Dad moved from MT to here, his parents eventually followed. Mom from the UK, her mother followed some 15 years later. If brexit hadn’t happened, I’d have claimed my British citizenship and we’d be spending more time overseas, but I can’t deal with the Tories, so here we stay in the PNW.
We have a place in a semi-rural area west of here. Lovely to visit, but I need to be a bit closer to things; driving 30 min to 1 hour+ for groceries won’t work.
Unless it’s changed since I lived there (late 90’s), it’s not terribly diverse.
A friend from college and his whole family (grown children and their families) moved from NY to FL and bought houses on the same street (a new home community). His grandkids come over for breakfast before they get on the bus for school 
It was quite an undertaking - the spouse of one of his kids got a job offer first, so they sold their house and built their new one, then my friend sold his house in NY and moved in with them while his was being built, then the other daughter, husband and kids moved down and lived with my friend while their house was being built. My friend couldn’t be happier being in walking distance to his kids & grandkids!
I love spending time with my kids and would love if we were all in the same town (but it’s ok that we are not, no one is “far”), BUT I told my S and his wife when they were looking for a house in our end of town, “if I can use binoculars and see your house, that is too close and not ok!!!” 
I noticed in my real estate searches yesterday that the house next door to our son is for sale. I quickly texted him and his fiancée with the link and a note, “Dad and I are taking a look!” then waited for the response. Fiancée texted back with, “Ha Ha! I see where ChoatieLT gets his sense of humor.” Son said, “We’ve already shown your picture to the neighbors. No go, mom.” Too close, I guess. But there’s another one just up the street…
My college roommate lives in a city a bit north of where I am in San Diego. Her D and family bought a home in the same neighborhood as my roommate and her H. Then my roommate’s mom and dad sold their home in the desert and bought one in the same neighborhood. My friend is over the moon having her parents and her grandsons so close.
As much as I’d love being closer to my kids some of these stories are giving me hives!
ETA: I mean, I kind of like the compound-like idea, where lives truly are generational. But I have a friend whose entire family except the dad and his second wife moved here many years ago, and the mom and three of the four kids lived literally on the same small block. The fourth kid lived a few miles away. IMO, this was a bad move in a lot of ways for this family as this deepened their already codependent relationships. I think our family could pull this off, but it feels like a LOT.
When my oldest was a baby, my mother (and her parents) relocated to an apartment nearby… an easy walk with the baby carriage on sidewalks plus a quick dash across a busy 2 lane street. Honestly, it was wonderful. Mom was super respectful of our privacy. She did take up a lovely hobby doing flower gardens for us, but she only came over if we were gone. She continued the hobby after she followed us to CO. Her first apartment was just a few blocks away - that was great. When she moved to Delaware for a few years, we were sad. We were all so happy she came back to our town! Her last 17 years were at an apartment 4 miles away. Not bad, but closer would have been easier the last few months when I went there twice a day.
We moved to NJ just before the birth of our D24, in large part to be closer to our families and enjoy the logistical support (and free babysitting, LOL) they were happy to provide. We live a mile or so from H’s parents and about 8 from mine. It was wonderful and helpful when my kids were little, and allowed our parents to be involved in their lives in a way that simply wasn’t going to be possible when we were in MA (knowing their friends, attending soccer games and dance recitals and stuff like that).
Now the tables have turned and us being here is wonderful and helpful for our aging parents.
All of this, as well as following this thread and really thinking about where we might possibly relocate one day…has me realizing we will either likely stay put or else relocate to be near one or both of our kids, wherever life takes them.
We lived 800 miles from family (H’s career) and it stunk. Siblings who were close (both of H’s siblings and one of mine) by had free weekend babysitters/backup childcare at the drop of a dime. Their kids grew up celebrating holidays with grandparents while we celebrated alone except for the times we traveled their way which was expensive, difficult logistically and frequently a disaster. My kids were always the “other” grandkids. It was difficult when my mom needed care and my sibling who lived close had no concept of actual caregiving. Long, sad story there.
We are 20-25 minutes drive time from D, SIL and our first grandchild. We have already been able to help them and we get to spend time with GD! It’s a win/win for everyone.
I’m following this closely. 3 of my 4 kids and I are semi-actively looking for a new place to set down our roots. 4th doesn’t care much either way, and at least in the short term will follow friends and job prospects. But he would like it if we were centrally located for him to visit and maybe even eventually follow.
