I thought there'd be no better place than Free Republic to get an interesting thread going that could serve a utility for beyond my needs.
(Because we have friends and family in New York City, we were thinking maybe somewhere in the Hamptons. So I could be in hissing distance of Alec Baldwin, too.)
In Texas, the small town public schools are conservative. Lots of Republicans in Texas. We don't tolerate crime. No state income taxes. You can afford a nice, large home, depending on location. We paid $92 for our 2,000 sq ft home and we have an acre yard. The people are VERY friendly and easy going. Great food!
The only thing bad about Texas is the month of August, especially if you live in a city with lots of concrete and humidity.
You should definitly consider West Michigan...beaches, moderate summers, sometimes very snowy winters if you're into skiing, jobs, very conservative area with one of the most consistently honest congressmen around, Peter Hoekstra. It's a great place to raise kids. We all call the area we live in a "bubble" because it seems like none of the problems of the outside world really intrude....
Vacation in Estes Park, CO in summer. (like every other Texan)
(Are you addicted to having phony people around?)
Adding this conservative city, in what is arguably the most conservative state in the union, is an exercise in redundancy. The sidewalks roll up at 8:00 pm sharp, and not being in church on Sunday is a social no-no. Folks here have elevated conformity into the ionosphere. Tulsa's politics are to the right of Mussolini and provide us with such charmers as Representative Steve Largent and Senator James Inhofe, both of whom wax idiotic on the subject of gays and Lesbians. Inhofe ran in '94 on the Three G's: "God, gays and guns", whatever THAT means. What's scarier is that Tulsans have been voting for this bigot since 1966. Dole, of course, won Tulsa County, as did Bush, Reagan, Ford and Nixon. Tulsa's history of race relations is so pitiful, nicknaming the city "The Johannesburg of the Southwest" would not be too far off the mark. Add to this delightful mix a lot of Big Oil money, and then stir in the fact that Tulsa has more evangelists per capita than any other place on the planet. This is one funky town. Speaking of evangelists, two of this backwater's luminaries are the Reverends Oral Roberts and Billy "FDR-was-a-Communist!" James Hargis. Roberts saw a 600-foot tall Jesus in a vision, and don't forget that Oral Roberts University (aka Six Flags over Jesus) is a bastion of academic non-freedom. By the way, born-again status is a requirement for admission. Hargis, too, had his own university (Ahem.), until the world learned that he was dallying with the students; female AND male. He blamed it on Satan. All this makes one wonder if there is anybody in this burg who has it together. Oh, and everybody's favorite native... Anita Bryant. The only thing amusing about Tulsa is spelling it backwards.
BUT HERE'S YOUR WARNING:
Yes, its from "Turn Left," a very liberal website. But that is the point: these commies compose a list of what they believe to be the most "unfriendly" cities for liberals. Therefore, they cannot be too bad!
Myself, I am looking to move from Louisville, KY to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area soon, much improving my personal political landscape.
I've traveled and lived in several regions of our country and each has advantages/disadvantages; afterall Nirvana is not on the map. But the thing that no other place except one had is roots.
Just MO, but that's how I decided where to raise my family.
If you want to check it our freepmail me and I'll give you more info, get you in the gate, and show you around if you want.
Gaithersburg is a suburb of Washington so getting a good job should be fairly easily if you're qualified. The Washington suburbs do not have the job creation potential of the L.A. area, but it does have good job creation potential in its own right.
Housing prices are resonable. They are not going to be as good as a rural area but getting a good job in a rural area can be difficult, which is usually not the case in the Washington suburbs.
Some of the schools in Gaithersburg are excellent while others are average. The areas where the schools are excellent have higher housing costs, but still much better than L.A. housing prices.
Culturally, the area is diverse. A 40 minute Metro train ride (and the Metro system is clean, unlike New York city's dirty subway system) and you're in Washington, D.C., one of the world's great cities. On the other hand, a 40 minute drive in the opposite direction puts you in rural Frederaick County, so you can see all types of areas (urban, suburban, rural) with easy access.
The weather is better than New York. Generally, it gets chilly in November and cold during December-February. There are usually two major snowfalls a year so snowfall is not a major problem, but you generally do get to see snow if that's what you want to see in any given year.
The ocean is 90 minutes away, skiing is a little farther away than that. The Washington Redskins stadium is about 40 minutes away, the Washington Wizards are the local basketball team, and if you want baseball the beautiful Orioles baseball stadium is about an hour away. The University of Maryland basketball team has also become very popular now that they are winning, and the University of Maryland is about 45 minutes away. Everything is in easy reach for sports lovers.
Overall I found that Gaithersburg gave me a good balance of things. It may not excell in any given area, but on the whole it is a nice place to live.
Good Schools
Great Community
20 Minutes from Nashville
2 hours from the Smokey Mountains
3 hours from Memphis
Best of all Tennessee does not have an income tax.
Arizona is the best. Don't get me started.