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Help needed ... The best place in the USA?

Profile picture for moving.2.usa

Hello All,

We need help deciding about the best place (for us) in the USofA. We are moving from Europe. We have to be located near major airport. We need top schools and good connection to Europe. We like outdoors. Where should we buy a house to maximize value? Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Arlington, Alexandria, Washington? Somewhere else? Looking forward to hear from you.

Thanks in advanced

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March 10 2008 - US

Replies (103)

Profile picture for BuyEqualsRent
Contributions: 1492

If you need to travel back to Europe regularly I would rule out Denver.  It's fairly far west.  Personally, I think Washington DC and New York are the two best cities on the east coast.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for krh
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If money is no matter, I would directly go to Northern Virginia/ Maryland area.  My family has lived all over the country & I would go back to that area if we could.   Education is top notch.   There are several websites that help compare weather/cost of living/ education/ etc... let us know if you are looking for such type sites.

 

What part of Europe are you in?  And, what ties are there/here?

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for JimSulli456
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I'm a little partial to Philadelphia myself.  There is alot of history here.  I think you may find that the Philadelphia Airport is not very "customer friendly".  But you will find that it tends to be a little less crowded than New York and Washington D.C.   Good luck with everything.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for tldtms
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If you like living your life in a vacation, I recommend Florida. Again if money is no object.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for MORTGAGE OPERATOR
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I recommend New Jersey..it has higher taxes but it's close to NYC and direct flights to Europe.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for Aldreth
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Jersey? eew.

 

I would go with florida :)

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for MORTGAGE OPERATOR
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FL for vacations yes..

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for klarek the realist
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If you want good schools, Loudoun County and Fairfax County are the best.  Stay outside of the beltway and away from I95, go west.  Less crime and better performing schools there.  Ashburn, VA is right next to Dulles airport and there are a lot of nice houses on large lots selling for much less than they did a few years ago.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for Coconutcream

Boston. Some of the best schools in the country in suburban Boston and direct flights to every European city without the hassle of NYC area airports. 

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for formercalifornian

I'm partial to Maryland. Beautiful country with easy access to D.C. Very diverse and welcoming. Excellent schools, especially in Howard County, which is between D.C. and Baltimore. Housing styles & sizes vary. There's something for everyone and every budget. I lived there for two years, and I would go back in a heartbeat.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for MORTGAGE OPERATOR
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MAYBE ARIZONA... it's HOT but it's Dry Heat..the indians lived there all these time without A/C...it can't be that HOT! with low home prices and property taxes....

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for JimSulli456
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I think that if you are from Europe, and are going to transition, you may want to be on one of the coasts.

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March 10 2008

I would say West Virginia. Lots of cool mountain people and looping branches on familly trees.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for JimSulli456
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LOL...don't scare them away Jarrod.

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March 10 2008

Hi fellow European! I'm in Huntsville AL.

Fo travel purpose - it really doesn't make that much difference in price unlessyou pick the west coast. I fly right out of Huntsville and it's about $200-$300 dollar difference compare to Chicago or Detroit ( for example).

Here is the cool thing about Huntsville ( and I didn't just end up here - actually picked this place). #1 Jobs - plenty! We have also BRAC going on right now - additional 20K jobs coming within next 5 years. ( base realligment) We have an army base here ( Redstone Arsenal), so gov jobs are good. But because of the gov contracts there is a lot of high tech companes here. We have the highest concentration of engineers in the country right now. NASA is here too. Plenty of rocket scientists! LOL

#2 The cost of living is low - and the taxes are low too.

#3 The real estate market is very healthy. The values of homes are actually going steadily up instead of dropping like in the majority of places.

#4 Schools are good - you can check out for example Bob Jones High ( national awards) or Grissom High

#5 Plenty to do - especially outdoors - hicking camping - check out Lake Guntersville - or you can just drive 4 hrs to the gulf of Mexico.

#6 The weather is great - gets chilly in the winter but no snow. You can look at the averages on weather.com

Lots more - let me know if you have any questions.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for moving.2.usa

Thank you all for warm welcome!

All the comments have been very helpful and I am looking forward to more!

