How to decide where to move to?

CaliforniaDream

How do people decide which state and then which city to move to in the US? Are there any websites which show comparisons to cost of living, taxes, employment rates etc?

I'm moving to the US in May and I'm panicking about my choice of state. I had planned to got to California as I've been a few times and love it. But now I'm worried it may be too expensive to start out in.

Where would you recommend to move to? Climate is definitely important. I love the idea of year-long sunshine and like hot temperatures. Ideally I'd like to live near a coast.

Can someone recommend good websites to research everything as I dont know anyone over there to ask?

Thanks for the help!

Black Swan

CaliforniaDream wrote: »

I'm moving to the US in May and I'm panicking about my choice of state. I had planned to got to California as I've been a few times and love it. But now I'm worried it may be too expensive to start out in.

I've lived in Southern California beach cities as a student for the past 4 years and its grand. If you first move out here into a cheap motel and shop around for an apartment, you can get pretty good deals, but you need a car, and it takes time and a lot of road mileage going from door to door looking. Also, I've cut my rent in half by having a roommate.

You should also cook in your apartment more than going out. Not only that, Bar-B-Qs are fun, as are weekend houseparties where your friends also bring food or drink as the price of admission.

If you plan ahead and buy things you will eventually eat or use when they are on sale, you can save hundreds of dollars at such chain markets as Albertson's or Ralphs. Although Trader Joe's does not have sales, several items are bought by them in bulk and they pass on the discount to their customers.

Now if you plan to live in a place like San Francisco, it is one of the highest cost of living cities in the nation. Plus, in the winter you will not have that warm temperate climate typical of Southern California, and will have higher heating bills too. The same can be said for Malibu in the south where many celebrities live (except its warmer year round than SF).

There are many beach cities that are very price reasonable if you are willing to sign a year lease, especially if you take in a roommate, or find someone that is looking for one who already has an apartment. One of the best places to look for roommates that already have apartments is by going to the resident life offices found at university campuses. The bulletin boards are typically full of students looking for roommates.

silja

You may find City Data useful, it has detailed profiles on each town/ city in the USA, including average, price of houses, crime data etc:
http://www.city-data.com/

Vourney

I concur that City-Data is the best website to learn about the different areas in the US.

Black Swan

Online data sources on cities are useful for narrowing down your search, but you should also stay in a motel and drive about a prospective city to:

• Get the "feel" and see if it is a fit for you?
• See if roads, buildings, and residences are well maintained or in disrepair?
• Stop by a local coffee shop and chat with residents about their city?
• Go to a happy hour in restaurant with a bar and talk about the neighborhood?
• Visit the police station and ask about the safest areas in their community?
• Look for graffiti (Generally, the greater the graffiti, the greater the crime)?
• Check out K-12 schools if you have or plan on children?
• Visit college or university campuses and chat with students about surrounding neighborhoods?
• Stop by local real estate offices to compare rental or housing prices (but not for their sales talk about how wonderful everything is...)?
• Listen to local radio, and pick up a local newspaper and scan community happenings, crime reports, and job opportunities?

Sure, this sounds like a lot of work on the front end, when selecting a place to stay, but like the old saying, "You can pay now or pay later!"

steve_

Sorry im just curios, are you planning on moving for good or just a year or what? After college id love to move to the states but im hearing its virtually impossible to live legally over there. Just wondering what your plans are, cheers

CaliforniaDream

First of all, let me apologise for not thanking anyone for the information here. It's all a great help.

I have no definite plan on how long I'll live in the US. I guess it all depends on if I get work and what it's like over there. Hopefully a year or two anyways.
I have a greencard so I'm legally allowed live and work there so I don't have to worry about anything on that side.

InTheTrees

Nice weather and coast narrows it down.

It's exactly the criteria we used when we picked Santa Cruz (n of monterey). I wanted beach and palm trees and just a little warmer than SF.

The only other choices are southern ca, the gulf coast and the south east.