Michigan has cheap land, lots of lakes, and great car culture. There is the winter thing though...
Michigan has cheap land, lots of lakes, and great car culture. There is the winter thing though...
Gearheadotaku wrote: Michigan has cheap land, lots of lakes, and great car culture. There is the winter thing though...
That's why I moved south..... 6 months of freezing your ass off gets old after 30 yrs....
A couple of people have mentioned Louisville. It's ok but not great. If I may suggest (and I've been a LOT of places and know of what I speak). Lexington KY is beautiful, we have a decent car culture and not too many rednecks. We do get winter and summer but not as badly as many places and our cost of living isn't very high. It's roughly an hour to Cinci or Louisville and a bit more to Columbus or Knoxville.
T.J. wrote: In reply to mtn: Unless you happen to go a mile out into the lake.
No, I stand by what I said. It isn't creepy how vacant it is a mile into the lake; you expect it to be that vacant.
Ranger50 wrote:Gearheadotaku wrote: Michigan has cheap land, lots of lakes, and great car culture. There is the winter thing though...That's why I moved south..... 6 months of freezing your ass off gets old after 30 yrs....
Oh man do I hear you. We got about 13" of snow last night and the plow put a 4' wall of it at the end of my driveway. I'm going to have to move if for no other reason than to flee prosecution for when I catch that motherberkeleyer.
mtn wrote:T.J. wrote: In reply to mtn: Unless you happen to go a mile out into the lake.No, I stand by what I said. It isn't creepy how vacant it is a mile into the lake; you expect it to be that vacant.
What about all those guys with cement overshoes?
I don't think Greenville is the place for you, we're probably too conservative overall, but if you want to check it out you're welcome to crash on the couch.
curtis73 wrote: Perhaps I should explain better on the conservative areas part. I am a country boy who likes cities. I can milk a cow, shoe a horse, and plow a field, but it doesn't identify me. If a conservative person identifies him or herself by the redness of their neck, chances are we won't get along. If they scorn enlightenment as something stupid but worship God and Dodge Rams (not necessarily in that order), chances are its not the kind of conservative I can deal with.
I identify myself as a conservative ideologically (though actually libertarian is probably closer to accurate). There was a girl who was on my swim team in college who also identified conservative. I think we were the only two 'conservative' people on the team.
Usually I found her ideology differed from mine more than everyone else on the team.
Neat little webpage I found: http://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-can-i-travel.htm
Say your maximum distance is two 6 hour days of driving to get home to Pittsburgh. You enter in 12 hours and Pittsburgh, PA, switch the units of measurement to miles, and it'll show you the area in which you could live to get home in the amount of time.
20 hours looks to get you to most of the Front Range and San Antonia, TX.
rcutclif wrote: I identify myself as a conservative ideologically (though actually libertarian is probably closer to accurate). There was a girl who was on my swim team in college who also identified conservative. Usually I found her ideology differed from mine more than everyone else on the team.
Yep, sounds like the social/fiscal split, and its a major problem for the Republican party. There are tons of atheist libertarians out who find the social conservatives repugnant.
I think you'd fine places in New England, Oregon and Washington, and non-Mormon Rocky Mountain states would have higher populations of these types of folks.
Not as common in the south, Mid-West, and Utah.
In reply to PHeller:
I think there are more of them than people realize. My take is that there are big chunks of the 'left' and the 'right' that fall into fiscally conservative/socially liberal, but because of the nature of our political machine, pick one side or the other and that is that.
PHeller wrote:rcutclif wrote: I identify myself as a conservative ideologically (though actually libertarian is probably closer to accurate). There was a girl who was on my swim team in college who also identified conservative. Usually I found her ideology differed from mine more than everyone else on the team.Yep, sounds like the social/fiscal split, and its a major problem for the Republican party. There are tons of atheist libertarians out who find the social conservatives repugnant. I think you'd fine places in New England, Oregon and Washington, and non-Mormon Rocky Mountain states would have higher populations of these types of folks. Not as common in the south, Mid-West, and Utah.
Great article on what is likely behind this: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/politics-is-no-longer-local-114800_full.html#.VNI2jJ3F9os I've been meaning to pick up the book that it is about, it seems like an excellent read.