To answer some question.
We are moving from Prague, CZ.
The airport is important not only for transatlantic flights, but also for my business trips within the country.

Money unfortunately is a matter, or to be more precise is the cost of live in comparison to quality. We are going to America to live the American dream. To work hard, to save, to have great education for our kids and to be happy. Boston, NY metro and even DC metro seem to have really high cost of live, mostly driven by housing and education cost. That is why I went looking at Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver as well as Tampa, Orland and Jacksonville. I am looking for value. There is a lot of talk about a bobble in realest.
We have so far:
one vote for Philadelphia.
NYC Metro has 1.5.
DC Metro 3 + I will definitely be able to see looping branches of North Virginia mountain people ;)
FL 3 - for vacation only?
Thanks Again!

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for Mark75NYC
Contributions: 1331

What type of employment will you be looking for? Or what type of business are you going to try to run?

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March 10 2008

Chicago area is not cheap to buy, neither is Tampa or Orlando....not sure about the rest. The Chicago area is hurting - jobs/economy ( there are still good places there but they cost$$$)

Huntsville is only 1.5hr from Nashville TN ( another good place to check out).

What business are you in?

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for moving.2.usa

I am in consulting. I will be doing a lot of traveling.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for moving.2.usa

Major airport within 1h drive is a must.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for space_acer
Contributions: 4346
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People dont move like that without a job already lined up.

 

For the cheerleaders nonsense about rich foreigners, the only ones

I see are folks that are transfersing because of jobs.

 

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for 2 Big 2 Fail
Contributions: 12450

I would try either northern New Jersey (45 minutes to Newark Airport) or Queens an outer boorugh in New York City, which is only 30 minutes away from JFK.  There are some lovely places on the west coast, but that will add an additional 6 hours to your flight. 

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March 10 2008

I lived in few places th were mentioned.

Boston - no offense - expensive. Myhusband worked in Cambridge and in order to afford a house we had to travel all the way south to Kingston/Plymouth area. Bought a 1200sqft home for $285K 5 years ago. I called it Taxechussetts. Even my stupid old truck got taxes. Anyway...left after a year - had enough of the commute.

Lived in Virginia - DC area is expensive - no buts about it - even with the value drop in the housing area -not the way to start an american dream.

Here is my advise - don't settle in a big city, but be within reasonable drive to one ( airport/fun). If you do, all you gonna work for is the mortgage - not the way to live.

 

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for moving.2.usa

Alpine, Thanks for the tip. CA is no go for me because of cost of live as well due to long transatlantic flight. Is there any reason that I should consider NY metro over Chicago?

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for moving.2.usa

Thanks Monika. This is exactly the plan as you see. I am trying to finding such a place. I spoke with someone recently that pointed out that there is only handful of airports that I should consider: NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, SFO and LAX. I am not sure if that is true.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for formercalifornian

Do you have a list of cities that you will visit often with your job? Then, you can investigate which airports are hubs and would offer the most affordable and direct flights. From there, you can look for specific areas that meet your other needs.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for wrstandi
Contributions: 64

If you don't need to be in a 'major' US city, might I suggest Charlotte, NC?  The Charlotte airport is in the top 10, in terms of flights, and houses US Airways.  There are daily flights to most of Europe out of Charlotte.  You'll get the most house for your money of any of the cities you've mentioned.   I would say Charlotte has most everything you can find in a city that isn't New York, Chicago, or LA.  My family lives there and we love it.

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March 10 2008
Profile picture for JimSulli456
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March 10 2008
Profile picture for plarusa
Contributions: 861
This may be too far for you, but let me suggest Irvine CA. Located 45 minutes south of LA, this city is a hot bed for high tech jobs, and has easy access to the beach. The public school district is second to none, and the environment is perfect for raising a family. OC airport is minutes away, with LAX less than one hour away. I highly recommend the area.

Downside for some, heavily conservative.
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March 10 2008
Profile picture for 2 Big 2 Fail
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I am not sure of what advantages NYC offers over Chicago as I have never been to Chicago before.  But I was born and raised in NYC so I am biased...  For airports, the ones that offer the most flights to Europe would be JFK, Newark, Logan (Boston), and O'Hare (Chicago). 

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March 10 2008

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