Moving down south

purple_chick79

Hey all....

Quick question. I'm looking to move from New England to the south somewhere, but I'm not sure where the best place to go would be. I'm a nurses aide and my boyfriend is a carpenter.

After this winter and the people up here, I've just had enough.

Any input on places to look into would be great....thanks

conman

i know quite a few people who moved from New York to North Carolina and are very happy

81

follow the natural disasters. they always need people to rebuild shit.

neilybabes86

OH WELL..I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR LAST PEARL JAM SHOW

Flagg

Not necessarily advocating my neck of the woods but thought I would give you some info.

Thousands and thousands of people from New York and New England move to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, many for the same reasons you mentioned. McKinney (where I live) is the usually the fastest growing city in the country. On my son's baseball team, I think we are the only native Texan family.

I don't really consider us part of the "South". To me, that means Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, etc. I associate Texas withe the "West" or the "Southwest".

There are several reasons people move here:

The weather - Yes, it is very, very hot in the summer and the summer lasts a long time, but we don't have to deal with the endless cold. Despite some snow and ice and some bouts with cold, most of us are walking our dog and wearing shorts in winter. The summer is oppressive sometimes. But the fall, winter and spring make up for it.

Jobs - DFW has one of if not the strongest job market in the nation. Texas barely felt the effects of the recession and is still going pretty strong. I have never had to leave here to find a job. For good or bad, Texas is very business friendly.

Housing - Housing is cheap and plentiful. I have a couple of friends who have sold their small homes in New York for $400,000 and then come down here and paid that in cash for a mini-mansion. Seriously, we have to have the most inexpensive housing anywhere. We have plenty of space too. So if you want acreage, that is affordable too.

We have the big 4 in sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL).

The food.

Now, for the cons:

Depending on your political leanings this is good or bad, but Texas is very very very conservative. I cannot stress that enough. God, guns, family and country, and not necessarily in that order. Dallas is pretty conservative. However, Austin is the complete opposite. Like somehow aliens picked up a liberal northwestern city and plopped it down here. I would love to live in Austin. Keep in mind that most of the "South" is like this.

There is almost no public transportation to speak of. You must have a car, or two. It is really spread out.

Highest homeowner's insurance rates in the country.

Despite what you see in the movies, Texas is flat, except for the Hill Country.

Dallas doesn't really have an identity like other big cities (outside of the Cowboys, banking, shopping and eating). Ft. Worth got all the character and the opposite of Dallas in many, many ways. They call it Cow Town for a reason and when you think of Texas and cowboys and horses and stuff like that, it is Ft. Worth you think of.

purple_chick79

neilybabes86 wrote:

OH WELL..I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR LAST PEARL JAM SHOW

LMAO I did think of that already.....my last show was number 13 and I got FRONT ROW....if I never see them again, I'm ok with that.

purple_chick79

FLAGG....

I've often thought of Texas....

Now I am in now way conservative, but I'm also not a very politcal person. Austin might be OK with me.

I'm not looking to buy a home, I'd rather rent. I'd also like to live near the water.....where I live now is not near water per say, but I can go to Boston and points north or south in less than 2 hours.

Thanks for the information....it's something to look into

neilybabes86

purple_chick79 wrote:

neilybabes86 wrote:

OH WELL..I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR LAST PEARL JAM SHOW

LMAO I did think of that already.....my last show was number 13 and I got FRONT ROW....if I never see them again, I'm ok with that.

im surprised nobody beat me to the punchline

good luck w/ the move

JonnyPistachio

just skip all the in between shit and move here to Florida like everybody does when they're 67 years old. its inevitable, just do it.

purple_chick79

JonnyPistachio wrote:

just skip all the in between shit and move here to Florida like everybody does when they're 67 years old. its inevitable, just do it.

LMAO

I wanna go....but my other half doesn't want to....

I was looking at Sarasota...then Pensacola....but he said Pensacola was to deep south for him...idk how much of that is true

jamma

I live in North Carolina and I love it here. I've lived here 15 years and it was the best move I ever made. We have beaches on the East and Mountains to the West. Mostly rural with a few small cities thrown in. I live in the triangle-Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area so I'm about 4 hours from beach or mountains, live in the country but not far from the city of Raleigh (where I have seen Pearl Jam a few times) and a couple hours from Charlotte (where I have also seen Pearl Jam). Good luck, just saying, its a nice place to live.

mysticweed

conman wrote:

i know quite a few people who moved from New York to North Carolina and are very happy

first of all
it's hey y'all

and central nc is golf/horse country, lots of construction and lots of old people, so 'mone down

JonnyPistachio

purple_chick79 wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

just skip all the in between shit and move here to Florida like everybody does when they're 67 years old. its inevitable, just do it.

