Coast to Coast - California or New York?

As many of you may know, Christian and I are in the midst of transition.  I like to call this summer our "geographical interlude" because we simply don't know where we might end up living.  This is even more pressing because of the conversation I had with Christian yesterday. It went something like this.

"So how do you feel about Troy?"
"Huh?" I thought about Greece for a minute before it hit me. "You mean Troy NEW YORK? Like across the Hudson from Albany?!"
"Yes."
"There's a BMW Motorcycle shop there?"
"Yes."
"They have work during the winter?"
"Actually yes."

We went back and forth about the details of such a change.  The pros and cons were weighed against the other location possibilities.  The biggest cons are of course, our family and the snow.

I like the Hudson Valley.  It's a good place.  I enjoyed growing up there.  I know a lot of wonderful people and there are many things to do between Troy, Schenectady, and Albany. Plus, it's not a bad place to have kids.

California is a beautiful place.  I love it out here.  I love the salty ocean air and I love the palm trees.  I love fruit all year round and blue skies.  I love my parents. But of course, this place is ridiculously expensive and the infrastructure is broken.  I don't relish the idea of my kids going to California public schools, especially when I know there are places that have college like electives in high-school.

Then again, the question remains where we want to be in order to achieve our goals as a couple, and I'm not sure what location would be best in order to do that.  Christian wants to own a shop - at least one - so the question remains, where would be best to do this? I want to have a couple small businesses myself.  We can't really begin these things until we're settled in a place where we want to stay for any length of time.

Still, the idea of being in the capital region is an interesting one.  I like the idea of having seasons (even if winter and mud aren't my favorites). I like the idea of being in a place that is small enough that I can have the city and the country without too much hassle.  There's water and mountains.  There's culture and low cost of living. But there is snow...lots of snow.

Christian has never lived in snow and part of me wonders if he would be okay with it.  He's always been on the West Coast. Most of that time has been spent on the California coast, with only a short period in the Arizona desert. Seasons are a different kind of animal.  Snow is something that Christian has experienced, but he's never really lived in it.  He hasn't been in a place that was as dark and cold as New York is from November through January.  Part of me worries that he would hate it.  I really don't relish the idea of moving across the country only to find that I will be moving back in a year.  I'm tired of moving like this.  I desperately want to be still.

Nothing has been decided, and we have a lot more information to gather before we come to a final conclusion.  It is a lot and frankly I'm wide-eyed while holding my breath. I just pray for the best thing for all of us.  Say a prayer and cross your fingers!