Where would you move?

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WiseOne
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Where would you move?

Post by WiseOne » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:21 pm

There's a big jump in people suddenly freed from the need to live in expensive, crowded areas by the shift to remote work, which is now becoming a permanent trend:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-worke ... jem10point
All told, at one point in April, Americans were relocating at twice the pace they did a year earlier, according to Cuebiq, a data firm that tracks movement via mobile phones. They continued to move at an elevated rate through mid-May. Cuebiq’s tally includes any trips away from home that last at least three weeks, so it also captures some temporary movement, like people decamping to vacation homes and students moving home from college.

It’s too early to tell how many of these moves are permanent and how, in aggregate, new migration patterns might reshape the country. Some people who left big cities early in the pandemic are realizing they miss working from an office—or their companies miss them, and want them back in their cubicles. Others are staying put because they don’t know when their companies will make them come back.

Still, coronavirus-spurred moving could accelerate a shift already under way from dense, expensive cities to more affordable areas, including small cities and suburbs.

In places like Boise, Idaho, real-estate agents say people are finally breaking ties with the West Coast after years of waffling, and sometimes buying properties sight-unseen.
We had a similar discussion a while back, but as I recall there were some strict parameters. Given the trends in liberal cities that we all expect will lead to increased crime, high taxes, and general deterioration in quality of life, if you were willing and able to pull up stakes and move, what places would be on the Good list? There are some comments about this in the article and also the discussion that follows, if you have access to those.

Texas I assume should be on the list...

New Hampshire is high on my personal list, as is Alaska.
Florida is a popular choice, if you're a fan of hot humid weather.

Perhaps ironically, upstate New York is on the list. The Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes regions are gorgeous, and overall quite conservative.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by stuper1 » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:51 pm

Southern Utah is nice if you like the outdoors and want a drier climate and a conservative political environment.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by pp4me » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Already live in Florida - since 1981. Heat and humidity is indeed intense in the summertime but it's worth it for the other 3 seasons and it isn't even so bad in the summertime once you figure out how to live with it. Just do your outdoor things in the morning or evening and stay inside during the heat of the day.

I like to visit Alaska but could never live there, mostly because of the mosquitoes and the endless days and nights.

East Texas is okay. West Texas, not so much IMO.

My brother has a cabin in the mountains in New Hampshire and I do envy him but not in the winter time.

One of the places I was enamored with and thought about settling down as I was travelling the U.S.A. in my RV was California if you can believe it. There are some really nice rural areas in the northern part of the state with wonderful small towns.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by pp4me » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:54 pm

stuper1 wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:51 pm
Southern Utah is nice if you like the outdoors and want a drier climate and a conservative political environment.
I wasn't aware that people actually live in Southern Utah. One of the most barren places I've been to in all of the U.S.A. but an awesome place to visit.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by l82start » Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:19 pm

pp4me wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:54 pm
stuper1 wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:51 pm
Southern Utah is nice if you like the outdoors and want a drier climate and a conservative political environment.
I wasn't aware that people actually live in Southern Utah. One of the most barren places I've been to in all of the U.S.A. but an awesome place to visit.
i lived there for a while.. i second the addition to the list, the Mormons i knew were nice and easy to get along with but clannish, you will be an outsider unless you join..
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by stuper1 » Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:23 pm

pp4me wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:54 pm
stuper1 wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:51 pm
Southern Utah is nice if you like the outdoors and want a drier climate and a conservative political environment.
I wasn't aware that people actually live in Southern Utah. One of the most barren places I've been to in all of the U.S.A. but an awesome place to visit.
I believe St. George is the largest city at about 100,000 people. Very nice place, especially as I say if you love the outdoors. I don't live there currently, but wouldn't hesitate to move there. I believe there are many non-Mormons that live happily there.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by l82start » Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:37 pm

being a Mormon is not required... it is just helpful if you want or need a deep connection to the larger community, plenty of happy non Mormons.. i was one (smaller town north of st George)
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by bedraggled » Wed Jun 17, 2020 3:04 pm

The A/C makes Florida OK. Air conditioning levels the playing field when considering living choices. This year the season seems less hot than the past couple of years. If air conditioning is ever "uninvented," I may be compelled to move. The financials and budgeting are ok in FL and should improve into the future when RMDs are considered.

New York State allows a $20,000 exemption for retirement account withdrawals. After that first $20K, they will take their share. WiseOne is correct, though, saying recently that New York State accommodates retirees: no state tax on SSI and pensions. Moving on, the Adirondack Mountains may be a great place with cheaper housing north of Albany. The Northway extension of the Interstate system to Plattsburgh and Montreal provides accessibility. The winter is tough on cars, though- and maybe tough on you.

