Which state?

Rick Flair

Rick Flair

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Tell about your state. I live in Oregon and grew up here. While I do love this state and all it offers, the current political climate sucks IMHO, it’s not getting better.


I have been in LE for 20 years. I can retire with full benefits in 9 more years. Smart thing is to wait.

I don’t think things will get better here, and I have three boys. 15, 12, and 10 yrs old. I want them to have better opportunities and not be shackled by our taxes and politics.


Considering Idaho, but tax structure is similar to Oregon. I’m not opposed to another line of work, and rather, I prefer it. But I need to make a living and have a bachelors degree in psychology so I have a few skills to offer.

Another choice is Kentucky and Tennessee.

I want a bit of land, but want to raise my kids with some skills and good work ethic.

My wife works in HR and can do remote work.


Sell me your state and area!
 
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I've always maintained that Washington state just wants to be considered an extension of California. There was a time where I thought Oregon might remain a nice buffer between the two, but alas, that has not turned out to be the case. I've lost any hope of the left coast ever being anything other than "left", politically speaking, and that just doesn't align well with my views. Washington politicians are of the belief that if there is a problem, you throw money at it. To get the money, you tax the hell out of the residents. They look at the working class folks as some kind of infinite resource. I'm over it.

I'm hoping to be retired in five years. I look at my house as my retirement, and am working hard to get it completely paid off within the next five years. At that point, I'll sell it, and move to an area within a state where I can afford to buy a house in need of (a lot of) work, do said work, and then live as frugally as possible. But who knows. Remember Chris Farley's character, Matt Foley, and his famous line about ending up "living in a van, down by the river!"? Well, I told my wife that she can pick the river, as long as I get to pick the van... ;)
 
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Plumber1 said:
Come to California you'll love it. :ROFLMAO: Our Governor loves everyone most of all the illegal's sorry if I am not PC ( undocumented workers ) 🤬
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I have relatives there and my last visit was in the mid 80s.
You might want to consider Texas we have open cary :)
Kids also are respectful to all elders.

Edit: We do not lock our doors unless we are not there.
 
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Stay away from MA. I'm in a similar situation where I am on a fire department and am sticking it out for the pension at the end. Political climate here has always been too far left for me, taxes/fees/licenses/more taxes keep adding up, and you're a criminal if you want to own a gun. NH is easily the best state in New England if you still want to have 4 seasons. "Live free or die" state motto rings true there. Its all mountains and lakes and as much freedom as you can handle. No gun license required (open carry), no income tax, no sales tax, but property tax is a little higher than surrounding states. Borders ME and VT for more off roading and hunting/fishing.
 
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I moved to Utah on a whim a few years back when a position in my industry opened and absolutely love it. Tax structure is modest, politics are middle of the road for the most part, and the place is just beautiful. Skiing, hiking, hunting, mountain biking, trail riding - it’s all just off the charts. People fly here from all over the world to do this stuff and it’s all right in my kids backyard. I’ve had the thought “I can’t believe I live here” at least twice a week for three years now.

I live about 30 mins north of SLC and its pretty crowded, but if you don’t need to be near the city there’s plenty of places to live where you can find some acreage. Make no mistake the LDS church runs the place which took a little getting used too, but they’re nice enough folks. They’re very pro-family, military, & law enforcement.
 
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From one Oregonian to another, I feel your pain.

The left coast has gone to hell, which is one of the major reasons we are moving. Aside from the weather, I absolutely can not stand the majority of the people or politics here anymore.

The California collective mind is slowly consuming the entire west coast.
 
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Rubi04 said:
Ours is just behind yours....and I lived there from birth till 11, have family there I won’t visit. 🤭
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I know that the state of Jefferson is just a dream but it maybe a wonderful thing. My wife will only let me fly this at our cabin and not at our home in the Bay Area.

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Born here in Southern California, living here today. Have also lived in Texas (Lubbock, Dallas), Guymon Oklahoma, Liberty Kansas & New Mexico (Angel Fire, Las Vegas, Bernalillo)

Only positive about CA today is it's weather and it's outdoor space (Without Californians).

Jobless, self-Unemployed, retired. Wife's arm candy slash Uber/handyman.

Holding onto my dream of living out my days on some beach in either the Philippines, and/or Thailand.

Worse case... I hear Darwin, CA is nice.
 
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I fled California 3 years ago, and I felt like a Jew fleeing Germany ca 1933! I feel your pain. Ended up in Florida. Its hot, flat, and ugly - but the taxes are low, cost of living is low, healthcare is great, politics are mostly tolerable, and it doesn't snow! I'd rather be in Kentucky, but it snows there and the taxes - while not bad at all - still aren't as good as Fl. Our only problem here is the New York Liberals - New York is another state that needs to drop off into the ocean and take New Jersey with it. As a non-Christian, Florida isn't nearly as "bad" with the Bible Belt nonsense as some, although we do have our share of it. I'm not much on beaches or the seashore, more of a mountain guy, but overall, Florida isn't bad and it has its advantages. The Belly Dance scene here is pretty good too.

