So, my husband is looking into a job in pharm. sales, which means we'll probably be moving. Given options, where should we move? I love the sun, but not super-hot heat. I love the ocean (grew up on the Oregon coast). And I want a good place to raise a family, and grow a garden Just want to get everyone else's take on the matter. Thanks!

We live in PA, pretty nice place, country settings all outside big cities. I love the ocean and the shore is a 2-3 hr drive depending which beach you go to. I am in Harrisburg, so I am midway to Philly and Pittsburgh. I am not a city person. I was born in NEPA and it was a very small town. I am not in the city of Harrisburg, I am in a suburb but you can go down our road a few miles and come to meadows and farms. I really like it.

Is there a certain part of the country you are looking at?

San Deigo. Big BioTech center. Awesome weather. Ocean.

Just make sure he has a good salary, as houses are spendy.

Geoff

I love Portland and Baltimore.

Raleigh, North Carolina was listed in the top ten cities to live in, with the beach and mountains easily available. It's a young persons town. And you have Raleigh, Durham and Winston Salem, which is called the Triangle and some really big money generated there.

NY. Two of the 4 major pharmaceutical companies are based in the tri-state area. Merck's headquarters are in NJ and Pfizer's headquarters are in NYC. You don't have to live in the city. I live in a suburb in Westchester 35 mins. outside of the city and commute in.

You might want to check these links out...

Best Places to Live: Top 100
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneym...ymag/index.html

How far will my salary go in another city?
Thinking about moving? See how much you should earn to maintain the same lifestyle.
http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costoflivin...stofliving.html

The cost of living can vary widely from city to city.

The 1st place that popped into mind for me was Portland, for it's incredible level of 'gluten-free friendliness'.

My sister is there and *always* seems to have a new story about gluten-free in PDX.

Latest was that there was some ad on a city bus w/ GLUTEN-FREE in 2 foot letters - on a BUS!!!
Before that was how even the >tiny< neighborhood corner store has a gluten-free section! I've seen the store and it looks not even 1/2 the size of a typical 7-11.

But since you're familiar w/ OR, you probably know Portland better than I do. Unless you've been away while it became the most gluten-free friendly city in the western hemisphere.
I love how over-the-top green it is (actual nature sense, not environmental activism sense, tho of course it's both), but I'm not sure how I'd like the long gray winter.


Other than that, I'd LOVE to live in Santa Cruz CA!!
SUCH a great beach town.

I love Seattle, but it's not high on the 'sun index'. There are lots of small towns around the city that are more affordable and nicer for kids.

What do you plan to do with your days?

In San Diego we have the highest costs of living and the lowest salaries. Jobs are very few and far between; it's majorly overpopulated. Sorry, I'm bitter . We do have good weather and the ocean though.

"Best" is SOOOOO relative.
I've lived (outside of college) in San Jose, CA; Orange County, CA; and Seattle, WA.
I have no interest in moving off the west coast, and that's partly a culture thing. (It's not that one culture is bad and one is good; they're different and we have our own preferences.)

Many people love Seattle, and I like many things about it (affordable - relatively speaking - housing, lots of outdoors activities, our friends are in the area, lots of career opportunities, etc.), but it doesn't have the *feel* of California. (My friends, who grew up here, and lived in CA for ~8 years, feel just the opposite; California's ok, but it doesn't have the *feel* of Washington.)

My whole point? It's too personal of a question to answer. I know what I like, I know my husband's preferences are different, and my friends yet more different. Can you take some time to visit the candidates, and get a feel for yourself?

I have to add a plug for Austin, Texas. Wild horses couldn't make me move. I live in downtown where all the music is. We're the live music capital of the world, we have the Whole Foods international headquarters (largest Whole Foods store on the planet). The University of Texas makes Austin's feel very young and edgy, and we've also got a huge Hispanic population and I like what that adds to the culture. Most people who come here to visit would like to come back to live.

There's no ocean near here, though. We're about 5 hours from the Gulf of Mexico which is nice but it's not the west coast. I have no idea what opportunities there are for pharmaceuticals. Oh, and it does get pretty hot here during a typical summer. But this summer we're floating away from all the rain...

Very, very true.




I love Austin. I lived there for a couple years and got married there. It's very hot though ... so be sure you can afford a house with a pool.

In the midwest, Indianapolis is a great city! The downtown is thriving and there's a lot to do. Eli Lilly's headquarters is there. Housing is reasonable.

Newport, KY, just over the river from Cincinnati, is thriving! So much new going on there which all started when the Hofbrau House opened there ... it triggered a big boom for the area. Housing is reasonable.

Columbus is a good city, too.

CA is beautiful and has a good climate, but housing will be quite a bit pricier there. Many who live in Seattle seem to love it there.