I may be a little biased (or just proud), but I suggest the mountains of Virginia. I live in Roanoke and love the place. With a pop. of 100K or so, its big enough to have fun and get whatever you need, but small enough to still have that friendly, southern hospitality.

Very gun friendly. VA allows open carry of pistols (no CCW needed as long as the gun is in view on your body). Also, VA allows NFA (full auto)
Plenty of windy roads throught the mountains for motorcycles if you are into riding.
ATV/dirtbike trails in the National Forest...if you are into that.
Smith Mountain Lake is 30 minutes away. Rent a boat and go have fun. You can be out all day and not see the entire lake.
Caves/Caverns galore. There must be 7 or more within an hour's drive.
Natural Bridge
45 minutes to Martinsville Speedway (Nascar, BUSH, ect..)
VIR ( Virginia International Raceway) which is a road course that attracts F1, INDY, AMA, open wheel, cart, ect....
VA's Explore Park, National D-Day Memorial

I live 10-15 minutes from downtown, and this is my backyard: We have 5 acres, but the neighbors have a couple hundred that I can ride/play on.

 

Are you telling me my mail to the kid is headed for Anchorage? (He's in Huntsville. )

It's heck to get old.

Oh yeah- the view off of my deck isn't that shabby either

 

ATC Crazy- that's a beautiful spot you've got there. I just did a quick price check on your area- looks reasonable too.

 

Check-out Aiken South Carolina on your list. A lot of people from up north are moving there instead of Florida. A lot of big industry are moving there too. It's only about 40 miles from God's country as well.

 

northern WI Just got back from sledding

 

That's what's happening in Montana. Only it isn't slowly, anymore. You should see the grown .... it's stinking incredible. I used to live in a pretty safe place. Now.. it's drug addicts ( Meth heads..the worst), not totally gang inspired yet, but getting there.

I"ll go along with the blue lines someone added under the Helena, Montana post from find yer spot. I'm ready to do a petition to start a hunting season on all these whining, snivelling newbies that want everything they ran away from.

Besides..if I were to move someplace, then I'D BECOME THE PROBLEM I'M MOVING FROM..to someone else. It just ain't easy to relocate anymore.

 

My goal would be to start a business. I guess I'll have to really live in the area a good 6 months to get a feel for the place. I'm an Ironworker in NY, but have experience in construction, and CATV.

 

Instead of GJ I would try Montrose instead. I think it is a much better location provided you could find work. That is on my short list when I retire. Other than that Rapid City SD area is very nice and growing. The black hills are fantastic.

 

I kind of just moved off like that... In 1997 I left Louisiana and moved to Colorado. I didnt know anybody out there. I was there for a few months and then came back home. I left again a few years later for Nashville. I should have stayed there. I didnt. I am now in Austin. Will be leaving for home again at the end of this week. There is always something good about home. No matter how much you hate it.

I will tell you this though. "Home" for me is almost 600 acres of beef farm, mud riding, camping, hunting, fishing, spending time with my old dad, and working on cars and trucks.


Of all the places I have visited in my 32 years, I would have to say that if I had my choice of where to live, it would be North Carolina (around Ashville), SouthCarolina, or Tennessee (around Nashville).

 

i live in chattanoga but we have alake cabin blues springs u should move their it is just what ur looking for

 

Western Montana,Northern Idaho,Western Oregon, Washington.

 

Moab and Cedar City are OK, great places to visit, but if you intend to live there, think again. I am in Central Utah, lived here most of my life.

Cedar City is a College town, and OK, but the rate of low paying quick jobs, and it is being over run with retired people out of Calif.(nothing meant) Housing is sky rocketing. In the last ten years, it has tripled in size, and not from the local residences.

Moab is a great town, warm most of the year, has some high paying jobs to offer, but you need a good education to get them, and most are associated with big companies that transfer in their top workers. It is a great place to Rockcrawl. Look up Slick Rock for more information. The biggest problem I have with Moab is the remote location. It is even worse then where I live. I am 150 miles from a big city.

If you want to live in Utah, and have the best of all worlds, look into the towns just south of Provo. Lots of Hunting, Fishing, Camping. Lots of land, and housing, lots of jobs with only short commute. All the luxuries of both worlds.

As for gun laws, around here if you do not have a rifle in your back window, they know your from out of town. The town I live in, we ride our Fourwheelers down main street. I take off from my house, and I can be in Pine and Quakie trees in 20 minutes in any direction.

The biggest majority of land is owned by the BLM and the Forest Service. This means it is public land, and you can go anywhere you want as long as you do not destroy the land. You can hunt nearly anywhere you want at all. No land permits or private clubs to ask if you can shoot a Deer.

edit: I want to add that I have lived in Tucson, LA, Grand Junction, Redmond, etc. I was born here, and left for a few years. I have been back for 27 years in the same small town, and will not leave. They will plant me here. Bottom line, I have never found a place I like as much as here in Utah.

 

13 years ago, we bought the house for $180K with about 4-5 acres. Since then, we've renovated it a little bit. Added a 30x34 garage, the attached 2-car garage was turned into a living room, and the den was turned into a second master bedroom, MA bath, office, and large walk-in closet.

But Im still jealous of your view!

This is a pic of last spring. Since then, we've lined the edges of the driveway with 3 rows of rocks, got new gravel, and mom has done extensive planting/landscaping.

 

Polarbear, you got me hooked on that find your sopt website. I live in Massachusetts and I really needed that reality check. After taking the quiz it placed me mostly in the southeast US. My wife to be is from Beaumont Texas. I always tease her about Texas. Answering all the climate and social questions on the quiz. Guess where it placed me? The first 3 were in Texas and the 4th was BEAUMONT. GOOD GRIEF!

So I went deeper in the site and viewed home for sale in Beaumont. GOOD GRIEF again. THEY ARE SO CHEAP 185K gets you 4-5 bedroom 2.5-3 bath. Nice looking homes on 3/4 to 1.5 acre lots. DAMN in Massachusetts all those homes would be $500+K EASY I pay $6000 in propery taxes for 12 acres that I have not built a home yet on. I am trying to build a modest log home of a modular home. I am getting the smallest of homes 2 bedroom 1.5 bath and under 1500 feet for at least $185K and some are $225K. Then add all those Taxes beyond Mortgage.

I really dislike New England winters and how socially liberal these north east states have become and how expensive it is to live here. Maybe TEXAS is not so bad. My wife to be would be extatic if I suggested moving to the south.

What is a Yankee to do

 

IBEAM, what town do you live in? Have a sister in law in Price. Been all over utah.