 18, 2015


The Twin cities - lots of Fortune 500 companies, good craft beer, lots of outdoors stuff, has a thriving downtown with enough suburbs, very affordable in terms of COL. I love it here, even the winters.
posted by lpcxa0 at 10:18 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Pittsburgh, Asheville, Denver, and Madison all come to mind when I think about up and coming places.

Asheville has neither a favourable job market nor affordable living: it's a BYOJ town where you get to be underpaid and squeezed for housing while enjoying a pretty downtown and prettier surroundings.

'Cooler' as in climate, or as in culture? If both, then, y'know, Pittsburgh. It's a real city.
posted by holgate at 10:22 AM on June 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm chiming in to second the Albany-Schenectady-Troy "Tech Valley" area. Housing is indeed very affordable, and if you go out into the exurbs it is incredibly so. I should never have left.

It's close to New York City, Montreal, and Boston if you want to visit. It has incredible natural resources and related recreation/sports activities. It's also very beautiful and very historic.

With appropriate weatherization on home and vehicle, winters are not that big of a deal. Certainly better than trying to drive in the D.C. area during or after snowfall!
posted by jgirl at 10:28 AM on June 18, 2015


My wife and I moved to Atlanta for similar reasons to yours. We moved from San Francisco - which has good pay but outrageous cost of living. We wanted to remain in a major city. We actually ended up considering a lot of places that have been mentioned here - Austin, Pittsburgh, DC...

But the traffic, oh god, the traffic.

Also, I'm a damn Yankee so there's been some things about the South that have taken some getting used to. But you wouldn't have that problem.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:39 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Note about Austin: it may be a possibility but be aware that housing prices have been increasing quickly particularly if you care about being near the city center or even south austin, according to folks I know that live there.

A graphic designer I know had a lot more opportunity in Cincinnati vs Chicago, but I don't know what the IT market is out there.
posted by typecloud at 10:42 AM on June 18, 2015


Response by poster: Climate: Preferably something less hot than Columbia, SC. Right now it's 101 and "feels like" 120 outside according to weatherunderground.

Politics: We were both raised conservative but ended up pretty liberal in most respects once we grew up. I guess we're doing the inverse young-old stereotype on politics.

Things we do for fun: Honestly, we don't spend much time out because the stuff we'd enjoy doing would eat up money. We're not big on the outdoors--although that's mostly because of the sun and heat here--so all the indoorsy stuff we'd want to do eats up our discretionary money.

We're not picky. We only really bought a house because the monthly came out to cheaper than the house we had been renting and had to leave, it wasn't intended as a long-term decision.
posted by Phyltre at 11:05 AM on June 18, 2015


Pittsburgh, Asheville, Denver, and Madison all come to mind when I think about up and coming places.

Agreed on Pittsburgh, buying can actually be cheaper than renting there (a friend just sold her beautiful bungalow for less than $120k, and it's listed for rent right now for over $1200 a month), but stay the hell away from Denver. Rents are up 9% from a year ago, and it doesn't show any signs of stopping. It's basically impossible to buy anything in a popular neighborhood for under $200k, including tiny condos.
posted by jabes at 12:19 PM on June 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


Nthing for Pittsburgh, it's pretty great here!
posted by miratime at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2015


Austin is pretty hot. I'd definitely look into Denver which is becoming a tech hub as well--it has weather but mostly the pleasant kind.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:30 PM on June 18, 2015


It's basically impossible to buy anything in a popular neighborhood for under $200k, including tiny condos.

This is a reason to buy, not a reason not to buy right? Especially since it's becoming a tech boomtown. It's still way way lower than the Northeast, which is where all the jobs are, and with a much higher quality of life. Oh... Denver.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:31 PM on June 18, 2015


The Triangle in NC is cooler and less humid than SC. Triangle is very up and coming. Durham specifically is on a fast upswing - getting more gentrified by the day. BUT it is still relatively cheap and there are lots of jobs. Asheville is nice but it's expensive and I think the job market there is a little oversaturated.
posted by aka burlap at 2:57 PM on June 18, 2015


Some thoughts about the places I have lived in and/or know:
Austin: Texas is generally low cost of living, but Austin is getting more expensive and traffic is A Problem there. Also, it is hot. Houston has a good job prospects and a relatively low cost of living, but it is hot. Like, really hot.

Asheville has neither a favourable job market nor affordable living: it's a BYOJ town where you get to be underpaid and squeezed for housing while enjoying a pretty downtown and prettier surroundings. QFT

Denver: I LOVED living in Denver, but it has been over 7 years since I lived there, so I'm not as up on the job and cost of living situation there. It isn't Boston or San Francisco cost of living in any case, and there are a lot of nice suburbs all around Denver that are less expensive than Denver proper (which is pretty small, square mileage-wise and cannot expand, so that drives up prices in the actual city). I lived in Littleton for a while a commuted on light rail into downtown Denver, which was great. I lived facing a state park where they would launch hot air balloons a few times a year. Just saying don't write off the suburbs.

The Triangle suggestions are good, particularly Durham. Good job market, lots of fun stuff to do, weather is pretty good for the South. Traffic can get gnarly around Raleigh, so you'll want to be aware of your potential commute.

I live in the Greensboro, NC, which is part of the "Triad" of Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem. It is also a nice place to live, generally cheaper than the Triangle, way less traffic, but still a good job market and plenty of interesting things to do.
posted by jeoc at 3:55 PM on June 18, 2015


It's basically impossible to buy anything in a popular neighborhood for under $200k, including tiny condos.

This is a reason to buy, not a reason not to buy right? Especially since it's becoming a tech boomtown. It's still way way lower than the Northeast, which is where all the jobs are, and with a much higher quality of life. Oh... Denver.


I don't want to derail this, but those $200k+ 500-square-foot condos were selling a year or two ago for closer to $130k. Might be a bubble, might be permanent, but I personally don't think real estate (near downtown, anyway) is worth it anymore. Suburbs might be do-able, but inventory is at record lows and rents are at record highs; my rent will be going up about 20% in a few months, whereas my salary only went up 3% this year. Just a heads up.
posted by jabes at 4:22 PM on June 18, 2015


My main qualm about recommending the Triangle and to a lesser extent the Triad is that you've still got SE sprawl patterns and half-hearted cities, so it's 'more metropolitan' but only by regional standards, not broader ones. It'll still be there and mostly the same (though a little warmer, alas) in ten years if you want to head back there.

Now? Get out of the SE while you're young and still have some wanderlust. Go and live in a real city for a while. You can always go back.
posted by holgate at 9:02 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


here's my continual answer for this: Minneapolis! it's pretty, has a music scene, colleges, it's close to amazing nature, parts of it are pretty progressive, some ethnic diversity, it seems fairly safe, it's arty in parts, amazing thrift stores, good record and book stores. nice suburbs, nice city housing.

i've neer lived there but have worked there a few times in different parts of the city and have always liked it.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 9:45 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Gotta be Minnesota. More tech than many people think, a history of great design and advertising there, and it's just a Good Place.

Minneapolis if you are hip, St. Paul if you are square. :7)

Troll old AskMe's and then spend a long weekend there. You'll be hooked.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:42 AM on June 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


« Older Freelancing web tracker/app   |   bookfilter Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.