Moving to a City Guides & Costs

Home › Moving to a City

Moving to a City Guides

11 guides — costs, troubleshooting, and how to hire without getting burned.

Moving to NYC: The First 30 Days Checklist (License, Utilities, Trash, Voting)

New York gives you 30 days to swap your license and registration. The NYC new-resident timeline: Con Edison setup, DSNY trash rules (no signup, strict set-out times), voter registration, and the city income tax surprise.

Moving to Los Angeles: The First 30 Days Checklist (CA's 10-Day License Rule)

California gives new residents just 10 days to get a CA driver's license — the tightest deadline of any big state. The LA timeline: LADWP setup, SoCalGas, trash by housing type, street-sweeping tickets, and CA voter registration.

Moving to San Francisco: The First 30 Days Checklist (Compost Is the Law)

CA's 10-day license rule applies, PG&E runs power and gas, and SF is the city where composting is legally mandatory (Recology three-bin system). The new-resident timeline plus parking permits and fog-belt apartment realities.

Moving to Chicago: The First 30 Days Checklist (Don't Skip the City Sticker)

Illinois gives you 90 days for the license — but Chicago's vehicle city sticker is due within 30 days and the fines are legendary. The timeline: ComEd, Peoples Gas, city trash rules, winter parking ban, and same-day voter registration.

Moving to Austin: The First 30 Days Checklist (and the Homestead Exemption That Saves Thousands)

Texas gives 90 days for the license but only 30 for vehicle registration. Austin Energy is city-owned (no choosing), trash is pay-by-cart-size, there's no state income tax — and homebuyers must file the homestead exemption.

Moving to Phoenix: The First 30 Days Checklist (APS or SRP — Your Address Decides)

Arizona expects license and registration promptly upon residency — no real grace period. First: find out if your address is APS or SRP territory. The Phoenix timeline plus city services billing, summer-move survival, and AZ's 29-day voter cutoff.

Moving to Seattle: The First 30 Days Checklist (Food Waste Is Required, RTA Tax Surprises)

Washington gives 30 days for license and registration — but the RTA transit tax can make registering a newer car cost $500+. Seattle City Light, mandatory food-waste sorting, all-mail voting with same-day registration, and no state income tax.

Moving to Denver: The First 30 Days Checklist (Pay-As-You-Throw Trash, 90-Day Car Window)

Colorado: license within 30 days, vehicle registration within 90. Xcel runs power and gas, Denver's trash is now volume-priced (pick your cart), voting is all-mail with same-day registration — plus the altitude and hail facts of life.

Moving to Atlanta: The First 30 Days Checklist (the TAVT Car Tax and April 1 Homestead Deadline)

Georgia gives 30 days for license and registration — and charges new residents a one-time TAVT tax on your car's value. Georgia Power, the deregulated gas market quirk, trash by jurisdiction, and the April 1 homestead exemption deadline.

Moving to Dallas: The First 30 Days Checklist (You Must Shop Your Own Electricity)

Dallas is deregulated: nobody assigns you an electric company — you shop PowerToChoose or pay default rates. Texas's 30/90-day vehicle/license clocks, Atmos gas, city sanitation, the homestead exemption, and hail-country insurance habits.

Moving to Boston: The First 30 Days Checklist (No License Grace Period, Sept 1 Madness)

Massachusetts expects license conversion promptly — no formal grace period — and Boston runs on Sept 1 lease turnover ("Allston Christmas"). Eversource/National Grid, resident parking permits by neighborhood, annual excise tax, and winter space savers.