Born in Kansas. Lived in quite afew different states in my time, including colorado, tried vegas as well. I always end up back in Oklahoma. Mild winters, can get hot in the summer but not as bad as allot of other places. Mostly decent folks. Its just home....

Hey Bryan,
I've travelled quite a bit - so another less biased take below:

Santa Barbara, Ca. - You'll add at least (10) years to your life. Beautiful town of 80,000 with the amenities for the super rich & for you too. Culture, shopping, beaches, 75 degrees, UCSB, ......

Southern Vermont (Manchester/Dorset area). Summer in Vermont - Wow. Horse country, 4 hours to Boston, 4 seasons, .. Winter in Florida/Summer in Vermont.

Rockport or Newburyport, Mass. - Coastal Mass. without the crowds of Cape Cod. (1) hour into Boston by train, small quaint towns, lobster, Plum Beach,

Oxford, Mississippi - Home of Old Miss. University. Small Southern town with a solid university, beautiful square, The Grove, Hot toddies,

Georgetown, South Carolina - Just Beautiful. In the South Carolina Low Country, an hour north of Charleston, SC. The movie The Patriot was filmed there.

Wilmington, North Carolina - Coastal North Carolina, Home to UNC Wilmington, really nice small town in a good state.

Fairhope, Alabama - On Mobile Bay. Beautiful Oak trees, Shade, Southern cooking, Seafood, Beautiful....

Southern France - 30 miles inland from Nice. Seillans Fr., Fayence Fr., etc.


Have fun Bryan.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

Hi Bryan, I was just thinking of you this weekend. I was at a friend's place in the fracking fields north of Greeley. Crazy.

There are a few things in favor of NM, with caveats. Low housing prices away from ABQ and Santa Fe, overall excellent weather. Winters in ABQ include occasional snow, occasional low temps but daytime average in January is 34 deg. Summers are not like PHX, under 100 and bone dry humidity, with monsoon showers that cool it off in the afternoons.

Jobs are hit or miss, depends on your field.

It's a poor state, no question about it. There are pockets of prosperity. It's a great retirement place, not so great for kids to get an education. It's the weather that makes it attractive, when you get down to it.

Bryan,
Born in NW Iowa, lived there obviously), MN (north of Minneapolis), CA (bay area and the mountains), WA state, HI (child), a couple place in the military and have spent time in several other states. All that said I am looking at SW Missouri. I have an uncle who lives there, I have spent time there and it has a lot to offer in my opinion. It is high on my list as it is centrally located and the climate is moderate compared to places I have lived including now.

Time will tell as my daughters finish their educations, one currently in JC ( Santa Cruz area) and one in the US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY). But we (the wife and I ) and looking at the lower mid-west. I wish I was in your position to be at that point to be making this decision.

Good Luck on where you decide.

There is SW Virginia, I've a place between Stuart and Martinsville. Property taxes are low, cost of living is about the same as in NY. Cheaper to register a vehicle in NY, no food tax, or clothing tax in NY. I know a couple from NY who were looking to relocate to VA but property tax on their vehicles would be over $3000/year. The weather has been changing so who knows what will happen. If you like snow, the Boone, NC area is ok. Martinsville, VA usually has the highest un-employment rate in the state. Patrick county, where I am is more of a retirement area, under 20,000 population. If you like NASCAR, SW VA or NC would be the place. Medical care seems to be better in NC than VA as a lot of people go to Winston-Salem, NC for treatment. Rambled in no special order. Good luck with your future.

FYI: I am not native to NC. I was born and raised in Buffalo NY. I deliberately chose Research Triangle area of NC to move to in 1979. If you don't mind cold and snow and not seeing the sun for 5 months of the year, Buffalo has been named the cheapest place in the country to live in. WNY is actually a very pretty place once the snow melts and has a lot going for it for 4.5 months or if you really like cold weather and 10s of feet of snow.
However I would never move back there even tho I still have 2 brothers there, the winter cabin fever was more than I could handle.
That all said, If I had a dependably steady external income and/or was a little younger, my dream location to live would be Thailand!

Bryan, for the most part we live where we do because we are comfortable here. I like the 4 seasons and I grew up in mid Missouri. So, I'm comfortable here.
Now, my wife is tired of winters and wants to be near water. She is thinking northern Florida one of these days.

You are fairly young, so you have the luxury of being able to try something different after a few years as well. Really, I'm not sure what I would do if I wasn't married and didn't have family all around....shoot, I would probably be a hermit somewhere remote.

Eastern Oregon, near Sisters. Cold in the winter, but not worse or longer than Co. Milder weather just over the hill. Property taxes are said to be high in OR, but no sales or income tax. Strange mix of libertarian and liberals, especially Portland. Pretty country, and possibly the best ocean beaches in the US. (Coast is not far over the hill).

Just a thought.

I am doomed to life in CA as I married a local. It ain't all bad:-X04

Wait a second, you travelled "quite a bit" and got less biased in 1 day?


