Frugal Village Forums banner

I'm thinking about relocating back to the Midwest...any suggestions?

6K views 23 replies 18 participants last post by  artist 
#1 ·
I grew up in Wisconsin and Illinois, but I've lived in Texas for the last quarter century.

Lately, I've felt this tug to move back to the Midwest. I miss the change of seasons, but I don't think I could hack long winters.

My job lets me live anywhere, so as long as there's an internet connection, I'm in business.

Any recommendations? I've felt pretty comfortable in places like Lincoln, Nebraska and Wichita. Wouldn't want any big metropolitan areas...any good mid-size towns? Topeka? Sioux City? Jefferson City?
 
#2 ·
Jefferson City is a nice location. It has decent internet depending where you are in town. Columbia is 1/2 hour away if you need something you can't get in town.

The winters aren't particularly long. They do get some snow and an ice storm every few years, but the snow melts off between storms. It doesn't stay below freezing for weeks or months.

Fall color can be outstanding. The summers can be really hot and humid, but if you have been living in TX, you are probably used to it. I lived in Houston as a kid. The summers there were hotter and more humid than in the mid-MO area.
 
#4 ·
Stay in Tx... the winters bite and will add a considerable amount of costs to your budget.
Hey... how about the Carolinas? that's a perfect place to live.. super mild winters.. and not too hot summers.

If I could live anywhere.... that's where I would be. But don't take advice from this woman... I've never left the eastern coast board in my life. I'm scared to cross time zones.

Cheers
 
#9 ·
Omaha is a possibility. We get top name performers here ( music and comedy), the zoo is excellent, we have the Storm Chasers ( minor league team of K.C. Royals), we're less than an hour from Lincoln if you want to go to a Husker Football game. We do get snow but it is almost always easy to deal with, there has only been one winter in my 27 years of living here that was bad. Medical care and shopping are good. Plus...I'm here!
 
#10 ·
Topeka gets CRAZY bad weather...as does Wichita....also the Wichita economy as a whole has suffered after losing Boeing...I would not live either of those places.
 
#12 ·
If you can work anywhere, I assume you have the same salary anywhere.

You could factor in the cost of living in certain places. You know more for your money. One place you might get more house for your money. That sort of thing.
 
#13 ·
I moved to Iowa out of necessity and would not recommend it at all. Too cold, long winters, high cost of living..... I moved from MO and would go back in a heartbeat. The middle corridor is nice: from St. Louis through Columbia and to KC. I lived on the St Louis side, but outside the metro area. It was wonderful. We were an hour out of the city, so we had small town living with big city amenities nearby. Jeff City and Columbia are good places, and Springfield is awesome. Our cost of living in MO was low and our salaries were quite decent. We experienced all four seasons, but winter came later and spring came earlier. Try staying a week or so in different places and see what you think!
 
#14 ·
Michigan is cheap to live in and if you can work from home even cheaper. But you cant be a winter wimp. We have beautiful fall esp. in the U.P. (internet would be spotty in some places but Marquette is so internet friendly the Pres. went up to check it out. Although super snowy.
Better to stay in Nebraska or something.
 
#16 ·
I live in Indiana.I get sick of the winters but I grew up in this little town (900 people) and I wouldn't live anywhere else honestly. I have lived other places in the past but nothing could compare to the people of the Midwest. The kindness that just comes natural to them is just so great. Walk down the street and people say hi even if they don't know you. In the summer you can go into our post office and find produce that has overrun their garden in a box marked "free" its like living in Mayberry all the time. :)
 
#17 ·
I hope no one minds too much if I piggy back on this. I have a similar situation though I would not be moving till retirement.

I feel very drawn to the Midwest, but the weather is a potential concern.

Can you build up a resistance to cold weather after a year or two?

I grew up in a part of the US with cold winters and mild summers. For quite a while now I have lived in a place that has hot summers and mild winters. I have learned to tolerate hot summers. However, I am not as good at handling cold anymore.
 
#18 ·
We have central heating and indoor plumbing in the midwest now, so I don't think you'll be too uncomfortable. :) Our summers are hot and muggy, and our winters are cold and snowy, but we don't get so much snow it can't be shoveled like places up north. Probably here the weather is not much different than where you are now, maybe it just comes on slightly different dates for different lengths of time.
 
