Pants
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Post by Pants on Dec 5, 2013 14:05:24 GMT -5
Full disclosure: my parents live outside Bloomington, IN which has IU, Indiana's main public university. They retired on 120 acres, about 20 min outside town. It's cheap, it's pretty, it snows. Bloomington is a nice little town in terms of restaurants and such. Somehow they can't manage to have a decent pizza joint or a real deli, but other than that pretty decent. I would look for something like that in your preferred areas.
ETA: OR move to Bloomington and hang out with Mid and occassionally me. I know nothing about the PNW but, My in-laws are in IN and it is pretty there and LCOL compared to what I'm used to in NC. I got to see snow there last winter and built my first real-person sized snow-woman! Also, Mid is Awesome Also Oliver Winery's Camelot mead is Awesome Also I think DH and I would like it if my parents were closer, so I understand the wanting to take them with you. Makes sense to me. Yup! Mid is awesome. She can vouch that I am awesome. Bloomington, Indiana it is! Welcome to Indiana, Firebird!
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kcladyjane
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Post by kcladyjane on Dec 5, 2013 14:07:42 GMT -5
I too recommend the Springfield, MO area. You can get nice homes cheap around here and Springfield is large enough to find jobs. Not as many job options as Kansas City though. We bought a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage on a crawl space brand new for $88K in a town of 2000 30 minutes SW of Springfield. It is a nice drive into Springfield. You can find homes on 3-5 acres pretty cheap too. And you would always have the entertainment of Branson nearby. Good luck to you in your search! My husband and I are always trying to decide the same thing...we want to live where it is warm all year round, but it is soooo cheap here.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 5, 2013 14:17:10 GMT -5
Oops - I meant to post this in YM Off Topic. I guess I'm out of practice! Mods, feel free to move it if you're so inclined. Sorry about that. I've moved the thread as requested, Firebird! So glad to hear from you and know you and those you love are doing well! I don't have any suggestions for you as I'm not much aware of COL in the PNW. There are places in western North Carolina that are marvelous, but that's not anywhere near Washington!
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Dec 5, 2013 14:23:04 GMT -5
There's supposed to be a decent winery in French Lick, IN.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 5, 2013 14:38:06 GMT -5
Oops - I meant to post this in YM Off Topic. I guess I'm out of practice! Mods, feel free to move it if you're so inclined. Sorry about that. I've moved the thread as requested, Firebird! So glad to hear from you and know you and those you love are doing well! I don't have any suggestions for you as I'm not much aware of COL in the PNW. There are places in western North Carolina that are marvelous, but that's not anywhere near Washington! I wouldn't call it 'LCOLA' in Western NC compared to some other places, but it is beautifu!!!
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Dec 5, 2013 14:41:40 GMT -5
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engineerdoe
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Post by engineerdoe on Dec 5, 2013 14:43:39 GMT -5
I would describe Eastern Washington as more Libertarian than Republican. Spokane has areas around it that may fit with what you are thinking (i.e. Deer Park, Davenport, Liberty Lake). The Tri-Cities are nice too. Yakima, Grand Coulee, Ellensburg, Wenatchee are all nice too. But I agree with whoever mentioned that these areas can get hot in the summer and still have snow in the winter. West of the cascades, take a look at Lacey and other places around Olympia.
Oh, I forgot to mention Walla Walla!
