Where in the US to Move

[jbray]

Atlanta has a pretty big Chinese community. You mentioned a technology focused military base, Dobbins AFB in Marietta, has a fairly large Locheed-Martin facility... Many of the Chinese here are working at the CDC or Emory University in the Medical field... Atlanta doesn't exactly have a "china town", but there is an international area with plenty of Chinese stores and restaurants...

 

BUT, that being said, many of the Chinese that I know (we go to a church that has a huge Chinese population) don't really like it here (my wife included). They don't like the fact that it's so spread out, and it's not a very good walking city.

[HaoRan]

Yeah, I spoke to some ppl here (Chinese) who lived in Atlanta. They didn't like it either.

[Don]

Yeah, I spoke to some ppl here (Chinese) who lived in Atlanta. They didn't like it either.

 

I am not a big fan of Irvine, I live up in LA county. I like this area better. I live in South bay. Not so many Chinese, but a lot of Koreans and Japanense. Quite a few Chinese, but they are spread over the cities. I see the chinese school every saturday morning and it is packed. If you want a good chinese school, you might want the southbay area or the Alhambra area or Irvine. I know these areas all have large good chinse schools for extra work. I have to work some in Irvine now, maybe full time there soon. Some thing about Irvine leaves me cold.

 

Many of my Caucasins friends from the upper midwest all want to move to Huntsville. I am not sure of the Asian population, but Huntsville has done well with high tech and the early Walmart money. I guess Sam Walton got many early investors from the Hunstville area and now they are doing well.

[HaoRan]

Well, I would much rather live in Orange County than LA. The traffic alone is a plus. I've been to Monterey park, Rowland Heights and lived in Orange County for 6 years. The traffic is much better in Orange County and it has newer roads, etc. Why would you like LA better? I guess if you didn't have to drive much it would be ok but I remember everytime I had to go to LA I cringed.

[LaurenAmber]

Strange because the Chinese i know from Atlanta love it. I haven't heard the same kind of complaints from them. I guess to each his own and everyone is different

[HaoRan]

Yeah, the ppl I talked to said they felt Atlanta was more racist in "their opinion" so they moved away.

 

I guess based on their experience maybe they felt it was a racist environment, others perhaps never had a problem there.

 

Who knows. It's just what they told me because I told them I didn't like where I was living now. They had thumbs down for Atlanta.

[Yuanyang]

Well, that's the thing, we have a 6 year old boy to think about.

 

So we need to think about schools and a 'clean' environment :-)

 

Plano schools (particularly those in west Plano) are consistently rated as Exemplary. No wonder considering the Chinese kids make up so much of it.

 

Also for the kids you will want additional (Saturday) schooling. Our daughter takes math and English every Saturday at Dallas Chinese School (just south of Plano) but has attended others. That particular school also has Chinese language studies as well.

[LaurenAmber]

I know i made my case for Huntsville, AL but I do also want to add about our schooling system. If you go into Madison (the city that literally bleeds into it), the schools are AMAZING. Especially if your children have any want to pursue the arts. Heck i got into one of the top ranked art colleges in America easily once they saw where my diploma was from.

 

The schools are wonderful, i'm planning for my own kids to attend the same ones I did because even from kindergarten i recieved such a top notch education.

 

Not to mention North Alabama still has that bit of country vibe so it's a very safe and clean enviroment, but still with the advantages of a bigger city. The Chinese community here absolutely loves it and i haven't heard a cross word from any of them.

 

Like i said though, research on what your family needs first, then narrow those down my the asian community. Asian community won't matter at all if you are miserable in the city.

[HaoRan]

Sounds cool Amber.

 

Are you saying because you went to a High School in Huntsville it gave you a leg up on any college you wanted to attend?

 

Thanks,

[george lee]

new york city

[LaurenAmber]

Sounds cool Amber.

 

Are you saying because you went to a High School in Huntsville it gave you a leg up on any college you wanted to attend?

 

Thanks,

 

 

It's great, and if you ever wanted to come out here and check the enviroment i'll definitely show you around.

 

Not so much ANY college. But schools with art centred programs i definitely do have a leg up. But our high school also had tons of great programs and does have a lot of great advantages.

 

I do recommend for you to take a few trips to the cities that you consider. You can research all you want, but really you also need to SEE the cities for yourself and meet with the asian culture to determine if it's perfect for you

[griz326]

You might think about Portland or Seattle. They have great food markets and nice Chinese communities. I hate the cities but escape is easy.

[yuehan123]

Here is a link to a map, by State, of "Median Monthly Housing Costs for Renter-occupied Housing Units (Dollars): 2006"

 

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/Thema...By=040#?122,286

 

Just above the top of the map click on Display map by: county

 

Look over the dark green and olive toned counties. Chances are the major Chinese communities are inside or very close to them. So are the high prices.

 

In my experience low cost of living places are generally accompanied by low prevailing wages.

 

What housing price range (buy or rent) did you have in mind? Knowing that might make it easier for others to chime in. So would knowing how far you are willing to drive.

 

Somebody once told me "If the sun rises on a place, the Chinese are already there."

[HaoRan]

Well, I guess not much sun shines in my area ;-)

 

Just compare two places Irvine or LA counties and Sugarland Tx or Huntsville AL.

 

I'm sure there's a huge difference in cost of living and all have large Chinese communities.

[Don]

Well, I guess not much sun shines in my area ;-)

 

Just compare two places Irvine or LA counties and Sugarland Tx or Huntsville AL.

 

I'm sure there's a huge difference in cost of living and all have large Chinese communities.

 

 

 

LA county is very different than LA, Cerritos, Torrance, and many other areas that are very nice are included in that group. Traffic is very bad, but i drive all on surface roads and it does not really bother me and I live close to my work. If i had to drive on expressway, i would hate it. This is a nice area, the only down side is the housing cost. I do not really like OC too much, to Suburban. You must drive everywhere.