Best place to live
 

A poll to find out where is (what you think) is the best place in the US to live.


At some point in the future, I'm planning on moving myself and my wife out of this toilet of a state, and I'm interested in thoughts, or feelings of those around the country, as to where they feel is the finest place to plant an ***, given the economy, friendliness of the locals, tax burden, and so on. I'm truly tired of NJ and it's mean spirited people, and the overtaxation of those who try to make an honest living here.

My requirements are as follows.

1. Somewhere between 1-5 acres of property, preferably out of the city limits in the NORTHERN or upper half of the US, as I will never move to the south as I'm not a big fan of the heat of the summer days, nor is my wife.

2. A place with a somewhat stable economic population.

3. Close (within an hour or less) to recreation areas, such as parks to enjoy visiting

4. Within an hour or so of a metropolitan area that has somewhat wealthy residents that can afford to not have to repair their own homes themselves (financially stable folks that have the need for legitimate, professional, residential contractors for improvements)

5. Someplace that will not TAX us to death, as we're being done now....

6. Someplace that when you open a door for someone, they don't call you an A$$hole for sarcastically saying "your welcome" when they ignore that you opened the door for them, refusing to acknowledge the fact that you were considerate enough to do so.

TIA

How about Montana....Then you could come down and visit us Alberta guys...[roll]

North Dakota and South Dakota are going hard right now too with oil and gas. Great economy, with almost 0% unemployment and LOTS of jobs.

or up here in vermont ..taxes are bearable ...collages with money in my area an really lax gun laws...for example in this state you dont need a permit to carry conceled

I was going to suggest my ideal location of Western Tennessee, until you said northern half.

Montana would probably be the next best place as far as I can see.......

I have a buddy who lives in Murfreesboro TN. He pays $1800 a year for taxes with garbage and sewer included, nice house, great job down there.... minimal living expenses...

Not sure where that is, but he's begging me to move down there, as he and I were really good friends, and he hasn't made any of the same caliber down there. He stopped my thoughts of moving there when he told me how freaking hot it was there last summer when his pool temperature never went below 92* F ...:(

I just cannot handle the hot weather, and I really enjoy snow....... so... I guess I'm staying north... but thanks anyway... !

Originally I was thinking Taxachussetts, but my buddy who lives there is paying almost what I'm paying here..... $7500 a year for local township taxes which includes..... uh..... NOTHING. At least there, he gets his garbage picked up.....

I like the idea of vermont, and I'll explore that more later. My other friend bought about 250 acres in Maine about 35 years ago. He grows xmas trees there, and although he's been back and forth from NJ to there for 3.5 decades, they still treat him like an outsider. He told me that they generally don't hire "outsiders", so i'm a little weary of the inability to find work right away... as I'm not financially independent.

I like the gun law freedom aspect as well ... A big plus..


Montana sound beautiful, and I like the outdoors more than indoors.

Two nice states that I was already interested in....

Thank you.

In all honesty, being a HUGE RUSH FAN, I've always been fascinated with visiting canada. I was there back in 95 on my honeymoon at niagra. I drove over the bridge, went to the top of the spire or whatever that thing is, looked at the falls, and we drove back. I couldn't believe all of the wild black ferrets there were running all over the place.... until I was told they were actually black squirrels... which don't exist where I live...[laugh]

That's what I keep hearing how incredible the job market is there. Nice and cold winters too.....[redface]

All I can offer is stay out of Colo. [laugh]

I've been thinking the same thing, but I'm still a few years out...

I've looked at Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas... I'm leaning toward the WV area at the moment because of my wife...

I want to be away from hurricanes, away from wild fires, away from public unrest, tornadoes, earthquakes, drought, horrible snow, horrible heat...

I've also been thinking about the climate change, and how the world is changing... in 30 years, the weather in Texas will be in Oklahoma... IMHO

Don't pick Yuma. I'd wish people that I hate to end up there... nothing more.

Montana sucks.

I like it here.....'cept for all the libtards.....

The Dakotas are going gangbusters with the drilling, but good luck finding any place to live. If you can find a few acres the first thing to do would be build yourself a shack to live in. If you can find some lumber. I was told by one of the truckers who brought hay in this winter that Williston is like a mini-NYC right now, almost no police, so crime is way up. I've heard they are putting unlicensed drivers in trucks because they are so short of people and the chances of getting caught is nil. And those guys up there think nothing of running 80+ on gravel weighing in at 105,000+.

Nebraska's isn't too bad, I think we ranked second for lowest unemployment last year. It costs over $100 and a day-long class to get a concealed carry permit, but once you get it, you show it to the gun shop and it qualifies as the background check. They also have a purchase permit here, you get it and they don't have to run the check once you present it.

