Moving from Canada to US- Where should I move?

[Apkesh Kumar]

Hi, my family and I are considering moving to the US.  I work in the Tech industry as an indep. Consultant so it's important that I live closer to a regional airport.  My wife is in health care so it's important the city has a respectable health sector. We are in our mid 40s, have 2 kids are getting ready for high school.  Politically, we consider our selves very liberal, love to be closer to culture and arts. If it makes any difference, we are of Indian nationality but consider our selves a good mix of East/West.  I would love to hear your thoughts on "growing" cities that we should look at?  On a side note, we also want to start investing in properties. Ideally, somewhere close by to our new home.

So far, we've narrowed down my listing to the following states and cities:

1. NC (Raleigh, Caryany others we should look at?)

2. Texas (Huston, any others we should look at?)

3. Atlanta (don't know much about ATL, except we've been told inside the perimeter is what we want to look at)

We are totally opened to suggestions.  We have a year to make the move.

[Mindy Jensen]

@Apkesh Kumar , I'd stick more toward the middle of the US if you're traveling for work. It would stink to live on the East Coast, get a consulting job on the West Coast and have a 6-hour plane ride every time you had to go into the office.

Texas is seeing some pretty strong growth, but it's also immense, so there are places you can go, still be near an airport, and invest for cash flow if that's your thing.

The problem with the center of the country is that it runs very red politically. I will say that you can find liberal neighbors anywhere you go, but if this is a huge deal for you, you may want to reconsider moving to a more blue area. There are areas of the country that I would never live in either.

You're coming from Canada, so you know winters. Chicago is a lovely place to live, has many suburbs that offer great investing, and has not one but two major airports. Their winters are harsh, but nothing compared to Canada.