WANTED: New hometown

I think if I did a lot of traveling for a living and could live pretty much anywhere I would go off the beaten path and away from the popular destinations.

My only criteria would be close airport and good schools for my kids. For that reason I think Iowa offers a lot. Des Moines and Cedar Rapids/ Iowa City are eliminately livable and reasonably priced. I know it was never a favorite of Mike Royko so maybe it's not a writers paradise.

I mentioned it previously but I also think that the Providence area offers a lot. In past 10 years the city has gone through major changes for the better. I don't think there are many cities with a better group of restaurants.

 

athens, ga.

can't believe it's onlybeen briefly mentioned

for your schools, you'll have to live with all the other honkeys in oconee county, but, well, ugh. yeah, still. athens, ga. seriously.

 

Let me toss in a vote for Kansas City.

Some very, very good schools

Airport to anywhere.

Great nightlife.

Fairly inexpensive.

 

I'll add in a vote for the RDU area. Public and private schools are good, and all of the universities are top-notch (Well, except Shaw). Downtown Raleigh is growing and getting less scary, if you really want to be downtown. But North Raleigh, Holly Springs and even parts of Durham are extremely nice.

 

RDU is nice and you could get a really nice house in Durham for 500 grand. Schools in Durham are the worst in the metro though.

I would have recommended KC or Lawrence, Kan., but the winter might be colder than what Jones is looking for.

 

First of all, I'm not sure anywhere in the US qualifies as temperate by his standards. I live in frickin' Birmingham and we've had snow (granted mostly flurries, but still) on 4-6 seperate occasions this winter. Anywhere you go that is absolutely snow-free will likely blow your mind with summer heat/humidity.

That said, I would look hard at Savannah. Iffy schools and no clue about the airport, but everything else you wanted is right there.

 

Add Raleigh-Durham: Cary is loaded with soccer moms, should that be your thing.

 

Burlington, Vermont, or thereabouts, although it will snow in March and maybe in November, due to the lake the growing season and such is identical to Massachusetts, and also, despite being so far north, the lake makes it the warmest spot in Vermont. But rarely the ungodly heat and humidity that makes so much of the lower 48 unbearable, or in winter, instead of snow, the constant splashand slush. No traffic. Easiest airport to use in the country. Great schools in and around Burlington, and you can get a huge place for way less than $500 K. Few idiots. No traffic.

And not like the rest of America.

I abandoned elsewhere for up this way, and have zero regrets

 

If you're going to move to Vermont, move to coastal Maine. Portland/Falmouth/Cape Elizabeth are all nice.

 

I'm sure Vermont is beautiful, but be sure to enjoy your 38 days of summer.

 

He needs a good airport with non-stops that can get him to interviews with starlets in a hurry, not the Lake Champlain ferry.

 

Vermont is beautiful. It's definitely on my list.