Re health plans In Florida, if you have a New York City pension, Florida's southeast from Palm Beach to Miami (and maybe Orlando but not sure on this particular city), will recognize that your health insurance plans are viable.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by I Shrugged » Wed Jun 17, 2020 4:03 pm

One big question is what are your cultural requirements? I can go forever without needing the things a big city offers. Some are the opposite.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by WiseOne » Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:17 pm

I was thinking of this as a general-purpose list, not specifically for me. Culture is a big deal especially if you're single. I personally am not interested in the bar/nightclub scene, and I rarely go to Broadway shows. I'm more into things like living in a walkable area (i.e. can run most errands on foot), house concerts (chamber music in an intimate setting), street backgammon and street fairs, neighborhood farmer's markets, having nice neighbors that you meet in the local grocery store, visit with often, and trade cat-sitting. A few good, non-chain restaurants in the neighborhood too. A friend is a member of a choir that includes several of my neighbors (one of whom practices singing every day, which has been a bit of a trial during Zoom meetings), and puts on several concerts a year including a particularly awesome one on New Year's Eve - I don't have time to join it, so I usher concerts for them instead. Nothing really exciting, in other words, but also not your standard suburban cocoon with big national chains & superstores to be visited only by car.

One of the nicest side effects of the pandemic has been that New York suspended most of its liquor laws. You can now buy a beer, glass of wine or cocktail at a take-out window and walk around with it, sort of like Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Delightful, and amazingly enough society hasn't crashed and burned as a result. Who knew. Maybe that law against carrying open containers of liquor will never come back.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by I Shrugged » Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:22 pm

Um...um, uh, maybe some city in Europe? :-\
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by Maddy » Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:43 am

WiseOne, you might enjoy an "art town" like Ashland, Oregon or Sebastapol in northern California.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by WiseOne » Thu Jun 18, 2020 9:00 am

Thanks Maddy - and nice to hear from you!

A friend of mine set herself up with an off-grid getaway near Woodstock (in upstate NY). She had inherited a plot of land, so she got an RV trailer and plonked it down in a clearing, and rather creatively solved her lack of water, sewer, and electricity. The toilet is lined with a couple layers of plastic bags with kitty litter, and she gets water from a nearby pond that appears to be the site of a natural spring. It's a lot less restrictive up there than the city. She loves it. Originally she was figuring on just the occasional short visit, but she's been doing mostly the reverse, coming down to the city briefly maybe once a week.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by WiseOne » Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:48 am

p.s. how about Colorado? Especially the Denver area toward the mountains. It so happens I've got family there.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by dualstow » Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:02 am

WiseOne wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:21 pm

Perhaps ironically, upstate New York is on the list. The Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes regions are gorgeous, and overall quite conservative.
The Finger Lakes are great in summer. Winter isn’t very much fun, which is the main reason my parents eventually moved.

I’d probably move to FL while they’re still alive. After that, I’m not sure.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by I Shrugged » Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:04 am

There are probably some towns in the Rockies. Maybe Boulder? Santa Fe?
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by Xan » Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:15 am

San Diego, Jacksonville, and Fort Worth appear to be the biggest cities not run by Democrats. Those might have big-city amenities without some of your objections.

Addendum: I looked it up: General Worth died in 1849, so the city might not have to change its name.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by I Shrugged » Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:18 am

Same is true of Jacksonville. Not sure about Saint Diego. I bet he was racist too. But let's not derail the thread....
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by Maddy » Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:34 am

WiseOne wrote:
Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:48 am
p.s. how about Colorado? Especially the Denver area toward the mountains. It so happens I've got family there.
Denver is a pit, but the Rocky mountains to the west are wonderful. It's been decades since I was there, but Boulder used to be a wonderful college town; not sure how it's fared over the last few decades, with increasing gentrification and, at one point, a guilt-propelled effort to recruit "poor people." Gold Hill, a bit further into the mountains from Boulder, would be a place to look at; also Nederland and Steamboat Springs. Water scarcity and politics are the down side when it comes to that area.

Another place that comes to mind would be the Washington Olympic Penninsula, if you like water and rain forest. Bellingham, Washington, possibly, or Corvalis, Oregon?

All very liberal, I think, but such is hard to avoid these days.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by stuper1 » Thu Jun 18, 2020 12:47 pm

Are Loveland, Colorado or Fort Collins, Colorado any good?
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by Maddy » Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:51 am

Just don't remember those areas well enough to comment, and it's been so many years. I'd love to take a road trip and find out!
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by stuper1 » Fri Jun 19, 2020 1:23 pm

I don't really know much about them, but they might be good alternatives to Boulder, which I fear is hugely liberal at this point, not based on personal experience but just what I've read. Anyone with half a mind to think for themselves probably wouldn't be welcome in Boulder.

I was in Fort Collins briefly several decades ago, and it seemed like a nice place.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by WiseOne » Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:30 pm

West of the Denver area e.g. Golden?

Not much in the way of culture, but the outdoorsy lifestyle would make up for it.

Also, Idaho and Montana are getting some of the influx.

Another place to consider: Maine. I know more than a few people who have moved up there. It's sort of a purple state and Olympia Snowe's seat is likely to turn Democrat when she retires, but it's got a lot going for it and it's big on personal freedom. Like New Hampshire.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by bedraggled » Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:34 pm

Golden CO, 1977: woodsy, sparse with the occasional coyote; 2014: fairly dense suburb.
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Re: Where would you move?

Post by Tyler » Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:41 pm

Colorado Springs is on my short list of places I'd consider. Beautiful area, leans conservative, and close enough to Denver for any big city stuff you might be interested in.
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