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I'd also say Indianapolis....growing and thriving metro..low COL..and more conservative small-government mindset.
I myself live in Northwest Indiana which for me is the sweet spot...live in a global metropolis (Chicagoland) with all its innumerable amenities but we are governed by a wise conservative Hoosier state government...low taxes and way less power wielded by gangster like corpulent state employee unions. We also have beaches which tend to blow away coastal natives. PM me if you want more input. Good luck and I dont blame you for wanting to leave glorioysly beautiful but politically insane California.
I had a list of 12 cities and I've narrowed it down to about 8 now. I'm worried about Indiana, Tennessee, and Ohio due to the Tornadoes, I've considered the Carolinas but I'm worried about the Hurricanes. In California all we have are Earthquakes so I'm trying to decide whether I prefer Hurricanes or Tornadoes haha.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubb Rubb
Shouldn't you take the LSAT and figure out where you're going to law school first?
Not necessarily. I've been studying for the LSAT and am confident I'm going to do well. If I get into a top 14 then I can go anywhere. If I don't get into a top 14 then I'm going to be applying to law schools where I want to live in the future.
It's important to make connections with people in law school. If you're going to a top 14 then everyone is from all over the country and they're going to top positions in the legal field so you don't need to sweat it. If, however, you're not going to top 14, most of the attendees are locals or people who want to live in the area they're going to law school at.
So the worse I do on my LSAT, the more important it is I know where I'm going to live in the future. If I do well, then I don't need to worry for a few years but still want to have an idea of where I'm going.
I will second Salt Lake City and Indianapolis. Indy has a good cost of living and is rated highly as a place to live in middle America. FYI odds of being in a tornado are very low so I wouldn't worry about it. It is very rare to even see a funnel cloud
Washington, but not the usual Seattle/Tacoma/Pugetropolis locations.
Try less expensive areas such as Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Yakima, or Spokane. Understand the climatic differences for sure, but also understand that there is no state income tax in WA, and many of the areas I mentioned are growing bigtime. Real Estate in some of these areas are very high in demand, but still come in at about a third of the cost of the Puget Sound region, (Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue).
It's sad to see so many needing to leave CA. I guess there's no point in staying and help straighten out the mess somehow? I.e. if everyone that is effected leaves, nobody will fix the problem? It must be a huge mess to untangle...
It must be hard too, because CA is so unique, and it will likely be culture shock going anywhere else. I'm familiar with culture shock, though I do plan to return to my roots.
I had a list of 12 cities and I've narrowed it down to about 8 now. I'm worried about Indiana, Tennessee, and Ohio due to the Tornadoes, I've considered the Carolinas but I'm worried about the Hurricanes. In California all we have are Earthquakes so I'm trying to decide whether I prefer Hurricanes or Tornadoes haha.
I'd stay away from the coast (as in living below 50 ft elevation) if you are worried about hurricanes, because the odds are fairly decent of getting hit, plus sea level rise eventually. Once your off the immediate coastal area the damage risk goes down quite a bit.
As far as tornadoes, they are possible in like 1/2 the US. Outside of tornado alley, the risk odds of getting hit are pretty low. Hail and flood damage are much more likely to hit the pocketbook.
The western US looks attractive for small city options if you spend a lot of time outdoors. The big cities are almost CA expensive bad.
If you don't mind the cold, I'd avoid the south as the stats are just better all around for northern cities. I visited Eastern Ohio last month and was really impressed with it. It's a prettier state nature wise than it's reputation would imply and if you have a decent paycheck, you can really get a good deal. Everything was clean and the cities and towns had everything a city / town should. The nice parts were nicer than comparable areas in CO and definitely prettier than comparable CA city areas. The down parts were just abandon, that's it. I could definitely see myself living there.
I'm still curious now how Indy and Louisville and St. Louis compare / differ... All of them could be solid, I just want to see them .
Nashville has a lot of California transplants but the cost of living is growing. Nashville is a bit more socially conservative compared to California but not too far right like small towns in Tennessee. I would look into Atlanta, Indy and Cincy are your best bets man if you want to move away from California.
What is it about southern CA weather that you don't like, that you think you'll like better somewhere else?
If you don't like humidity, you'll have to stick west of the Rockies.
And pretty much anywhere else that's more red and cheaper, that's not in CA, is going to have colder winters and hotter/more humid summers.
And by the way, pretty much any of the areas of CA outside of LA and SF are red counties. You just need to go more rural.
And keep in mind, that any state that has any decent amenities, pays for them with taxes. So, if they aren't taxing your income, they will be taxing your property and you would probably face unknown future real estate assessments which can raise your property taxes significantly. In CA, we don't do that because of Prop 13.
It's a fallacy to think that some other place - if it has decent amenities - won't find a way to pay for them with taxes. People think - oh wow, I want to move to that state because they have no sales tax (like OR), only to find out their property taxes are through the roof, or some other taxes.
No amenities are free. They are always paid for with taxes.
Which also means, that if a state really has far less taxes, that will also mean there will be far fewer amenities. Just be aware of that.
I moved away from CA, where I was born and raised in the SF Bay Area, for many years. Took me eons to get back here. But, now I really appreciate everything that I didn't appreciate until I moved away. Some people can get used to being somewhere with worse weather, etc., but most either want to come back or actually do come back.
But, you're young and you should go find out for yourself. Best of luck with your career.
I'd stay away from the coast (as in living below 50 ft elevation) if you are worried about hurricanes, because the odds are fairly decent of getting hit, plus sea level rise eventually. Once your off the immediate coastal area the damage risk goes down quite a bit.
As far as tornadoes, they are possible in like 1/2 the US. Outside of tornado alley, the risk odds of getting hit are pretty low. Hail and flood damage are much more likely to hit the pocketbook.
The western US looks attractive for small city options if you spend a lot of time outdoors. The big cities are almost CA expensive bad.
If you don't mind the cold, I'd avoid the south as the stats are just better all around for northern cities. I visited Eastern Ohio last month and was really impressed with it. It's a prettier state nature wise than it's reputation would imply and if you have a decent paycheck, you can really get a good deal. Everything was clean and the cities and towns had everything a city / town should. The nice parts were nicer than comparable areas in CO and definitely prettier than comparable CA city areas. The down parts were just abandon, that's it. I could definitely see myself living there.
I'm still curious now how Indy and Louisville and St. Louis compare / differ... All of them could be solid, I just want to see them .
You really need to visit. I find Louisville the best combination of arts, architecture, and growth among those three. STL is a larger metro but fairly stagnant growth wise. Indy actually has the higher population growth but it's mainly due to it's northern sprawlburbs.
Louisville feels like an overgrown college town with some bigger city culture and amenities. But people here will boster all three. Come visit Louisville this fall for Bourbon and Beyond music festival and I will advise you where to go, and you will probably see why I love that city so much after so much travel. A guy from CA created that very festival because he traveled to Louisville and fell in love. It's a sort of New Orleans effect/romanticsm, but midwest meets south style.
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