Where would you live given a choice?

[txtaz]

If you had a choice to live anywhere in the lower 48, where would it be and why? We might relocate due to our severe alergies here.
Thanks,
Wes

[McGary911]

Not as easy a question as it sounds. I loved the Tampa area when I visited my sister there last month. Could I get the same work down there though? Have to factor that in for sure. Anywhere I ended up, I would have to be very close to the water. I had a job that I moved to west jersey for. After 9 months I couldn't stand being so far away from the ocean. Maybe overkill, but within 2 months i had bought my beach condo. Been here 6 years now. That's not to say i wont be visiting Tampa from time to time though :)

[Fish boy]

right next to the playboy mansion...err... what the heck, at the playboy mansion. LOL

I love the tampabay area and just moved back here last year. Don't know if we have the same alergens as you have out there though.

Also, if price is not a consideration, san fran or san diego. Great people, great weather, boating and only a few hours from ski slopes.

[gcarter]

Here in Central Florida is not bad.
I love the hill country in Central Texas.
But we've been thinking of retiring in Las Vegas, great quality of life there.

[Lenny]

If it were me I would look at Redding California, Northern California or SOUTHERN Oregon, by the Shastas. :)

[thriller]

If I could afford it. Ocean Waterfront with a swing bridge down to my moored boat on a lift system.

West Coast Southern Gulf Islands is where I wanna be..right on the beach.:cool!:

[EricG]

Great Topic!!

Kath and I ARE relocating as soon as she finishes her degree next August - and we are activly trying to figure out where. Right now the front-runner is the Charlotte, NC area. But we also love the Orlando/Central Florida area. When we are down in November (Homestead NASCAR Race) we are flying into Tampa because we keep hearing all of these good things about that side...so that may hit the radar after we visit.

On another note, not only does the weather SUCK here in Seattle, but we were just named by Forbes magazine as the most OVERPRICED city in America :yippie: . I know we aren't the only city with starter homes priced in the high 300's - but our wages don't reflect that like the rest of you :mad: :mad: .

Lenny, we have the cable systems in Mt. Shasta/Weed/Yreka California.... That is a very cool area :)

-EG

[Fish boy]

EG, holla at me when you get to the tampa area and we will show you around SEADOG style.

fish

[Surfer]

I never breathed out of my nose until my parents moved to South Florida....I've been everywhere, and will always return to Fort lauderdale, Its got alot more to offer than clean air.

[txtaz]

McGary, Very good points. We would have to be close to water. It's in my blood. We have a house in the Ft Myers/Cape Coral area, but it is mostly a retirement community. We currently live in an area that the average age is middle 60's, we are early 40's and have a hard time finding friends our age. As far as work, I can take it with me. That is one benifit of being self employed. We also would like an area with many things to do. Something more than getting exctited to go shopping at wallmart.

Fish....Good idea but Hue already banned me for never leaving on my last stay. LOL We have every type alergen you can name here. Oak, Mold, Ragweed, Ceder, grass, polin, etc, etc, etc. We are healthy people and have never had probs till we moved here. Now we wake up ever morning feeling like we have a cold. Life's too short. Time to do something. The west coast is great but expensive (have to leave something for retirement) and the liberals would drive me crazy. BTW, if you send some of those lobsters along with you cratered HD, I'll fix it for ya.....LOL Nice catch

I think George may have hit it on the head. I did Nuclear Power School in Orlando 15 years ago and really liked it. Maybe even further up the East Coast would be nice also. Yes the hill country is very nice, we like it here except for the allergies.

Eric I hear ya. I spent several years in Bremmerton. I loved the summer months and the penninsula. Hang on about the cost of living, I hear there are a record number of foreclosures and rising. New home construction is starting to come down. This is an indication that the tech bomb of 2000 is filtering through to the other sectors and having an effect. The cost should come down in the next few years.

Thanks for everyones input. Hymmm, maybe this could be an excuse for dragging the boat out east to "area hunt".
Wes

[gcarter]

Wes, I can be on either coast in 1 1/2 hours. Also I live in view of one of the largest chains of lakes in Florida, so water is never an issue. Housing is VERY reasonable. No income taxes in Florida either.

[Lenny]

George :eek: :eek: :eek: !!! :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :cussball: WHAT ...

