Ask HN: I'm in a position to move to anywhere in the USA, where should I go?
I'm single with a remote job. No pets, no one I need to consider but myself.
Here is what's important to me in order of importance:
1. Affordability. -> So no SF or NYC. Ideally a place where housing falls at or under the nations average COL index of 100.
2. Opportunity -> I don't want to be too far from at least one major population center in case I happen to lose my remote job and need to get reemployed ASAP. Ideally within a 90 minute drive of a city with a pop of at least 500k, these numbers are just estimates so a little longer of a drive or lower pop would be alright if it's otherwise worth the tradeoff.
3. Weather -> I don't deal well with heat and would prefer somewhere that doesn't have blistering summers. High levels of rainfall is also a big plus.
4. Distance -> I currently live in Washington DC. If I could find a place that met these requirements near by rather than across the country that'd be preferable, but this isn't nearly as important as the other considerations.
Again, any input is welcome and appreciated, thank you.
48 comments
[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 100 ms ] threadWhat can I say - it's hard to argue with that!
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danville%2C_Kentucky
I'd at least want to know how long you have to make the decision, since the known factors you've listed A) are definitely known to you and B) aren't making enough difference to you, which often leaves blocks in the C) zone of emotions or other fuzzy perceptions which generally need time to clear. When those are resolved they usually provide a feeling more akin to specific encouragement or even something like permission / luck / definite answers / etc.
Just some thoughts, hope it works out well no matter where you end up.
The people in Portland and Seattle are actually very different. For the most part people in Seattle are assholes (check out the urban dictionary for the Seattle freeze) people in Portland are a bit nicer but it's a hard town if your focus is your career (maybe this changes a bit with remote opportunities - but I am still in the camp that remote devs are always going to play second fiddle to the devs at HQ/in-office if thats an option).
If you are going to move somewhere with a remote job, Seattle would be a terrible place. And to be honest the surrounding area is not a much better bet. With how bad traffic is, 90 minutes isn't going to get you to small cute cheap towns, in fact most of the towns just outside Seattle are more expensive. It's not an undiscovered gem.
As someone without a remote job currently in Seattle, I wish I could just trade spots with you. I don't even care how bad your situation could be. Feel free to reply if you want any questions about Portland or Seattle. Happy to help if I can.
Looking in Tacoma I'm seeing quite a few 1 bedroom apartments for <$1.5k a month which seems decent to me, and I imagine Tacoma is more expensive than some of the smaller surrounding towns. This doesn't line up with your comment so my question is, what am I missing?
There's really not much going on in Tacoma and taking the link from there to Seattle is a pain - sure its doable but you're talk about a huge hit to quality of your life. They are trying to make public transit better in the region but its a 20 year plan before its expanded to where it needs to be. The small towns around Tacoma are either military towns or also very expensive - Lakewood is basically a town for JBLM and Gig Harbor is mostly retirees cashing out and moving on the water.
NYC, for example, has equally hot summers to Atlanta, just a few weeks shorter.
Most Northern places that meet your weather, distance, and opportunity criteria are going to fail other criteria, primarily affordability.
Also most of those cooler places are hemorrhaging population.
I would suggest you give up on cool summers because all the affordable, growing cities are in the South and have ubiquitous air conditioning. Then look at the Research Triangle, Atlanta, Nashville, and Tampa Bay metro areas.
Nothing near cities is affordable right now though.
In Spokane, Bend, Boise you get a bit of snow, about 10 inch of rain per year (about the same amount of rain as San Diego actually).
And yes Olympia will be what youre likely imagining the PNW to be - damn near constantly gray, always wet, lots of evergreens, etc.
Chattanooga has a very chill culture, good food, tech meetups (I was there when the pandemic started so I went not got the attend one before the world stopped :( ), tons of outdoors activities, tons of rains and plants and water! (I really miss that creek!)
Had to move for work reasons but I’d love to live there again!
Oh, and the internet is by a local company (not xfinity or some other national crap) and it’s one of the fastest and most affordable services I’ve used!
Anyways, just my 2 cents. Good luck!
I was coming from NYC, so I've been able to actually lessen my rent, even through Airbnb.
I loved Portland, San Diego, Austin and Boulder.
I agree this is the best way to try out a new place to live. Need to stay at least one month, but ideally 2-3, to really get a feel for a place.
We made it around the entire country over the course of the pandemic (and eloped while we were at it), but ultimately stopped due to the work involved in finding a high quality rental at a reasonable price.
Airbnb fees are high, so even after negotiating (which is a must), it is still an expensive monthly rent. But I will admit I was staying in highly desirable areas, and you are paying a premium for the flexibility.
Ultimately my favorite spots were Boulder, Chicago, and Burlington Vermont (during ski season).
A lot comes down to your comfort in the various areas of the us. No need going somewhere you’ll be uncomfortable with.
What other considerations do you have though? What sort of lifestyle do you want? Country living? A town? A small city?
You want rain and mild weather, the pacific northwest west of the cascade mountains fits the bill. Affordability and within a 90 minute drive to a metropolitan area are not going to happen there.
Closer to the ocean mediates temperature extremes. Also there's more to do. Mountains are nice too, but winters are colder. Maybe consider along the coast south of you all the way to the keys (or the Mexico border, coastal Texas is nice) or the rocky mountains.
Don't discount conservative states, towns and areas if you're not that type of person. A lot of the time the natural landscape is preserved and life is more peaceful. If you're OK with your neighbors going to church Sundays, there's an entire beautiful, low cost country to explore.
There's also the rural Midwest, if you like frigid winter. I don't, but I hear the upper peninsula of Michigan is nice.
Those activities are also the way you make friends and expand your social circle, which is going to be a big hard thing to do after the move.
As other they are saying, take mini month-long vacation to try out different places, given that you have the opportunity of doing that.
Of course you have to like skiing. But those would be my lifestyle picks that kind of align (ish) with your criteria.
As you probably know, South Carolina or North Carolina also fit all those criteria but might be too hot.