Affordable wholesome communities for families

[freeazabird]

What cities (they can be anywhere) give a good bang for your buck for families? I'm looking for areas with low crime and decent to good public schools, where I can get a house for under $300k. Added bonuses are public transportation, scenic, nice parks, and good food.

[CheapScholar]

Michiana (Northern IN and Southwestern MI) has very affordable housing with great public schools.  Pretty good community.  Public trans is iffy.  There's good family parks in the towns, and the dunes of Lake Michigan are quite nice in the summer.

I bought my home for 160K - blue ribbon schools and it's still the kind of place you can leave your doors unlocked.

[Giro]

I think in just about any location you can find what you are looking for. 

What are some other criteria?  Specifically weather.  That's probably going to narrow it down to certain areas of the country. 

[CowboyAndIndian]

I think in just about any location you can find what you are looking for. 

What are some other criteria?  Specifically weather.  That's probably going to narrow it down to certain areas of the country.

+1

Tell us more about your requirements

• weather requirements
• Do you need to be close/far-away from family
• Political leanings of your new neighbor (liberal/conservative)
• Type of job (unless this is for FIRE)
• Rural/Suburb/Urban
• Close to ocean? Close to mountains?
• Do you want to rent or buy?

There were some topics on Mustachian locations. Do a google search on the forums and you may find it (the forum search is not so good, much better using google to search the forum).

Here are some I found on the Post-FIRE section
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/firement-communities/
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/dream-fire-locale-fresh-air-times-square/
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/where-do-you-live-post-fire/

[Kansas Beachbum]

I can highly recommend Olathe, KS.  Olathe is a suburb on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro area.  KC is a lower COL area anyway, and Olathe has great housing prices...def under $300K, and the best schools in Kansas.  KC metro has a very diverse economy, not dependent on any one employer, so if one big employer tanks it doesn't take the whole city down.  Have lived in this area since 1983.  Great place to raise a family.  Kansas City is not NY/LA, obviously, but most people here like it that way...plus, it's big enough (~2M metro area) to have professional / college sports, theater, opera, concerts, great shopping, etc. 

[freeazabird]

Here is some additional info:

1. No weather requirements
2. We have family in MI, IL, and WI. I would be nice to be in Midwest, but not a must
4. We prefer urban, but it appears impossible to find safety and good public schools for under $300k, so we feel forced to explore suburbs. Even thought $300k is max, we'd like to spend less.
5. We want to rent for a year after checking out the area, then buy if we like it
6. We like communities that are ethnically diverse and not too conservative
7. We work remote so can live anywhere

[CowboyAndIndian]

Here is some additional info:

1. No weather requirements
2. We have family in MI, IL, and WI. I would be nice to be in Midwest, but not a must
4. We prefer urban, but it appears impossible to find safety and good public schools for under $300k, so we feel forced to explore suburbs. Even thought $300k is max, we'd like to spend less.
5. We want to rent for a year after checking out the area, then buy if we like it
6. We like communities that are ethnically diverse and not too conservative
7. We work remote so can live anywhere

I do not know anything about the Midwest, having lived on the east coast all the time.

That being said, I would narrow down the list to College towns which would get you ethnically diverse and urban.

[scantee]

How about Minneapolis/St. Paul? It meets most of your requirements, the only iffy one is finding a neighborhood with good schools and houses under $300k. Minneapolis has some pretty great schools but they tend to be in nicer neighborhoods and the housing prices are higher. However, you should be able to find something in Southwest Minneapolis for less than $300k. Check out the Kenny, Armatage, and Fulton neighborhoods.

If that doesn't work, there are some nice first ring suburbs with good schools and reasonable housing prices: St. Anthony/New Brighton, St. Louis Park, and Golden Valley are good ones ones to start with.

[Cranky]

Loads of places in NE Ohio fit those specs, though the "high diversity" areas tend to have worse schools, and the "good school" areas tend to be more conservative.

My neighborhood is pleasant, working class, safe. The schools were decent enough that I sent my kids there, and they've done well. You'd be hard pressed to spend $100,000 for a house on my street, but they are smaller, older houses.

[aceyou]

Is Holland Michigan is a consideration then?  You can get a nice urban home for far less than 300k in good schools.  It's a city of 40k though, is that big enough?  There is diversity, two Aldi's for rock bottom food prices, a decent downtown, great schools, decent restaurants, and you are right by Lake Michigan.  You are 40 minutes from Grand Rapids when you want a midsized sity feel, and 3 hours from Chicago or Detroit if you want a weekend trip.  You could do worse.  The low cost of living, schools, and proximity to the lake easily make up for the fact that the downtown and restaurants are slightly less cool than a larger city like Grand Rapids. 

[Milizard]

Holland is super conservative, though.  I'd suggest GR (a bit more diverse, still conservative but less so), but the schools/safe neighborhoods seem to go with the suburbs. My own area fits the bill for the most part, but doesn't have much of a city core. 

[Socmonkey]

Worcester, MA

[CowboyAndIndian]

Worcester, MA

+1

Great colleges: 11 the last time I checked including my alma-mater WPI.

