I guess what I found missing here is the notion of moving to a whole other country/continent. You could almost choose any Western European country (perhaps excepting the UK because it's on a permanent downward trajectory after Brexit). Sure, there's the language issue, but if you are open and educated, you couldn't find a better place to raise children. Schooling on the continent is way above USA on almost every metric. Same with almost every other metric compared to the USA: transportation, vacation time, medical expenses, etc. The only drawback is language if you're either not already familiar with the language or not fluent enough. But, like almost anywhere, Americans get a big break since nearly every (definitely western) European speaks English, greater or lesser. And frequently English is used as the office/workplace language for various professions. But learning a language in and of itself (I believe) is a major advantage for you as a person and even more if you have children. And you don't have to live in a big city to get great culture (music, theatre, art) compared to anything but major cities in the USA. Work is perhaps the only significant drawback. If you're in technology/engineering (as I was), it's a universal job for which English is the first language. My place recommendations would rank in this order: 1. Germany 2. Switzerland 3. France 4. Denmark or Holland 5. Sweden or Norway.
Personal note: I lived in France, Germany and Switzerland and like any curious person visited/had friends in the other mentioned countries.
Things I would like to add because this is very relevant to me now. Some of this is denomination specific... but be well aware if you are part of a high church of some sort... a lot of churches (Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Roman Catholic) are nested in deep with high cost of living cities or high rate of crime ones. I currently drive to my Melkite parish 1+ hr... I know of one priest who a majority of his community, especially large families, are 1+ hr out from the major town because of probably crime and cost. If you want to be active and engaged with your church community and close to work and church you are probably going to have to give up something.
Someone mentioned health, and I want to second that... if any of you are reading this now that are in their 20s or early 30s... that long commute may not seem like a cost for a higher paying job and lower cost mortgage... but if you need to take family to appointments or start having lower back problems... your tune will change real quick. Do not underestimate proximity to healthcare as well, research the quality of family delivery places at hospitals. If you are looking for pro-life doctors especially, this is important.
Might edit this more later if I think of anything...
I'd say for the confessional Protestant types, it's going to be much the same only in reverse direction or if not reverse then at the least hub-and-spoke with the suburbs, and then typically only a few churches within the group, sometimes idiosyncratically located, tending to have the more confessional bodies than the big city.
Aaron, good discussion, but I would say one point it misses is a discussion of college towns. Which I recall being a topic of yours a few times: I recall your discussions of Doug Wilson selecting Moscow, Idaho, and also the interview with the guy looking to redevelop the town of Hillsdale.
I'll put in a good word for at least some college towns, especially if you're someone with a preference for being somewhat removed from a major metro (in most cases, they're not too far away from one, more like exurbs). For a smaller town, they'll tend to have larger-than-normal intellectual community and a lot more amenities than a town of its size could otherwise expect, including sports and the arts.
I think there's also a strong case that faithful churches in college towns can make a disproportionate impact, reaching out to young people at a critical stage of their lives. There's even an opportunity to do "missions at home", reaching out to international students, which I've seen bear fruit firsthand.
Of course, there's an enrollment cliff coming. Make sure the college in question is one that's going to survive it.
Per 'Organic Connection' I offer this Flannery O'Connor quote:
"Somewhere is better than anywhere."
Which I take to mean: put down roots, especially where your people are.
And the Part II of the Aaron Renn story / exploration of this topic would get us to the details of picking not just a city, but a neighborhood, a la this quote from Phil Levin from The Importance of Picking Your Neighborhood (Substack):
"You are going to spend 1000x more time in your surrounding 5 blocks than you will in any other neighborhood in your city. Thinking about all the things that New York City has—or the next city has—is a lot less important than thinking about the things within the five blocks where you live.
Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important... the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness."
I don't imagine Flannery O'Connor being a tribal American but an observer stuck where she was. A great place knower, but not a tribalist. I would imagine if she hadn't suffered with lupus she would have likely ended up in Paris, too.
I'll take James Joyce over O'Connor any day: Joyce --the greatest of Irish and Catholic writers and to me and others, the greatest writer of all time-- wrote deep in the weeds of his native Dublin and Catholicism and few to none have lived and wrote so perfectly of a place but nevertheless chose to live out in the world.
Great article. Good health care is actually critical and deserves its own heading. You never know what may happen, and you don’t want to be far from access to quality care!
There's a balance when it comes to healthcare though. You want to make sure the local healthcare system can at least handle routine visits and emergencies that are likely to happen to you, but for non-emergencies you can always drive a few hours if necessary. I'd say it's risky living in a place so remote that there's not a major medical system within a few hours' drive, but very few Americans live like this. I'm thinking rural parts of the Mountain West.
