It may not have the high summer heat or the temperature extremes but it’s humid as hell in the summer.
I lived in southwestern Connecticut from '94 to '07 and I don’t remember the summers being particularly humid (and I hate hot weather.) Maybe it’s this “global warming” thing the liberals cooked up in order to destroy the economy.
Somewhat different climate down there (I’m in the other corner), and yes, according to the locals and a high school meteorology maven, the heat and humidity have increased in the last ten years. Last summer was almost unbroken humidity.
Those of us in Wisconsin and Minnesota are banking on global warming to make January livable up here.
To be serious, both states have great places to live (Minneapolis, Madison, even Milwaukee’s getting interesting)… except for that sub-zero winter thing.
Considering that Texas is ranked 9th and Florida is ranked 27th on the cost of living index by state (higher ranking = lower cost of living) Those two choices are not that shabby. But to answer your question, the difference in state income taxes 0% vs. 7% were I currently reside will be a significant cost impact to my personally while the cost of living variations will be relatively minimal.
As far as crime goes, again Florida is ranked 5th and Texas is ranked 15th on lowest amount of violent crime per capita, but IMHO, that’s irrelevant, as I will be able to select specific locations within the state to retire to that are optimum.
Again, the factors that you list, I have greater control over than the legislative taxing authority which applies to the entire state, I select as my residence.
I will most likely have two homes when I retire, one on the beach and one in the mountains. I will specifically ensure that I spend the most days during the year in the location with no state income tax.
What’s the total tax burden, though, especially with two homes? Income tax is not always the big-ticket item in this regard, especially on pension/investment income.
As for local control, I understand completely, but it can backfire. Let’s just not go there. But I lived through the whole era of California going from sensible tax structures to a giant slush-fund with no accountability because of noble anti-tax warriors.
I would highly recommend the Asheville, NC area, or the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill Research Triangle area. Asheville probably has the better climate and has a very liberal/bohemian oriented culture, but the Research Triangle has a definite high-end college town/technology thing going on. If I was forced to leave where I am now, I would be likely to relocate to one of those two areas.
That’s hilarious. I’d say: Summer, still summer, mild winter, summer.
Seriously, though, there are two seasons: summer and winter. The summers are HOT, but dry, and the winters are mostly mild. If it snows, it melts the next day (which means plowing is spotty and salting is non-existent when the snow does stick around). It’s not unusual to have 40-60 degree winter days, and since it’s a dry cold it feels a lot less cold than a Connecticut 40 degree day.
The housing bubble never really burst in the Front Range, and the pot situation has only made it worse, but if you’re willing to pay and move FAST on a home, you’ll be fine.
The people are much more like Californians than New Englanders. It’s a friendly, laid-back, casual culture. Very outdoorsy, healthy and athletic, too.
Just so you know, last summer’s August heatwave in New England (and the Mid-Atlantic) was fucking insane. It was the longest and hottest heatwave I’ve seen in 30+ years in NE.
Now if you didn’t see the difference between that and the summer before, and honestly haven’t been able to use your deck in the past 2 summers, I don’t know what to tell you.
I’m going to have two homes regardless, because I want to be able to shift between climates at my leisure. Property taxes are a consideration in determining location even down to the county. But generally there will be a property tax burden regardless. But all retirement income I take out of 401k, retirement defined benefit plans and social security are subject to state income taxes. I live where I do now because of my job, and the opportunity it provides. After I retire, I will not be encumbered by that limitation. If my annual retirement income is $200k, that’s about a $14,000 a year savings vs. 7% tax. Worthwhile enough savings to shop around for a primary residence.
I live a bit north of Denver. We get a few weeks in summer where the high is above 95, and a few weeks in winter where the lows are below 0. Because it’s dry the lows can be Maybe 35-40 degrees below the high for that day even if a front isn’t coming through. We get “monsoons” in the summer which are nothing like actual monsoons, we just get afternoon thunderstorms that move through very quickly but they happen every day for a few weeks. We get a few snowfalls over 6" every year, but most of the snowfalls are much lighter, and most of the winter the ground is bare and dry.
There is a fair amount of high tech manufacturing going on around here, with the sort of jobs that go with that and otherwise support a thriving community with a state college. Housing costs are generally lower in the smaller towns along the front range, though. Traffic is getting to be a problem these days, but that’s probably still worse in CA and CT.
Yes, I’ve been here long enough to know last summer - not just August - was unusual. But much of all five summers so far have been just as bad, and for some reason the trend is to the worse. As I said… smothering humidity was not something I expected here. My bad, I guess, but I ain’t staying for more.