The panhandle would be my first choice as far as Florida goes. Inland, of course!
The grass is greener, get the F out of your home state thread
- Thread starter ejay
- Start date
Yep, that's really what "the grass is greener" means.
What's the draw of the panhandle area? I'd love any of the states the OP listed but my fate has been decided for me... it'll be somewhere in Florida. Likely in or very close to Jacksonville.
Oh wow, that would get my attention too. I'll check into that but it has to be within a reasonable driving distance to Jacksonville where everyone lives.
The panhandle culture feels more southern and relaxed vs the atlantic coast, to me as someone who's never lived there but has been a few times.
Screw the beaches, go inland a bit. Rolling pseudo "hills", nice trees, just generally fairly pretty country. If you've seen one beach, you've seen them all - and I've seen more than my share of them in various places in the world.
I live 7 miles from Florida's border, 1 1/2 hours North of Panama city. Inland is a bit of the rolling hills and green trees but once you get away from the beach even 15 miles you loose a lot of the sea breeze and you are stuck with the humidity. the other day it was 96 deg but 80% humidity. without a breeze you feel like you can cut the air with a knife. Tallahassee is a nice area about 45 min to an hour to the beach and the beaches in those parts are not tourists. once you get to Cape sand blast heading east to Destine it is quiet tourists. I am either moving to Tennessee or down to the beach within the year.
Thatguy
TJ Enthusiast
Soft pass on Florida for me. My Mom lives in Ocala and I'm not impressed, its just a drier swamp and wayyyy tooo close too the Villages
I don't know of a specific area of Colorado that I'd call the new Florida. It's just something I've heard from those that live there, those that moved there, and from people out here. No offense intended. As I stated, I have extended in-laws that moved there. I don't miss them.
I've got to have mountains. Pretty sure I have to have mountains. Pretty naive in regard to brutal winters. There are times I'd trade the beach and the triple digit days for snow. I used to be a beach guy. I was a surfer in high school and I've been an avid diver for a while now though I don't dive as much as I used to. I'd give the ocean up in a blink for a better housing market, better local politics, and better cost of living. Not asking to be surrounded by people that think just like me but sometimes I think there's something in the water here. (Crazies)
Idaho doesn't want us. Have friends that moved to a suburb of Boise and the housing/job market is about the same here. Plus, they are getting flooded by California Liberals. Beautiful state, though.
Wyoming appeals quite a bit due to the following. Industries that my wife and I work in at times pay not much less than here. (Not always the case) Housing market is awesome. Local politics are great. But right now there aren't many jobs available. Jackson is nice but damn it's expensive. I live in a tourist town so I get it. Casper and Gillette appeal but as I understand it those cities are on the plains. I've read in more than one place that Casper is really trying to get more families to move in. I'm no cowboy but I know my way around a ranch.
Montana is pretty similar to Wyoming but crappier job market and colder weather as I understand it. Some of my Norwegian/Swedish ancestors that didn't stay in Wisconsin moved to Libby.
Arizona is nice politically. I have a good friend that moved there off the grid. Job market pays dick compared to California and places like Flagstaff the housing is about the same as here. Further North you go the better the climate but the worse the job market.
I know little about Nebraska. My grandfathers brother (great uncle?) lives there. Don't they have a serious tornado problem there?
I know little about South Dakota other than what I've learned on the internet. Highest suicide, high DUI fatalities, high divorce rate, shitty job market, bleh scenery for a lot of the State.
Utah has some beautiful areas in the South but no job market as I see it.
We all have bullet points we would like to check when looking but I'm a realist. I understand that I'd for sure be giving up some things to gain other things. I'm no freeloader, though, either. Pretty diverse in my job background. I volunteer as a Commissioner in the City I live in as a Civic duty (it's an uphill battle) to make sure lazy politicians actually get things done and not over regulate the local populous. Like so many other people, I'd like to afford to buy a house, have a job I enjoy, have the chance to save some money, be friendly with the neighbors, or be left alone should I desire that too, not have my children indoctrinated with a batshit philosophy at public school, and have surroundings that I enjoy. Can't have it all, though.
I've got to have mountains. Pretty sure I have to have mountains. Pretty naive in regard to brutal winters. There are times I'd trade the beach and the triple digit days for snow. I used to be a beach guy. I was a surfer in high school and I've been an avid diver for a while now though I don't dive as much as I used to. I'd give the ocean up in a blink for a better housing market, better local politics, and better cost of living. Not asking to be surrounded by people that think just like me but sometimes I think there's something in the water here. (Crazies)
Idaho doesn't want us. Have friends that moved to a suburb of Boise and the housing/job market is about the same here. Plus, they are getting flooded by California Liberals. Beautiful state, though.
