If I were to leave Chicago, and move anywhere else, it’d likely be back to Wisconsin.
Yes, I needed to escape the relentless heat and flat sprawling developed landscape of S Fla for a seasonal state with open spaces, hills, woods, water and wildlife.
As someone who may actually be able to retire in 10-15 years, if y’all could say where you’re living that isn’t CA, Fla, NM, AZ or NV…I’d love to hear it.
There’s too damned many people moving to Denver…I remember Dad saying the exact same thing about 40 years ago.
We’re in Maryland, which is supposed to be one of the least retirement-friendly states, taxwise. That doesn’t bother us. We like the area and we’re staying put.
I agree. Moved there in '75. It’s now nuts comparatively speaking. I live 100 miles wet of Denver now, but have to go down for my mom a couple times a month.
For that mater, the quaint resort town 15 miles north of where I live has gone nuts too. And COVID has made it worse. My theory is two pronged
- People are sick of being shut in. And take a drive to the Montains. They may also be forgoing their regular vacations.
- A lot of people have second homes in this area and are saying ‘screw this, I can work from anywhere’ This has cause a housing shortage for seasonal workers.
COVID has done a number of things that I don’t think anyone predicted.
I moved and got better weather, does that count?
The north-south distance is probably not more than 100 miles, but the difference in climate is noticeable. Winters in this part of the Midwest (mid-southeast Missouri) and considerably more forgiving than they were in the part of the Midwest where I used to live (Central Illinois). In CI it will snow and there will be snow on the ground for weeks, here it will snow and be gone within 36 hours. In CI there are 15-20 nights per year where the overnight low gets below zero, here there are 15-20 such nights per decade. Weeks-long stretches where the temperature doesn’t get above 32 (Freezing) are not uncommon in CI, here a 3-4 day stretch of sub-32 temps is something for the record books.
Haiti, perhaps.
There is probably something that’s in between California and Haiti when it comes to cost of living.
I’m noticing people are MUCH more twitchy…it seems like a combination of COVID and shared experience with TP shortages, followed by a lack of recognition that there are actually other people in the world.
Or I could just be getting old.
And apparently, U-turns can now occur anywhere there isn’t a raised median. Sometimes from 3 lanes over.
Also, 40 years ago, when Dad was lamenting all the Californians, I was thinking “But didn’t WE come here from California?”
I want to think I’m smart, that I think about these things harder than the average person…and that I, too, will take the money earned from my house and go move somewhere cheaper…and I’ll be the damned ‘come heres’ that come and try to make some sleepy little town more like where I came from. And then die, because that’s the lifecycle.
And I feel ya about Colorado mountain towns, they’re all trying their damndest to become Aspen or Vail. It’s probably all the Californians and Texans. I’d go find a nice quiet Montana town…if it weren’t for the winters.
“Learn to like the climate you’ve got” is more palatable advice for people living in Boston than it is for residents of Bismarck.
Our moves have mostly been motivated by job and/or educational opportunities, but gardening and other weather-related considerations have also entered into it. Living along the Texas Gulf Coast had its virtues, but near year-round warmth was counterbalanced by long stretches of wretched heat and humidity, fire ants, drenching rains alternating with punishiing drought and the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes (filling and placing sandbags when a bayou rise threatens your home gets old fast).
The joy felt at the onset of spring in a temperate climate can’t be duplicated (from my perspective, anyway) in the deep South or Southwest.
I work from home now, but I drive a two lane winding mountain highway to get to anywhere. Been doing it for 30 years. I notice a LOT more people tailgating. These idiots clearly don’t understand the extra caution that mountain driving requires. Tailgating or speeding is a very bad idea.
I can’t find any links at the moment, but my wife had to detour around a very bad accident trying to get home last night. Some idiot tried to pass SIX cars at once on this road. Head on accident ensues (easily predictable) and this mess required 3 Flight for Life Helos.
But I’m kinda hi jacking this thread.
Regina - not for the faint of heart, or cold of blood. 
Yep. Incidentally, I’ll be making a rare visit there in ten days’ time. Any chance you’d be interested in co-organizing a mini-DopeFest? (I’m not sure if there’s anyone else in the area who could attend.)
My wife did this to me. Dragged me down from our home in cold, rainy Seattle for a quick vacation in Santa Barbara one mid-winter weekend. I didn’t really want to go, knowing nothing more about the town than I learned through incidental exposure to my sister’s favorite soap opera.
Got off the plane, took off my jacket, and by the time we had walked to the terminal I asked, “So when are we moving here?” Took a couple of years to iron out all the details but we did it.
I grew up in the midwest, lived in SW Virginia for a while and then Seattle for many years. I don’t miss any of the seasons I don’t get here at all.
I’ve lived in New England since birth, always in Massachusetts or New Hampshire. So, no.
One could say we moved for worse weather, depending on tastes. Weather wasn’t the main consideration when we moved from San Diego County to Eugene, Oregon. But at the prospect of cool, rainy winters, we said, “yes please!” . We had had our fill of hot dry winters.
That said, some neighbors across the street have a fan palm in front of their house, and it seems to be doing OK. Seeing that and their glass door, the kind of glass door you see in areas where it gets cold, is quite a contrast to take in at a single glance.
I decided Denver had reached capacity 15 years ago after I had to wait for (bicycle) traffic to clear to get on the bike path. Can’t imagine what it’s like now.
In my early 20s all my moves were weather related. I migrated to Florida for winter, then moved up the east coast to a Delaware beach town for summer. Really enjoyed the endless-beach-summer lifestyle, but with age my priorities shifted somewhat. But not til I moved to Denver because I talked to someone on the phone who told me it was 70 and sunny there that day (Jan 15). Of course, it was 13 degrees and a blizzard when I arrived on Feb 3. But while Denver’s weather had it’s ups and downs, the sunshine was endless and I consider that almost as important as the weather.
My ex-wife and I moved to Florida in the 80s, so we could afford to buy a house, and for the weather.
Guess what, we couldn’t afford to buy a house, because a job that paid $10/hr in Mass. paid $4/hr in Florida.
Also guess what, the first time we went for a walk in a local park (in balmy February weather), we were confronted with signs instructing us what to do if confronted by an alligator.
So, back to New England, and fall foliage and snow instead of alligators.
Our family (I was a teenager then) moved from Montreal to California over 40 years ago. There were various reasons, but a big one was the weather.