Oh the Places We Could Go

A week or so ago I mentioned that Jason and I were struggling with jobs and where to live, etc. While we are continuing to struggle with when and where to take that next step, I thought it might be fun to share some of the locales we have been (only half-seriously) considering should we decide to start over somewhere new.

Here are the top three areas that meet our general criteria of 1) having a real tech center (for Jason’s gainful employment); 2) being in or close to a state capital (for my gainful employment); and 3) having a lower cost of living than the DC area:

3. Denver, CO

Other Pros: most federal jobs outside of DC, near our friends Ryan and Katy who live in Boulder, skiing opportunities (for Jason)
Cons: too cold (for Lindsay)—it snowed there like last week and I’m not sure I can handle that much winter, we’ve heard that Denver itself is not as nice as some of the surrounding areas and we are trying not to have long commutes

2. Raleigh/Durham, NC

Other Pros: growing tech industry, lots of health care relate job opportunities, closer to family than the other options, mid-Atlantic state = not as big of a change
Cons: Playing it too safe?

1. Austin,TX

Other Pros: heard really amazing things about this city (consistently rated one of the best places to live), lots of potential job opportunities for both of us, fun place to try out, warm (for Lindsay)
Cons: Are we Texas people?

I should say that we are not really considering any of these places seriously at the moment (and we haven't even visited any of these places together to know whether we'd actually want to live there or not).  These are just the places we’ve talked about as potential options should we decide we’ve had enough of DC/Northern Virginia (and its traffic and sky-high home prices).

Where else should we be looking?