Everyone I know who has visited has noted that prices for everything were very high. I am not sure low taxes can balance out housing/food/fuel costs.
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Where should I move to?
- Thread starter smeet
- Start date
Congratulations @smeet !
We are in the process of selling our house in Florida (and preparing for the Hurricane). We are going to a cabin in Western NC for 6 months as we figure out our next move. Asheville was high on our list of next destinations. We will be an hour away so we will be going over occasionally.
I work remotely and my wife can work in any decent sized town. We have school age kids so schools are about the only additional consideration but we are generally looking for the same type of place for ourselves.
I added Knoxville and Chattanooga to our list of places to go check out.
We are in the process of selling our house in Florida (and preparing for the Hurricane). We are going to a cabin in Western NC for 6 months as we figure out our next move. Asheville was high on our list of next destinations. We will be an hour away so we will be going over occasionally.
I work remotely and my wife can work in any decent sized town. We have school age kids so schools are about the only additional consideration but we are generally looking for the same type of place for ourselves.
I added Knoxville and Chattanooga to our list of places to go check out.
it will hit 113 in the summer and -20 in the winter here easy. snowmegedden was terrible. the in betweens are good. the extremes are tough sometime for sure. i've been here 14 years.
I live in southern Oregon. As far as the rain goes it's usually from October through April. The weather is milder here than it is up north. Yep there are fires some years are worse than others this year wasn't too bad around here. No sales tax here. Good luck I hope you find a great place
I live in Austin. I like HOT so I don't mind the weather. It doesn't rain much. We usually have great shoulder seasons. It's a guitar town. People are moving here too rapidly and the city is losing a lot of what makes people want to move here. DOT is preparing a full redo of I35 through town and that is going to make driving a holy terror for 10 years. Best BBQ on earth, best TexMex on earth, best tacos, can't grow tomatoes. No state or city income tax. Stupid high property taxes.
I live in one of the places that people were/are migrating to - Grand Junction, Colorado, on the Western Slope. Beautiful area, pretty good music scene but nothing like some of the bigger regions mentioned above. Biggest problem here is like so many places that end up on the "best places" list, home prices have gotten really high. Housing has doubled or tripled in the last 10 yrs, but for people coming from high housing cost areas less of a problem (and part of the reason for increases).
Joining in on the Switzerland thread, since it's on my personal list. So I have to learn Italian, French or German to live there permanently (@djmay)?
I'm not sure I'd factor in fuel costs, as Swiss public transportation is phenomenal.
We visited last year, and it was the trip of a lifetime. I'm not sure where I'd settle, but based on the places we visited...Appenzell? Montreux?
I live in a city that's not for from Detroit so there's music of all sorts all over the place. During the summer lots of parks have bands play on alternating nights. If you're a good bass player there are lots of opportunities. It's harder for guitar players but most bass players I know are in more than one band.
Where did you get that info? I won't recommend it but a lot do retire there. It's up the hill from me
We did all the resarch in the world, and settled on Asheville, which then got flattened. I'm not sure what I could do either accidentally or on purpose to make Asheville or any other place like LA. I just live, eat, play music, and play with the dogs.
That is something I have thought about. But I'm getting up there and I don't know how many gigging years I have left. I've had to live with the dearth of decent gigs in LA for years, I'm hoping to go to a place where musicians can thrive. Do you have any feeling for how the art/music scene might be post-hurricane? I'd love to help rebuild, but I also want to play for a few years before I'm too old to do it.
We have looked at Portland in the past, and we're thinking about it again. Does anybody know how the music (gigging) scene is there?
I can't think of many places in the U.S. that have a really good gigging culture and the places that do are very competitive, NYC, Austin, Nashville. I can vouch for Brasilia, Brazil which has a vibrant arts scene, is a decent size city in the high plains - think Denver - and the coldest temperature is 52 degrees F. It was a planned and designed city and people either love that or hate it, and by our standards, it's very inexpensive to live.
The other place that I hear has a good jazz scene is Tokyo but I haven't experienced it first hand.
That said, much of what you're looking for could be found in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, or Napa.
The other place that I hear has a good jazz scene is Tokyo but I haven't experienced it first hand.
That said, much of what you're looking for could be found in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, or Napa.
My daughter goes to WCU. That's a nice area. I've meet a couple of people that moved from Florida to Western NC. Doesn't seem to have much of a music scene. Oh, and very nice people.
If I had it to do over again, I'd have immigrated to Canada. Been more than a few times, and miss it every time I return to the US.
It's a civilized country.
It's a civilized country.
Just wanted to say that I was in Seattle on a work trip about a month ago and fell in love with the area. It’s breathtakingly beautiful up there. Also happened to stumble across Jimi Hendrix’s grave after speaking with a bartender and lamenting the fact that me trying to see A Sound Garden just wasn’t going to happen due to timing. Turns out Hendrix was just 5 minutes down the road lol. The folks up there were all super nice and agreeable. Maybe I got lucky, but people seemed happier there.
I can't really imagine living anywhere else right now, but when my son is out on his own I will likely move north, possibly to the far north east coast. When I'm ready to get back to the country. Wherever it is, it will be north and coastal. I need saltwater nearby.