The oldest has a real job which is portable and would like to move tomorrow, but he wants to be close to us so is waiting for his younger siblings to get more clarity where they want to move. He has some opinions, but his main criteria is “not here” (for very good reasons he and his wife would like to put a couple states between them and her parents).
Our biggest issue forcing the move is the politics, and the venomous nature they have taken since 2015. I have always been the outlier in my social groups, and it was never a big deal. I frequently got asked my opinion, because both sides wanted to educate each other. But it has become a big deal, and in a negative way. My D’s had a bit of a tough time in HS because of it (2021 and 2025). Part of that is because they are a bit more outspoken than me, and refuse to let patently false/racist/homophobic, etc. comments slide. It does make me sad, because our family literally homesteaded some of the ground my parents still live on, which is 30 minutes from here. But there is zero chance my daughters will let their kids grow up in this environment. So that means 3/4 of my kids refuse to live here as adults, and the 4th doesn’t care about the politics but for other reasons likely won’t return here either.
Family has always been important to us, my wife and I moved to NYC right after college but returned here when our kids were young to be near grandparents. They want the same with us, but want us to do it elsewhere. So that’s the plan. And I actually think they care enough about it that they are willing to work together and make some sacrifices to find a place that works for everyone.
My parents are in decent health, but at the age where that could change tomorrow. In laws are not. But we have always done more than our share caring for them, and wife’s siblings are aware of that and willing to step in to do more if/when needed. Also the very earliest we would move would be after D25 graduates. I suspect that FIL won’t be with us then, and MIL may or may not still be with us mentally. I have a sister who lives near my parents who will pick up the slack with them if needed.
A few things on our wishlist (which keeps growing):
Either blue politics or a good mix, and by good mix I mean where both sides act respectfully to each other, not necessarily 50/50. I don’t know if that exists anywhere anymore, but it doesn’t exist here.
Climate change. I am hoping this is a 200 year move like the last one my family made. Personally I don’t expect to live long enough for FL or the Sunbelt to become truly uninhabitable. But looking 100 years out, I am very concerned about water issues in CA and the SW, and intolerable heat and humidity combinations in the SE.
Good job prospects. Not sure about D25 because it’s so early, but the rest of them probably will end up in “anywhere” jobs. Not work from home, but in industries that employ people everywhere from Nome, AK to NYC. But still need prospects of a decent economy long term.
If we could luck into a place that fits our other criteria but also has a decent number of retirees who are not long term locals that would be great. Probably more important is a place that has a number of young professionals who are not long term locals.
Good healthcare.
Decent airport access. I don’t have that now, and it’s really annoying to drive for 2-3 hours before I get on a flight that likely isn’t direct. It ends up killing an entire day on each end just to travel almost anywhere.
Cost of living matters, although it isn’t the #1 criteria. But I want a place that the kids could realistically buy houses before they are 40.
If we are being super picky, within 20 minutes of a Trader Joe’s.
Probably a bunch of other things I’m not thinking of at the moment.
A couple of us LOVE the PNW. Cost of living is an issue, and I’m pretty concerned about the Cascadia subduction zone. If any PNWers could give me some comfort on that I would appreciate it. It seems to an outsider that it is being taken seriously, but not nearly seriously enough.
Also either western MA or NH on the interest list.
This may be of interest to some of you. It has an assortment of US towns (often outside of bigger cites) that I’ve never heard of.
Based on what you said about political preferences, NH might not be a good choice.
That makes me incredibly sad.
@Colorado_mom - interesting list. My D and her fiance might (big might) be interested in Utah near Salt Lake City because they are avid skiers and love all of the hiking and camping opportunities. Politics in Utah are the downside for them.
They may not need to cross it off their list. SLC skews very liberal, as many urban centers do within otherwise red states.
And the same is true for other states too. Aspen is a very liberal town but in a conservative congressional district (and a lot of the part time residents don’t vote in Aspen so their views can’t shape the politics of the town/county).
I’d recommend Grand Junction Colorado to those who want a smaller city with great sports nearby, wonderful agriculture, access to two major airports (SLC and Denver), a hospital but it is in a very conservative area of a blue-ish state.
I would definitely say check out Swarthmore, PA!!!
Grand Junction is a nice area (though the “western slope” skews a bit hotter in summer than I’d like. But it is about 4 hours to the Denver airport. All interstate driving (mostly I70), but there are two mountain passes to climb over… which occasionally do close for winter conditions. Honestly, I stress over our much easier drive (under an hour) to DIA (Denver airport, with a lot of good flight options) in the winter … though we enjoyed our Feb Hawaii trip so much that we will likely fly somewhere warm again next winter.