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 5, 2013 14:44:58 GMT -5
I've moved the thread as requested, Firebird! So glad to hear from you and know you and those you love are doing well! I don't have any suggestions for you as I'm not much aware of COL in the PNW. There are places in western North Carolina that are marvelous, but that's not anywhere near Washington! I wouldn't call it 'LCOLA' in Western NC compared to some other places, but it is beautifu!!! Nah, it's not LCOLA, really. More MCOLA, I'd say. There are some areas that are less expensive than others (more rural) and Asheville has a lot to offer within reach. Not too far to the beach, either, if you're so inclined.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Dec 5, 2013 14:50:53 GMT -5
An island near seattle with ferry ride to the city. Bainbridge or Vashion but Clinton might work too. Commute cost would be high but don't bring a car to the city or just keep one at work. Then walk on ferry, bike to ferry at home, take city bus to work and back to ferry or van pool.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 5, 2013 15:07:09 GMT -5
I wouldn't call it 'LCOLA' in Western NC compared to some other places, but it is beautifu!!! Nah, it's not LCOLA, really. More MCOLA, I'd say. There are some areas that are less expensive than others (more rural) and Asheville has a lot to offer within reach. Not too far to the beach, either, if you're so inclined. Close enough to hang out with Carolinakat too!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 5, 2013 15:11:28 GMT -5
An island near seattle with ferry ride to the city. Bainbridge or Vashion but Clinton might work too. Commute cost would be high but don't bring a car to the city or just keep one at work. Then walk on ferry, bike to ferry at home, take city bus to work and back to ferry or van pool. I suspect that ferry costs are going to increase considerably in getting to/from some of the islands around Seattle in the near future. The ferry system is aging, it's underfunded and understaffed (when they have to cancel ferries because someone called in sick) and there always seems to be issues. Not only that, the people living in the city are getting tired of subsidizing the ferry system and are wanting some of those living on the islands to pick up more of their commuting costs.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 5, 2013 15:14:53 GMT -5
I just moved from Lexington, KY. I know it's east of where you want to be, but it really is a nice place to live with a reasonable cost of living. There are 4 seasons, winter isn't too horrible in that the snow does not stick around forever, summers do tend to be warm.
Other advantage is that you are within a 70 mile radius of 2 other airports (Cincinnati and Louisville) and if one place is not cheap, one of the other 2 are.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Dec 5, 2013 16:03:42 GMT -5
An island near seattle with ferry ride to the city. Bainbridge or Vashion but Clinton might work too. Commute cost would be high but don't bring a car to the city or just keep one at work. Then walk on ferry, bike to ferry at home, take city bus to work and back to ferry or van pool. If you're considering something like this - take a look at the towns in Kitsap County. Yes, Friday Harbor and Gig Harbor are expensive, but there are some less expensive places like Port Orchard and Silverdale - or even the town of Bremerton itself. The economy of Bremerton is fueled by the naval station, and the towns around it are inhabited by military familes and civilian industries supporting the base. But they have a great small-town feel with easy access to the metro area. It would be pretty easy to find two (or more) houses together in some of the more secluded housing subdivisions (thinking of Port Orchard when saying this). Farther north in Kitsap you could probably also find some raw land for development of a family compound. (or you could come live a mile for the beach in La La Land with kittensaver! From where I live, you can surf the ocean, dune buggy the desert AND snow ski/snowboard the local mountains all in the same day . Hang out on golden sands, bicycle everywhere, start an organic garden, hike in the Malibu/Topanga/Santa Monica mountains and hit "the sights" when you want. Livin' the good life . . . . ).
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Dec 5, 2013 16:24:34 GMT -5
I wouldn't call it 'LCOLA' in Western NC compared to some other places, but it is beautifu!!! Nah, it's not LCOLA, really. More MCOLA, I'd say. There are some areas that are less expensive than others (more rural) and Asheville has a lot to offer within reach. Not too far to the beach, either, if you're so inclined. My sister used to live in the Asheville area and complained that you couldn't tell the sun was up until after 9 and it was gone around 3. I guess the mountains in the area weren't her friends. She is back home in the deep South with the rest of us conservative rednecks. Sorry some of you haven't had the best experiences down here. They won't let me get rid of the nutjobs.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 5, 2013 16:33:21 GMT -5
Nah, it's not LCOLA, really. More MCOLA, I'd say. There are some areas that are less expensive than others (more rural) and Asheville has a lot to offer within reach. Not too far to the beach, either, if you're so inclined. My sister used to live in the Asheville area and complained that you couldn't tell the sun was up until after 9 and it was gone around 3. I guess the mountains in the area weren't her friends. She is back home in the deep South with the rest of us conservative rednecks. Sorry some of you haven't had the best experiences down here. They won't let me get rid of the nutjobs. LOL! Yeah, there are some places like that around Asheville. I lived in Hendersonville for a short time, but we were on the mountain instead of under it. Plenty of sunshine up there.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 5, 2013 16:40:17 GMT -5