Great suggestion! But I grew up there, and while the music scene was great, I hated the weather and the landscape and I swore I’d never go back. Maybe I’m being irrational but I just can’t go back.If a vibrant music scene is among your top priorities, then the greater Chicagoland area is an excellent choice. While we aren't known for being at the top of any one, particular music genre, this area is overflowing with talented musicians and thriving venues for all music genres.
We have everything here, in abundance. Pop, hip hop, dance, rock, punk, blues, country, jazz, metal, folk, classical, electronic, ballroom dance, experimental, . . . . . . you get the idea.
Basically, if it exists somewhere in the world, then there's at least one or two bands playing it here.
But more than that, there's enough demand for local musical talent that you can actually get paid to play music here. Just scour the available resources for fellow musicians interested in the type of music you like, form a band, and start playing gigs. You won't get rich doing it (unless you're really good at it) but you can earn enough through playing the area circuit to make it worthwhile.
Classic rock cover bands, for example, are everywhere. You can put one together very easily and start booking gigs with little effort. If you have any talent at all, starting pay is about $400 total per show. That's $100 per person for a four piece band.
Sure, that's peanuts, but it's a lot better than 90% of any other places where you might be living.
Moreso, there's plenty of room for advancement. Pay your dues for a few years, develop a following on social media, and venues will offer more. I've been in a few bands, and have friends who are in bands that have been around for awhile that make $500 - $1,000 a night. And I'm talking about part time "dad" bands.
If you step up to a full time gigging band, then you can actually make a living at it.
The "Illinois Entertainer" is a free monthly music magazine that highlights the musical scene in the Chicagoland area. In print and online. Check it out:
So, that's the music scene. What about everything else?
Weather: We have the four traditional seasons here, divided evenly into three months each. Summers are typically in the mid 80s during the day, with heat waves in the 90s being common. Winter days can vary a lot, but usually ranging around the teens and 20s, with occasional cold snaps around 0⁰F, although it's common to have temps in the 30s and 40s, even in January. We get some snow, but not really that much.
Precipitation is reliable year round. We don't have rainy seasons or dry seasons. Just mostly sunny days, with one or two rain (or snow) showers every week or so, throughout the year.
Scenery: Meh.
There's not much natural beauty to look at here. Mostly flattish, with rolling hills and a few bluffs, here and there. Some rock formations are to be found along our abundant rivers and creeks. But aside from that, you're looking at vast fields of corn, soybeans, and cows.
Having said that, our architecture is world class. I won't go into detail here, but if you search the interwebz, you'll see what I mean.
While there's not much natural beauty to see here, we do have access to some in our neighbor to the north, Wisconsin. Hop on interstate 94, drive a few hours and you're in "God's country". Natural lakes and streams are abundant, and Wisconsin caters to Illinois tourists and vacationers in the summer (and year round).
Food: The greater Chicagoland area is both a national (and international) crossroads of ethnic diversity, and it's reflected in our cuisine. Again, I won't go into detail here, but an online search will describe the richness of choice we have for food from all ethnicities. The best part is that much of it is "mom and pop" restaurants that are very affordable for ordinary folks.
Health care: Is state of the art and very accessible. Hospitals and clinics are abundant. Doctors in all fields and specialties can be found within a 30 minute drive from wherever you are in the area. Chicago itself has world class medical facilities.
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If the above seems enticing to you, feel free to PM me for details.
If there was one specific place I'd recommend it would be DeKalb, Illinois. It's a small city of about 40,000 pop., located 65 miles west of Chicago.
DeKalb, Illinois - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Part of downtown DeKalb - showing everal music venues
It's home to Northern Illinois University, which has an excellent music program that attracts aspiring musicians of all genres. For that reason, there are many local venues that host a wide variety of talented bands and artists. As a bonus, there are several independent music shops that have been in business long enough to become iconic. They're great places to buy, sell, and service musical instruments, as well as serve as convenient contact hubs for musicians.
NIU campus
I also like DeKalb for its strategic location. It's right on the 88 expressway that gets you straight to downtown Chicago in less than a hour, and you're within 45 minutes of the suburbs. Yet, it's far enough away from the urban sprawl that the cost of living is very much lower. The cost to own or rent a home is affordable, as is the cost of goods and services.
DeKalb is also 40 miles southeast of the city of Rockford (pop 300,000) which itself has an abundance of quality music, art, and culture.
If you live in DeKalb, you have easy access to dozens of well attended summer music festivals in the immediate area, showcasing a variety of bands, from local talent to world famous artists and groups.
Hope this helps.
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Regarding transportation, I do not own a car. When I need one, I rent. Public transportation is the best in the world.
I also periodically visit Appenzell and Montreux. See my website, djessemay.com.
That is correct about learning a language for permanent residency. Different kantons (states) have different languages. I live in Kanton Zürich, which is German. Kanton Ticino is Italian.
Regarding transportation, I do not own a car. When I need one, I rent. Public transportation is the best in the world.
I also periodically visit Appenzell and Montreux. See my website, djessemay.com.
