How do I decide where to move if at all?

Tens of millions of people live in the Northeast and they do just fine. If you like it better there, I say go there.

@itsnotanoption: Check out the weather today and tonight in a part of the NE that interests you. Factor in cost of heavy clothing, heat for house or apartment, snow plowing bills, face cream, and the fact that here (12037) it will be minus 16˚ tonight.

Then add all the other costs and balance out with the contentment factor. I love living here and therefore don’t mind sitting at my computer while wearing a hat.

@gailcalled ; But the glove-wearing thing at the keyboard is a bitch.

@JilltheTooth: Just cut off the fingers.

Such a bloody mess

Oops

I’m guessing you are not talking about Newcastle.

If you’re worried about the cost, try checking some Cost of Living comparison calculators. CNN has one, or Bestplaces, or just try googling for some other ones.
If you’re worried about the winter months, well, they won’t come back for another 10 months, so that’s a bridge you can cross later.

What is it that you’re looking for in the Northeast? Do you want to be in the city, suburbs, country? By the ocean, by a lake, inland? Do you need a state with medical marijuana? Do you want a city that has a lot of theaters? There are a lot of things to wonder about before anyone can tell you what place to go to, or even how expensive it’ll be.

And places that have higher costs of living generally also have higher salaries to make up for it (Though it’s not going to be a 1:1 match).

Costs for living in the North East vary greatly by location. New York and Boston are brutally expensive, as are the high-end suburbs surrounding each. Parts of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine are really inexpensive except for the heating costs in the winter. Areas outside the big cities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey are reasonably priced as well. If it’s what you want, check out the target area’s housing costs and other costs of living. Bear in mind that wages are often higher in the North East than in the South as well. It may cost more to live here, but you may make more so it may be a wash.

I moved from Virginia Beach to downtown Boston in 2005 because my son was accepted in a school of his dreams here, but he wasn’t 18 and thus could not live in a dorm. We had a nice sprawling ranch home in Virginia Beach. We had to settle for about a third less square footage here and pay more than twice as much per month for it. Water and sewer costs are high, but other than that our expenses aren’t all that different. Food prices are significantly lower, because we love fruits and vegetables, and Boston’s Haymarket brings them to us at prices North Carolinians would die for. What we lose in the winter paying for heating we save in the summer not paying for air conditioning. There are only a few days each summer when the sea breeze isn’t all we need to stay comfortable in our condo.

And while I was just making it in Virginia Beach, I’ve been able to cover housing costs 2.5 times higher. I can charge a much higher hourly rate for my services here, and nobody blinks an eye. So check out all the angles. If it’s what you want, find a way to make it work. I love it here.

Do some research as suggested above and move. I don’t know how old you are, but this is how I look at it. Where you live matters a lot. Right now I live in a low cost area, and it makes me nervous to stay long, especialy when the housing market begins to pick up again. High cost areas that are very desireable will become more and more difficult to afford. When I retire I will likely want to go back to living where I did previously, and the market I live in now is likely to lag behind over time. For me staying in an expensive market all along probably makes more sense, but my husband’s job is here.

So cold here today that Amtrak has temporarily cancelled the trains that run from NYC to Albany.

There are so many factors to consider, before moving out of your safety net home of North Carolina. I naturally say this, because NC is considered to be in the south.

In the northeast, here are some things to consider: the weather, higher taxes, too many people, the cost of food, electricity, and bogged-down transportation.

If this is your cup of tea, then go for it. If you decide to move, then NC will just be a good memory for you and your pocketbook.

NJ has the highest car insurance in America; I don’t know how high housing insurance is. I also feel the winters are brutal. NJ has more people per square mile than any other state. I think the crime rate is notable, too.
But you have to weigh all this against the hoagies at Wawa. lol I’d give up a lot for Wawa subs.
@gailcalled, you wear a hat indoors?

On days like today, I have been known to. (But only the hand-knit electric blue one with the bobbles.)