Moving Out of California

[ysoitanly]

Suggestions for a new beginning from Freepers.

[Dog Gone]

It's not the same town. I drive into Tyler for 30 minutes every morning to work and the traffic is horrible.

You should compare that to the average commute time in Southern California. They'd argue that you barely got your car warmed up.

[novacation]

After reading the threads today about California I think I should go too. What time can you pick me up?

[cowgirlcutie]

Oh I am ABSOLUTELY sure that's true!LOL. However, when we first moved here, there was no traffic...at any time of day. Now, just to get through the hospital district is a mess. The college and hospitals and doctor's offices are all in the same general vicinity. To get on our "loop" is risky. It is bumper to bumper in some sections at most times of the day. There was a time when you could breeze through the any part of the loop with no problem whatsoever. Tyler is definitely not a small town anymore.

[BurbankKarl]

You know, it sort of creeps up on you and bites you in the arse. At lunch today, I was waiting in line to buy a sandwich, and watching the crew ignore the hungry customers, speak and joke to each other in some slavic language. I walked out and went somewhere else.

It is going to do your grocery shopping and watching people buy hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, pay with food stamps, and then walk and out put it in their new Lexus while you delay getting a newer car because you worry that you will get taken out by someone driving without insurance (upwards of 60% uninsured in LA area), or just generally the wear-and-tear from the potholes which grow in every street or the door dings when people slam their doors into yours.

It is walking into In-N-Out Burger on a Friday night and realizing, with exception of the workers, you are the only caucasian in the crowd...and then seeing it in place after place after place.

And then finally realizing that if you are looking for a sweet girl, who speaks your language, has a college degree and no tattoos, who is a Republican and shares your thoughts on religion will be next to impossible....

>>>>Just curious...what has changed so much in California to make you want to pick up and move.

[CyberAnt]

My sister and her husband are seriously thinking of relocating in southern Idaho. There's an AF base at Mt. Home where he was stationed (he's retired Staff Sgt.) - and they like the area. If CA goes in the toilet, I may seriously consider checking out the area next summer - during a visit - and see what my chances are there. I don't know anything about Idaho yet, except they have a Gov with an R after his name - if that means anything.

[rabidralph]

Go to Montana and become a dental floss tycoon. Seriously, if I could, I would move to Texas.

[RJL]

Texas doesn't have an income tax (neither does Tennessee - what's wrong with Tennessee? We have heat and snow).

How is the Tennessee state income tax fight going?

Are Gov. Taxquist and the Congressional income tax promoters out of office yet?

[hometoroost]

Taxandspendquist (or Quislingquist as I call him) is gone as are some of the folks who helped him push for the income tax. Things are quiet for now and Bredesen actually pushed the state's bureaucrats to reduce their budgets rather than raise taxes again. I do think that the next round (assuming there are deficits) will be to raise taxes because "we tried cutting spending but it's not enough." Tenncare hasn't been meaningfully changed and will continue to eat our lunch so we could see an income tax or a major rebellion and a push to eliminate or greatly cut back Tenncare. Anyone who wants to see what a CF single-payer health care will be should come to Tennessee and watch Tenncare.

[Feldkurat_Katz]

bump for later

[truthkeeper]

Your posts on this thread cracked me up. Will you marry me?

[Nea Wood]

Bump to read later (I'm fed up with Kali, too.)

[novacation]

It would be nice to know what sex you are before I make a proposal.Being an ethical person I should ask you some important questions first to make sure we would compatable. How much money ya got?

[BlueLancer]

"But property taxes that would shock a Californian."

Are you talking about Texas? I have 1.5 acres outside city limits in the country with a two-bed/two full bath house (a total of 10 rooms and a 25x15 covered patio and a 12x12 enclosed back porch) and I pay less than $100 a year on taxes. Buying an old house and fixing it up yourself goes a long way to keeping the taxes down, as does living outside city limits.

[radiohead]

Are there any universities around where you live? I'll be looking for a job in a western state after I finish my PhD.

[FITZ]

Obviously you don't live in this part of Texas ---- maybe taxes in Texas aren't evenly divided. People are leaving this city because taxes are extremely high.

[radiohead]

This has been a very interesting thread. I am in Seattle, love the Pacific Northwest, but am also lured by what, in my east coast mind, is just 'The West.'

For a few years, I spent part of my summers in Aspen (job related), but that seems a very artificial environment.

It is normal practice for new PhDs to go to other schools once they graduate, so I doubt I will be able to stay here in Seattle and want to look at my options. I also need to be around more conservatives.

My problem is this - I am a black female. All these places sound great, and God knows I don't think every white person is racist (my late hubby was white), but I am also realistic. Are these places in Texas (like Tyler) and Colorado friendly to blacks as well? Are there any places you'd steer me away from? For example, I remember there were a lot of white supremist groups in Idaho awhile back. Don't know if they are still there. What about inter-racial dating/marriage in these areas?

Thanks.

[BlueLancer]

Well, as I say, I live outside city limits, out in the county. I know that other people who live inside various city limits, within less than a 15-minute drive from my house, pay a lot more.

When I first moved here and bought my house in the late '70s, I bought an old house as a fixer-upper. The county assessor comes by just about every year, like clockwork, to assess my property. Between the Homestead Allowance and the age of the house, it's kept my taxes very low.

[BlueLancer]

"My problem is this - I am a black female. All these places sound great, and God knows I don't think every white person is racist (my late hubby was white), but I am also realistic. Are these places in Texas (like Tyler) and Colorado friendly to blacks as well? Are there any places you'd steer me away from? For example, I remember there were a lot of white supremist groups in Idaho awhile back. Don't know if they are still there. What about inter-racial dating/marriage in these areas?"

I don't think that you would have any more problem in Texas than anywhere else. With the large number of military bases in Texas as well as the percentage of retirees who stay in the area, there's a whole lot of interracial married folks around ... wives (primarily) and husbands from all around the world ... and not too many people willing to throw stones while living in glass houses. And, as in most of the Southwest, the mixture of Anglo and Mexican is quite pronounced.

[truthkeeper]

First questions first. I'm female...I think. ;-)