Goggles is pretty right on with that. Walkable and affordable with acceptably low crime levels aren't easy or cheap to come by in US. Being reliant on public transit is going to really limit you.

I'm married to a VERY Jewish woman. Think Fran Drescher with a bit of attitude from Marissa Tomei's character from My Cousin Vinny. Very NOO YAWKISh. I got into it one day with an agent in LGA who got all NooYAWKER in my face and went "you don't scare me, my wife is from Queens" and then it turned out the agent with to high school with her.

Casper Wyoming was absolute hell for her.. There were I think a total of 50 Jewish people in a town of 50,000 and she knew them all. Not so much from the "OMG no Jewish Deli" but more in the "you ain't from around here" treatment she got EVERYWHERE. Flip side, upstate NY, her dad's family is in the Catskills, and has no problem with rural areas.

Just keep in mind there's gonna be a venn diagram of "walkable/airline base/low crime" and those circles are not going to intersect with affordable. Hell, I can't really afford anything decent on Long Island as a 320 Captain. We are looking in NE PA, Rural NJ and Upstate NY. Of course interest rates have gone bat-crazy without prices coming down, so we are kind of waiting it out in Virginia but we had planned to move back up after I retired from the reserves.

We may need to give up on the walkability part.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, great stuff. My wife likes the look of Idaho. I am looking at places east of Fresno in the Sierra Nevada foothills and places near SLC. (if anyone has any suggestions for good areas near or in SLC, much appreciated).

Are there any towns in particular in eastern PA we should look at?

I wouldn't mind living in Japan but she's against it, doesn't really like the work culture or the school culture for future kids. It might be something we consider down the track though.

Also Driggs (Teton foothills). Higher elevation, more severe winters but there's no better location for mountain access. Small tourist-oriented town, but pretty diverse. Commute out of Idaho Falls or Jackson Hole (or four+ hour cruise-control drive to SLC). Don't know about schools. Actually I'm sure it's "school" singular.


Holladay. Right in the foothills, instant access to numerous canyons and ski hills, hiking, climbing, mountain biking etc. Many outdoor oriented people, appropriate food and drink.

Sugarhouse: Similar, university district so more diversity.

Park City. Awesome venue, very touristy, very $$$.

The rest of the valley is heavily LDS, especially west valley.

Id stay away from heavily Mormon areas.

They’re lovely people and great co-workers but they have their own alternate universe social networks that fills their time.

Your wife will already have challenges being a stranger in a strange land with you gone half the time.
Don’t go somewhere that half or 2/3 the neighbors won’t really socialize with you or your kids.

This was basically our experience in a heavily LDS area when I was on mobilization orders in the SLC area. Super nice people. But my wife (jewish) and my cousins kid we had for a bit (Catholic) were basically social outcasts. Not because anyone was mean. But because there is basically a parallel social structure and you ain't in it. I mean there kind of is a similar thing with certain sects of Jewish people (Super Orthodox, Chasidim, some others) but there was not a lot of friends for my cousin's kid to make.

Agree with above. I actually like many aspects of LDS culture, but it is so all consuming for those in it it makes it difficult for outsiders. And then there’s the public schools. It’s not so much that the locals don’t respect or fund education on a per household basis - they do - it’s that their households have so many kids that the funds they have provided are sort of diluted out by the numbers.

When you say heavily mormon areas, would you consider all of Salt Lake City and surrounds to be heavily mormon? Or are there some patches where that doesn't apply? We're both pretty introverted people so shouldn't be too bad regardless. It sounds like a great option to start with, and it seems to be a pretty junior base

1) I don’t know
2) eventually you’re gonna want a community for your kids
3) I’m willing to bet it’s hard to find an affordable, family-friendly neighborhood that isn’t. Two adults in downtown salt lake is another story

But if you need somewhere to start and are open to moving when kindergarten is an issue, probably ok. Downtown slc might even be walkable

All of Utah is heavily Mormon.

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/12...%20Protestants.

There are enclaves of non-LDS, mostly bohemian outdoor enthusiasts, which I mentioned above.

You don't need to avoid LDS, they won't bother you, you just want to be situated where's there's enough "other" demographic that you can have a social life, and your kids won't be alienated in school.