My sister used to live in the Asheville area and complained that you couldn't tell the sun was up until after 9 and it was gone around 3. I guess the mountains in the area weren't her friends. She is back home in the deep South with the rest of us conservative rednecks. Sorry some of you haven't had the best experiences down here. They won't let me get rid of the nutjobs. LOL! Yeah, there are some places like that around Asheville. I lived in Hendersonville for a short time, but we were on the mountain instead of under it. Plenty of sunshine up there. The mountains are good. The hurricanes rarely have the strength to make it in there. If we won the lottery, I'd move up there and hire a driver to drive on all the little twistys for me
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Formerly SK
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Post by Formerly SK on Dec 5, 2013 16:42:12 GMT -5
An island near seattle with ferry ride to the city. Bainbridge or Vashion but Clinton might work too. Commute cost would be high but don't bring a car to the city or just keep one at work. Then walk on ferry, bike to ferry at home, take city bus to work and back to ferry or van pool. If you're considering something like this - take a look at the towns in Kitsap County. Yes, Friday Harbor and Gig Harbor are expensive, but there are some less expensive places like Port Orchard and Silverdale - or even the town of Bremerton itself. The economy of Bremerton is fueled by the naval station, and the towns around it are inhabited by military familes and civilian industries supporting the base. But they have a great small-town feel with easy access to the metro area. It would be pretty easy to find two (or more) houses together in some of the more secluded housing subdivisions (thinking of Port Orchard when saying this). Farther north in Kitsap you could probably also find some raw land for development of a family compound. (or you could come live a mile for the beach in La La Land with kittensaver! From where I live, you can surf the ocean, dune buggy the desert AND snow ski/snowboard the local mountains all in the same day . Hang out on golden sands, bicycle everywhere, start an organic garden, hike in the Malibu/Topanga/Santa Monica mountains and hit "the sights" when you want. Livin' the good life . . . . ). I was going to suggest Port Townsend but jobs are definitely lacking there. "Small town" and "jobs" often don't go together.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 5, 2013 16:46:26 GMT -5
LOL! Yeah, there are some places like that around Asheville. I lived in Hendersonville for a short time, but we were on the mountain instead of under it. Plenty of sunshine up there. The mountains are good. The hurricanes rarely have the strength to make it in there. If we won the lottery, I'd move up there and hire a driver to drive on all the little twistys for me OMG! Between the Diamondback Loop and Highway 64, one could end up a pretzel! Such beautiful country!
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Dec 5, 2013 16:48:39 GMT -5
My sister used to live in the Asheville area and complained that you couldn't tell the sun was up until after 9 and it was gone around 3. I guess the mountains in the area weren't her friends. She is back home in the deep South with the rest of us conservative rednecks. Sorry some of you haven't had the best experiences down here. They won't let me get rid of the nutjobs. LOL! Yeah, there are some places like that around Asheville. I lived in Hendersonville for a short time, but we were on the mountain instead of under it. Plenty of sunshine up there. I never got a chance to visit her up there, so I had to take her word for it. Funny, Hendersonville is the last place she was up there.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Dec 5, 2013 17:05:06 GMT -5
Hendersonville is a great little town. It's changed a lot since I was there, but it's still pretty special and close enough to Asheville that one can get all the cultural input without the traffic.
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financialpeace
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Post by financialpeace on Dec 5, 2013 17:23:28 GMT -5
I just want to chime in on the Eastern WA suggestion. I moved to the Spokane area two years ago from the Oregon coast. It's definitely way cheaper than the West side of the state. I definitely think there are some areas here that fit your criteria. I am not found of the tri-cities area. It's very windy every time we go through there. The Spokane and northern Idaho areas are prettier in my opinion. Northern Idaho is cheaper than WA, so that would be a good area to consider. I would live there if I didn't want a really long commute to my current job.
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deantrip
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Post by deantrip on Dec 5, 2013 18:46:36 GMT -5
Hey Firebird, I would like to give props for montana, I live in Northern montana, and while winters can be brutal (today we had a high of -8), the rest of the time it is one of the most beautiful places to be. Small communities where you can get to know someone easily and never have to worry about locking your car/door is very nice. If you got any questions feel free to ask me or shoot me a pm.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Dec 5, 2013 19:30:34 GMT -5
Have you tried findyourspot.com? It gives me some strange places, but it's kind of fun.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Dec 5, 2013 19:43:01 GMT -5
I was going to suggest Pennsylvania until I got to the end of your post and saw not East We fit the rest of your criteria!
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Dec 5, 2013 21:41:40 GMT -5
deantrip - where it MT are you? If you care to share?
