So the work I do is 100% remote now. I moved to Southern California because of an industry that has in part moved to remote work. My only requirements are a temperate climate, nature access and hopefully a blue-ish state. Is there a place out there that makes sense financially? I’m hoping to buy a house less then 500k. I don’t need access to large cities as I honestly don’t do anything. The only requirement I can think of is access to solid internet as I stream full screen video for what I do.
I’m currently looking at Michigan and Virginia as options.
Seriously consider Scranton, PA. I live here and most houses go for well under your budget. You get all the seasons, are surrounded by state forest, and multi gigabit internet is available (thru Comcast unfortunately but other ISP’s are moving in soon). Also it’s in a county that remained blue during PA’s 2016 turn to red.
Would you say there’s any downsides to PA? Scranton seems like it may fall on the colder side yearly but not too bad
PA can be fairly cold expect snow and ice every year. It does snow in Virginia as well but I can tell you it’s on average atleast 10 degrees warmer in VA vs PA year round. (Lived in both areas). Virginia is wetter (and far more humid than CA) and has more hills since Appalachia cuts right through a lot of the western part of the state. If you don’t like the outdoors I’d suggest eastern Virginia. If you like the outdoors western Virginia is great for outdoor activity (hit or miss on things like high speed internet, research any specific towns your interested in out there.) One thing I will say is that Virginia is NOT blue. But then Scranton is probably considered the beginnings of Pennsyltucky too.
Thanks!
Scranton is a dot of blue surrounded by red…but overall the area is fairly moderate with a few crazies.
The Scranton Strangler qualifies as a downside…
I mean yes…but Scranton has made one of those safest cities in the US lists…I think like top 100
Honestly it’s a crap shoot…this past year winter was relatively mild but two years ago we had the most snow we have ever gotten since recording snowfall…summer can range from mild to Vietnam levels of heat and humidity…but the nice weather generally starts late March and ends late October…so most of the year is shorts and hoodie weather.
@FPSkra I also hear it’s the electric city; they call it that because of the electricity
@Anissem
I know this was a joke but it is actually interesting…supposedly Scranton was the first city in the US (or maybe PA) with electric street lights.