Cheapest and best place in USA to live?

[vegasrenter]

I visited most of the major towns in Northwest Arkansas in 2005 considering relocation there. I found Mountain Home to be very uninspiring on all levels, other than the excellent tailwater rainbow trout fishery. However, Fayetteville and Russellville were nice. Hard to find high $ jobs in either place, though.

[kev374]

For the most part, I thought HOA in Houston and Austin were cheap. $50/month typical and $200/month maximum. Some included trash. I consider $150/month in SD cheap

Well, what about the killer HOA in Irvine and Mission Viejo? Some of the condos are $300+! Insanity! On top of that they are charging $200-300/month Mello Roos. That is $600-700 just in fees. Then you have your astronomical property taxes.

[lniles]

Here ya go. House on a lake with 4 acres for under $200k in the Catskills (upstate NY).

http://catskills.craigslist.org/rfs/319383340.html

[mixxalot]

Wow amazing.

I see that northern California areas like Sacramento have MUCH lower costs to purchase real estate than Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

Why?

I find Sacramento as nice as the above places except that there is no beach or ocean. So what? I can drive to Santa Cruz or San Francisco once a month if ocean and beaches is what I want.

[bsrsharma]

Great Places to Raise Kids—for Less

Family-oriented neighborhoods with the most affordable homes and the best schools may be hiding in places you’ve never heard of

Echelon, N.J.? Arapahoe, Neb.? Lackland, Tex.? You’ve probably never heard of most of the small towns that make up BusinessWeek.com’s 2007 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. And there’s a reason: Tight-knit communities like to stay private.

Working with national real estate researcher OnBoard in New York City, BW came up with a list of 50 places in the U.S. that offer kids—and their parents—the right combination of safety, community, and education. Whether you’re expecting your first-born or preparing your kids for college, our list weighs the five criteria every parent should consider when choosing a new home: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and risk of crime……

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm

Slide show http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1116_bestplaces_kids/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

[bsrsharma]

Great Places to Raise Kids—for Less

Family-oriented neighborhoods with the most affordable homes and the best schools may be hiding in places you’ve never heard of

Echelon, N.J.? Arapahoe, Neb.? Lackland, Tex.? You’ve probably never heard of most of the small towns that make up BusinessWeek.com’s 2007 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. And there’s a reason: Tight-knit communities like to stay private.

Working with national real estate researcher OnBoard in New York City, BW came up with a list of 50 places in the U.S. that offer kids—and their parents—the right combination of safety, community, and education. Whether you’re expecting your first-born or preparing your kids for college, our list weighs the five criteria every parent should consider when choosing a new home: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and risk of crime……

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm

Slide show http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1116_bestplaces_kids/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

[bsrsharma]

Great Places to Raise Kids—for Less

Family-oriented neighborhoods with the most affordable homes and the best schools may be hiding in places you’ve never heard of

Echelon, N.J.? Arapahoe, Neb.? Lackland, Tex.? You’ve probably never heard of most of the small towns that make up BusinessWeek.com’s 2007 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. And there’s a reason: Tight-knit communities like to stay private.

Working with national real estate researcher OnBoard in New York City, BW came up with a list of 50 places in the U.S. that offer kids—and their parents—the right combination of safety, community, and education. Whether you’re expecting your first-born or preparing your kids for college, our list weighs the five criteria every parent should consider when choosing a new home: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and risk of crime……

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm

Slide show http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1116_bestplaces_kids/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

[bsrsharma]

Great Places to Raise Kids—for Less

Family-oriented neighborhoods with the most affordable homes and the best schools may be hiding in places you’ve never heard of

Echelon, N.J.? Arapahoe, Neb.? Lackland, Tex.? You’ve probably never heard of most of the small towns that make up BusinessWeek.com’s 2007 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. And there’s a reason: Tight-knit communities like to stay private.

Working with national real estate researcher OnBoard in New York City, BW came up with a list of 50 places in the U.S. that offer kids—and their parents—the right combination of safety, community, and education. Whether you’re expecting your first-born or preparing your kids for college, our list weighs the five criteria every parent should consider when choosing a new home: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and risk of crime……

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm

Slide show http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1116_bestplaces_kids/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

[bsrsharma]

Great Places to Raise Kids—for Less

Family-oriented neighborhoods with the most affordable homes and the best schools may be hiding in places you’ve never heard of

Echelon, N.J.? Arapahoe, Neb.? Lackland, Tex.? You’ve probably never heard of most of the small towns that make up BusinessWeek.com’s 2007 list of the Best Places to Raise Your Kids. And there’s a reason: Tight-knit communities like to stay private.

Working with national real estate researcher OnBoard in New York City, BW came up with a list of 50 places in the U.S. that offer kids—and their parents—the right combination of safety, community, and education. Whether you’re expecting your first-born or preparing your kids for college, our list weighs the five criteria every parent should consider when choosing a new home: test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools, and risk of crime……

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2007/pi20071115_554425.htm

Slide show http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/11/1116_bestplaces_kids/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

[svelte]

Mixx,

I’ve lived in many areas of this country and once I made it back to Calif this last time, I vowed never to leave this great state again for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to attitudes to geography (calif’s proximity to things i enjoy doing).

There is a reason people pay so much to live here.

That said, my absolute favorite part of Calif is north of Sacramento. Absolutely stunning in its beauty with reasonable (for calif) prices and that “girls are warm” thing that Steve Miller noticed long ago.