Firebird- first, we have to have a serious talk about you not coming to Seattle where I want you to be. But then... I'd love to live in the Gray's Harbor county area, but jobs are the problem. Central or Eastern WA wouldn't be too bad (and I have relatives in Spokane, so could get in a two for one visit).
If you want MT, I would suggest Bozeman. My Dad is in Billings, which would be a medium sized city for you, but is the biggest in MT. I grew up east of there in a city of 10k. It was a great place to be a kid. I won't argue that. I think Bozeman would be a good fit because it is a college town. There are jobs. It is less conservative than other parts of the state (downright almost liberal), and there finding home with separate living quarters/entrances is likely easier in areas that cater to college students. However, when you say you want seasons, remember MT is the land of extremes. One year when I was a child (and granted, on the eastern edge of the state, in the plains area) we had the coldest temperature in the country that winter and the highest temperature in the country the following summer. Today, the high in Bozeman was 0- Fahrenheit. The biggest problem with Bozeman (at least when I visited) was that everyone ran the red lights.
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deantrip
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Post by deantrip on Dec 5, 2013 22:59:25 GMT -5
shanendoah - I won't give a town name, I lived in Billings for 7 years until I moved back to my hometown which is small, less than 500 in north central montana, so take a pick of several dozen towns, they are pretty much all the same...lol. From what you said in your post though, I can probably guess your hometown.
Firebird - I would not recommend Billings as a place to move to (I do have some personal bias). I don't believe that the city is well run at all and it seems like every other year the emergency responders are suing the city over contract violations and a general lack of honesty out of the city council.
Bozeman is good, has good infrastructure, has a good university there and a pretty decent school system. It tends to really go through booms and busts though as a large part of its economy is based on tourism.
It all depends on what population size you mean by small town as a small town to me is less than 1000 people when to you it might mean less than 50k.
Some smaller towns in Montana that are very nice are Livingston in beautiful paradise valley (land cost is expensive there, but everything else is pretty lcol.) Helena is the state capital, is in the mountains and has a lot of activities year round while not being too expensive.
Red lodge is very nice in the off season, but is a big tourist trap during the summer.
Some very nice small towns (less than 1k people) are Augusta, Choteau has about 3k population. Big Timber is about halfway in between Bozeman and Billings right off the interstate and is a nice small town with an excellent school system.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Dec 6, 2013 0:11:24 GMT -5
deantrip - if you're thinking of the place with a "world famous bucking horse sale" you've got it right.
Overall, MT has a great school system. I was in shock when I moved to NV and learned that pre-algebra was an honors class for 8th graders. In MT, pre-algebra was the combination of 7th & 8th grade math into a single year. Algebra was the standard highschool freshman math class.
At the same time, there were kids in the high school who came there after having literally been in a one room school house, K-8, with maybe 5-10 other kids, so it was a shock to them.
Forsythe was a nice small town. My brother had a lot of friends who lived there. Hathaway and Rosebud are almost certainly too small.
You might also consider WY. My cousin got an excellent education there. Her school system gave every highschooler a laptop. She took part in Latin competitions and played upright bass, and it got her into Reed (not that that was a smart choice, but that's a different story).
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Dec 6, 2013 11:08:37 GMT -5
I didn't read the whole thread - so apologies if these were already mentioned: Spokane, WA. Eugene, OR. Maybe the Tri-Cities, WA? I like Oregon, but it's nice to live without income tax in WA. Spokane:
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deantrip
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Post by deantrip on Dec 6, 2013 11:15:23 GMT -5
shanendoah - exactly where I was thinking as I got family over in that area (hard to not have family all over the state)..
Speaking of the land of extremes, yes we are, It is currently a quarter after 9 and we have -20 for a temperature and great falls hit -27 last night. I think the coldest I ever saw was a -45 growing up. The other thing, with the schools here even with how cold it gets, you rarely get a snow day, only when the wind blows so bad it drifts shut the roads, which is pretty rare as our state road crews do a pretty good job plowing.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Dec 6, 2013 11:19:02 GMT -5
MT has no state income tax and no sales tax (that's right, if something costs $0.99, you can hand them a $1 bill and get change BACK). However, the state makes that up by charging higher property taxes.
But I think WA should make it back on the list- possibly this place
Sure the castle is only 3bd/2ba, but on 20 acres, you could build your parents something.
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