For once the answer is not Miata or Korean... I don't think.

OK... I need a real change. The job is terrible as I knew it would be. My tolerance to it is not as good as I thought it would be. Hurts that its only partially staffed and most of those are morons. I'm OK with a move as long as : I can make enough the wife doesn't need to work and its not one of the coasts or still in the midwest. I need someplace neat, different and not flat land. I need space.

Background for me, I've "been around the block". In college I worked retail at Wally World in a multitude of roles. Also spent a summer changing oil for a quick lube place. Went to 6 months of loading freight aircraft, then working in a factory that made plastic injection molding interior bits. That was followed up by 3 years at autozone, achieving Ass't Manager (drop the t) for about 14 months. Left that after some internal difficulties and spent 11 months at the steel mill. There I ran everything from 15-30T forklifts to overhead ride in cranes and the locomotive we used to pull the filled rail cars to our spur. That place shut down right at Christmas, unemployment for 5 weeks and took a job at a John Deere parts warehouse picking large product with electric lifts. There I met my wife, moved to Fishers and started in the dealerships. 13 years of parts slinging for korean and japanese manufacturers. Left there to try a new path with fluid analysis. LOVE that job. Company fell started falling apart about 4 years in. Became a hostile work place for me and the writing on the wall was this was NOT going to be the company I hired in with much longer. Took a job for Bobcat as their rental manager. Played with big boy toy for 6 months but realized this was not a long term job for me. Ended back in dealer parts, understaffed and supply chain issues that are just idiotic. No training, no support and a GM suffering from Napolean syndrome. 

So....what is there for me? No degree. HS diploma and several certs but those were industry specific. I enjoy all things mechanical. I'd love a job with a group like FCP or such but I'm not real keen on living in CT. I don't think east coasters will appreciate my political and personal beliefs and I'm certain the CoL is not going to be cheap.

Thoughts?

East coast does tend to run more blue and it's often expensive, you are correct there.  Cleveland is known for a reasonable cost of living, and once you're outside of the city limits things tend to lean more conservative, going more red the farther from the city you get.  There's some good industries here, so it might be a worthwhile place to include in a job search.  A city like Parma is 20-30 minutes from downtown Cleveland, leans more red, is generally safe, and you can get a nice house there for $160K.  Cold, snowy winters though.  If you tend to lean religious and right-wing, then the entire southeast can possibly be an option for you, if you're okay with hot humid summers.  The cost of living is generally cheaper down south as well.  I'm sorry I can't give any more advice than that, but I wish you the best.

Not religious and lean more Libertarian. I just want to live my life and be left the f alone and expect you to do the same. 

Hill country Texas, AZ, NM, Montana, Idaho, Utah, TN.

Utah or TN will likely be the answer due to Weber St creating some work within industry and TN has Nokian and some auto manufacturers in state. 

I am in the process of opening a Automotive repair franchise in Erie, PA. I will be looking for a Manager, Automotive Service Technician, Automotive Lube Technician and Automotive Apprentice. Erie is cheap to live in, and is under 2 hours away from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo.

I agree...TN is very red.  Nissan is in Smyrna outside of Nashville.  VW is in Chattanooga.  CoL seems good.  My dad just retired there and I was down from Milwaukee to visit last week.  When my kid is done with HS, I'm there.  It's beautiful country--great people and homes/land/taxes are very fair.

FWIW, the NE isn't nearly as politically/culturally homogenous as you might expect, at least once you get out of the cities proper. Parts of the area around FCP Euro - since you mentioned it specifically - are nice, plus you get access to the best pizza in the world nearby. Cost of living, however, is high, and the housing market is nuts.

Utah's religious background can seem pretty stark white picket fence and green lawns. Especially anyplace affordable. All the more secular towns are higher priced due to tourism. Salt Lake has a great balance of job opportunities and low COL, but its still a large city and chances are your employer and/or coworkers will be Mormon. It is their state, afterall.
 

AZ has a good mix. Show Low is still rural and people there appreciate that they are more difficult to get from Phoenix. Kingman is a hole. Havasu is ridiculously hot. Prescott is filled with old people, definitely leans more conservative, but very business friendly. Tuscon is cheap, but more liberal and dirtier. I say that as a liberal. Phoenix is huge, a mix politically, and having space is becoming a challenge.

Gov Ducey and AZ State Legislature is very pro-business. They are constantly under threat of AZ workers revolting, and so I think there is a lot of incentive to pay higher wages. For the most part it works, our housing is expensive, but cheaper than CA/OR/WA, our wages are good, better than in the south, and our taxes are low. Schools can suck. Some housing markets are unaffordable for working families and its pretty common for people to commute an hour to work in order to lower housing costs relative to wages.

