Where to live??

[MatthewM]

Hello Folks,

My wife and I are moving in April. As of right now, we don't know where. I am hoping you can help. I started a thread in the "Learning to Sail" forum a while back and got some good ideas, and am hoping for more now. That thread was

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/learni...ive-learn.html

After thinking hard about what we want we have more constraints on where we would like to live. Here are our requirements.

-My wife is a elementary teacher, so a few nearby schools

-Close enough to salt water that I could easily drive, less than an hour, to a harbor and learn to sail by volunteering, working, or some other means.

-We want to be able to grow a garden.

-Four seasons every year.

-Ability to live outside a town or city of more than 10,000, less than 20 minutes away, and rent or buy a small house with at least 2 acres for less than 120,000.

-Access to hiking, climbing, and outdoor recreation in general.

-I want to be able to play 5 on 5 basketball twice a week.

We are in our mid-twenties, love the outdoors, have an Alaskan Husky, and are no strangers to travel. We have been living in Alaska doing seasonal work for five years now and want to settle down for a while.

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope we get some suggestions.

Matthew

[mobilchuckje]

Clearly, Port Townsend, WA.

Welcome to my first post,
chuck.

[Stiche]

Yea, you just spelled the Puget Sound area of Washington State. It hits every one of your criteria

With your 20 minute to an urban area rule, I'd say (in order of size) Seattle area, (Woodinville and Issaquah still have acreage), Everett area, Bellingham area, or Bremerton area. Depends on your income. Port Townsend, Anacortes, and Oak Harbor (Whidbey Island) are nice too, but not 20 minutes from a serious urban area. Best school districts for pay are going to be in the Seattle suburbs (Lake Washington, Northshore, and Redmond school districts). Everett and Snohomish (Everett area) school districts above the average too.

[Lookin4Freedom]

Being from SE Alaska, your no stranger to cloudy skies. If so, I think Cleveland fits your bill nicely. If you like snow, live in the snowbelt. You get Lake Erie for 7-8 months of sailing, and you can sail from here to florida or wherever else should you wish too via the ICW and canals or St Lawrence Seaway. There's plenty of rural areas, and a National Park literally in your backyard. The Great Lakes themselves of course have alot of good sailing in them, all without the issues of salt water.

[cwyckham]

I would have said Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island, but you nixed that with the 2 acres for 120,000 thing. Is there anywhere in the US where you can find 2 acres for 120,000 20 minutes from an urban area and withing striking distance of the ocean? You're looking at 4 times that for real estate around these parts. Other than that, we cover all your requirements except maybe four seasons. We usually only get a week or two of snow a year.

[BubbleheadMd]

Pffft...these guys are all wet. The place that meets your criteria is Annapolis, MD: A drinking town with a sailing problem.

[JohnRPollard]

From time to time we get these "where should I live/move to" threads. Usually the requirements are sailing-centric. But this is a more interesting thread with some pretty specific/unusual requirements thrown in the mix.

We've already had some good replies (I've only been there once, but I loved Port Townsend!) I was going to mention Maryland/Chesapeake, but the $120K is tricky. I'll be interested to read further suggestions.

I also wanted to say "hi" and welcome to the new members posting to this thread! Welcome aboard.

[cruisingdream]

Save yourself the destructive nature of salt water & look anywhere on Lake Michigan , Meets all your requirements & the lake can be just as much or more of a challenge than the ocean (see some of the Chicago to Mackinaw races)
Just pick a place from small town Travers city to big city Chicago to Milwaukee and more.

[bogdog]

Just pick a place from small town Travers city to big city Chicago to Milwaukee and more.
Reply With Quote
the 4 season thing is fine if you have a heated greenhouse. Don't get me wrong, I love L. Michigan! :lots of land deals in WI and MI

[mobilchuckje]

I have to admit, I was sorta ignoring the 20 min/120K/2Ac part. Since Nebraska or Iowa seem so unattractive to me.

Happy to be aboard,
chuck.