Ann, this is hugely helpful. IFF I win the SSDI case, I will be over the poverty guideline. While I wait - after my California State disability runs out in December or earlier - I should qualify. I have spoken to someone who has lived in Indiana and Maine; told him that I am also looking at Ohio cities where the rents are the same according to Craigslist. He told me that, for one, Columbus does not get snow and it is pointless to me to live in a cold city without snow, and for another, it has higher crime statistics than Minneapolis. He also told me that Minnesota is considered the most snowy of the adjacent states. In the meantime, I have found cheaper rents in Dakota, but I think that I would be so far removed from places that I would expend the difference in gas. Minneapolis has everything. I am becoming more and more convinced, and I greatly value your input on the (absence of) humid heat in summer. It is important to me not to repeat the Austin, TX experience.

I ruled out Buffalo, thanks stumpy. For reasons you mention plus - too close to my unfriendly and unhelpful relatives who reside in Montreal and NYC.

Now... just saw my new p-doc. Second visit - she told me to take a cancellation because I was recently suicidal. She knows my situation (besides what is described in my original post, I face the need to move SOMEWHERE from my apartment, because my apartment is in the same apartment complex with that of my ex-husband and two daughters, and my ex-husband has nightmares because I remind him of bad things I did against him and other people whom I summoned did against him - a long list, I am very destructive and self-destructive and do not learn from experience). She recommends that I move out locally, possibly to a room to save on the rent, and they will submit disability paperwork in June. So basically here I would have a good lawyer and a supportive doctor, and in Minneapolis I will need to search for both. But since the SSDI case is likely to persist for months/years, I probably should stay in the same place once I file (the lawyer won't fly for the hearing, will he?). So it is between renting a room here in CA and renting my own apartment in Minneapolis. Well not quite - renting a room here in San Jose is cheaper than renting a one-bedroom in Minneapolis. That is the economic side. On the emotional side, we have: living in the same county with my former family versus living all the way in the Mid-West where they won't even visit as my ex-husband hates snow. Mid-West would be a clean slate. Whether this is a good thing, I do not know now. So many unknowns. Maybe it would be a matter of a few months to acquire a supportive doctor in MN? With a lawyer, it is trickier - the one I planned to retain here is good for sure. In Minneapolis: I do not know anyone and yelp is silent. On the issue of psychiatrists, yelp is mostly silent as well. People are not so eager to post reviews, unfortunately - they would gladly review their hairdressers instead because there is no privacy concern there.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that for three years I have not driven a car, relying instead on public transit (a long story why). I have the driver's license now that the medical revocation has been reversed, but I am afraid of highways. On April 6 I will have a 2-hour lesson with a professional driving school. They said that they will assess my readiness to go on a highway. How will I move to another state or even start living anywhere else in my county if I am afraid of highways? Plus, I will need to buy a new car, by myself, and I have never done that.

I am half-scared, half-adventorous.