No income tax there in FLA ??? I pay 43% of my wages to the federal Government here in income tax alone. Now all the "nice" boats and toys are starting to make more sense... :banghead: :canada: :confused: :confused:

[mattyboy]

the house next to poodle in paradise :tongue:
seems I'm always in the doghouse anyway ;)

[Forrest]

Wes, forget about North and North Central Florida if you are trying to escape allergies. Often times people with no allergies develop allergies after living here a few years. If it's not oak, pine, and other pollen, it's mold spores from the extreme dampness. Now if allergies are not a problem, then North Florida - especially the panhandle - is a great place to live. Not wall-to-wall traffic and people like in South Florida, the Orlando area, and the Tampa/St. Pete area. Also English (red-neck version) is the primary language in North Florida. Pure white-sand beaches, great weather with seasons, and hot as hell with high humidity in the summer. You’ll love it!

[gcarter]

George :eek: :eek: :eek: !!! :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :cussball: WHAT ...

No income tax there in FLA ??? I pay 43% of my wages to the federal Government here in income tax alone. Now all the "nice" boats and toys are starting to make more sense... :banghead: :canada: :confused: :confused:
Lenny, just to clarify...we all pay federal income tax. But then some states have state income tax and some don't. In Florida we have an average of 7% sales tax, it varies by county. My house is worth between $250k-$300K and my property taxes are about $2000.00. My home insurance is about $700.00 per year. So overall Florida is an inexpensive place to live.

[TuxedoPk]

the house next to poodle in paradise :tongue:

In that case I'm happy staying right where I am :jestera:

Other spots-Newport Rhode Island, Lennox Mass, or Carmel California

[rchevelle71]

Traffic?????


What traffic????

Oh, that hour+ commute to work:angryfire :angryfireto go 30 miles

But the weekends make it all worth it!!!!!!

Gotta be SOUTH FLORIDA!!!!!!!

[Darrell]

I'am with Lenny, several years back I drove along coast from Oregon to southern Washington State. Some of the most breathtaking country I have ever seen.

Darrell

[EricG]

I'am with Lenny, several years back I drove along coast from Oregon to southern Washington State. Some of the most breathtaking country I have ever seen.

Darrell

I do have to agree...about a month ago I rode down the Wash/Oregon coast for the weekend. My family has been going to Cannon Beach, OR every year for about 15 years, but this was the first time on the bike. I spent more time on the road than in the Hotel :biggrin: .

A couple of pics...The view - and the Best Road I have ever been on :biggrin:

-EG

[Darrell]

I grew up in Oregon and it is a nice place to be from; unfortunately it has been taken over by Californians and other entitlement-minded slugs. The economy is in the sh*tter too.


You want to talk about slow economy, Just leave the land of Oz and come to Southwest Oklahoma. If our economy was boat it would be 28ft Bayliner with a 140 horse 4 banger. :jestera:

Darrell

[Rootsy]

Say Yah To Da UP Eh!

JR - where'd i put the sled...

[gold-n-rod]

Say Yah To Da UP Eh!

JR - where'd i put the sled...

Ya shure! Ya know what da yoopers call da month of July?

4 weeks of bad ice fishin'!!!!!!

:beer:

I'll stick to below da bridge wid the rest of da trolls, eh?

another Randy

[mattyboy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mattyboy
the house next to poodle in paradise


In that case I'm happy staying right where I am :jestera:

Other spots-Newport Rhode Island, Lennox Mass, or Carmel California


Tux that was all part of the master plan :tongue:
remember gated communities work both ways, sometimes people need to be kept in :eek: :tongue: ;)

[RedDog]

Knoxville, TN - won't help your allergies though :wink:

[Patti]

Ahhh..Well leaving NYC for Michigan in about a week :D

[Brad Lyon]

Not comming to get a manufacturing job are you? Bush is making sure there won't be any of those left. :banghead: :banghead: If things continue I may have to move to another state but not by choice. Kyle wants to move to Georgia, maybe it will happen.

