Anyone live in a small US city (sub 20k population)

[SilthDraeth]

I want to move in the next 5 years, and I would like to get some information on smaller cities.
Right now I live in the Mojave desert in southern California. I think the annual rainfall is somewhere around 4inches. I also lived out in Warner Robins Georgia, and it rained just about every week. I want something in between.

I guess the type of area/city I am looking for should have some of the following points:

* Rainfall 15-20 inches per year
* Snowfall around 20 inches per year
* Population between 5k-20k
* Relatively low cost of living, ie rent a 1200 sq ft house for aproximately $400-$500/month or less. Or buy one for around 60k.
* Broadband internet in the city is a must, ie cable, or DSL.

Thanks.

Cliffs:
I live in the desert.
I live outside the city and I have no:
internet
rain

 

[PepePeru]

northeastern oklahoma, eastern kansas, southern / western missouri
parts of tennesse / north carolina.

 

[tw1164]

Bristol VA/TN, It's best to bring your own job though

 

[TwiceOver]

That's pretty much the living around here. But then again this is South Dakota, WhoTF would intentionally want to move here.

 

[clamum]

I live in the UP of Michigan, I think the population in the city is about 13,000. Cost of living is quite cheap and there's cable Internet here, though we get definitely more than 20 inches of snow in the winter.

 

[Canun]

Originally posted by: clamum
I live in the UP of Michigan, I think the population in the city is about 13,000. Cost of living is quite cheap and there's cable Internet here, though we get definitely more than 20 inches of snow in the winter.

And a state income tax...ack!

Couple places in Texas would fit that, even possibly one of the towns about an hour outside of DFW. Possibly Granbury, Stephenville, etc.

 

[FoBoT]

Rainfall 15-20 inches per year is still pretty dry, close to desert
i think the cutoff is 10 inches/year

http://www.desertusa.com/glossary2.html

Desert: Receiving less than 10 inches of precipitation annually.

here you go, look at these rainfall maps

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/precip.html

you want to live just east of the rockies, in the rain shadow

so eastern montana, wyoming, colorado, new mexico or western texas, oklahoma, kansas , nebraska , south dakota, north dakota

if you want the snow, then just pick something more northern or higher elevation out of those

 

[waggy]

I live in Esmond IL population 300.

no jobs and about the right about of rainfall!

 

[TraumaRN]

Alot of places in Michigan fit that criteria...Grand Rapids is a good place to look if you dont want to be around Detroit, But suburban Detroit is actually a decent place to live, plenty of jobs if you are in the right field cable internet, snow in winter, rain in the summer Hell the entire western lower half of michigan is nice. On that note part of Ohio, Indiana would probably fit.

 

[nakedfrog]

Sounds quite a bit like Plattsmouth, NE. Not too far from Omaha for all the big city stuff (concerts, etc) either.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: DeathBUA
Alot of places in Michigan fit that criteria...Grand Rapids is a good place to look if you dont want to be around Detroit, But suburban Detroit is actually a decent place to live, plenty of jobs if you are in the right field cable internet, snow in winter, rain in the summer Hell the entire western lower half of michigan is nice. On that note part of Ohio, Indiana would probably fit.

The problem with that is that every person that lives in Michigan is crazy
(I lived there for about six months and have family there )

 

[SlowSpyder]

I live in SE WI (city with about 90,000 people though). Sounds a lot like around here, except because where I live is right between Milwaukee (45 min) and Chicago (~1 hour) the cost of living is higher. Lots of places in/around the midwest would probably suit you.

 

[Analog]

Are you independently wealthy, or do you need a job too?

 

[iRONic]

Take CT off any potential list you make.

 

[jackace]

north idaho or north of spokane washington in any of those small towns would meet your criteria.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Originally posted by: Analog
Are you independently wealthy, or do you need a job too?

I am actually independently poor.

 

[middlehead]

I'm not there anymore, but I'm from a city/town of 7k

* Rainfall 15-20 inches per year Never paid attention to rainfall #'s edit:Fobot's link says the area is your criteria exactly, 15-20
* Snowfall around 20 inches per year times 1700
* Population between 5k-20k 7k
* Relatively low cost of living, ie rent a 1200 sq ft house for aproximately $400-$500/month or less. Or buy one for around 60k. Buy for under 60, yes. Rental, not sure.
* Broadband internet in the city is a must, ie cable, or DSL. Qwest DSL or local cable company serviced by AT&T

 

[adairusmc]

I live in a town 12,000 people (La Grande, OR). We get plenty of rainfall, plenty of snow. My company provides DSL and wireless broadband in town. Cost of living is low, but rentals vary greatly in price.

 

[Chaotic42]

I live in a <20K town in Mississippi, and the only other thing from your list that we have is the cable internet. We get about 60" of rain per year. I used to live in Bedford, IN, and that sounds about like what you want. It's close to Bloomington, IN, which should have some jobs, but the cost of living is low.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Well I lived in central GA, and I lived in Biloxi Mississippi for 4 months. I don't want to live in around that part of the country ever again.

 

[Joemonkey]

Move to central kentucky, Danville, Lawrenceburg, Harrodsburg, Richmond, Winchester are all good

 

[amdskip]

Many places in Illinois and Iowa should take care of all of your requirements. I prefer Illinois myself having grown up there. My hometown has a 4k population and where I'm at now has a 20k population when the students return to town. Without them it is around 9-10k.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: jackace
north idaho or north of spokane washington in any of those small towns would meet your criteria.

my dad was born in Sandpoint, it likely fits the criteria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpoint,_Idaho

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,835 people, 2,873 households, and 1,680 families residing in the city. The population density was 676.7/km² (1,750.9/mi²). There were 3,188 housing units at an average density of 315.6/km² (816.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.24% White, 0.12% African American, 1.01% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.46% of the population.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Rural Virginia along the Appalachians or in the Shenandoah Valley would fit all of the criteria minus the rain part. We get probably 30 inches of rain per year.

 

[jadinolf]

Ojai, CA about 8,000 population and none of the other stuff you are looking for.