Quote from: ducpainter on April 04, 2012, 04:08:13 PM

No one in their right mind would want to live here.

That's right!  Terrible place to live.  We get an average of 4000' feet of snow per month, no law enforcement, nothing but busted up dirt roads, the residents eat small children, worst place to live!

But if you want to visit, different story, it's like paridise.  Just cross the border and drop off some cash.  Make sure not to stay too long........

Quote from: hbliam on April 05, 2012, 03:09:53 AM
Beautiful area but the humidity issue would preclude the South from ever using the term "perfect." My late father lived in NOLA. I was not a big fan of being soaking wet within five minutes of drying off from a shower.

mountain humidity and temps combined are no where close to being as awful as they are down in the flatlands and swamps

Im in the automotive industry.
Actually I manage a dealership now, so work isnt hard to find, for the most part. As long as there's a few medium size cities nearby, I should be ok.

I lived in Cali, San Jose actually, for 8 months a few years back and loved it.
But... the cost of living is crazy in Cali and the sagging economy isn't showing signs of turning around anytime soon. Plus it seems that all the places Id want to live there, in northern Cali, are already pretty crowded.

I've looked at Arizona and New Mexico too, anyone with firsthand experience there?

I have been to paradise, and it is none of the places previously mentioned.  If you can, move to the south island of New Zealand.  It has great skiing, snowboarding, surfing, SCUBA diving, whitewater rafting, bicycling, sailing, motorcycling, soaring (sailplane, hang glider and paragliding) and sheep herding (if that's what you're into). The people are friendly, the rugby is world class, and the living is safe as your back yard.  If you want you could hitchhike where you are going and you would get there safely without any more traumatic experience than maybe being behind schedule. The economy is not super strong right now, the largest city has recently been devastated by two successive earthquakes, so if you are in either demolition or construction, there is probably work for you.  I don't know why I haven't moved there already.

Quote from: wantingaduc on April 05, 2012, 05:20:56 AM
I've looked at Arizona and New Mexico too, anyone with firsthand experience there?

I'm in Prescott, AZ - as I noted above, Central AZ is pretty much heaven for motorcycles. This is two minutes from my front door:

"Casual" run down the twisties of White Spar

This is about 20 minutes in the other direction:

Route 89 to Jerome Arizona 07/04/2009

More of the same in pretty much any direction & as far as you're willing to ride in a day, and there would be four or five times as much fun readily available if I had a bike that was good for gravel/dirt. I haven't ridden there, but I hear the same about New Mexico.

Employment may be a different story. The Phoenix economy was pretty much a Ponzi scheme - lots of people getting rich building houses for the people who hadn't moved there yet - and the housing crash pinched pretty hard there. Prescott tagged along with the boom times in Phoenix -- ie., building second homes in the mountains for the people getting rich in housing down in Phoenix and retirees sitting on lots of equity - and it's only the past few months we've started to show some signs of life. Flagstaff (more snow than us) and Tucson (more desert than us) are smaller cities with big state universities in town that insulate them at least a little from economic shocks.

And yes, if you can swing New Zealand, start packing now.

Quote from: 77south on April 05, 2012, 06:14:04 AM
I have been to paradise, and it is none of the places previously mentioned.  If you can, move to the south island of New Zealand.  It has great skiing, snowboarding, surfing, SCUBA diving, whitewater rafting, bicycling, sailing, motorcycling, soaring (sailplane, hang glider and paragliding) and sheep herding (if that's what you're into). The people are friendly, the rugby is world class, and the living is safe as your back yard.  If you want you could hitchhike where you are going and you would get there safely without any more traumatic experience than maybe being behind schedule. The economy is not super strong right now, the largest city has recently been devastated by two successive earthquakes, so if you are in either demolition or construction, there is probably work for you.  I don't know why I haven't moved there already.

That does kind of sound like paradise 


...cept for the sheep. Though, for some people around here...



Not sure what industry you're in, but we probably have some of it, here in Texas 

oil
medical
tech
green energy
drug trade

pretty much anything!

plus...we have funny hats.

oil pays well...and standard of living here is super cheap comparing to everwhere else (Houston at least)....

But damn it's too Flat here!!!!!!! 

Quote from: RAT900 on April 05, 2012, 12:18:42 AM
Asheville.....perfect in every Quality of Life aspect....except employment

from someone who moved from asheville to portland
"Asheville, like Portland, is where young people go to retire."

Quote from: seanster on April 05, 2012, 12:02:14 PM
oil pays well...and standard of living here is super cheap comparing to everwhere else (Houston at least)....

But damn it's too Flat here!!!!!!! 

That's because you live in the flat side.

Well...the other side is kind of flat too, until you get REALLY far west. You have to kind of live in the middle  


Think we may be moving to San Marcos soon, if everything goes to plan.

Quote from: wantingaduc on April 03, 2012, 09:04:31 AM
I didn't think of Colorado, but isn't there the snow thing to deal with?

I have family in Gunnison and they get shit loads of snow every year and it's colder then I can imagine 5 months of the year too.

Is this the case for the entire state or does she live in the "anomaly zone?"

Definitely not as bad on the Front Range as in Gunnison. Winters and Springs can vary with moisture. Some years you may lose a couple months to snow and ice, but other winters can be dry and sunny. Summers don't generally get ridiculously hot and you can always head to the mountains if they do. Plenty of good riding and scenery....

Montreal Canada

-Free schools
-Free medical
-free penssion plan
-21% of income tax

But  6month's of winter and snow...   

Quote from: ducatigirl100 on April 07, 2012, 08:03:08 PM
Montreal Canada

-Free schools
-Free medical
-free penssion plan
-21% of income tax

But  6month's of winter and snow...    

21% is not free, it's socialized.

and apparently inaccurate:

http://fairpensionsforall.net/2012/01/16/montreal-pension-problems/

"Is this fair, when you consider most taxpayers don’t even have a company pension?"

And the pension (or social security equivalent) doesn't pay to well and is taxable  :

The maximum monthly amounts for Quebec retirement pensions beginning in 2012 will be $986.67 for those age 65; $690.67 for those age 60 (70 per cent of the age 65 amount); or $1,282.67 for those age 70 (130 per cent of the age 65 amount). By comparison, these amounts in 2011 were $960 (age 65), $672 (age 60) and $1,248 (age 70),

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/What+should+know+about+Quebec+Pension+Plan+payments/5959837/story.html#ixzz1rPpmTmUs

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/What+should+know+about+Quebec+Pension+Plan+payments/5959837/story.html

Luckily Canada is beautiful and gave us GSP.

Quote from: hbliam on April 07, 2012, 08:26:30 PM
Luckily Canada is beautiful and gave us GSP.

The most boring fighter in the history of Mma.

Quote from: El Matador on April 07, 2012, 09:51:26 PM
The most boring fighter in the history of Mma.

You wanna trade them for Ol' Cockchest?