Try this. It takes a little time to complete.
I second Asheville. I moved here in August and I love it! You can’t beat the music scene. Lots of festivals in the most beautiful setting. There’s also a lot of free shows and downtown street festivals.
The restaurants in downtown are fantastic! Not a chain to be seen. Everything is local and mostly organic.
I wouldn’t move here for a minimum wage job because they’re pretty hard to come by, but in the medical field you will be set. I’m an xray tech and I found a job that I absolutely love. There’s hospitals and clinics all over the place. Even if you don’t get something in Asheville itself, the surrounding areas are just as good if not better. Hendersonville, Fletcher, Black Mountain, Brevard, and Clyde are all excellent. None of those are more than 30 or 45 minutes from Asheville. They’re all smaller than Asheville, some of the alot smaller but I wouldn’t mind living in any of them.
There’s a ski resort 30-45 minutes away if that’s your thing, and hot springs about the same distance. There’s PLENTY of national parks for hiking and camping. Pisgah Nat’l Forest, Smokey Mountain Nat’l Park, etc. Lots of rivers for kayaking, canoeing, and if you don’t mind driving an hour, two at most there’s some great white water rafting.
Musically there’s just about anything you want, but there’s LOTS of bluegrass. Alot of really great local bands to check out too. I’m a single mom so I haven’t gotten to check out the bar scene, but I’m sure it’s good. With venues like the Orange Peel, Stella Blues, The Civic Center, and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium we get just about anybody you want. You’re not too far from Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro and we all know certain bands like to start tours in NC. Plus you can’t beat the southern hospitality vibe 
Housing can go either way. When I moved here, there were almost no 2 bedroom houses for under 1000, but 2 months later there were a plethora around 850. I never checked into apartments or duplexes, but i’m sure you can find them for cheaper. It just depends on what kinda place you’re looking for. West Asheville is the younger professionals and families and you can get an older house for 800 or a duplex for less. All the dreadies and hippies live right on the outskirts of downtown on the north side of town. The houses are pretty run down there but I’m guessing you can get one on the cheap. You can find everything from brand new construction and apartments to some really neat older homes. I went to this really cool older house once complete with old an old school bathroom where the handle to flush the toilet hung down from the ceiling. Something nobody told me is that most of the older houses use heating oil and that can be EXPENSIVE. Nobody will refill less than 100 gallons and the price per gallon is pretty much equal with the price of gasoline. Depending on how you run your heat, 100 gallons lasts you about a month. I use space heaters while sleeping and don’t run it during the day, so mine’s lasted 2 months so far but I know a fill up is soon. I’m thinking about buying a townhouse when my lease is up here to get away from the expense of using heating oil, but if you have roommates to share the expense, which I don’t, it wouldn’t be that bad.
Just do your research and figure out exactly what you want in a town. I dare you to find one better than Asheville though
^ Hendersonville and Brevard all showed up on the list of recommended towns based upon my preferences in findyourspot.com. I really love that area.
^So come on down, Bill. We’d be honored to have ya!!!
^Have to convince my kids to move down as well, otherwise Marie won’t hear of it.
Just stay out of New York State. In a couple years, no one will be able to afford to live here.
If you can get past all the bad jokes and punchlines New Jersey is actually teaming with pharmaceutical companies, especially along the northeast corridor between Philly/DC and New York. Several of my friends, right out of school, got jobs in labs around the Princeton/West Windsor/New Brunswick area, just northeast of Trenton.
I live in central NJ and am 40 minutes from Philly, 70 minutes from the Five Borrows (NYC). There’s Mexicali Grill in Teaneck, McCarter Theatre in Princeton, the Keswick in Glenside PA, not to mention all the great clubs and halls in Philly and New York; a nice cross-section of guys and gals and great beer taboot; the Delaware Water Gap (Appalachian Trail through PA->NJ), High Point (AT through northern NJ) and Bear Mountain (AT through NJ->NY); skiing in the Poconos less than a 2 hour drive; and we are right near da beach, Boy-eeee!
I could go on and on, New Jersey isn’t really that bad, if anything it’s a little fast-paced, but there is more than enough to slow a person down…
If I may, I would like to quote the great philosopher, Ferris Bueller, who once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you just might miss it.”
Zurich
Murfreesboro,TN
It’s pretty cool, kinda central to the South and not too far from some good northern areas…the weather is usually pretty good…although summertime months can sometimes be a little humid.
Where are you, in the Hamilton/Bordentown area or south of there? We should get together with Olfactory since he’s nearby as well. I’m in the southeast corner of Howell, about 6 miles from the beach at Pt. Pleasant.
Did anyone forget to mention, forget to mention Memphis?
Also sorry…
Thanks for the suggestions phans. I will definitely check out that website Fone.
Actually, I grew up in Hamilton and Trenton, and now live in Bordentown. I tried to hook up with Olfactory at Trey in Philly back in October, but I wasn’t cool enough I guess…I even pm’d him about going hiking at Wharton but he didn’t even open the mail…
:
I don’t visit the shore much, but I would like to hang out and get down with some no good 'Pa…who’s got good beer in Howell? Where’s there good hiking off of 195?
i’d recommend asheville too. i’ve only been there a couple of times but it’s got a cool vibe to it. downtown has a lot of cool places to eat, record stores and all kinds of other fun stuff.
i have a friend who lives in hendersonville nc and she likes it there. if you like mountain college towns boone nc is pretty neat as well.
charleston sc has nice weather and beaches and the winter is very tolerable.
i’m going to school in burlington, vt and it’s siiick. there’s a solid music theme and culture, but it is awefulllllly cold!
Burlington is obviously the epitome of hetty
I’m not so sure about that website findyourspot.com Fone. I took that quiz, and the first city listed for my results was Little Rock, Arkansas. Then again, I’ve never been to Arkansas. Maybe Arkansas is sweet.
Baltimore
I discounted some of the locations it found, but a lot of them seemed pretty reasonable.
Man, hit up MN we always rank in the top for many areas… Check it, GREAT local music scene, top 5-10 by most accounts in the US…