LMAO

I wanna go....but my other half doesn't want to....

I was looking at Sarasota...then Pensacola....but he said Pensacola was to deep south for him...idk how much of that is true

Yeah, Pensacola is kinda deep south I think.
Sarasota is mostly old people, but its beautiful there! Naples too.
I live near west palm beach, and its awesome here, just getting a little too crowded. On a good note though, you can get a small house or condo pretty damn near the beach these days for pretty cheap since the housing market took a shit.

and yes, like Nelly said.. not too many PJ shows in these parts. :(

good luck with your search and move though!

81

TB87511 wrote:

I live in North Carolina and I love it here. I've lived here 15 years and it was the best move I ever made. We have beaches on the East and Mountains to the West. Mostly rural with a few small cities thrown in. I live in the triangle-Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area so I'm about 4 hours from beach or mountains, live in the country but not far from the city of Raleigh (where I have seen Pearl Jam a few times) and a couple hours from Charlotte (where I have also seen Pearl Jam). Good luck, just saying, its a nice place to live.

i spent a little time down in Ashville. Cool little city with a lot to do, and a TON of micro brews

inmytree

purple_chick79 wrote:

Hey all....

Quick question. I'm looking to move from New England to the south somewhere, but I'm not sure where the best place to go would be. I'm a nurses aide and my boyfriend is a carpenter.

After this winter and the people up here, I've just had enough.

Any input on places to look into would be great....thanks

I've been in the south since 2000 (moved from PA, raised in upstate NY)...

no matter where you move to, you'll have to adjust to the pace of life...folks don't seem to be in a hurry down here...which is actually nice...

The Winters are wonderful...while we've had some snow in recent years (very rare), it's only been an inch or two, and they shut down EVERYTHING... In fact they close the schools when there is a threat of snow or ice...

you shouldn't have any trouble finding work, but your BF will, as lots and lots of construction folks are looking for work since the housing bubble burst...but it's slowly picking up...

I live 5 minutes from historic downtown and 20 minutes from the beach...the beach attitude is wonderful...I say look to move to a coastal community as you'll find more transplants from "up north"....

PureandEasy

As a born New Englander, I can understand your wanting to leave due to weather, but I still consider it my home and I miss it often. I don't get up there as much as I used to, but still love it when I do. I have also had a sister that lived in Greensboro, NC and it was quite nice.

So yeah, if you're going south, I'd definitely check out North Carolina.

he.who.forgets

I'm born and raised in Jacksonville FL and love it here. Based on Flagg's comments I think we share a lot of similarities with Dallas; it's HOT here in the summer but the other seasons are nice & mild. If you're coming from New England, you'll think our winter is non-existent. Jacksonville is also very conservative but that doesnt bother me. It's also very large & sprawling city with shitty public transit so owning a car is a must. We have lots of water - the Atlantic Ocean, The Intracoastal waterway, & the St. John's River. I think we are a pretty good spot for live music...while we certainly dont compete with major metropolises, the local scene down here is growing and there's lots of opportunities for good shows. We are also a short drive to a lot of cool places; St. Augustine FL, Savannah GA, Amelia Island. I think we have a pretty goodo job market considering the economy's current state and housing is pretty affordable as well. If you actually give Jville any thought, I'd be glad to supply more info.

dcfaithful

I lived in Georgia for a bit back in 2007, and have spent plenty of time in Alabama, which is a lovely, lovely state. I would suggest Alabama myself, but then again I'm not much of a seasoned southerner...

Nothingman54

Memphis!

intodeep

If you want a small to mid size city Ashville NC and Charleston SC are a couple of my favs. Others have mentioend the Triangle area of NC which is also cool.

I love Atlanta because it offers a lot that many other places in the south can't. It is the biggest city but it is spread out.

81

intodeep wrote:

If you want a small to mid size city Ashville NC and Charleston SC are a couple of my favs. Others have mentioend the Triangle area of NC which is also cool.

I love Atlanta because it offers a lot that many other places in the south can't. It is the biggest city but it is spread out.

Charleston is indeed a cool city. Not sure i would want to live there. Way to many tourists.

Brain of mJ

Asheville, Raleigh/Research Triangle or Nashville. I moved from Boston to Atlanta back in 03 and while it's been good to me, things just seem stuck in neutral here and there's alot of baggage here.

DURP

Savannah, Columbia, Charleston or Austin TX