Interesting that California didn’t get anywhere on the list. We make up a good percentage of the west coast.
Hmmm. That’s a harsher characterization of Hartford than it deserves. Yeah, you don’t want to live in the city itself, but realistically, the city center is very small. A few blocks across at most. Easy to get out of with good access to the highways.
Not a bedroom community for NYC to any noticeable degree. If you’re going to commute two hours to NYC, you’re not going to pick Hartford to come back home to. Mostly, the surrounding burbs are a bedroom community for Hartford, mostly feeding the insurance industry (which as far as I can tell, is in Hartford because it’s always been in Hartford).
Wonder if Jodi is thinking of Bridgeport instead of Hartford. All those terms would apply to Bridgeport.
Actually, New Haven has a much shadier reputation than Hartford.
Enough, apparently. When you leave can I have your job???
Where’s the love for the Bay Area? We have every kind of food on the planet, museums, playhouses, shopping, funky neighborhoods, upscale neighborhoods, the birthplace of mountain biking (Mt. Tamalpais), various and sundry geekery, mild weather, and you can get to some awesome natural scenery in a day or less (Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Muir Woods - hell, just drive up and down the coast).
On the downside, housing is ridiculously expensive and traffic is a nightmare, although if you live and work near BART it’s not so bad.
Yes, she is, now that you’ve jogged her memory and she’s bothered to consult a map. 
We are actually in the process of hiring an atty, and were asked for recommendations.
Sorry I didn’t drop you a line. Would you have been interested?
You want me to let you know if anything opens up in the future?
There were a whole bunch of CA options. Initially I proposed a much longer list, including Tucson, Albuquerqe, and CA towns including Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Bernadino, San Diego, San Fran, San Jose, and Santa Barbara, but my wife nixed the first 2 and simply said “I don’t want to live in CA.”
Hell - I even tossed out the possibility of Puerto Rico, but she said “No.”
Check your PM, por favor.
If you don’t care about an active nightlife, Hartford is a good choice. It has terrible public transportation but even in rush hour, barring an accident, it probably doesn’t take much more than 10 or 15 minutes to get from East Hartford through the city to West Hartford. Simsbury and Avon are great communities with terrific schools but a godawful commute into Hartford. Same with Farmington except their property taxes are super low. West Hartford has a great commute and a revitalized center–lots of shops and restaurants.
Also, Hartford is 2 hours to NYC, 2 hours to Boston, 2 hours to great skiing, and a little over an hour to the Rhode Island beaches. Sorry, Phlosphr but I need surf. 
Hey, I’m 15 minutes from Misquamicut and 20 from Charlestown beach. I need some surf too! Also, the loling waves of Long Island sound are boring, but a quick 15 minute boat ride north to RI beaches and it’s open ocean baby!
Oh yeah, definitely!!! I keep my IL license active, too. I’ll even do HR…well, I’d prefer not to, actually. I like being part of the bargaining unit.
Best of luck in your search and feel free to email anytime if you decide on Boston. I grew up in the exact neighbourhood you are looking to purchase in and my parents still live there (5 minutes away from Kimball Farms).
I don’t know if it’s an option to you, but if it is I’d add Burlington, VT to the list. Other than crappy weather, it’s the right size (small city) and type (very very liberal). Pretty setting, too.
Nope. Nothing in VT.
And even tho I can stand crappy weather, my preference would be to not move a foot further north than I currently am…
I’ll take a crack at White Plains, NY. White Plains is in the middle of Westchester County, which is the county immediately north of the Bronx. Westchester is, generally, one of the most expensive suburban counties in the country, with a great number of high end professionals and executives commuting from there into Manhattan.
Westchester in general, and White Plains in specific, is developing into a minor commercial center with businesses that have relocated out of New York, to an extent because of those same professionals and executives wanting to work closer to where they live. White Plains has a downtown with several largeish office buildings and numerous smaller commercial properties. There is frequent commuter rail service to Manhattan and also to points north.
Much of Westchester is beautiful, but it is firmly within the suburban orbit of New York City.
Did she give any actual reasons? List them so we can shoot them down. 
I think she said something about not living in the same state as that sturmhauke guy…
If my nephews or nieces ever ask my opinion, I’m telling them to move to Portland. It’s got really exciting neighborhoods, a terrific public transportation system and what I consider very affordable housing.
Of course, it is a very liberal city in a libertarian state, so if that rubs you wrong, I wouldn’t move there. It is overrun with unwashed hippies riding their damn bicycles anytime it gets remotely sunny.
If you like micro-brewed beer and strip clubs where you can get a fantastic meal for $5, then this is the town for you. There are beautiful rivers, funky little outlying towns, majestic mountains, the world’s biggest bookstore, fantastic bars, and close proximity to some of the most beautiful coastline you’ll see anywhere.
It’s cosmopolitan and you can get killer Vietnamese food (I assume almost any other cuisine, also). I’m sorry Portlanders, I know you are trying to keep people from moving to your town, but you can’t hide the fact that you got it all going on.
On the negative side, you’ve got the Trailblazers.
Yeah, you can’t trust that dude.
I grew up in Virginia, went to grad school in Charlottesville and own a house in DC.
Northern Virginia is mostly sprawl, traffic and more sprawl, lots of traffic, lots and lots of traffic.
Charlottesville is a typical college town, UVA (as an alum) is a bit of a party school and that can old.
Washington DC has the problems a lot of cities have, it is expensive to buy, and the school system is well below standard. BUT, it has everthing the greatest network of museums in the world, all free, theater, restaraunts, nightlife. A lot of people say DC lacks character, but then when you talk to them you often find they live in the burbs around DC. DC proper is a nice mix of city but with a small town neighborhood feel in a lot of communities. It is the only place I’d live in the states.
Excuse me, but Baltimore is NOT a shithole. It’s a great place to live. Despite it’s reputation and murder rate, it’s not even especially dangerous if you’re not a drug dealer.
Update:
The job posting was to remain open for 2 weeks, or until midnight the day they received 1250 applications.
It closed on Wednesday - took only 6 days to hit 1250.
Now I wait.
I’ll keep you posted on any developments.
Thanks again for all the info.