Scottsdale, Arizona. Never snows. It's hot in the summer. But that's what pools and girls in bikinis are for. You can work and drive your truck year round. For me, if i can play golf on Christmas day, then i'm in paradise. It's only 4 hours to Mexico, 5 hours to San Diego(hour flight), and 4-5 hours to Las Vegas.(45 minute flight).

And there's a car show every saturday night...

 

Thats like saying the Titanic hit an ice cube.

Yeah...its hot in the summer....110 degrees at midnight. We dont really know the daytime temps, all the thermometers lose calibration above 115!

 

Please accept this as honest. I would not recommend Minnesota and I live here. Property taxes are high, sales taxes are high (depending on where you live). The winters are some times -30 with weeks at a time below zero and lots of snow. There are no military bases with exchanges or commissaries. The state taxes military pensions, any pensions and social security. You will need a heated workshop/garage. On the good side, there are jobs galore in the trades. The annual "back to the 50's" car show lasts 4 days and draws 12,000 cars that are prior to 1962. Housing is fairly reasonable unless you want to live in downtown Minneapolis. The Mall of America is the world's largest indoor shopping mall. The Vikings, and Twins rock. The Wild not so much, but they manage to beat Denver some times. Snowmobiles are welcome in some cities with routes clearly marked in town and trails along lots of highways.

 

No offense to Minnesota, but I had zero consideration before you said anything

If I am leaving Denver to get away from -30, then I doubt will be headed to Minn.


One of the close towns (Granby) actually unofficially bans vehicles other than snowmobiles during the winter. You're a fool if you try anyhow, there is no earthly way road crews could keep up with the snow so it is just snowmobile all winter. The local bar's parking lot isn't even really vehicle accessible.


The hottest I have lived through here in CO is 118. You know how on the news the weather gal keeps track of the number of days above 90... well in my hometown they only kept track of the days above 100, cause from June 15 to Sept 5 almost every single day was over 90.

Can't say I love the heat, but I'll take the heat over the cold any day. I'm only 39, but my bones ache like a 80 year old when the weather gets cold and nasty.

I think it is about time I shared my initial thoughts before asking you guys so here goes... this is the top 54 places on my list before discussion (my list has about 94 on it before I quit adding and started hunting for faults)

(San Antonio, TX)
(Spokane, WA)
(El Paso, TX)
(Witchita Falls, TX)
(McAllen, TX)
(Harlingen, TX)
Key West (FL)
Austin (TX)
Provo (UT)
Kansas City (KS)
Kansas City (MO)
Aruba
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Saint Barthelemy (St Barts)
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Bay Islands, Honduras
Belize
Bonaire
British Virgin Islands
Cancun
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Haiti
Isla Cozumel
Isla de Margarita
Jamaica
Martinique
Montserrat
Puerto Rico
Saba
Saint Croix (US VI)
Saint John (US VI)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin - FWI
Saint Thomas (US VI)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sint Eustatius
Sint Maarten
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Belarus
Costa Rica
El Salvadore
Greenland (Denmark)

From the Top to the St Barts, that is semi-prioritized best candidate (sort of)... in truth, Austin was actually my #1 before this thread. From Anguilla down it is just alphabetic with "in my head" notes.

 

My wife is from ellensburg, WA which is 3 hours west of Spokane. Kinda dry climate. Little chilly in winter. Not too bad. Spokane is only 1.5 hours from sandpoint, ID. My in laws have a condo on the lake pend o' reille which is awesome!!!

 

Ditto what 'jrockdiddy' said. Sandpoint has beautiful lake(s), mountains, and also a great car show in May. Been here 35 years and wouldn't think of any where else. OK,
maybe Kauai for a few months in late winter! Ha!

 

Bryan,
You are killing me over there. Hmmmm.. a lot of Texas cities in your top (10) list. Within Texas - Austin is by far the best city to live and work in.
You need to visit some of those cities on your list before taking action - Harlingen, Brownsville, El Paso, Wichita Falls (sorry Horvath) would not make the cut once you visited. Personally border towns in Texas aren't that great as they are across from some of the most violent cities in Mexico.

If you are looking for some nice towns in Texas you might investigate:
- San Marcos - nice University town in between Austin & San Antonio.

- Marble Falls/Horseshoe Bay - Beautiful lake resort 50 miles west of Austin.

- Lakeway - Far Western suburb of Austin on Lake Travis.

- Georgetown - 25 miles north of Austin - small college town - very nice.

- McKinney - 30 miles North of Dallas - nice town.

Good luck over there.

Ben in Austin

The drought is so severe in Wichita Falls that they are planning to
send their treated sewage water directly to their drinking water facility for reuse in homes. Yikes!

 

And that is exactly why I started this thread some (mostly) positive feedback reinforcing my picks and *constructive* feedback without being rude... Sorry we all know internet can get rude as all get out... was really trying to set the tone initially and keep that from happening.

And wholeheartedly yes yes yes!, I do plan on visiting anywhere that makes the top 5 cut. You test drive your car right.... I test drive everything (wives included), never buy site unseen.

