VSG Maintenance Group
09/12/2020, Tuesday
Cecily, I'd love to hear your list of what you are looking for if you relocate. I imagine the list will change.
We are very spoiled by living a 15 minute drive from a major airport, and the excellent arts scene. If we move, do we look for a city that offers the same, except a better climate?
In my dream, I live somewhere much more urban than my current suburb. It's definitely warmer. There are sidewalks. And things to walk to. For some reason, I really want to be able to walk to church. Whenever we are in a big city, I love going to Mass on vacation, I probably go more often on vacation than I do at home! And I have a pool, or an association pool.I also have an outdoor space, this is essential. But it could just be a deck or small patio if I'm in a condo. I feel like I would be more fit in this setting too. I like walking, but here, I have to walk in the street a couple of blocks before I get to the nearest park with walking trails. When I've stayed with my daughter in Chicago and Boston, I also like walking with a purpose, we're going to pick up ingredients for dinner etc. And I know I would swim a lot if I had access to a pool and good weather... So, as you can see, I've thought about this a lot...
on 9/15/20 3:37 pm
I think what's so great about our country is there is something for everyone from hot to cold, tropical to bone dry, green to brown, metropolis to one horse town, and everything in between!
Less crowded. I'm over the sheer number of people and the claustrophobic spacing of development here. I'm not a big city person by any stretch. They make me nervous. But I'd like to be able to get to a city once in a while without too much effort for an occasional show or concert or decent airport.
Views from my house. My yard is enormous by Irvine standards, but it's small. All I can see is other houses and my 3 fence walls. I want to see vistas. I want views of beautiful scenery. I don't want my neighbor's house 10 feet from mine. Elbow room.
Lower taxes. Easy peasy. No place is higher than CA.
Low humidity. I loathe humidity, so you won't find me living in the south.
No mosquitoes. They adore me. I get enough in MI. Don't need them at my 3-other-seasons house. That used to be the last great thing about SoCal - no skeeters. Now we have them in droves. I'm covered in bites right now.
No unrelenting 110+ degree days for months on end. (No Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson)
Snow is not a dealbreaker, but 4 months of no sun in winter is. So no full-timing in MI.
Great hiking nearby.
More moderate politics. I'm a centrist. CA is a bad fit in that respect.
I think a house with a guest house/casita would be great. My dad could stay there in the winter since this move would include selling his CA house (that is legally mine) too.
If it weren't for the high crime rate, I'd move to Santa Fe, NM in a heartbeat. But apparently it's one of the highest in the country. Who knew? Sedona, AZ has a lot of things I want, but insane traffic from tourists and Phoenix weekend warriors isn't one of them. Flagstaff has the same problem. Prescott, AZ seems to be the destination of 6 of 10 Californians I've talked to who are planning to leave too. Somewhere around Reno? Somewhere in UT? Colorado is as crowded as California now. Washington and Oregon hate Californians and their politics aren't any better than ours. Idaho is a common destination to the point where they are resenting us. Not a fan of Texas. I really think I need to go stay in some of these places for a while with an eye towards what it would be like to live there.
If you have leads for places I should think about, let me know!
My Aussie sister moved to Salt Lake City. I thought it would be all flat, and unpleasantly dry, but it was breathtaking!!! It's not humid, they sometimes get a little snow, but it melts right away. Even though it is arid, there's green because of the elevation. The hiking is incredible, they go hiking and camping frequently. My sister is agnostic, but she seems to do fine with a culture that admittedly doesn't always have a strict line between church and state. The city itself is growing in density, but I think the opportunity to have space outside the city limits is doable. My sister lives on a large pond, across the pond is a huge mountain range. I could sit on her deck all day and watch how the light shifts and changes on the mountains.
on 9/15/20 4:27 pm
It sounds beautiful! I'll add it to my list. I've looked at a few houses online in Park City, which I don't think is very far from SLC? I know Park City gets 95" of snow and is known for its skiing. I have tried and tried to love skiing and just I don't. Fear of falling is big for me as I'm a klutz. But I like cold with sun and could always snowshoe? Is it weird to live in a ski resort and not ski? Could impact fitting in. St. George, UT is really pretty with great hiking (Zion is close) but a bit hot in the summer. Still, should probably go on the list too.
Your dislike of humidity is going to limit you to the western US. I'm guessing that even though the Great Plain states of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, & Oklahoma are lower in average humidity than their neighbors to the east, even those states will be too humid for you during the summer months. That leaves you with Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas and all the states west of those. Your centrist leanings would lead you away from the Pacific coast eastward. Idaho is known to be very conservative politically, as are Wyoming and AZ. Colorado is very much like CA - a state divided. You would find a lot of the same there as here. Utah is supposed to be politically conservative, but I don't think that's so true anymore. I think your best bets for your desires of climate, recreation and proximity to good airports, healthcare are NM, NV, UT. I think Montana will be too cold for you - as the winters are long. I have dog friends there who state that winter begins in October and goes through the end of April. That's too much for me.
My pick for you, would have been Santa Fe, but you mentioned the higher crime rate. I can't imagine it's worse than LA, but I haven't looked up those stats. Next on my list would be Reno. It has everything you mentioned in spades. And if you live between Reno and Carson City you would be a stone's throw from Tahoe. Reno is much smaller than you might think. There is really very little traffic, they have great medical facilities, great dog care availability, excellent airport, and because of the gaming there seems to be a little something for everyone! I would definitely check it out. The lack of traffic alone is appealing to me and my traffic isn't nearly as God awful as what you deal with every day.
on 9/16/20 8:34 am
Peps, I can see your hobby of imagining living other places shining through!!! I love it! I agree with a lot of this. I don't require a "red state", just a state where continuing to raise taxes on people who already pay the most in the country isn't paired with berating those same people for not paying enough and dreaming up new (seemingly unconstitutional) ways to put the screws to them. It's insulting. And then wasting it on bullet trains that never get built instead of funding real things that need money right now. (Stepping off soap box). I'm not into intolerance though and you-know-who flotillas are not my thing.
I think you're right about heavy snow/winter places being out. I went to college in Boulder, but that snow wasn't the same as what you see in Montana. For one, it's not all that cold. And the sun comes out and it's beautiful and 60 the day after a blizzard. Have you driven around Denver in the last few years? It looks like Southern California in terms of crowding and traffic. Honestly, it's unrecognizable since I was in school.
I was really getting excited about Santa Fe until I started reading about it. NM's violent crime rate is the second highest in the country and worst in the nation for property crime. Their hospital is questionable (St. Vincent's and is referred to as St. Victims by the locals), which as I'm getting older is a consideration it wouldn't have been 20 years ago. Finding a doctor who is taking on new patients in near impossible. The overall theme was great place to visit, terrible place to live. I also read from a few people in their 50s that the town's people are OLD. Like "make you feel like you're a kid when in your 50s" old. Which isn't great when you're still in your 40s and would like some semblance of a social life. I won't strike it off the list entirely because the homes, the surrounding countryside, and the artsy vibe of the town are exactly what I want, but the other stuff bears a lot of consideration.
I do want to consider Reno. I have dated very little in my life, but had a yucky breakup with a guy who moved there and the thought of running into him at the grocery store makes my skin crawl. Silly, I know! Still being a grown up, I won't strike it from the list.
Idaho is getting a lot of transplants from CA. To the point they are disliking us, but still worth a look. The neighbors in Michigan live in Hailey and love it.