Wyoming appeals quite a bit due to the following. Industries that my wife and I work in at times pay not much less than here. (Not always the case) Housing market is awesome. Local politics are great. But right now there aren't many jobs available. Jackson is nice but damn it's expensive. I live in a tourist town so I get it. Casper and Gillette appeal but as I understand it those cities are on the plains. I've read in more than one place that Casper is really trying to get more families to move in. I'm no cowboy but I know my way around a ranch.
Montana is pretty similar to Wyoming but crappier job market and colder weather as I understand it. Some of my Norwegian/Swedish ancestors that didn't stay in Wisconsin moved to Libby.
Arizona is nice politically. I have a good friend that moved there off the grid. Job market pays dick compared to California and places like Flagstaff the housing is about the same as here. Further North you go the better the climate but the worse the job market.
I know little about Nebraska. My grandfathers brother (great uncle?) lives there. Don't they have a serious tornado problem there?
I know little about South Dakota other than what I've learned on the internet. Highest suicide, high DUI fatalities, high divorce rate, shitty job market, bleh scenery for a lot of the State.
Utah has some beautiful areas in the South but no job market as I see it.
We all have bullet points we would like to check when looking but I'm a realist. I understand that I'd for sure be giving up some things to gain other things. I'm no freeloader, though, either. Pretty diverse in my job background. I volunteer as a Commissioner in the City I live in as a Civic duty (it's an uphill battle) to make sure lazy politicians actually get things done and not over regulate the local populous. Like so many other people, I'd like to afford to buy a house, have a job I enjoy, have the chance to save some money, be friendly with the neighbors, or be left alone should I desire that too, not have my children indoctrinated with a batshit philosophy at public school, and have surroundings that I enjoy. Can't have it all, though.
Hope you bring a mop. That's pretty much right in the middle of the batshit as I understand it.
I can fill you in somewhat, depending on what you do for a living. There's also the opportunity to live in Iowa and work in Omaha. That way you save on taxes. There are zero beaches or mountains here. Lots of sky like Wyoming or Eastern Colorado or most any city in the middle of the country. It's not all flat. They built I-80 on the flat river bed of the Platte river so if you take that route through the state it looks like the Florida peninsula. The highway follows the river all the way from one side to the other.
Tornado problem? Hmmm. We've had 2 go buy in 20 years and 3 hail storms big enough to damage more than the plants in the yard. I have a house with a basement, a bar, and a big screen TV. So if the house disappears, I'll have booze and a place to stay. But the tornado risk is lower than hurricane risks south and east or fire risks on the west coast. They fire up and within 10 minutes to an hour you're either fine or you lost stuff/had damage. It's not nearly as stressful as fire or hurricane where you have to think about it for days. It's more like stressing over earthquakes. You can build a house to withstand either if you chose. The cities are heat islands which tend to push the fronts north or south and the tornadoes with them. If you don't want tornadoes to affect you, don't live in Moore, Oklahoma around the northwest side of Oklahoma City. Statistically, the highest chance of losing your home to a tornado in the US.
There are jobs here for technical people. Given housing costs, you should be able to sell a run down shack in SoCal and buy a 4,500 sq foot 4-5 bedroom, 4 bath house here and have plenty of money left over.
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Fun fact: Did you know that The Villages has the highest instance of STDs in the entire nation?Soft pass on Florida for me. My Mom lives in Ocala and I'm not impressed, its just a drier swamp and wayyyy tooo close too the Villages
none taken, actually I wish we were a little more like Florida if it means a little less like California.
having lived 26 years in Oklahoma, I realize people that haven't lived around tornadoes don't get how much of a non-issue it really is. It seems like any given tornado alley state in a given year is about as likely to get hit by a tornado as a gulf or atlantic state is to get a hurricane. Only, that even the largest tornadoes are a mile wide vs a hurricane swath hundreds of miles wide means the odds of any given house or person actually being impacted in any way by a tornado has to be on the order of a shark attack.
In 26 years I only ever saw one that wasn't from a car full of crazy meteorology student stormchasers (and even those we had to drive hundreds of miles to find). The one was still 3 miles away and only big enough to cause some roof damage to a handful of houses that took a direct hit.
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Similarly, here in California we have a lot of earthquakes; nearly everyday. Most are too small to feel. And you can't live life waiting for 'the big one'.
FYI for me, Texas is not on my list. We have friends that moved there. They seem to like it, I guess. My sister lives near Austin too.
I need mountains. And I'm not trading hot summer days for even hotter summer days.
I need mountains. And I'm not trading hot summer days for even hotter summer days.
Thatguy
TJ Enthusiast
Thats why i mentioned it
its a pretty cool place, just a lotta bed hoppin !! Go ahead and blame them NY Libs again
Thatguy
TJ Enthusiast
Oh, you know my mom then !!Hope you bring a mop. That's pretty much right in the middle of the batshit as I understand it.
sun soaked areas and crazy, go hand in hand
Casper does have Casper Mountain. A lone, 14 mile long mountain with a ski slope. However, the Big Horns are only 130 miles north.