Brad

[Cuda]

I'm living right now where I always said I wanted to retire to. I live on a canal that leads to the St John's River, and I'm 22 miles to Daytona and the ocean, so I have the best of both worlds here. Deland it a neat little town, it was voted "Mainstreet USA" in some magazine. It's big enough to have everything you need, but no traffic. I moved here in June, and I have yet to get in a traffic jam. or have to sit through a signal more than once. That's the main reason I moved from the Tampa Bay Area, I couldn't stand the traffic. We travel the whole state with our work, and being right here is pretty centally located. I'm 35 minutes to Orlando, one hour to Jacksonville, two hours to Tampa, and south Florida isn't nearly as far a haul as it was. Right now I have jobs going in Jax, Orlando, Ft Pierce, and Tampa. I can be at any of them in two hours.

There are tons of little lakes around here too. I love the land here. It's not all low lying swamp, we actually have hills here. My house is about twelve feet above the water level in the canal. I'm probably about 35 minutes east of G. Carter.

[Cuda]

If it were me I would look at Redding California, Northern California or SOUTHERN Oregon, by the Shastas. :)

I used to live in Oregon, and it's one beautiful state. I agree though that around Mt Shasta may be the most scenic place I've been. I wouldn't want to live there though, it was cold and snowing like hell the last time I went through there. It would have made a great post card, but not someplace I'd live. As a matter of fact, my cousin drove to Oregon last year and right around there somewhere, the interstate was snowed shut, and he had to stay in some rat hole in some podunk spot there. He has a picture where they are sitting on the interstate, playing cards in the truck while they were waiting to move. :eek:

[Formula Jr]

Its really hard to find fault with the Seattle Area. I guess familuarity breeds contempt. Well, Okay there is the traffic madness and the over priced housing and pissy winters. But there's mountains, huge national parks, a real city, a great big sound, and one of the prettiest ocean shores - Cape Alava, in the entire World. I'm looking to move also and Seattle is on the short list. Don't leave out Hawaii. Eric I agree that 101 is a great road, Route 1 between LA and San Fran is better. NC has bugs and Albemarle and Pamlico are shallow murky waters. I have been everywhere in the '48. As has my girl friend. We both always come back to Seattle as offering the most diversity. There's a place for anything anyone would like. Lenny, after about a month you would go crazy in Southern OR, North CA. You also already live in paradise other than the tax situation. After seeing the entire country, I chose Eugene cause it was a great small town in the middle of a vast grand play land. After 23 years of intensive playing here, Oregon holds no new mysteries. But you could spend a life time here and never get bored with it. I could give specific places that are cool, for specific reasons, there are not many that offer as much as the North West.

[daboys]

wherever I want and travel by air to where I'm needed. I have been in every state except hawaii and all I can say is Saratoga Springs NY. Victorian styled small city (25,000 full time residance that grows to include 40,000 a day during horse racing season, and 25,000 or so for a concert, the orchestra, or ballet) Great vibrant local economy - downside is high NY State taxes, 25 mile to Lake George, just south of the million acre adirondack park -good people and if you like horses, they only game in town. 3 hours to NY City, Boston or Montreal. If you are into nano technology they say the Saratoga region is the East Coast answer to Houston. :checkered :party: :boat:

Check us out - here is the link:
http://www.saratoga-springs.org/

[Gulfbum]

I have lived in Florida, Cape Kennedy area, since 1965 and I wouldn't live anywhere else. You have everything here and you can do anything you want outside all year round. There is something for everyone here and the options are endless. If water is your game what state has as much coast line as here. The areas to explore are so many that you could spend a lifetime going to all the unique places. There is always something going on and you get to meet so many different types of people from many different backrounds here. This is the land of fun in the sun and it only gets better.

[Koenig]

I like Central WA, housing is highly in-expensive and getting lower if Alcoa shuts-down fully it's plant. So I can get a great house for what I would pay for a one bedroom small condo in downtown Seattle.Looked at 5 bedroom English Tudor, 4,500 sq ft. with 10 acres, pool, large seperate workshop building with the Columbia River across the street for $390,000. For not much more you can get right on the river. Thats my goal beach house large work shop, buy,sell, Porsches and the odd boat or two. :yes:

[Donzigo]

I live exactly where I want to be for the rest of my life. Tampa Bay has is all............and being around Fishboy & John Mitchell, to keep me amused, who could ask for anything else?