Back when I lived in California, I knew any number of people who moved to Oregon. Most of them came back - not many job opportunities and the property tax situation was out of control even back then (20-30 years ago). I can only imagine what its like now with the California contagion spreading.
 
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Zorba said:
I fled California 3 years ago, and I felt like a Jew fleeing Germany ca 1933! I feel your pain. Ended up in Florida. Its hot, flat, and ugly - but the taxes are low, cost of living is low, healthcare is great, politics are mostly tolerable, and it doesn't snow! I'd rather be in Kentucky, but it snows there and the taxes - while not bad at all - still aren't as good as Fl. Our only problem here is the New York Liberals - New York is another state that needs to drop off into the ocean and take New Jersey with it. As a non-Christian, Florida isn't nearly as "bad" with the Bible Belt nonsense as some, although we do have our share of it. I'm not much on beaches or the seashore, more of a mountain guy, but overall, Florida isn't bad and it has its advantages. The Belly Dance scene here is pretty good too.

Back when I lived in California, I knew any number of people who moved to Oregon. Most of them came back - not many job opportunities and the property tax situation was out of control even back then (20-30 years ago). I can only imagine what its like now with the California contagion spreading.
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I really like Fl, spent about ten years there and did a lap from the panhandle, Orlando, Miami, & back to the panhandle. I was never much a fan of Miami & didn't stay there long, but Orlando was great. Tons of stuff to do, an hour-ish to both coasts, & if you keep to the north side you barely even know Disney exists. I personally preferred the panhandle. It was laid back, slow, & the gulf beaches are amazing.
 
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We've been in Oregon for 12 years. I'm from NC and the wife is from Colorado. Oregon is beautiful and has a lot to offer, but I'm not giving away 9% off the top to Oregon when I can go somewhere else for less.

I like Corvallis, but we will move as close to Jackson, Wyoming as we can afford when my youngest finishes high school (5 years).
 
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Zorba said:
I like the panhandle too, much prettier than parts south or where I am (Space coast).
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Space coast isn't bad, I did work from time to time out at Patrick, went down to Melbourne a lot. Still laid back, though a little too congested for my own taste. Had more of a 'commercial beach vacation spot' vibe. You can buy a hermit crab on every block lol.
 
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qslim said:
Space coast isn't bad, I did work from time to time out at Patrick, went down to Melbourne a lot. Still laid back, though a little too congested for my own taste. Had more of a 'commercial beach vacation spot' vibe. You can buy a hermit crab on every block lol.
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Yep. I like Melbourne, its got some class. Cocoa Beach et al has the same tired looking, run down beach architecture found worldwide. You see the same thing everywhere from Santa Cruz to Crete. Go 10 miles inland and the scenery improves somewhat. Go 150 miles or so NW into the horse country, and it starts looking downright pretty. Slight undulations that the locals call "hills", but not bad. I joke about getting nosebleeds driving across the causeways!

The oddest thing about Floridians is their perception of distance. We drove to Winter Park one year for a Xmas dinner at some parent-in-law's. They thanked us profusely for "driving all that way" - it was about an hour! There are people here on the barrier islands who haven't been to the mainland in literally years. A half hour drive is humongous! Heck, I drove to dance classes 3 nites a week in California - 45 minutes each way and didn't think anything about it. One of my dance sisters complains that its too far to drive from Titusville to the Suntree area (very north end of Melbourne). *shrug* I don't get it!

Hermit crabs? That's probably not the only kind of crabs you can get on every block!
 
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Thanks all for the replies. Looked at Utah and it is a dream state, but boy is it spendy!

Never considered Florida so found some homes outside of Tallahassee, right price don’t know the area or state at all.

Kentucky is a serious contender. Found some homes outside Louisville, again don’t know the area at all.


Also, if I move to a free state it seems some of the negative is, a pretty big cut in pay. Now, I’ll have $250k or so in cash, and if I could pay cash for the place it would help not having a mortgage.


Have some extended family in Tennessee, they are trying to convince us to move there as well as Alaska but we don’t know if we could deal with the cold and darkness of Alaska.

To the guy to moved from NY/NJ area to Oregon, you are correct in that was a huge upgrade. We have just witnessed our beautiful state being run into the ground the last 30 years so we have seen the negative impacts and it’s just plain too expensive anymore. My wife and I paid over $40k in taxes this year and our governor just bypassed our vote and is raising the taxes more, enough is enough.

Sorry, not wanting to make this political but it really is in the end and when my voice is t heard by vote anymore there are inky a few options left and I have kids to raise and I can’t pull a Randy Weaver. So moving it is.

Thanks again for the suggestions and I continue to welcome more and would love to be sold on your state! I bring a conservative family and three hard working boys.
 
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