Can anyone give me advice about moving?

[Phallacy]

I'm thinking of getting out of Jackson, TN and moving someplace else. I'm not even sure where to start, so I might need some help here on where to consider living and all that. Here's what I am looking for and how where I live compares.

1. Resources for adults with Autism: You know... therapy, group meetings, this and that tailored for high-functioning autistic people.

Current Location: Nothing local to me.

2. No car required to live: I need public transportation, like the city bus, the taxi, the el-train, the subway, whatever as long as it's easy to get around without having to depend on a car most of the time. That means I need to live in a big city.

Current Location: There are city buses, but the system is pretty sparse, and I don't like a lot of walking and waiting (mostly waiting), especially when I'm carrying a lot of crap.

3. No frequent natural disasters: All it takes is a little thundering and I turn into a complete chickenshit. But I'll be satisfied as long as death and destruction doesn't come knocking every month. That rules out Florida and Mississippi.

Current Location: Despite being about a couple hours or so shy of the so-called "Tornado Alley", natural disasters are very rare where I live. Storm fronts usually are considerably weakened by the time they pass on by here.

4. Low-Crime Areas: I'm paranoid. If something bad happens to me, I'll just become even more paranoid and scared.

Current Location: I've got robbed once. No, it wasn't by some gangsta-wannabe with a loose shirt and pants and driving a bucket with 22 inch rims blasting crappy rap. It was by an employee at a college bookstore who was rushing me and took my money while I wasn't looking. 800 dollars of college financial aid money. And ran over once while I was walking home. Other than that, I'd say where I'm living is pretty safe.

5. I'm in the poorhouse: Rent cannot be over 300 dollars if the utilities are separate. I guess I can just forget about living in Beverly Hills and just live in the projects.

Current Location: I guess living in Jackson, TN isn't very expensive. My rent is 500 dollars, including utilities.

6. Can't go overseas: So I guess it would be either USA or Canada. Although I've heard terrible things about Canada's justice system.

So, I guess it would have to be a major city. I've always hated small towns. What's your suggestions?

["couldbecousin"]

 Here's all I can think of so far:  If you move out of Tennessee entirely, will you have a waiting period
 before you can receive your disability benefits in your new state, or are those from the *federal* government?   

[earthboundmisfit]

Your rent restriction is going to severely limit your choices. I've never lived anywhere that you could even get a shithole studio apartment for $300.

[Callaway]

I think that Memphis has the best public transportation system in Tennessee, but Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga probably have pretty good ones too.

There's a website that gives "walkability" scores to cities, and Memphis gets a score of 39, but some neighborhoods like Midtown and Downtown have higher walkability scores.

To contrast, Jackson's walkability score is 35.

Chattanooga's walkability score is 37, Nashville's is 36, and Knoxville's is 40.

[The_Chosen_One]

I was about to suggest Melbourne, Australia; but as you aren't an Australian citizen and didn't want to move out of the US, then scratch that.

I think you need to be a citizen here to qualify for disability and public housing (although there are some who jump the queue).

What about somewhere in NH or Maine?

[Scrapheap]

Untill you mentioned wanting low rent, I was about to suggest Irvine, Ca. The lowest crime rate of any big city in the U.S. . However it's expensive there.

It sounds like you might like living in a big city in Utah. If you can stand all the Mormons, that is.

I've thought about moving to Utah myself. 

[Parts]

Do you have an official recognized DX and receive services now?  If you do moving from your state would probably result in a waiting period as CBC said.  Around here there are all sorts of programs for people on the spectrum who try and live on their own help with rent, finding jobs, ect. I am sure they have similar in your state see where it's the best and get on a waiting list.

[midlifeaspie]

The rent restriction is going to make things very difficult.  I would suggest a major city like Boston or NYC, and find a small apartment with several room-mates.  The crime is going to be a little worse than small-town USA, but you aren't going to find public transportation and adult autism services in small-town USA.

[Parts]

The rent will be hard that is why I suggested if he is getting services now to try and work in the system.  Connecticut particularly New Haven area  has a lot of services and in navigable by bus but like most places they want to take care of residences first and the wait would be longer.  Boston and NYC would be good but it would have the same gaps in service coverage.  It comes down to how much will you put up with in the short term in order to gain the services.  Another question is relatives you mentioned before about no help from them but are there any that might help even  if it's only letting you use their address to establish residency somewhere?

[Scrapheap]

I would suggest a major city like Boston or NYC, ...  The crime is going to be a little worse than small-town USA,

That's why I suggested Irvine, untill he said he wanted cheap rent.

Perhaps his rent could be subsidized?

[Parts]

I would suggest a major city like Boston or NYC, ...  The crime is going to be a little worse than small-town USA,

That's why I suggested Irvine, untill he said he wanted cheap rent.

Perhaps his rent could be subsidized?

That is what I am getting at with the residency , most places have little or no assistance unless you are a resident. 

[Scrapheap]

I would suggest a major city like Boston or NYC, ...  The crime is going to be a little worse than small-town USA,

That's why I suggested Irvine, untill he said he wanted cheap rent.

Perhaps his rent could be subsidized?

That is what I am getting at with the residency , most places have little or no assistance unless you are a resident.

So it's a catch 22 then. In order to afford rent in Irvine he would already have to live there. And rent in Irvine is through the roof!

Perhaps they have some kind of assited living half-way houses there. The rent on those is usually subsidized and cheap. But it could be that Irvine doesn't want that kind of riff-raff. 

[Squidusa]

I can't offer any advice I'm afraid , but good luck. 

['andersom']

I can't offer any advice I'm afraid , but good luck. 

Same here, I just have no idea of how things work in the USA.

But, good luck indeed.

[The_Chosen_One]

Unless he can find anything, this will still be his only option: