Want info about where you live, I'm moving!!!

CTburns said:

You could consider Connecticut, but bring your checkbook! Taxes are unbearable. :lol:

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Not to mention the highest electricity rates in the US, two senators that don't listen to their constituents.. I could go on. If I wasnt so lazy I'd probably move up north.

Yeah, it was nice today. I live in Lancaster, SC, which is pretty close to Charlotte. Houses are cheap here as well, just NO jobs. My wife works in Pineville at the Arboretum Walmart. I work in Chester.

Holy Crap - 2 other people from Waxhaw here... I make 3? Small world, we probably pass each other in the grocery store.... Whenever I bring up wood stoves here people look at me kind of funny. It does rock though... I wouldn't live anywhere else if I had to work (maybe Nashville area suburbs). If I didn't have to work, it would be Boone or Blowing Rock, NC or Johnson City, TN.

Greybeard said:

...... Theres a goodside to the story though, got the mother inlaw to move out. ......

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I think that's the part they call "priceless".....

kenny chaos said:

I visit Little Rock on occasion and I see lots of fishing, pizza shacks, and churches. I told the wife I wanted to move there, buy a barge with a minister to preach while people fished and ate our pizzas. Now ya see why I'm not wealthy?
No disrespect intended to anyone.
I've never been insulted in such a friendly manner as when I visit Little Rock. i think it's a hoot.

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Bill?! Is that you Bill?

I would have thought that you and Hillary would have settled in real well in NY by now.

Well, I never really settled in New York. That was Hillary's thing, and now look at her, back to Washington. heh heh heh
I travel the world as a lobbyist, mainly to myself. heh heh heh. I knocked down $7million last year. heh heh heh
But ya know, with all the places I could go, Little Rock is the safest place to go get me a lewinsky. heh heh heh heh
How did ya like my barge idea? heh heh heh
Come on down and I'll show ya the Willie Clinton library which Hillary designed.
It looks more like a Willie Wonka Factory. heh heh heh heh
God I hate that woman. heh heh heh heh
I better get goin. I'm meetin' my old friend Willie Nelson for lunch.
We'll probably blow a couple doobies first, heh heh heh, then act like a couple of willies. heh heh heh heh heh

My early years were spent growing up just north of New York City. I had lots of good friends and liked living there. In my early twenties I moved to central New York State for a job and lived there for six years. I liked the people, the climate and the country living. Then, on a whim and a convoluted group of good circumstances I drove to Alaska "just for the heck of it". I ended up staying there for 23 years. Made some very good friends in Alaska and absolutely loved the people and lifestyle. If you like hunting, fishing, skiing, mountain hiking, or any other outdoor recreation it is a paradise.

My family all live on the east coast and they had been putting pressure on me to "come home where you belong". So, I bit the bullet and moved "half way home" to Idaho where I lived for 13 years. Idaho had great winters, gorgeous summers and wonderful people. Made many good friends there and still communicate with them. I really enjoyed the Coeur D'Alene area of Idaho.

Family continued to put pressure on me to "come home where you belong" so about 7 years ago I decided to spend some time driving back and forth to the east coast looking for a place to live within a five hour drive from my sister who lives in southern New Jersey. Checked out all of the New England States and was especially impressed with most of Maine.

On the way back to Idaho on one of these trips I decided to make a brief stop in upstate New York to attempt to contact a former working and hunting buddy whom I hadn't seen in 40 years. Wasn't even sure where he lived anymore. Stopped in a store to look at a phone book and a person in the store recognized me from 40 years ago. After a very nice 45 minute conversation covering many years and people I did contact my buddy and we had a heck of a nice reunion.

After two additional years of looking and much intervention by former friends I was able to buy some acreage from a farmer friend. We used to bow hunt on his land when he was in junior high school.

So, here I am, right back where I started in upstate New York. I am living among friends, close enough (don't want to get too close) to family, and really enjoying everything now about my life.

If family and friends were in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North or South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania (Delaware Water Gap), Ohio, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other states I may have left out, I would be living there close to family and friends.

My purpose in this long missive is to relate that, in my opinion, no one state is better than another for good living. They are all just different. Some are more expensive than others so that must be considered. However, again, in my experience, the most important consideration in achieving a happy lifestyle is being reasonable close to family and friends. All other things are secondary.

So, Graybeard, enjoy your move and new friends and surroundings when you get there.

Best wishes and good health to all.

John_M

Waxhaw is a tiny suburb town outside of Charlotte. Maybe a few thousand people. No car dealerships here, but we do have two saddle/tack stores, a great bicycle shop, a few good restaurants, a lot of antique places, and a handful of auto-service shops. We're about 15 minutes from the city limits of Charlotte. The Charlotte Metro is well over 1.5 Million now and has dealerships of every sort on every corner, plus we have the NASCAR industry... The local university has a motorsports engineering program. We have a great airport/airline hub, very little traffic, good jobs, lots of single college grads, 6 nice lakes within an hour drive, and long springs/falls. Winter is mild/short and summers are short but hot and humid. Good Acreage is about 13-20K per acre. Cheap Power. Good college football and basketball within driving range. What more could you need. Oh by the way, two independent stove shops in town, one national chain stove shop, and lots of hardwood just lying around that nobody wants.
AND the best Pulled Pork BBQ....

John_M said:

...... Then, on a whim and a convoluted group of good circumstances I drove to Alaska "just for the heck of it". I ended up staying there for 23 years. Made some very good friends in Alaska and absolutely loved the people and lifestyle. If you like hunting, fishing, skiing, mountain hiking, or any other outdoor recreation it is a paradise.

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Be careful...........If you call some place paradise you can kiss it goodbye.......

John_M said:

....If family and friends were in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North or South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania (Delaware Water Gap), Ohio, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other states I may have left out, I would be living there close to family and friends.

My purpose in this long missive is to relate that, in my opinion, no one state is better than another for good living. They are all just different. Some are more expensive than others so that must be considered. However, again, in my experience, the most important consideration in achieving a happy lifestyle is being reasonable close to family and friends. All other things are secondary.

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Nice post John. I've traveled through roughly half of those states. It was always nice to come home though.

We do have one helluva nice country here don't we.

Greybeard said:

Hi folks, been wanting to move south for over 8 years now from Maine. Visited many areas in VA, FL, PA. Visiting an area for a week doesnt really give you the whole picture. I'm a Master Nissan/Honda/Toyota tech, looking for a place to have a nice country home and a couple acres, Virginia south. I would like to keep the trees and mountains around as well as a mild winter. With the housing market at a low now is a good time for me to buy. Cheap taxes, good area/people/church, give me a shout.

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We have a house for sale near Lithia, Fl that would be just the ticket for you. Cracker style house, two fireplaces, 10 acres and a barn. Very private. Property taxes are a little high, but no income tax. No mountains, but it is on a ridge thats at least 10 feet above sea level . Most definitely mild winters. Every once in awhile a huricane comes through and generates plenty of firewood.

I too would like to move south some day. Lived in South Carolina for awhile, too hot. I have checked out the Richmond Virginia area a lot, and even kept a weather diary for a whole year with high and low temperatures for comparison. I found out that they ran about 20 degrees warmer than this cold part of Pennsylvania. But what I dont' want is to trade "hide in your heated house from the cold" to "hide in your air conditioned house from the heat". Check out the number of 90 degree days for where ever you want to be. The coast of Florida is more comfortable than the sandy soiled low lands of South Carolina. The mountains are cooler, too.

Oh, in case the rest of you don't know, for us cold weather "northerners", 90 degree days will just plain kill ya. We just stop. And sit. And complain. And sweat.

Greybeard said:

Detector$ said:

Holy Crap - 2 other people from Waxhaw here... I make 3? Small world, we probably pass each other in the grocery store.... Whenever I bring up wood stoves here people look at me kind of funny. It does rock though... I wouldn't live anywhere else if I had to work (maybe Nashville area suburbs). If I didn't have to work, it would be Boone or Blowing Rock, NC or Johnson City, TN.

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Just checked realtor.com, all kinds of affordable housing arround Waxhaw. Maybe I'm onto something here. Are there alot of car dealerships there?

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for dealers... just south in SC check around Rock hill. Just north in Indian Trail, Matthews, and Monroe, all considered Charlotte Metro.
I work in Monroe it's about 15 miles to work for me, easy commute, no traffic on the Waxhaw Highway. Mrs GVA works in Ballentyne, about a 10 mile commute down 521....
Traffic is mostly inside the 485 loop so if you live and work outside of it you are better off
Union county NC taxes are cheaper than Mecklenberg county NC
Lots of deer in this area too...............

A big question, perhaps answered by your current location, is whether you need any culture in the mix. That is tough in many southern parts.....other than if you consider the local church your place to hang.

Also, even in the south, there is the choice between either hills......or the coast. The two really don't meet like they do in some other areas......

Weather.....can be very different inland or on the coast.......

My parents have a place on Hilton Head Island - that whole area boomed for the last number of years. If you like boating, fishing, warm weather, etc. there are some very nice areas. Down sides are the traffic (if you have to commute far), the summers are TOO HOT (by far), etc.

What much of the south is missing is the "village" type of thing we have in the northeast....meaning your services and landscape are often covered by sprawl and the Wal-Mart is where you get your shopping done. Personally, I like the small town thing.......there are some southern areas which are building up town centers.

I'd done the "driving around" thing in NC and agree that is a difficult way to find anything. Honestly I think you will do better with internet research for a while and then some choice visits.

I've lived in mid-TN....very nice area 1 1/2 hours south of Nashville. Beautiful and generally a real economy of sorts in those areas....not boom and bust.

I think you should start with the written list of exactly what you want......how far from the ocean or a big body of water? How far to commute? Traffic? Weather? Average age and demographics of the area? Schools (if you have kids, etc.)?

Two things I really dislike....sprawl and traffic. I also dislike areas with no roots or history.

I have not explored it, but Charleston area seems nice. I should mention that SC has vastly nicer weather than NC for a number of reasons. It is somewhat indented into the continent, while NC sticks out into the seas....that is why NC gets hit with the Hurricanes, etc.

When flying into Hilton Head in the puddle jumper, I am always impressed with the beauty of those coastal lowlands....the water snakes through them like blood vessels.....and is pretty much in the original natural state. But really hot from June to end of Sept......really!

Actually, some N. Florida locations have better year-round weather since the water moderates the temps and humidity.

Oh, this is usually common knowledge, but areas with multiple universities are often nice places to locate.

NC has been taken over by liberals, they have just put in a mileage tax based on your odometer reading at inspection each year. they have high taxes already, but anything would seem lower if you live in north Massa.... I mean Maine(second highest in USA). Just like New Massa...I mean New Hampshire has been going in the past decade or so.

That's good that people of intelligence and tolerance are taking over in the south. They've been saying the demographics in SC and some other states have been changing also.

Liberal:
# broad: showing or characterized by broad-mindedness; "a broad political stance"; "generous and broad sympathies"; "a liberal newspaper"; "tolerant ...
# having political or social views favoring reform and progress
# tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition
# a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties

Fact is, when people demand better schools, better health care, better infrastructure and better life in general, it costs a bit more. Also, there seems to be a somewhat direct relation to population density and higher taxes....ie, giant sewer systems cost more than a cesspool, etc. etc.

There are some lower tax southern states - Florida, for instance, has no income tax and some tax policies that would please people. That works OK except your kids will be taught in trailers (no kidding, my sister teaches there) by teachers making 20 grand. They also have strange policies like this - if you live in the same home for a number of years, your taxes stay low, while the person who buys a house right next to you pays double or triple! No one can construe that as fair. But they always vote for it, because more longer term residents vote! Of course, now the whole scheme is falling apart since they relied on tourism and other "free" money.....including those high taxes from new residents.

Of course, this is more broad than just deciding where to move......but one problem in this country is people often move away from higher tax areas when they don't need the services any longer(no kids in school, etc.).....but that leaves the rest of us hanging since the tax base assumes that people pay before, during and after when they reproduce, etc.....

In any case, people down south have always been very friendly and gracious - it's the culture of lack of it which can sometimes make it tougher for us city folk. My present standard is this - if they don't have good bread, then I don't want to live there! We visited New Bern, NC and went to an Italian place....yuk, they gave us some foamy stuff with no decent crust.

The heat can be brutal.....don't underestimate that. There is some sort of published index somewhere as to the "climate livability" of various areas, and interestingly enough, many southern areas are LESS livable in terms of climate than some temperate and northern climes!

West Tennessee near Jackson is a pretty good place . Tennessee has no state income tax or state vehicle inspection . Though the crime rate in Jackson is a bit high , all around Jackson are lightly populated counties with farms , small towns , more churches than you can count , low crime rates and relatively safe schools . Property values are very reasonable here . There are 1000's of acres of public land nearby open to hunting [lots of deer] with seldom an instance of the anti-hunting folks . You can fish for trout in the north part of the state . The Tennessee river [especially near Pickwick Dam] is well known for fishing . The cost of firewood is low , though "seasoned" usually means almost green around here . And lots of people around here use wood for heat . The overall political and religious climate leans a bit to the conservative , but it seems there are fewer here who are either of the far right or left . No nearby mountains but rolling hills , lakes , streams and wildlife galore . Just watch out for the tractors on the side roads .

N W Arkansas.

If you are looking for milder winters please note how few members of Hearth.com there are from that area.

Look up the area from Benton and Rogers Counties south to Fayettevile perhaps to Fort Smith.

Geographic conditions similar as you described as wanting. Sustainable economic growth in the area via Wal Mart and Tyson Foods and several others. U of A is found in Fayetteville.

Cultural conditions are much different than perhaps expected. Southern hospitality is retained but flavored by people moving there for the economic opertunities and refugees escaping from high cost of living areas in Cali., "back East", and "up North".

BJ64 said:

N W Arkansas.

. Sustainable economic growth in the area via Wal Mart and Tyson Foods and several others. U of A is found in Fayetteville.

".

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I'd sure be proud to work for one of them.

No the mileage tax was not approved.....Here...as far as I have heard..... Doubtfull it will happen
but they were talking about it in Mass several years ago too....
as far as being too hot it's all a matter of perspective..... The humidity is less than I felt in NE my whole life... Hot and humid is worse than really hot and dry...... but then again the money I saved by moving here I put into a boat and am on Lake Wylie every weekend anyway.....

Bobcatter said:

I too would like to move south some day. Lived in South Carolina for awhile, too hot. I have checked out the Richmond Virginia area a lot, and even kept a weather diary for a whole year with high and low temperatures for comparison. I found out that they ran about 20 degrees warmer than this cold part of Pennsylvania. But what I dont' want is to trade "hide in your heated house from the cold" to "hide in your air conditioned house from the heat". Check out the number of 90 degree days for where ever you want to be. The coast of Florida is more comfortable than the sandy soiled low lands of South Carolina. The mountains are cooler, too.

Oh, in case the rest of you don't know, for us cold weather "northerners", 90 degree days will just plain kill ya. We just stop. And sit. And complain. And sweat.

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Then don't come to Ky it gets about 96 to 99 all summer