u/j_hol1234

My wife and I are both servers out in Wilmington NC on the East coast and personally we are tired of it, we’ve lived in NC for our whole lives (28years)
I work at longhorn steak house and she does primarily breakfast and lunch places. we just had a baby, so we’re trying to find a good place to settle long-term in the next few years before he starts school.

Looking for:
Decent cost of living. $1,900-$2,000 would be max.
Safe suburb with good schools
Strong, steady restaurant scenes
Area with solid foot traffic and consistent business
Tourist areas are okay too
Everything within ~30 minutes (work, groceries, etc.)

Not looking for:
The South (lol)
Big cities or very busy cities unless I have to work in them and not live in them.

We’ve been considering:
Salt Lake suburbs
Northern Colorado
Maybe northern Virginia
Idaho
Maybe Washington state/ Oregon.

Main goal is just to find somewhere stable, family-friendly, and busy enough to stay consistent in the industry.
If you’ve worked in restaurants in any of these areas? How is your day to day ? Is the money decent?

*used AI to help with wording so I’m not rambling.
***Edit*** Anywhere west . As long as it’s not east coast and far south
My wife and I are both servers and we just had a baby, so we’re trying to find a good place to settle long-term. It’s not gonna be for another few years till we actually move and I understand that a lot of cities change and it may not be the same in a few years.

With that being said here are something’s we am kinda looking for:
More conservative state/city/town would be nice, but it doesn’t have to be.. very open if need be.

Safe suburb with good schools

Strong, steady restaurant scenery

Better job opportunities if I decide not to continue as a server or work in the restaurant industry.

Area with solid foot traffic and consistent business. Can also be touristy as well, Obviously for income, maybe even a state that pays a better wage than the chummy $2.15 per hour with tips.

Everything within ~30 minutes (work, groceries, etc.)

Not looking for:
The east coast
South
Too far north

Big, crowded cities

Extreme winters or summers

We’ve been considering:

Salt Lake suburbs

Northern Colorado

Maybe even Washington? (That’s a stretch cause of weather)

Main goal is just to find somewhere stable, family-friendly, and busy enough to stay consistent in the industry.
Extra credit!!
If you’ve worked in restaurants in any of these areas (or similar), how is it for you?

Open to other suggestions too.