Close to Boston (1 hour). Small enough but just big enough.

[HenryDavid]

Canada.

[freeazabird]

Any specific cities in Canada?

[StarBright]

Loads of places in NE Ohio fit those specs, though the "high diversity" areas tend to have worse schools, and the "good school" areas tend to be more conservative.

My neighborhood is pleasant, working class, safe. The schools were decent enough that I sent my kids there, and they've done well. You'd be hard pressed to spend $100,000 for a house on my street, but they are smaller, older houses.

NW Ohio fits specs too :) I moved to Ohio last year and am surprised by how much I like it. We found lots of smallish towns along the rivers and Lake Erie that are really conducive to walking and biking. Our town is almost 50-50 split liberal/conservative. Schools are solid (top 50 in the state) but not as diverse as I would like (having moved from the Triangle in NC).  There are also a couple of large universities nearby so there is a decent arts scene (though Cleveland's is better). We bought our awesome house for well under 300k and we are within walking distance of almost everything we need.

I am a huge fan of rustbelt cities and I think Detroit/Toledo/Cleveland are on their way back in the next 15 years.

[I'm a red panda]

Check out Iowa City area. Great place to live.

[HenryDavid]

As for specific cities in Canada I'd say look into medium sized cities an hour or two from Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver etc. The really big cities are all HCOL.
Saskatchewan, the province, is reputed to be all what farms and icy winters, but the city of Saskatoon has a great rep as a civilized, affordable place. Same for Winnipeg.
The eastern provinces, north of Maine, are cheap but they say outsiders take a long time to feel at home.
Canada's winters are not that bad--get a good coat, join a curling club, ski. It's awesome. Always lots of nature close to your doorstep. Just be sure you're not In a flood or forest fire zone (like Fort McMurray).

[Gunny]

Huntsville, Alabama.  Great jobs, friendly people, very nice homes for 225-250, and Madison County Schools are tops.  Low COL and only 90 minutes from Nashville, three hours from Atlanta. 

[Katrina]

Marquette, Michigan.  Located on the south shores of Lake Superior.  Beautiful sand beaches, rugged remote wilderness as soon as you leave the City limits.  Housing is very affordable.  A nice house on the east side will run $300,000 but you can find nice houses away from the lake for less than $200,000.  It is a very walkable/bikeable town with a compact downtown, a gorgeous library, a great farmers market and over 15 miles of paved bike path that will get you pretty much anywhere in town.

There is public transportation (Marqtran) that will get you around in and out of town, but unless youŕe heading out town, itś not really necessary.  We have four drivers in our family and one car.

Itś a four season area for sure.  Winters are snowy with lake effect snow blanketing the area.  In February the City closes the downtown and fills the main street with snow for the start of a 200 mile sled dog race that is a qualifier for the ididarod.  There are miles of groomed cross country ski trails including a mile of groomed ski trail in the woods in the center of town that is lit at night.  Snow bikes are popular and trails are groomed specifically for snow biking  In the spring/summer/fall there are over 70 miles of single track mountain biking that start right from the edge of town.  Ski trails and mountain bike. trails are maintained by a very active ski and biking group.  There is also a ski hill just 5 minutes out of town.

There is a large park on the lake (Mattson Park) that hosts a number of festivals that seem to be every couple weekends.  The downtown area has many great restaurant and microbreweries.  Marquette also has an active arts and culture community.

The public schools are very good.  The elementary schools are great, the middle school building so-so, and the high school very good.  The teachers are  great.  Marquette is a university town with Northern Michigan University.  It is a politically liberal area, particularly the east side. 

If you have relatives in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, Marquette is 3 hours to the Mackinac Bridge, 3 hours to Green Bay, 5 hours to Milwaukee, 6 hours to Madison, and 6 hours to the WI/IL state line south of Milwaukee.

Hope this helps.

[wenchsenior]

It's been about about 15 years since I lived there, but a lot of the St. Paul MN bedroom communities fit your criteria.

[StarBright]

Wow- Katrina - this isn't my thread but now I want to move to Marquette! That town sounds wonderful.

[MMM98]

I think the best way to answer the OP is to find out the minimum population required in the MSA (metro Statistical Area).  Marquette is around 21K for example.  Hardly ‘Urban’ by any definition.  For that region of the country it is ‘urban’ but not by any generally accepted standards.

BTW I lived there for 5 years, the winters are brutal and isolating.  Further Michigan is not known for low taxation.  All in I’d place Michigan close to the top quintile in terms of tax burden.  AT 93.6% white (Marquette county) it certainly does not qualify as ethnically diverse.  The stats for Holland MI are not dramatically different either.

I may have spent more time on this earth than some on this board. I offer this: I would not consider a home during my working years with a MSA of less than 300K.  Than number usually brings multiple 4 year colleges, resources to support good public schools, access to a good airport and healthcare.

I would consider Nashville, TN or Huntsville, AL.  Nashville has some great infrastructure and diversity while Huntsville has a strong tech influence, as it is home to NASA and the nations second largest Tech park.