Winters get cold. But not a lot of snow, at least down in this corner. They get more once you get north of Frontier county, up into the Platte valley. And summers get hot. Oddly, in spring and fall, the state high temp is often in the northwest corner, but usually down here around McCook. The official high last summer in McCook was 117, and some people had 118-120.

I'm afraid that you'll find that, no matter where you go, you are going to find people like that, if you are in/near any large metro area. Just going into wally's-mart in North Platte versus McCook, you get a completely different feel about the place. The people in McCook will- scratch that, want to- talk to you, in North Platte, you're lucky to get your receipt once you ask for it, let alone the time of day.

I'm also spoiled by small-town banks. MNB is family-owned and they are pretty low-key. 6 branches, you go in to see about a loan, and talk to the guy in charge of the loan dep't. Walk in the main branch with a lost look, and they have a receptionist to point you in the right direction or find someone for you. And your funds are available the next day, including Saturday.

The smaller, single-location banks like the one in Trenton, if you need to cash a check, will pull out a book, look up the other bank's phone number using the routing number, and call to see if the check is good, then if it is, cash it without charging you.

I have an acquaintance who lives near Littleton. He loves it out there... except for when the wildfires take over his world.


Personally, I like the geography of Northern PA / NY State boarder, so I'm going to look there as well. I figure I have a couple of years till my wife's mom passes, then we can get serious, as GMA is the only thing keeping us here now...

Don't get me wrong I love it hear also I just don't like what the politicians has done to the oil & gas industry and the other freedoms I grew up with.

Well then.... I may as well just stay here.....

















NOT ! [nonono]



[laugh]

In a van, down by the river. [laugh]

We decided on Kentucky eventually, but for now we are looking for land in the Sierra's up near Burney/Lassen.

I live in NW Iowa. The economy here is in its own little buble. When the resecion hit we still had work. The company I work for did do a layoff but it was the first one in there 35 year history. I work 55 hours a week and during th recesion we dropped to around 40-44. That only lasted abought 6 months till they started hiring and raising our hours back up. Its been said around here in this corner of the state that if oyu dont have a job you dont want one. We are 35 miles from South Dakota and 30 from Minnisota. The only real downfall for this imidiat area is that there is absolutly nothing to do. its as flat a board and just as boring. We have to drive 6 hours to teh Black Hills or farther for other Hilly vacation spots. Sioux Falls SD is a nice metro area abought an hour from here and I swear they grow there own money there. That town has and always has had more money than anywhere Ive ever seen. As far as climate we have cold winters(not Alaska cold but it can regularly drop below 0). The summers can reach 100 but not very often and it hasent for the last couple years. The dakotas are a great place. Western SD has the Black Hills with Rapid City rite on the eastern edge of the hills. They do have prety mild winters out there. They can get lots of snow but then it will melt off and snow more latter. They can get very hot in the summer though. I dont know abought ND other than all the oil feild jobs up there pay good. I do know they have a lot of people that just take there camper up there and live in it threw the summer.

First time I saw the top side of 105- Lemmon, SD, 108, just a few miles south of the ND border.

If you need some black squirrels down there, I will box up a hundred and send em to ya. [laugh]

Not California
<---- lives in California

I'd move in a heartbeat if I could find work elsewhere.
But in my industry, it's basically LA, New York City or Detroit.

Great !

I could start my own colony, and eventually sell them to the local chinese food restaurants here and make a killing in the "it tastes just like chicken" market..

:o

Yeah,I read where you had 46 yrs of Republican rule then...the stuff hit the fan.

Yep,libcity nowadays here and highest overall taxes in the nation. $164 billion in debt. Mild climate,liberal politics=huge welfare load. Darn shame as it used too be so nice.

I left San Diego in 1992 and never looked back. Grew up in North County, the best place in the world for a kid to be in the 70's, graduated HS and went to college then off to Washington.

Miss it? Heck yeah! I miss what it was, not what it has become.

Folks retired to Montana and pretty much hang out between here and there now.

BIL was working in Louisiana and says it has the nicest people he has ever met across the South, and he is from Georgia....