You're kidding me, you were 15 minutes away and you didn't think to ping me to see if I would buy ya a beer or prove that my truck is more than just pictures (nobody from the board has seen it in person as yet - couldn't stomach driving Denver to KY with 2psi oil pressure last year).
I hope your schedule was jam packed and busy otherwise I might just be a tiny bit offended :((
(Seriously though, that's just a tease I am not butt-hurt, but I would buy ya a beer and not even make you work on my truck either.)

Austin is tentatively #1 on my list right now and that was before I started this thread and solicited anything. (The average house cost versus income versus cost of living ratio is a little drawback right now) That farm that I mentioned and the small (8k) town - that was "semi arid desert" according to the USGS. I'm well versed with scorpions, western prairie rattlers, diamondbacks, etc.


I keep finding myself thinking of more "stereotype" pro and con for the places people are throwing out - doing my best not to be negative and post any of that... If I make everyone else be all positive I best keep my perceived grumps quiet, right :P

I know I have been awol, I hope this kinda helps people understand why. I did a ton of remodel work on the place, got it on the market in march had a failed realtor quit and the 2nd realtor got a contract within 48 hours. The whole time in between returning from Shane's and now has just been a marathon followed by a disaster and so on. I irished out and got away without loosing a ton of money, but I am just grateful to be done with that first real estate venture and "free" now.

When the dust all settles I will come back and tell you guys where I landed, but for now I'm still quite open to suggestions, especially those romantic sunset pictures where the last rays are just glinting off the hood.

Ya know it wasn't until I read this the third time did I catch the capitalization and the fact there was a joke there caught me.
For the record I smoked once, I am immune to THC - doesn't get me high. I'd rather have a bottle of Jack, better use of my money for me.

I can harsh on Denver all I want without violating my terms, right guys... yeah the ridiculous influx of people moving into Colorado which is causing the rampant housing crisis (rent is off the hook & Denver is the #1 place to sell property right now, etc) is a huge gripe for me. Sorry, don't need to be innundated by the smoke everytime I ride the light rail downtown. Don't want to pay the higher rent, etc etc.

My wife and I were asking ourselves the same question about ten years ago. We had lived in FL most of our adult lives, raised family, had careers, etc. We found our dislike of plastic, traffic and the crowds was becoming greater as the population increased so we started looking for a suitable place to move. We spent about three years traveling via motor home, looking for a place we liked. I do not think there is a perfect place, but; If we would have been at our working stage, we would have certainly considered job market for our disciplines.
We resettled in rural east TN. The following reasons were factors.:
Low property tax.
Lots of good outdoor living. Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping.
No state income tax but there is the “Hall Tax”. Hall tax only for certain type investments.
Relatively cheap housing.
Overall, cost of living quite low.
No extreme weather.
Generally friendly folks,,,,,,,,, with a few old cranks thrown in.
Generally politically conservative so long as you stay out of larger cities.
Just about everything is taxed at over nine percent, even food. Large purchases hurt.
There is a lack of good restaurants. We must drive forty miles for a really nice restaurant.
Lots of poverty and unemployment. Could be depressing.
If I remember your discipline correctly, although pretty specialized, you could work about anywhere with a good high speed internet service.
Hope you find the perfect place to relocate.

gypsy mode
 

HUGE decision to make based on biased opinions on an internet forum....:p

I'm planning on moving to the Rapid City area at retirement age...I love the Black Hills area. (not just during the Bike Rally!)

But...

If I were you I'd consider buying a good quality used motorhome or maybe a fifth-wheel rig and simply travel a bit and try a few places out.

Become a snowbird or 'Winter Texan' as we call them and you can change your neighbors and your weather by turning an ignition key.

It might only be suitable for a season, or a few years, but then just sell the rig and settle down in the place you prefer.

In fact...Quartzite and areas like that are cheap to live in during winter and BLM lands have distributed camping that makes that lifestyle rather cheap overall.

Might work for ya...might not.

Good luck!

:-X22


http://www.your-rv-lifestyle.com/quartzsite-blm.html

Hey Bryan,
The "ridiculous growth" you are seeing in Denver is exactly what is happening in Austin. If you don't like it there - not sure moving this direction will help.

If you can work via the internet - Waco, Tx just an hour & half up the
interstate is seeing a nice resurgence with the popularity of Baylor University. Real estate prices in Waco are very, very, reasonable - We just bought a 2600 sq. ft. older brick house for $115K for my son while he goes very slowly through college there.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

I'm happily living North of Atlanta. The weather is good, and the economy is decent. We have the benefits of a large city being near-by without most of the problems. But, if I could choose anywhere, I'd sure love to try Hawaii for a long-term gig.

My vote would be for you to check out Sioux Falls South Dakota. Its a growing city. Jobs are reported to be plentiful there. Great Medical community. No state income taxes. Downside would be winter. But if I remember correctly, if you get a speed cam ticket in neighboring Sioux City Iowa the state of South Dakota won't automatically turn over your South Dakota licesend car info unless you are involved in a serious offense or accident.