The grass is greener, get the F out of your home state thread

One of my good friends relocated to Ostional, Costa Rica three years ago. He is happy in CR and has recommended living there many times. The first time I suggested living in CR part-time, my wife said no before I even finished talking. Times have changed, my wife has softened, and now we are going down for a visit to check it out in the spring.
 
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zebra12 said:
One of my good friends relocated to Ostional, Costa Rica three years ago. He is happy in CR and has recommended living there many times. The first time I suggested living in CR part-time, my wife said no before I even finished talking. Times have changed, my wife has softened, and now we are going down for a visit to check it out in the spring.
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My uncle owns a farm there, loves it and has been there over 18 years now. Living there part time has come up for us many, many times.
 
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We've been tossing the idea of Costa Rica or Ecuador around a bit - and even moreso with the current political climate here. Just don't settle on Isla Nublar or Isla Sorna...
 
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just finished building a house in the NE Poconos of PA, much more "relaxing" than our house in NY. Also a third the price (brand new, twice the size) and 1/3rd the taxes. We need to figure a southern house for retirement as well...thinking NC or TN? Figure we could sell NY and have both for less than this one is worth and the running costs will still be less than our current $14,700/year taxes now.
 
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Ive been going to Costa Rica for several years now, usually spend a week or two in Samara beach,Rent a house w/pool on the beach. Before going there we considered moving there, spending plenty of time there changed our minds. We love vacationing in CR, but realized that living there wouldn't check enough boxes. Part of the problem was, as soon as we got home, we would head off to Moab a few weeks after. That would just re-ignite the desire to move to CO, which made far more sense
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InOmaha said:
The KC Kansas suburbs were better than the KC Misery side. But they hijacked the Chiefs and Royals and downtown stuff from Missouri and spent their money on schools and roads instead.

Then I moved here, which is a cold version of KC, K with less to do. But I get paid well for the inconvenience.
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My friends live south of KC in Raymore. I like it there, but still too busy for me.
 
I grew up in Boise. When I left in 85 it was about 95,000 people and the surrounding small farming communities in the valley totaled about 135,000. Now the valley is around 900,000 to 1,000,000 and all of the smaller communities have grown together into one metro area.

Boise is a great place but housing costs have skyrocketed. Boise had the distinction of being one of the cities with the highest wealth per capita back in the 70's. 4 Billionaires (in the 70's) built their businesses there. Joe Albertson (Albersons grocery), JR Simplot (Potatos, patents on food processing, fertilizer, meat packing and venture funded Micron Technology), Art Troutner (invented and owned Truss Joist as well as over 20 patents that are still active on wood products like OSB, Plywood glues and the machines that make them) and Harvey Morrison who was a founding partner in Morrison Knudsen which at the time was the worlds largest heavy contractor(built most large Dams and airports in the western US from the early 1900's to 1980's). These companies all were headquartered there along with Boise Cascade (owner of Office Max and many paper/wood product lines) and Micron Technologies.

Rocky mountains are just to the North of town and the desert is to the south. Sunny most of the time with little rainfall/snow. It can get over 100 15 to 20 times a year and below zero a few as well.

I'm in Arizona now but I still own the family house in Boise. Long term plans are to retire in AZ but keep the place in Boise and move between the two.

If you're into the outdoors it's the place. Skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, true wilderness, deserts, sand dunes (tallest in America). Gun laws are still among the freest in the nation and taxes are in the lower 25% for total taxation.

Downsides are it's getting expensive as I noted, the air can get dirty in the winter with temperature inversions and while still one of the safest cities in the nation it's seeing a lot of drug related crimes. Traffic for a city it's size is actually pretty bad at rush hours as well. Not southern CA bad but not getting close at times.

I love Arizona and I lived in eastern WA (Spokane) for 25 years as well. The city of Boise and the State of Idaho is pretty unique. It's been discovered and it's growing quickly but it's still miles ahead of most places in the Western US in my opinion.
 
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Zorba said:
Fun fact: Did you know that The Villages has the highest instance of STDs in the entire nation?
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It was overtaken by Sun City Arizona last year from my understanding...... also, Sun City has the highest incidence of public exposure citations in the US (a few years ago anyway). I designed an expansion to the largest hospital in Sun City and working with the ED director was told that 1 in 3 ED visits has an STD or side effect of one..... :oops:
 
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Unlike @Westtown Willy I would love to get out of SE PA. It really doesn't have too much to do with SE PA but more to do with the general congestion of the Northeast. I am more like @Thatguy that I really want to be somewhere like Colorado where I can enjoy nature, go hike, go wheel, enjoy the weather, etc. I HATE humid summers. I'll never move farther south than I live now and there is zero chance I move anywhere near NYC. Colorado or somewhere like that would be perfect for me. Maybe someday I can convince my wife to pull the trigger. For the record, I also spent the vast majority of my life in SE PA with the exception of college and 2 years in Belgium.
 
