Sick of hurricanes... Where should I move?

Pretty simple question. I am tired of dealing with these stupid hurricanes, although I still think we have it better than California. Who wants wildfires, and mudslides and earthquakes? At least I can see a hurricane coming and prepare. I am just sick of them.

My family lived with me for a month during Katrina, and now I am living at my in-laws' because Gustav ripped down a lot of power lines near my home and I might not have power for another 20 days or so. I also hate having to leave my home and wait to find out if it's going to be there when I get back. It SUCKS.

I am looking for a city, preferably in the Southwest or in an Atlantic state or New England, although I don't want to be too close to the Atlantic because of the hurricanes. I want to be near mountains, because it seems that the more mountainous the region, the less there are tornadoes.

I want to live somewhere kind of new-agey, with farmer's markets and a kind of low crime rate (although I am from New Orleans, so almost anything is an improvement), with good public schools and also private schools available. I need a city with a lot going on (again, from New Orleans!) like live music and festivals. I would like an area where a lot of the people have Libertarian leanings.

I also am looking for someplace where the people are into conscious living, and are pretty tolerant of others' beliefs. For example, I currently live in Baton Rouge, and in a nearby city several years ago a lady who owned a Wiccan bookstore was harassed by several (un-Christlike) Christian fundamentalists, who even got the city council to pass an ordinance making pagan type bookstores illegal. I believe the ACLU stepped in and that she is being left alone now.

I am not a pagan, or a Wiccan, and I was raised Catholic, but I just like to do my own thing and I think everyone else should be able to do theirs, so long as nobody is getting hurt. I'd like to live somewhere where nobody would bat an eye about that lady's bookstore, or about the Catholic church down the street, or the synagogue downtown.

Does someplace like this exist?

I am currently researching Sedona, Arizona, Austin, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina. Mind you, I will need to take the Bar Exam for whatever state I move to, and my husband will need to get a nursing license there. We don't care about that though. We just want to have children somewhere where they don't have to evacuate, and they grow up in a healthy, safe, conscious, tolerant environment (beyond our own home).

Thanks for any suggestions!

Disclaimer: I am not trying to offend anyone's lifestyle, religion, city or political leanings with anything I have posted. However, moving to a different state and city is a huge deal, and I want to be very clear about my own personal desires about what I am looking for. Just being honest, and looking for honest ideas.

[edit on 10-9-2008 by TheHypnoToad]

[edit on 10-9-2008 by TheHypnoToad]

i seems the only place without tornados, floods, hurricanes or earthquakes would be in the southwest. Las Vegas seems like an area that is safe from the aforementioned, however the heat can be just as deadly.

Remember, where there are mountains, there can be earthquakes.

If I might make a humble biased suggestion, I say Colorado.

Boulder is a nice town that would hold all the prerequisite qualities of an open minded place you are looking for.

Good luck in your search, I hope you find a safe place to call home

I have honestly been considering moving to Fort Collins Colorado. No bad weather. Good cost of living, population is only about 200,000...

Is anyone from Fort Collins?

reply to post by Perfectenemy05


I LOVE Ft. Collins CO. It was a great town to hang out in. Great things to do there as well.

Awesome! Two suggestions that are definitely in line with what I have been thinking:

Originally posted by scientist
i seems the only place without tornados, floods, hurricanes or earthquakes would be in the southwest. Las Vegas seems like an area that is safe from the aforementioned, however the heat can be just as deadly.

Remember, where there are mountains, there can be earthquakes.

I have actually been thinking about Las Vegas. I enjoyed visiting two years ago, but it was so cold that I didn't leave the hotel too much. I like that you can take your drinks "to go" there. In New Orleans it's always okay, but even in Baton Rouge people just look at me like I'm from another planet... Unless, of course, they are also from New Orleans.

Originally posted by whatukno
If I might make a humble biased suggestion, I say Colorado.

Boulder is a nice town that would hold all the prerequisite qualities of an open minded place you are looking for.

Good luck in your search, I hope you find a safe place to call home

Boulder is another one that my husband and I have talked about.

I guess that I am at least researching the right cities for the qualities I am seeking. Hooray! If only I could move now... I just found out that some time in the past few days my house sprung a hurricane-related leak, and now my entire bed is soaking wet and the wood floor in my bedroom is shot to hell. And my husband reports that the house smells like mold and doody. Nice. Can't wait to take the FEMA inspector through there as part of the requirements for federal assistance. Ugh!!!!

At least us and our girls (the kitties and doggies) made it through the storm. Now if we can just get out of that damn house and into one of these lovely new cities. When I do that... ATS housewarming party at The HypnoToad's place!!!!

[edit on 10-9-2008 by TheHypnoToad]

Vermont might be good for you, too. Far enough away from the ocean, beautiful mountains, and as far as I've heard pretty tolerant and independent in lifestyle.

A good place to start looking is City Data