I would love to visit Georgia and perhaps even live in Florida if politics were not so far-right in practice. Yes, I know there are somewhat liberal cities/towns in each of those states, but there is no assurance they can stay that way under the current political regimes.
Perhaps not quite what you meant, but I’d love to move to Hawaii if it weren’t for the state’s politics/policies making the price of everything so unaffordably high.
If California were to reduce its state income tax, I’d love to move there as well. I’ve always felt more Californian than Texan at heart.
That’s not politics. That’s the high price of importing goods.
You are probably paying far more in property tax than you would in California. Trade off.
There’s plenty of California which is indistinguishable from Texas. Try Bakersfield. It’s a very big state and it’s not all avocado toast.
Yeah, just build a bridge.
I worked in Bakersfield for 6 weeks. It was tolerable for that long, but not for much longer than that, yes.
As for property tax - I’ve never owned a house in Texas and probably never will; I’m a renter type.
Meanwhile, I’m perfectly happy here in California. Admittedly, I bought my house right after the 2008 housing crash during that brief period when they were actually somewhat affordable and thus was able to lock in a pretty low mortgage payment by California standards. I might feel differently if I were renting or were looking to buy a house today.
But to answer the OP’s question I would love to live in North Carolina, the state where I grew up, except for the state is now controlled by a far right legislature that seems to spend most of their time passing anti-trans bathroom bills and the like.
I am here now, and the Republican candidates for governor and school superintendent are legitimately terrifying. For the first time in more than 25 years, I am seriously thinking about whether I need to leave.
Links available on request, if y’all don’t already know about these fascist lunatics who could take control.
As for the OP, Florida. My daughter really loves birding, so we were getting in a habit of going on vacation in northern Florida to see cool birds. But the politics eventually got too toxic, and we decided we couldn’t go there anymore.
I’m pretty lucky to live in a place that isn’t bad politics-wise, and I have very little desire to live in the places where the politics suck (unrelated to the politics). For example, I find very little of interest in Florida, Tennessee, etc., that would make me even consider moving there. I’m fine with an occasional visit, but there isn’t a place in the 50 states I’d prefer to live over where I am right now.
Okay, maybe Hawaii. But I’m fine with the politics there (from what I know).
Shit yeah. Living in the Colorado mountains in a resort community, not even Hawaii gave me sticker shock. $15 Cheeseburger? ho hum, whatever.
Spent 3 weeks on the islands of Hawaii 2 years ago. Honestly, I came back with, “Eh, It’s OK”. The trip was on my wife’s bucket list, so we went.
Would maybe consider North Carolina, or even Tennessee or Kentucky, Just because of the hills and trees. Give me an acre or two and I’ll be fine. But…
Where I live now, I have seen exactly just one MAGA hat. So being surrounded by those assholes may be a bit of a shock. I would be seething if in a group of them at say the grocery store.
Myself, I’m not that social. I’m perfectly fine at home. It’s why I bought it.
My wife and I have some very close long time friends but they have spread hither and yon. So we don’t really know where to go. Probably stay in Colorado… somewhere.
We do know that because of our age, we can’t live somewhere that you can’t get EMS to your property 6 months out of the year. That’s really the impetus for us looking to move.
I would love to live in Montana. Not gonna happen.
But, right now I live in Arizona, and I bet a lot of people think we’re as bad as Texas. So maybe my perception of Montana is wrong, who knows.
I have thought about this a lot.
I used to always want to go to Florida, but the 2 states I would consider are Texas and New Mexico.
Montana, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Maine.
Nevada.
The land of Cairns and obelisks.
As the song goes, “almost heaven, West Virginia, except, well, you know.”
I suspect that for a high percentage of Dopers, especially older people at or near retirement age with sufficient savings/investments to get by, the “current politics” of a state don’t matter except for the gnash-your-teeth factor. If you choose to live in or near one of the larger cities, there will be plenty of congenial sorts with politics similar to yours with whom to interact.
Case in point: Kentucky, a thoroughly red state whiose two most populous counties (which include Lexington and Louisville) routinely vote blue. I enjoy living in Kentucky, despite its frequently regressive Republican legislature, imperfectly counteracted by a moderate to mildly liberal Democratic governor.
Bad choices of where to live can be especially detrimental for certain categories of people, i.e. those with limited incomes/relatively low-paying jobs who are concerned about affordable health care and availability of abortion services. School funding and manipulation of curriculum are certainly concerns for those with children or who themselves are interested in advanced degrees or teaching.
Political considerations are primarily an irritant. For most people outside the Doper orbit, job availability, schools, crime, taxes, recreational opportunities and quality of health care are what count. Politics are way down the list unless they have an unexpectedly outsize effect on these factors.
I’d avoid Texas and Florida for reasons mostly related to weather and overpopulation (and in the case of Texas, the shaky electrical grid), not because they’re governed by nitwits.
Wouldn’t move anywhere. I got a real sweet deal here. No income tax, $300 insurance for 15 cars and 7 motorcycles. A year.
That’s right. Progressive ain’t gonna save me shit in 15 minutes or a Goddamn lifetime.
Alaska would probably be a nice place to retire to if it weren’t MAGA central.
Nevada or Florida. Both of them have better, more permissive laws about “exotic” pets and weapons ownership than the state where I currently live. It would most likely be NV as it stands now, because cannabis is legal there, and I do like my marijuana. But, other than the odd hurricane, I’d like the weather in FL a lot more, since NV can get pretty damned cold in the winter and is dry for much of the year. But there you go, you can’t have everything.
Maybe a winter place in Florida. I might be able to tolerate 7 or 8 months there. That’s about it. I’ve ruled out almost all the country without even considering the politics.