I guess what I found missing here is the notion of moving to a whole other country/continent. You could almost choose any Western European country (perhaps excepting the UK because it's on a permanent downward trajectory after Brexit). Sure, there's the language issue, but if you are open and educated, you couldn't find a better place to raise children. Schooling on the continent is way above USA on almost every metric. Same with almost every other metric compared to the USA: transportation, vacation time, medical expenses, etc. The only drawback is language if you're either not already familiar with the language or not fluent enough. But, like almost anywhere, Americans get a big break since nearly every (definitely western) European speaks English, greater or lesser. And frequently English is used as the office/workplace language for various professions. But learning a language in and of itself (I believe) is a major advantage for you as a person and even more if you have children. And you don't have to live in a big city to get great culture (music, theatre, art) compared to anything but major cities in the USA. Work is perhaps the only significant drawback. If you're in technology/engineering (as I was), it's a universal job for which English is the first language. My place recommendations would rank in this order: 1. Germany 2. Switzerland 3. France 4. Denmark or Holland 5. Sweden or Norway.
Personal note: I lived in France, Germany and Switzerland and like any curious person visited/had friends in the other mentioned countries.
Things I would like to add because this is very relevant to me now. Some of this is denomination specific... but be well aware if you are part of a high church of some sort... a lot of churches (Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Roman Catholic) are nested in deep with high cost of living cities or high rate of crime ones. I currently drive to my Melkite parish 1+ hr... I know of one priest who a majority of his community, especially large families, are 1+ hr out from the major town because of probably crime and cost. If you want to be active and engaged with your church community and close to work and church you are probably going to have to give up something.
Someone mentioned health, and I want to second that... if any of you are reading this now that are in their 20s or early 30s... that long commute may not seem like a cost for a higher paying job and lower cost mortgage... but if you need to take family to appointments or start having lower back problems... your tune will change real quick. Do not underestimate proximity to healthcare as well, research the quality of family delivery places at hospitals. If you are looking for pro-life doctors especially, this is important.
Might edit this more later if I think of anything...
I'd say for the confessional Protestant types, it's going to be much the same only in reverse direction or if not reverse then at the least hub-and-spoke with the suburbs, and then typically only a few churches within the group, sometimes idiosyncratically located, tending to have the more confessional bodies than the big city.
Ditto to the rest, especially with long commutes.
Aaron, good discussion, but I would say one point it misses is a discussion of college towns. Which I recall being a topic of yours a few times: I recall your discussions of Doug Wilson selecting Moscow, Idaho, and also the interview with the guy looking to redevelop the town of Hillsdale.
I'll put in a good word for at least some college towns, especially if you're someone with a preference for being somewhat removed from a major metro (in most cases, they're not too far away from one, more like exurbs). For a smaller town, they'll tend to have larger-than-normal intellectual community and a lot more amenities than a town of its size could otherwise expect, including sports and the arts.
I think there's also a strong case that faithful churches in college towns can make a disproportionate impact, reaching out to young people at a critical stage of their lives. There's even an opportunity to do "missions at home", reaching out to international students, which I've seen bear fruit firsthand.
Of course, there's an enrollment cliff coming. Make sure the college in question is one that's going to survive it.
Per 'Organic Connection' I offer this Flannery O'Connor quote:
"Somewhere is better than anywhere."
Which I take to mean: put down roots, especially where your people are.
And the Part II of the Aaron Renn story / exploration of this topic would get us to the details of picking not just a city, but a neighborhood, a la this quote from Phil Levin from The Importance of Picking Your Neighborhood (Substack):
"You are going to spend 1000x more time in your surrounding 5 blocks than you will in any other neighborhood in your city. Thinking about all the things that New York City has—or the next city has—is a lot less important than thinking about the things within the five blocks where you live.
Most neighborhoods in your city you might never step foot in. They might as well be in the other side of the country. But the things in your immediate vicinity are the things that are going to dominate your life. So picking and influencing your neighborhood is really important... the neighborhood determines quite a bit about our life and our happiness."
I don't imagine Flannery O'Connor being a tribal American but an observer stuck where she was. A great place knower, but not a tribalist. I would imagine if she hadn't suffered with lupus she would have likely ended up in Paris, too.
I'll take James Joyce over O'Connor any day: Joyce --the greatest of Irish and Catholic writers and to me and others, the greatest writer of all time-- wrote deep in the weeds of his native Dublin and Catholicism and few to none have lived and wrote so perfectly of a place but nevertheless chose to live out in the world.
Great article. Good health care is actually critical and deserves its own heading. You never know what may happen, and you don’t want to be far from access to quality care!
There's a balance when it comes to healthcare though. You want to make sure the local healthcare system can at least handle routine visits and emergencies that are likely to happen to you, but for non-emergencies you can always drive a few hours if necessary. I'd say it's risky living in a place so remote that there's not a major medical system within a few hours' drive, but very few Americans live like this. I'm thinking rural parts of the Mountain West.
Also some parts of rural Texas, as well.