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Ha. This thread seems to be mostly about Commiefornia refugees! lol I think I've narrowed down our 'escape' options to either the Reno area (lots of friends there and an outdoor lifestyle that fits me) or the Boise area, specifically Eagle. We were blown away about the friendly people, cleanliness, no homeless encampments at freeway off-ramps, and just the vibe of the whole area (plus we also have friends around there).

Selling a house in Silicon Valley makes real estate just about anywhere else seem stupid cheap so we won't need a mortgage but I actually don't want a big house, would love to just have a 3/2 small house with a 3-4 car garage and a shop. If my job becomes permanently remote, we're set financially. My wife works in the semiconductor industry and there would definitely be opportunities in the Boise area since she worked with one of Micron's C-level executives at another company, but she's also 6-7 years from retirement. At the end of the day, we just need to get out of this zoo and are probably 1-5 years away from moving. Enough is enough, life's too short to put up with bs.
 
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afmoto said:
Ha. This thread seems to be mostly about Commiefornia refugees! lol I think I've narrowed down our 'escape' options to either the Reno area (lots of friends there and an outdoor lifestyle that fits me) or the Boise area, specifically Eagle. We were blown away about the friendly people, cleanliness, no homeless encampments at freeway off-ramps, and just the vibe of the whole area (plus we also have friends around there).

Selling a house in Silicon Valley makes real estate just about anywhere else seem stupid cheap so we won't need a mortgage but I actually don't want a big house, would love to just have a 3/2 small house with a 3-4 car garage and a shop. If my job becomes permanently remote, we're set financially. My wife works in the semiconductor industry and there would definitely be opportunities in the Boise area since she worked with one of Micron's C-level executives at another company, but she's also 6-7 years from retirement. At the end of the day, we just need to get out of this zoo and are probably 1-5 years away from moving. Enough is enough, life's too short to put up with bs.
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Since I grew up in Boise I still chuckle when I hear that people want to move to Eagle. It's the high rent district now but used to fish the river in Eagle (off Eagle Island) in the early 80's when the population was 99 on the sign coming into town. Eagle Island is home to million dollar homes (some multi-million) but for 40 years it was the Idaho State Prison farm. You can still find the foundations on the edges of the river where the security towers were. No one wanted to live out there. It also flooded every few years.

I grew up with one of Micron's C level execs..... he is in R&D these days. Small world.
 
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pagrey said:
Mostly? Other than @Jerry Bransford, @Zorba and @ejay who? Most of the comments seem to be generally about people looking for nice places to retire.
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You must like it here, good for you. The OP is asking about desirable places to live outside of this state, and people are chiming in with ideas. Notice that Commiefornia doesn't appear on anyone's list of destinations...
 
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afmoto said:
You must like it here, good for you. The OP is asking about desirable places to live outside of this state, and people are chiming in with ideas. Notice that Commiefornia doesn't appear on anyone's list of destinations...
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I have a friend that used to complain about his Jeep all the time. I'd just ask him why he didn't sell it and get something he liked. Never really got an answer, I guess some people just like to complain.
 
My wife and I moved to Atlanta from Ft Myers, FL last year due to a lateral job relocation for her which has turned into a promotion. I got a job the day I moved and make $30k+ more here doing the same work. We both grew up in the Naples/Ft Myers area. Over the years you come to realize there are plenty of things you don’t like. Old people everywhere, oppressive heat/humidity throughout much of the year, “season” during the cooler months where your area gets overrun with tourists, lower paying jobs, etc.

We’ve been here a year and a half and we are on the fence with possibly staying or moving back after she finishes her Masters program in 2 years. Atlanta is a pretty area with a good job market and nice weather. There are a couple lakes and some mountains a couple hours north. The traffic definitely sucks though.

It really makes us think when my friends in FL send photos of themselves boating in January while we’re looking at gray skies and wearing jackets.

I’m only posting this because at the end of the day only you know if the differences are going to make it “worth the move”. I thought I hated FL because it was all I knew. Pretty much the same with the wife. Now I totally understand why people move there in droves. We do better here financially but we’ve saved enough to move back and essentially buy a dream home which will allow us to swim and boat year round and be closer to our family.

I’ll stop rambling and just lend the advice to make sure the pros of moving outweigh the cons. I feel like ours are pretty even in our household and I definitely didn’t imagine that.
 
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I'd be happy to answer any questions from those who want to pick up and head out to Cal-eye-for-nye-A. There's a lot to love out here. There's also a lot to loath, too.

This thread was intended to pick the brains of those willing. Not specifically for those wanting out of California but for anyone wanting to go from State A to place B.
 
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