A.N.D a moonbeam whose legacy is........1) destroying the delta natural filtration system to provide water to illegals in lala land,(2) a railroad from and to nowhere,(3) his 20 year under construction,Billions of dollars over budget and ready to fail 1/2 new bay Bridge.Gotta love it![redface]But that's not all folks,there's more, Governor Moonbeam Brown's city of residence in now THE NATIONS ROBBERY CAPITOL OF THE US.!:o

I'm a native and 63 yr resident. My dad was also and blew me away with stories or "how it used to be". It's nice to get away but I'm always glad to return. Unreal weather,a paid off house five minutes from the beach. One hour from the mts. albeit nothing like those in a moisture laden areas and 1.5 hrs from Anza Borrego. I'm a veteran of hundreds of Mexico surfing trips,but due to the mess coming back after 9/11 I don't go down much anymore.
Native San Diegans are quite friendly but recent arrivals..that's another story. North county has changed way more than San Diego. I surfed up there forever,but crowds drove me to Baja.
.
Anyway,it's a nice home base but being way down in the corner here it's a long way to Yellowstone.

depending on what your looking for.

I like Oklahoma...I got a buddy that swears Houston is the best place to live. I got another buddy that works in FSU, has about an acre lot in malaysia, visits friends and family for a couple weeks every year.

If you got the money, Stavanger is lovely this time of year.
Singapore is nice any time of the year. nice well manicured city, low crime rate, good food, friendly people. Batam is a 40 minute ferry ride.

Since we're on a truck site...make sure you leave your vehicle behind.
The costs to buy and own a car in Singapore are astronomical.

I hear ya there! really miss the high desert and beaches. Mostly surfed at D St. and Swami's. Warmwater was a good break to when the Santa Ana picked up...miss that.

Mexico trips were fun and sooo cheap back then!

Catch one for me next time you are out![guitar]

Loved D St! Darn near a left pt. Some summers peeling down from J st on a south. Do to beach restoration at Moonlight, Boneyard's doesn't break the same as it's covered w/sand. We used to scurry down the cliff @ Grandview way before the parking lot and surf empty waves. Pipes the same way before the park was built.

Mexico trips were cheap. $1.25 six packs of Carta Blanca and fish tacos 10 for a buck in Ensenada. Mostly empty lineups. It's all changed now with half/done resorts.

Glad we got it when it wasn't so mobbed and guys car pooled. Now you see spoiled kids with their BMW's pulling up solo. Daddy's spoiling their kids.

Now that I know Madhat will be bringing his family this way I went ahead and added a second story to handle the larger family needs :)

while you could probably get most places in Sing in a dually, it could be a challenge in some places. Most of the highways in Sing are big enough, the side roads and parking lots get tight.

When I was Leirvik, norway, there was a guy around town in a Chevy crewcab dually. Musta been fun fueling up at about 12 NOK / liter for diesel. The roads in Norway made a Mini cooper look like a normal sized car.

That's why I left in 94. Too many liberal retirees moved in and took over the state. No sales tax (yet), but the property taxes pushed my father off his ranch and out of the Bitter root valley to wind up living in a mobile home outside of Eureka.
Arizona wasn't too bad, if you can stand the heat.
Wyoming was nice, but not enough work to keep me there.
The problem with Alaska is you have greedy little borough tax pockets like The Municipality of Anchorage or the Matanuska-Susitna borough. Anchorage is were most of this states jobs are. The Mat-Su is the bedroom community for Anchorage.

Yeah, that was my way of being sarcastic. I actually love it there, but know what you mean about the invasion.

My folks are retired there and really, really conservative and fit in pretty well, but I keep telling dad to quit acting like he was born there, the locals can see thru it.

He has commented though, that had the Gov't sent him there in 1969, he would have stayed. He really loves it there.

Sis is in Eureka...

I have heard the same what you are saying about Alaska...too bad

It's too bad that it takes politicians to destroy a state..Same garbage here...

Best place to live?? right here in Ireland. Where the beer is almost cheaper then diesel haha.

Amazing surf occasionally on your coast! We get the videos frequently on Surfline. Those blokes are crazy.[laugh]

That really brought back some great memories. I remember when the jetty lost all its sand during a storm in 82 or 83 and left the beach entirely cobbles, which reduced the touristas. The sand was later recovered by a large dredge about a half mile out and pumped back to the beach. I did some work on the seawalls in Oceanside way back then. 5 am to 2 pm and in the water for the afternoon set. Good times!!

About a year ago I was sitting in a bar here in Bellingham and the barmaid saw my Encinitas Surfshop T-shirt and says, "Hey that's my uncles shop"....small world.

'82-'83 was the El Nino year of huge surf. It was the demise of K-55 or Campo Lopez as it was known back then. All the sand got sucked out of the break and it went downhill. We'd park my Falcon up on the cliff's edge and surf for hrs. My friend and I hauled his uncle's pos F-250 w/dilapidated 10' cabover down to one of the Sister pts that year and got a right pt spot to ourselves for days. Jammed now like everything.
Water's 66* already and The Hoardes are prepping themselves.
Nice travelling down memory lane with you.
Dave