Eric, give a call when you get down this way, We go out every weekend, somewhere, oh well OK, somewhere and the Bridgeview Bar............

[BUIZILLA]

the house next to poodle in paradise :tongue:
seems I'm always in the doghouse anyway ;)
Matty, Poodle would LOVE you to be his neighbor on the south side, and don't bring a barking dog either..

JH :cool:

[ToonaFish]

I dunno Jim, Poodle hangs with a tough crowd in his hood...

[gcarter]

Celine, how'd you do that, nail their tails to the bricks? :eek:
:wavey:

[ToonaFish]

When I tell a Poodle to sit, he generally keeps his bum there til I tell him otherwise...

Bunches,

Celene 'Heidi taught me that trick'

[Cuda]

Celine, how'd you do that, nail their tails to the bricks? :eek:
:wavey:

I tried nailing my dog down, but he's so bad he chewed his own leg off. :eek:

[Crazy Horse]

I hope to spend winters in the San Diego, CA area and summer's on Lake Winni in NH.

[markdonzi]

Lake George New York is another beautiful place. Might want to take up skiing however for the winter. Have been around the country and not many places that are nicer. Also Lake George is a great donzi lake. Went out yesterday 8/29 in the 16 footer and launched for about 25 miles.
markdonzi

[txtaz]

John, That sounds like a sweet deal. I really liked visiting San Diego. After the tech sector crash of 2000, I think we will summer and winter in the same location and save the extra money for later or another crash.
It looks like FL may be the place we relocate to. We are trying to get over there in the next few weeks to look around and do some boating.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Your input was very helpfull.
Wes

[txtaz]

When I tell a Poodle to sit, he generally keeps his bum there til I tell him otherwise...

Bunches,

Celene 'Heidi taught me that trick'
Uhmmmmm, errrrrrrrrrrrr, Toona you refering to Scott? :jestera: Please don't teach Donzi Jennifer that trick I would be sitting there with my hind legs going a mile a minute. "Come on, let me get the stick, come on, come on..."
:smile: Wes

[gcarter]

When I tell a Poodle to sit, he generally keeps his bum there til I tell him otherwise...

Bunches,

Celene 'Heidi taught me that trick'

Celine, you haven't taught your avatar not to pee on the web site! :hyper:

[boxy]

Actually George, it's the other way around..... Toona taught that old BullDog to pee on command, usually in the company of Vol and Gator fans ..... :jestera:

[florida gator]

I live exactly where I want to be for the rest of my life. Tampa Bay has is all............and being around Fishboy & John Mitchell, to keep me amused, who could ask for anything else?

Eric, give a call when you get down this way, We go out every weekend, somewhere, oh well OK, somewhere and the Bridgeview Bar............

Where's the Bridgeview? I was down for a few days last month and had lunch and dinner at most of th places I hear about regularly.

[DonCig]

After reading this great thread, I thought that it deserved a chance to survive the year 2006.
Interesting reading; TxTaz is moving to Florida and not a mention of Hurricanes. A Donzi member is missing from the ranks, and now we see the same in January 2006. What else do you see?

Sincerely,

DonCig

The future is always clearer when occasionaly you look over your shoulder at the past.
Don

[txtaz]

Wow, I forgot about this thread. It is pretty cool.
Well, we did pick up and move but only an hour away from where we were and the allergens are much better here. Now we feel like normal people again.
Da Taz

[gero1]

centrally located, plenty to do, seems to be alot of jobs especially in the automotive field, we don't have the boating season(only 7 months)like f.l or t.x but you need a few months off to fix things anyway.i will be summering up on lake cumberland this year at r.t's weather he's there or not. i will be sleeping in the smoker(it's huge!) plus for those cold nights it has a built in fire box to keep me warm. seems to be alot of locas and hickory to burn!!!!

[onesubdrvr]

Well,

I live in Florida (paradise as far as I'm concerned, hurricanes and all) now, but if my wife and I could keep our current jobs, I'd move north north west of where I'm at now, closer to the center of the state, closer to the lakes. I like boating the Indian River, but really like Lake Harris, Lake George, and the St. Johns River, etc. If I could just find a nice piece of riverfront property in an unihabited location in that part of the state, that I could afford, and keep our jobs, with the same travel time, I'd be set!! :boggled:

Wayne