Australians moving to USA with ADHD/ASD child

Hello all,

TLDR: Need somewhere not completely shit for a newly arriving left leaning Australian family with a just starting elementary aged child with autism/ADHD that may require extra supports. Any suggestions for both city and area or district of said city?

I have been trawling this subreddit among others for nearly a year now. Taking particular note of the highly recommend cities for walkable cities in the USA. DC, Philly, Chicago, the usual suspects were on our radar.

We are a family of 3 (dad, mum, 5 year old) from Australia who will be moving to the states mid next year prior to my daughter starting elementary school. We were totally set on DC or the surrounds as where to settle, but we have recently been told of a diagnosis for my child of ADHD and likely high functioning autism. Judging by many of the threads I have read DC proper is great for elementary, terrible for middle, mediocre for high school. The surrounds are good for all 3 generally. As such our criteria of “not absolutely freezing, not mega MAGA, somewhere walkable, good public transport, not anti LGBT area, great food/bars/supermarkets plus schools that are close by” needs to fall by the way side a little and focus more on the school aspect..

A little more background: I can live wherever I like provided it is in the USA. My salary will be $180k with overtime readily available if wanted. Wife may work but that is pending where we settle on.

My thoughts:

DC area: possibly more Montgomery County. Particularly around Bethesda. I don’t know how this particular part for walkability and such is and if it’s not great I may as well go elsewhere with a lower cost of living. Was previously considering Capitol Hill area as our number 1 choice but these spots are unknown for our particular needs. Alexandria, Arlington, Silver Spring, Takoma Park all considered also.

Philadelphia: west of centre city along that main train line I read about so often here. Mount Airy, East Falls, Center City, Germantown, Spruce Hill, Cedar Hill, Narberth, Chestnut Hill, Wayne, Glenside. Ardmore, Bryn Mawr all on my list from this sub.

Chicago: had lots of areas and even checked them out for a few days.. unfortunately I came back in winter and there’s no chance my wife will live there, bugger..

Savannah: love this city, who knows if it’s any good for the school part though. Like a smaller New Orleans. I love the architecture, vibe, etc. Charleston similar but went back recently and it is not as nice as I recall 10 or so years ago. On that note New Orleans, is it feasible? Everything I read says do not bother hah.. not super great for safety and schooling but am all ears. Garden District, Uptown, Irish Channel, Lakeview, Riverbend, Fairgrounds, City Park have heard are the best.

Seattle/Portland/PNW: don’t know which areas all that much but believe it’s fairly progressive but maybe too expensive these days.

Baltimore: Fed Hill, Locust Point, Fells Point, Canton.

Richmond: not sure where but keep hearing good things..

There are many, many more but I can’t write them all down. I am tearing my hair out trying to decide, I almost wish work forced me to live somewhere specific - the tyranny of choice.

Any guidance or experience or recommendations? Or any HARD NO cities? Thank you for reading!