I have more to say on this subject, but I suppose that this isn't the thread for it.
Curtis, what are your job prospects and financial situation like? Would it be possible to do May-October in a Chicago/Madison/Minneapolis, then winter somewhere south? Not sure that it really makes sense, but just a thought.
I meant more from a regional density perspective.
I think what Curtis is getting at was he'd rather live someplace where people appreciated education, logic, and don't force their views down the throats of others.
Related to the topic of job/career aspirations is a situation my wife and I are in. We'd like to move someplace warmer, but doing so will mean it won't be as easy to see family over the holidays. Most employers give 10 days to start, which is fine if you live an hour away from family, but more difficult when they are on the other side of the country. A flight delay may cost you an extra day of vacation, and plane flights aren't cheap. Or if you're like me, you hate flying altogether.
My ideal situation (and I know you've all heard it before) is to have a nice 5 week block that I can take a annual road trip home from Thanksgiving to the New Year to catch up with everyone, and then also have another week to take a non-family vacation someplace.
My wife is worried that the new job she's been offered in Florida will not give her enough vacation to attend already made plans and still come home for the Holidays .
mtn wrote:PHeller wrote:Great article on what is likely behind this: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/politics-is-no-longer-local-114800_full.html#.VNI2jJ3F9os I've been meaning to pick up the book that it is about, it seems like an excellent read. I have more to say on this subject, but I suppose that this isn't the thread for it. Curtis, what are your job prospects and financial situation like? Would it be possible to do May-October in a Chicago/Madison/Minneapolis, then winter somewhere south? Not sure that it really makes sense, but just a thought.rcutclif wrote: I identify myself as a conservative ideologically (though actually libertarian is probably closer to accurate). There was a girl who was on my swim team in college who also identified conservative. Usually I found her ideology differed from mine more than everyone else on the team.Yep, sounds like the social/fiscal split, and its a major problem for the Republican party. There are tons of atheist libertarians out who find the social conservatives repugnant. I think you'd fine places in New England, Oregon and Washington, and non-Mormon Rocky Mountain states would have higher populations of these types of folks. Not as common in the south, Mid-West, and Utah.
Financial situation might look grim to some, but I live very inexpensively. I have a job with Home Depot, but I hate it. I could use it as a vessel to transfer anywhere there is a Home Depot, but its really not my kind of job. I'm given very large responsibilities, but not given the authority or training to handle it, then I'm watched by number-hungry managers like I'm a child.
By the time I'm ready to move (probably August) I would imagine having $10k cash saved. I have $25k invested and would like to not touch that. I have access to $40k loan from parents to buy a house (or use as a down payment, but I can usually find cheap houses in most areas that aren't majorly expensive).
I will spend July in Canada at the lake, then be ready to move. Truth is, if I'm only paying parents for the house loan, I don't mind going somewhere without a job lined up. I can always tend bar, work at Starbucks, or farm myself out on remodeling jobs until the right job happens. I tried being a male stripper once and it was VERY lucrative. I would start taking off my shirt and women would throw twenties and scream "put it back on!"
So there it is: $10k cash, access to $40k for a house. The job aspect has always been an issue for me. I detest 9-5 task work. I can't stand stagnation and repetition. I know I sound like an entitled twerp, but its just the truth. The longest I ever spent at a job like that was 3 years. But when I was driving charter buses, that I loved every minute of for 7 years. New people, new roads, new destinations, new adventures.
>>> New people, new roads, new destinations, new adventures. In reply to curtis73:
Read this entire thread titled a Yankee Goes South. I can't get the idea out of my head. The guy is somewhere in southern mexico right now and still going strong.
PHeller wrote: I meant more from a regional density perspective. I think what Curtis is getting at was he'd rather live someplace where people appreciated education, logic, and don't force their views down the throats of others.
That is a very good way of describing what I want. I don't do extremes, so extreme camo trash is out. I can handle a lot of granola, hippie, vegan, stuff, but there is a limit to that as well. I'm told that Portland is a bit heavy on the liberal for the sake of being liberal.
If there is a scale of 1-10, 1 being the most conservative, deliverance, toothless redneck, banjo pluckers, and 10 being bearded hipster, pro vaxxer, anti-gun, vegan, chakra-balancing, meditators, I'm shooting for 7. 5-6 would work as long as they value logic and education, and 8-9 would be ok as long as they don't judge me for not having a 5" beard.
