If you could move anywhere, where would you go? (with almost college-aged kids)

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Currently, we live in New Jersey. Oldest DS is already at an OOS college, living his best life. We have two more at home, current freshman & sophomore in HS. We have the flexibility to move anywhere, with work-from-home options. DS 2&3 are excited about the possibility - not remotely worried about moving schools - in fact they think it would be a great adventure.

Obviously their upcoming college is one of our top priorities. They are average-to-above-average students, so we are looking for decent state schools for them. With the upcoming FAFSA change about siblings, we are very concerned about cost, since they will be overlapping. In-state tuition is our goal, one of them is STEM-focused, the other probably business.

We are outdoorsy people. Mountain biking, skiing, hiking, water sports. We’re not fancy, & would prefer staying home making dinner & going in the hot tub over eating out and entertainment. Political views lean liberal, but nothing extreme either way.

We need somewhere with sunlight. Long cold dark winters are not an option. Hot summers would be ok if it was rewarded with beautiful temperate winters.

Family is spread out all around the country, so no real ties there, but proximity to a good airport would probably be important.

Financially, I guess we’re upper-middle-class. Looking to spend under $500k on a house.

Given that we are flexible and could potentially move anywhere, we’re looking for ideas. Somewhere with a great quality of life, reasonable cost of living, and a great deal/appealing in-state colleges for our kids. It just seems like since we’ve got the option and the kids are willing, we should consider all possibilities.

I know there are probably dozens of places that could work, but I’d love to hear about anywhere YOU love that would fit the bill!

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Oh, come on down here to North Carolina. Seems like everyone else from New Jersey is. Great colleges and ticks all your other boxes too. We have had sooooo many people move here in the past 30-40 years.

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Ha ha! My wife and I have just one child, so once she’s off to college this year we are actively going to consider moving (have had enough of paying NJ’s ridiculously high taxes :exploding_head:)

Some folks have suggested Atlanta. Looking into it.

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Don’t come to Maine. It’s horrible. :wink:

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Where would you recommend in NC? We are planning a move next year. Thinking about renting for 1-2 years before buying. Would love to be relatively close to an airport and fun things in the city without actually living in a major city.

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We are in NJ and I was going to say NC, my husbands large financial services company moved from Manhattan to Charlotte 20 years ago but he managed to stay in an office here in NJ (grandparents were here and very close to their grandkids, we had 5 kids under 7). My husband did fly down and check it out. Housing and taxes cheaper, close to a large airport, nice weather, good schools, and lots of NYC metro area transplants.

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Colorado would check all of your boxes!

North Carolina as well, and better cost of living…but no skiing.

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Not sure this meets your request of no “long dark winters” but Michigan is a great state. Water sports in the summer, skiing in the winter, hiking at state parks, good cost of living, many recreational popular areas (Traverse City and surrounding region, Lake Michigan all the way down the coast). Two great state univs: Michigan State (East Lansing) and U of M (Ann Arbor).

I know this won’t get picked but I always have to advocate for Michigan - SO underrated of a place to live!!!

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I was going to say San Diego until I saw your housing costs; very difficult to find a house in your budget. Also I think high school students plan their four year curriculum to meet California state college entry requirements so don’t know how that would work out for your two.

Otherwise, though, we hit all your buttons!

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Walla Walla, Washington.

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My sister in law lived in Lansing Michigan for several years but hated the winters. She was from NJ, was fine in Ohio and Indiana, but said she could never move back to Michigan.

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Lansing is not the areas I mentioned. :slight_smile: Sorry but I wasn’t going to bat for the whole state but there are certain areas that fit the bill of what the OP mentioned. Of course you don’t move to Michigan if you hate winter/cold. But the entire state is not submerged in snow all winter long.

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NC is a good suggestion. I would add the Charlottesville, Virginia area, for similar reasons. Beautiful weather, with four distinct seasons but not extreme winters or summers. Close to multiple ski areas in the Blue Ridge, but only 2 hrs away from beaches and also Wash DC. A wide range of great in-state public universities - UVa/W&M are the best-known, but Va Tech is nationally recognized for engineering, as is VCU for arts. James Madison U is just over the mountains in the Shenandoah Valley and would be another strong choice. Cost of living is rising, but probably not comparable to NJ. The small airport in Charlottesville can get you directly to NY/Philly; for longer-haul flights, you can connect from there or drive 2 hrs to Dulles. I would move back there in a heartbeat if I had that kind of job flexibility!

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Bellingham, WA, home of Western Washington U, a solid undergrad and Master’s school. In-state tuition at U-Dub (excellent business and computer sciences programs) and WSU, too. Winters can be dreary, but beautiful nature, proximity to big water, and lots of outdoor recreation opportunities (even in winter!) can compensate for that quite well. BC is next door, too. Did I mention no state income tax? There is a 7% tax on capital gains of over $250k though… and homes in that price range can be tricky to find. There is a small airport (BLI) which was doing quite well before the pandemic - we used to drive there (1.5 hr) to fly to Hawaii instead of flying out of SeaTac which is half an hour away. It was well worth it. Hopefully, when travel picks up, it will be going strong again.

ETA: for me, proximity to big water is a must. If this is not a factor, then definitely Denver should be closely researched. Great food and brews in addition to lots of sun and snow. Temperature swings can be quite wild, and it is dry out there.

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Yes, she absolutely loves vacationing in Michigan, gets a campsite for 2 weeks at sleeping bear dunes and then heads to traverse city every summer. She just really hated winters.

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Does getting in-state residency for admission and tuition purposes at state universities affect your choice of state to move to?

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I live in NJ! As soon as D23 graduates we are hoping to move to Vermont. I’m not sure how that would work with kids though. If I were looking to move with kids, with an eye toward public colleges I’d probably also look at North Carolina. My mom has a house in Brevard, NC - and that place is just about perfect. Slightly “crunchy” - cute historic downtown, some nice restaurants, beautiful waterfalls-I think you posted you like hiking, biking, kayaking? Would be good for all of that. I think it’s under 90 minutes from Asheville.
I will say-for all that I want to leave NJ, I do think it gets a bad rap. I have been thinking about moving a long time and have eliminated a ton of other states for different reasons. At the end of the day - NJ, crowded, expensive NJ - really does deliver on a lot of positives, and I DO appreciate those things.

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Couldn’t agree more :+1:t3: :slight_smile:

Now, if it weren’t for the high cost of living and taxes… (sigh)

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We live in NJ too, my cousins moved from LI to the Denver area and absolutely love it, houses are cheap and the outdoor life is amazing. We went there recently for a conference and downtown Denver has some lovely restaurants and stuff to do, it really is a great place.

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Yes. I’m assuming that if we move by DS 2’s junior year, we’d qualify for in-state tuition in any state we move to. If that’s not necessarily true, I’d love to hear about it! Also maybe take advantage of bordering states reciprocity (of which NJ has none).

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