#19 ·
The scientific answer is no, people don't acclimate to cold weather. The real world answer is yes, we do. Thirty degrees in October feels a lot different than 30 in February. And if you're retired, you usually have the option to stay home if the weather isn't amenable.
 
#20 ·
Thank you. Sometimes I need a little reassurance that this is not a completely crazy idea. I am weighing the idea of not going outside when it is bad weather v. the idea that I might not leave the house at all for a month or two during winter. But I suppose that would not be too bad.

I mentioned this before on other posts, but my ideal is to have a condo or apartment downtown with an art museum that I could walk to. In other words, where I go someplace with only having to be outside maybe 10 minutes or so. During nice weather, I would take longer walks though.

It is hard to put in words, but the places I have been to in the Midwest just have a kind of vibe or feeling that makes me feel comfortable. But more than that, they feel like "home" in a way that my actual home town, and my current hometown do not. Like it is where I belong.
 
#21 ·
I think that's an important feeling, Kathy. It's hard to live where you don't feel comfortable. We're relying a lot on how a town makes us feel quite soon after we arrive for a visit. If it turns us off right away, it usually does not get better. We've tried hard to like certain places, but it never works.

It sounds like you would be most comfortable in a small metro area. Even cities of 100k or so often have active arts communities. I'm most familiar with Duluth because our news coverage comes from there. Off the top of my head, they have a professional ballet, symphony, travelling shows and art exhibits of all sorts at the DECC, annual blues festival, Grandma's marathon, Beargrease sled dog marathon, tall ships at times, different types of museums, semi-pro baseball, state university with all the usual amenities, excellent medical care, metro bus service as well as taxis, airport, lots of shopping, etc. Crime is relatively low and you can walk around downtown without feeling afraid. I don't know all the details about what each amenity offers, but that's what tourism info and relocation packages are for. Those are usually free and can be had on various city websites. If you want to get an idea what the DECC (pronounced deck) has to offer, check their site to get an idea of the type of things they offer and whether it would meet your needs and standards. It's the biggest and best known venue in Duluth. Other cities of similar size such as Omaha, Sioux Falls, and other small midwest cities probably would offer similar amenities.

Research is half the fun for me when it comes to travel or relocation. The most frustrating part is I love where I live, and nothing is perfect. Cost of moving is another consideration, since we have a lot of stuff and don't really want to get rid of much. Eventually we might figure it all out.
 
#22 ·
Having lived in big cities on the east coast before moving here I can agree with your observation. Midwest cities are a lot more spread out, buildings are shorter, there's more space between them, more open areas, trees and green space. People are more relaxed, more open with strangers, more casual.

We have a lovely downtown arts district with museums, a couple of concert halls, etc. Bus lines run through the area. It is an area undergoing renewal. A friend of mine buys old houses and renovates them to rent or sell, as a side business. There's another area that was formerly commercial and light industrial that has become a trendy place for art galleries, vegetarian restaurants, hipster bars, tattoo parlors, etc. We used to go to a pizza place down there, but it is so popular now you can't find parking.
 
#23 ·
The spread out bit might be part of what gives the city a certain feeling. Or put another way, population density might be more of a factor than population. Around 10 years ago I went to Atlanta. Even though the population of Atalanta is very large, it felt like a mid sized city because it is a very spread out city.

Downtown DC has lots of things to like, beautiful and interesting buildings, small parks and gardens, the tidal basin, trees, a large grassy area called the mall, statues, fountains, a carousel. It is a really pretty downtown. It has all these things I like, but it does not give me that same feel that I have from some of the other places I have visited.

But I think the people may be a factor as well. People are more laid back and friendly.

I tend to lean more toward the "decisions must be made with logical reasoning" side. So it is harder for me to give valid weight to feelings. Especially when it is hard for me to say exactly why I feel that way.

I have read a theory that we make all decisions based on emotions, but then come up with logical reasons why we made the decisions. I think that is what is going on with me. I visit a city that "feels good" to me. Then I come up with good points for the city: city attractions, lower cost of living, local festivals or events, etc.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top