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I wonder how many people move to another U.S. city for religious reasons. In my case, I'm atheist and live in Texas. I moved here 7 years ago mostly because a friend had moved here in 1995 and I grew to like the Dallas area after visiting several times before moving. I guess though I underestimated just how much people are what might be termed evangelical and serious about all this Christianity stuff in this state. Sometimes it gets real old. I do like the weather here even in summer when it's hot and I do like the low cost of living comparative to other major US cities. I often wonder what it would be like though living in a more liberal city say like Portland, Oregon. Don't know if I could get used to the cloudy, rainy weather there. The East coast liberal areas seem to have harsh winters. Sometimes I think the weather is what keeps me here. I love long summers as I said but I know hot Texas summers are not for everybody. Just would like to hear other stories or opinions.
You might want to consider Denver. The vast majority of the metro area is very secular, like Portland as you mention above. Weather during the winter is much less gloomy and has a surprisingly large number of days with sunshine and pretty mild weather. The rest of the seasons are fantastic as well. I just moved back to my home state of Texas after 3 years in Denver and was able to tolerate the winters much more easily than I expected.
If you don't mind hot summers there's always Las Vegas and surrounding areas. If you like 4 seasons and hot summers you can go farther north in NV or consider Sacramento. But the cost of living in Sacramento is a bit higher.
Why not just stay where you are and try to grow a thicker skin? Depending on who and what is bothering you, a polite request to leave you alone will solve a lot of problems, and if it doesn't, stand up for yourself a little more aggressively.
You may find living in an ultra-liberal area very annoying, whereas you might find a "middle-of-the-road" sort of place more tolerable.
I understand. I lived in Kentucky for far too long dealing with the same thing. Meet new people and the third question they ask is "where do you go to church"? And once they know that you don't go you suddenly become less interesting.
Right now I live in the Tampa Bay region. While Florida is a red state, people are from all over living here and no one asks about your business. If you like hot, consider Florida cities.
I understand. I lived in Kentucky for far too long dealing with the same thing. Meet new people and the third question they ask is "where do you go to church"?
Reminds me of our time in NC ... we always joked that the first question was "where you from" (cause our accent revealed we weren't born/bred in NC) and the second was "what church you go to?" (because they are ALWAYS recruiting if you are interested!)
I don't blame the OP for considering moving. It does get old. I rarely revealed that we were atheists. Occasionally, when someone realized it, they would literally go from friend to absent in the next breathe. (It might be catching.) Some folks couldn't believe it because we were so NICE and HARD WORKING and MORAL (how can you be that and not believe in god).
We live in NE PA now and it's predominantly Catholic. We still don't have many friends who are atheist (except family) but have an array of good friends, (most folks don't seem to care and don't bring it up). The winters are sometimes trying, but having four seasons has it's perks, too.
Reminds me of our time in NC ... we always joked that the first question was "where you from" (cause our accent revealed we weren't born/bred in NC) and the second was "what church you go to?" (because they are ALWAYS recruiting if you are interested!)
I don't blame the OP for considering moving. It does get old. I rarely revealed that we were atheists. Occasionally, when someone realized it, they would literally go from friend to absent in the next breathe. (It might be catching.) Some folks couldn't believe it because we were so NICE and HARD WORKING and MORAL (how can you be that and not believe in god).
We live in NE PA now and it's predominantly Catholic. We still don't have many friends who are atheist (except family) but have an array of good friends, (most folks don't seem to care and don't bring it up). The winters are sometimes trying, but having four seasons has it's perks, too.
Try Phoenix Metro Area, the non Mormon areas. I have never had anyone ask what church or religion I belong to. I live in a 55+ and you would think asking that would be common but its not.
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