Move to Tulsa and buy my house. It was 15° this morning, but the high will be in the 70s the next 3-4 days.
Great road course 30 minutes to the west, one of the nicest drag strips in the country just a few minutes north. Lots of cheap land and housing.
We have a nice house 15 minutes from downtown in a quiet neighborhood, 1200sq ft, 2 car garage, 3 bed 1 bath and monster backyard. We'd sell it for $100k.
BOK center is in the top 5 in ticket sales for the nation since it opened, lots of great food/bars. Tons of areas, for mudding/hunting/camping/fishing/off-roading (if you're into that kind of stuff.)
PHeller wrote: My ideal situation (and I know you've all heard it before) is to have a nice 5 week block that I can take a annual road trip
I'm all about that. I spend summers in Canada at a lake and I refuse to give it up. I went for years quitting my job every June and then getting a new one in August. I would tell employers that I'm going. They can either give me time off or I can quit. Some actually just gave me time off.
I'm not a 9-5 er. I hate repetition and pattern. It sounds like first world problems but I'm just a creative, emotional being. I've been at Home Depot for two and a half weeks and its already hell.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: >>> New people, new roads, new destinations, new adventures. In reply to curtis73: Read this entire thread titled a Yankee Goes South. I can't get the idea out of my head. The guy is somewhere in southern mexico right now and still going strong.
Will do.
curtis73 wrote:PHeller wrote: I meant more from a regional density perspective. I think what Curtis is getting at was he'd rather live someplace where people appreciated education, logic, and don't force their views down the throats of others.That is a very good way of describing what I want. I don't do extremes, so extreme camo trash is out. I can handle a lot of granola, hippie, vegan, stuff, but there is a limit to that as well. I'm told that Portland is a bit heavy on the liberal for the sake of being liberal. If there is a scale of 1-10, 1 being the most conservative, deliverance, toothless redneck, banjo pluckers, and 10 being bearded hipster, pro vaxxer, anti-gun, vegan, chakra-balancing, meditators, I'm shooting for 7. 5-6 would work as long as they value logic and education, and 8-9 would be ok as long as they don't judge me for not having a 5" beard.
We might be close enough. You can get your granola on at the swap rabbit cafe and similar, there are a few organic restaurants, we have both a Whole Foods and an Earthfare (despite being more libertarian and less liberal than you, I frequent all of those places). It's rural enough that you can still get your food from a farm (I do!) and urban enough that you can still see off-broadway stuff downtown (Wicked is sold out for Valentine's Day and I am going to pay!).
Anyway, if you want to come visit, I can show you around.
The wife and I were off in lala land together the other day, dreaming of moving to North Florida.
Best of luck to you, Curtis, wherever you wind up. 
curtis73 wrote:PHeller wrote: My ideal situation (and I know you've all heard it before) is to have a nice 5 week block that I can take a annual road tripI'm all about that. I spend summers in Canada at a lake and I refuse to give it up. I went for *years* quitting my job every June and then getting a new one in August. I would tell employers that I'm going. They can either give me time off or I can quit. Some actually just gave me time off. I'm not a 9-5 er. I hate repetition and pattern. It sounds like first world problems but I'm just a creative, emotional being. I've been at Home Depot for two and a half weeks and its already hell.
Glad I'm not the only one. We shall have a beer together someday, you and I.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:Ian F wrote: Savannah GA? I know a few people who live there and it seems like a small island of progressiveness in the middle of the Bible-belt...Super close to Road Atlanta and Roebling road
Well 4 hours from Road Atlanta but ok. Savannah that I know isnt really that progressive at all. Athens, GA is though. Big college town where Republicans send their kids to UGA and the kids use their parent's evil corporate earned money to buy drinks and bohemian clothing to look the part of protesting all that. Athens is pretty lame to me. (It's not that I'm against "progressive" beacuse i'm not, but being fake annoys me. And there is a lot that in my years of experience there.
Ranger50 wrote: In reply to wbjones: Vehicle.
don't most states have them ? and from what I've read on here most of those are WAY worse than here
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