Alas, we are stuck here in southern calif due to our careers – the reason northern calif’s prices are lower is because there are very few decent-paying jobs, which is how we landed in socal to begin with. We still fly into the Sacramento airport a few times a year and it is an easy, uncongested airport to use. From the moment the plane touches the runway until we are on I-5 going to our destination can be as little as 15 min and has never been longer than 25 or 30 (if the rental car counter is busy).

We would probably jump at the chance to live in northern Calif again, at our current salaries of course. But then again, we’ve grown addicted to the nightlife big socal cities offer, so we may never return to northern calif! Time will tell.

Have fun.

[svelte]

Mixx,

I’ve lived in many areas of this country and once I made it back to Calif this last time, I vowed never to leave this great state again for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to attitudes to geography (calif’s proximity to things i enjoy doing).

There is a reason people pay so much to live here.

That said, my absolute favorite part of Calif is north of Sacramento. Absolutely stunning in its beauty with reasonable (for calif) prices and that “girls are warm” thing that Steve Miller noticed long ago.

Alas, we are stuck here in southern calif due to our careers – the reason northern calif’s prices are lower is because there are very few decent-paying jobs, which is how we landed in socal to begin with. We still fly into the Sacramento airport a few times a year and it is an easy, uncongested airport to use. From the moment the plane touches the runway until we are on I-5 going to our destination can be as little as 15 min and has never been longer than 25 or 30 (if the rental car counter is busy).

We would probably jump at the chance to live in northern Calif again, at our current salaries of course. But then again, we’ve grown addicted to the nightlife big socal cities offer, so we may never return to northern calif! Time will tell.

Have fun.

[svelte]

Mixx,

I’ve lived in many areas of this country and once I made it back to Calif this last time, I vowed never to leave this great state again for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to attitudes to geography (calif’s proximity to things i enjoy doing).

There is a reason people pay so much to live here.

That said, my absolute favorite part of Calif is north of Sacramento. Absolutely stunning in its beauty with reasonable (for calif) prices and that “girls are warm” thing that Steve Miller noticed long ago.

Alas, we are stuck here in southern calif due to our careers – the reason northern calif’s prices are lower is because there are very few decent-paying jobs, which is how we landed in socal to begin with. We still fly into the Sacramento airport a few times a year and it is an easy, uncongested airport to use. From the moment the plane touches the runway until we are on I-5 going to our destination can be as little as 15 min and has never been longer than 25 or 30 (if the rental car counter is busy).

We would probably jump at the chance to live in northern Calif again, at our current salaries of course. But then again, we’ve grown addicted to the nightlife big socal cities offer, so we may never return to northern calif! Time will tell.

Have fun.

[svelte]

Mixx,

I’ve lived in many areas of this country and once I made it back to Calif this last time, I vowed never to leave this great state again for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to attitudes to geography (calif’s proximity to things i enjoy doing).

There is a reason people pay so much to live here.

That said, my absolute favorite part of Calif is north of Sacramento. Absolutely stunning in its beauty with reasonable (for calif) prices and that “girls are warm” thing that Steve Miller noticed long ago.

Alas, we are stuck here in southern calif due to our careers – the reason northern calif’s prices are lower is because there are very few decent-paying jobs, which is how we landed in socal to begin with. We still fly into the Sacramento airport a few times a year and it is an easy, uncongested airport to use. From the moment the plane touches the runway until we are on I-5 going to our destination can be as little as 15 min and has never been longer than 25 or 30 (if the rental car counter is busy).

We would probably jump at the chance to live in northern Calif again, at our current salaries of course. But then again, we’ve grown addicted to the nightlife big socal cities offer, so we may never return to northern calif! Time will tell.

Have fun.

[svelte]

Mixx,

I’ve lived in many areas of this country and once I made it back to Calif this last time, I vowed never to leave this great state again for a variety of reasons ranging from weather to attitudes to geography (calif’s proximity to things i enjoy doing).

There is a reason people pay so much to live here.

That said, my absolute favorite part of Calif is north of Sacramento. Absolutely stunning in its beauty with reasonable (for calif) prices and that “girls are warm” thing that Steve Miller noticed long ago.

Alas, we are stuck here in southern calif due to our careers – the reason northern calif’s prices are lower is because there are very few decent-paying jobs, which is how we landed in socal to begin with. We still fly into the Sacramento airport a few times a year and it is an easy, uncongested airport to use. From the moment the plane touches the runway until we are on I-5 going to our destination can be as little as 15 min and has never been longer than 25 or 30 (if the rental car counter is busy).

We would probably jump at the chance to live in northern Calif again, at our current salaries of course. But then again, we’ve grown addicted to the nightlife big socal cities offer, so we may never return to northern calif! Time will tell.

Have fun.

[patientrenter]

Hey mixx, when you first created this thread, you were almost resigned to finding an alternative to SD. Then you saw enough signs of price drops coming in SD that you thought you’d wait a little longer. I think that was April. What are your thoughts now?

I am going through a parallel process here in OC, but about 9 months behind you. I was resigned to Vancouver, WA or maybe Myrle Beach, SC or Athens, GA, and actually visited Austin, TX, but what I really want is just to be able to afford to stay where I am in OC. I still can’t quite afford it, but it may happen in the next year or two, with luck.

Patient renter in OC

[Author]

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