If El Paso is in my list (gotta go back and look), then that was a mistake. When I was a kid it was cool to drive down to Juarez, not anymore, I know better :P I have no intention of doing border towns (ok South Padre Island maybe, but Brownsville no way)

 

Bryan,
Timely thread sir. I'm in a similar boat....mine may be a row boat but a boat nonetheless. Did I mention I only have one paddle??? Nevermind..anyway, I've spent a lot of time in and around the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama area since childhood when my dad was a cop there. I never lived there personally and my dad only lived there for a short time but I have continued to be part of the place my whole life (I turned 48 July 30th). I have always thought it would be a great place to live. My circumstances are a bit different than yours but I'll get into that in a thread later if I can ever finish my thoughts. I have been typing a "job/life" post for over a month now trying to feel good about posting it with the most info possible for all my friends on here to help me with...how's that for a run-on sentence!! So for now maybe I can learn something from your thread. Ben I believe mentioned Fairhope, Alabama which is right close to Gulf Shores and is very well spoken of around here. I am currently considering this area if indeed I'm able to move. So.......

You asked for pics.....here are some Alabama Gulf Coast pics for everyone's enjoyment.

 

By all mean, I am not a "center of attention" girl kind of person. Throw out your ramblings here, add them to the frey, see what fish you catch. I wholeheartedly invite all the more input, if some people are directing at you and hit me with crossfire we'll just see what sticks. (that's genuine not sarcastic)

I also will not be offended if you want to strike your single oar in a separate stream though, I understand.

 

Ben, I'll buy you a beer if you'll take me for a ride in the truck. At this point I am seriously planning on coming out to a resort on Lake Travis, don't know exactly when though.

As insane as this sounds, I am technically homeless right now (oh no boo whoo and no offers of places to stay, I am doing fine).

Dumped the apartment, sold the house, I take over a 3 month sublet on the 24th. I'm on vacation all next week (hey if I am paying for a hotel, might as well be a resort hotel, right?).

A couple weeks to move into the sublet, and then I'm looking at the scouting vacations - cross off 1 of the top 5.

 

I for one have lived in over 10 states during the past 20 odd years. After my divorce in 1997 I went searching for my soul and mind. I grew up in western Michigan (on Lake Michigan far from Detroit's nonsense) have lived in Boston, Key West, Atlanta, North Carolina, Virginia, etc. One thing I learned in all the places was that the people and relationships I made meant more to me than the location. Mountains, beach and scenery is great for a few months and then it gets old. Its the people you meet that make it liveable. Find a location that has great people, doesn't cost a fortunate and a place where you don't spend hours in traffic. That will rule out a lot of places. Stay away from the West Coast (no water and high cost of living), East Coast (high cost of living and too many regulations/taxes). Lastly, DON'T move to Michigan, we have enough problems. Sorry, couldn't resist. Good luck and let us know where you land.



Having lived in Key West I would say stay away. It is too small an island. Its very hard to live there and make a living. Most people go there to get away from life, some never return to it. Nice place to vacation but tough place to make a life. Unless you have something lined up workwise, know a local "Conch" or looking for a life of drugs and drinking at Margaritaville, find some other place.

I spent 2 months in Belize and Costa Rica. I can highly recommend both places. People are great, weather decent. Much better than "island living". Much easier living some place that is connected to the world instead of an island. On islands everything, including truck parts, are harder to come by. I spent 4 months on St. Croix waiting for my kitchen cabinets to arrive by ship. Never again.

 

I moved from northeast NY to northeast Ga . I am right off interstate 85 about 60 miles east of Greenville SC about 200 yards from Lake Hartwell . It is 110 miles to Atlanta , 150 to Charlotte , 6 hours to Myrtle beach , 8 hours to Daytona , 30 minutes to the beginning of the Smoky Mountains . Property is cheap I paid 140 for 3 acres with, brick 3 bedroom house and 28 x 30, 2 story garage. Lots of trees and nice yard . My county and school taxes are $ 307.00 a year . Gas is $3.23 a gallon , Power is low cost I pay about 2 to 3 hundred a month , that is for air or heat and all other . Greenville SC has lots of good jobs as BMW has a plant there , they make the X3 , X4, X5 , X6 models and will be making X7s starting in 2015 . They have 8,000 in house employs . and the surrounding areas have many suppliers for them . Total number of people about 25 to 30.000 . Also lots of other plants in a 60 or 70 mile circle . Mild winters and hot summers but lots of recreation activities . Living areas rang from city to hillbilly . If I can help with any information PM me . We where talking about you at this years truckstock , wondered what happened to you . Glad your ok .

 

From your list, I would go to Spokane, Wa. Maybe the outlying areas too. We love Ellensburg also. Clean, friendly and not all about being 'trendy' like where I settled back in the 70's. Too bad I make my living here building stuff for yuppies......Too old to start all over someplace else.

 

just do yourself a favor and don't come to illinois ! this state sucks ! born and raised here and really the only thing keeping me here is the fear of finding work and a stable life elsewhere and my grandkids . i always said that if i move i'm going southward to a warmer climate too , da-- tired of the cold of winter !