NM has plenty of space, but not great job market. Anyone who has spent lots of time in NM will tell you stories about negative encounters with people.

Have you considered the ATL area?

Not the city. Probably north of it. North of the city will get you closer to the mountains, west of the city will get you more rural. 
 

There is huge growth, good salaries, strong Motorsports community, some fantastic mountain roads, lakes and mountains. Fabulous weather. Low cost of living in the slightly more rural areas. And the political leanings are tame. There are pockets of extremes, but they are easy to avoid. 

FCP Euro seems to be in Milford?  Yeah, that's not exactly left leaning country.  Cost of living isn't great.  I do miss living in that area, to a degree, but I would have a hard time buying a home there.

Signed, a former West Haven resident.

We are familiar with NM and AZ. Show low  area is where we've been looking at purchasing property for retirement. 

I'd suggest UT, but unless you want to live in one of the larger cities, wages are generally not great, and cost of housing in the cities is ridiculous and rising. My sis likes ID, for what that's worth. 
 

*edit for clarity. I'm not at all sour on Utah, so I don't mean to come off negative. CoL/wage relationship is not great, but the people are generally very easy to get on with, the weather is a good mix of everything without the extremes (unless you're where I am in the summer) and the scenery is unmatched. I like AZ, and parts of rural NV. ID is basically UT-lite but I like what little I've seen. I'm not the most knowledgeable about job hunting, but if there's anything I can do to help or if you have any questions you have my number. 

bobzilla said:

I just want to live my life and be left the f alone and expect you to do the same. 

No such 'red' or 'blue' place exists. So if you really are a shade of 'purple', I wouldn't write off any large geographical area too soon due to broad generalizations.

In reply to Driven5 :

I don't think I agree with that.

I have lived and visited in many places where there was a strong vibe and constant political pressure.  I have also lived and visited places that feel very neutral.

My mother spent the last few years living in a place where she was afraid to put signs on her lawn that indicated her political leanings, or admit them to any of her friends.  I currently live in a place where I have never had a political conversation with anyone in over 4 years.  Including places that would seem to have strong leanings- like churches.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Perhaps my edit might help clarify my meaning.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Second ATL metro area. There is something here for everyone. Actually no, stay away we full! 

To expand: Atlanta is an island of blue in a sea of red. You want purple? Live in the ring of suburbs. You want Karens and NIMBY's? Northern arc of suburbs. Space and cheap? South-west arc of suburbs, or just beyond the northern ones. Red trailer park suburbs out west, blue elder hippy suburbs out east. If you dare venture ITP (inside the perimeter I-285), I can expand on that even further. 

Every job you described in your background is here. Also Summit Racing is 30 minutes south. One of my neighbors works there and likes it. 

Yeah, no Atlanta. That's not a place I've ever enjoyed visiting. Can't fathom living there.

Honestly no to every major city. Anything over 500k peeps to me is too many. I need to breath and not be on top of others. besides, when the nukes drop I don't want to be in the blast or radiation zones.

18°22'41.0"N 65°46'54.0"W

In reply to bobzilla :

Well good news for you, Baltimore now has fewer than 460,000 citizens! 

(Don't worry, I'm not actually suggesting Baltimore, I'm merely poking fun at my town's significant population loss) 

bobzilla said:

Yeah, no Atlanta. That's not a place I've ever enjoyed visiting. Can't fathom living there.

Honestly no to every major city. Anything over 500k peeps to me is too many. I need to breath and not be on top of others. besides, when the nukes drop I don't want to be in the blast or radiation zones.

Based on what I've seen of the US, I'd limit that size to no closer than 20 miles to a town of 150k people, and no closer than 100 miles from a town of 500k plus.

I guess my bigger question is what field do I look for? 

In reply to mtn :

I disagree. I've seen all the states and there are still a lot of wide open areas. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to mtn :

I disagree. I've seen all the states and there are still a lot of wide open areas. 

How long ago would you have said that about where you currently live? Watch the creep, or you could be back here in 10-15 years. 

Pick your city and then pick your job to support living there.  That's what I did this last time around although I didn't have to change fields to do so.

maschinenbau said:

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Second ATL metro area. There is something here for everyone. Actually no, stay away we full! 

To expand: Atlanta is an island of blue in a sea of red. You want purple? Live in the ring of suburbs. You want Karens and NIMBY's? Northern arc of suburbs. Space and cheap? South-west arc of suburbs, or just beyond the northern ones. Red trailer park suburbs out west, blue elder hippy suburbs out east. If you dare venture ITP (inside the perimeter I-285), I can expand on that even further. 

Every job you described in your background is here. Also Summit Racing is 30 minutes south. One of my neighbors works there and likes it. 

That's a great description!