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I have to agree with you. I grew up in Northern NJ, moved around the east coast and finally landed in LA out of all places. I only lived there for about 1.6 years until I realized that home isn't where you live but who you surround yourself with. My entire family still lives in New Jersey and New York and that is where I was always meant to be. I believe everyone needs to move around a little to realize that the geography doesn't mean a thing if loved ones aren't within distance.
Summer, You just made my eyes water. Yes I am going to love where I am going I just am tired of hearing all the negitive and I am so scared of culture shock. You know its so fancy in Bergen County that any rural or quite area has sort of a dumpy appeal. Its hard to explain but I am going to love the mountain, my river in my backyard and I have TREES!! So I am excited . Thanks
Besides moving back to NJ, I am also looking into PA. I just CANNOT stay here in FL.
I can understand not staying in Florida. I has told insurance and taxes have risen there because of the Hurricane's.
I left NJ last July and I feel I picked the perfect place. I moved to Nashville where I went to college over 30 years ago. I should have stayed them but family was in NJ and Long Island NY. I moved knowing my daughter would have to complete her senior year of HS here. It acually worked out great, by graduating from a TN Hs she became eligiable for the Lottery Schlorship @ $4000 a yr. You need to maintain a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. She had in the Mid 3's in NJ and a 4.0 here for her senior year.Also a State College here is less than half of one in NJ with room and board. When I received her bill with the Schlorship taken out, it looked like a community college bill which did not include room and board.
Taxes are lower here, but we do pay a tax on clothing and food but it makes up for the Low real Estate taxes. There is no state income tax, so check is higher. My husband is working for same company at same salary and his comute is now 25 min instead of the 2 hours it took to get home in rush hour on the bus.
Sure, I lived in Manalapan, NJ an upper middle class area but you would not know it by the family accross the street. I'm sure it was Mafia central. Their kids broke my sons light on his car and ran away.
People are nicer here, Williamson County has high rated schools. I surly belong. I joined the New Neighbors League, Brentwood/Nashville chapter and I have many activities to keep me busy.
My daughter is happy here and can't wait to meet new friends in college. She would love someone from the country as a roomate.
Am I glad 1 year later that I left NJ, yOU Bet I am!!
hey marilyn,
although we've found a great spot too, i'm a little jealous of your move upstate! i love the adirondacks...got those mountains in my blood!
remember...jersey's not so far. If you have friends and family here, it's a pretty easy (and nice!) drive down to visit. And i'd expect, living up there, that a lot of friends will want to visit you too! Between family and good friends, physical distance is a non-issue. They will always be your family and your friends, no matter how far you move.
I've been (still am) pretty freaked out about once again leaving everything I know. But what is it exactly that we know? How to get from point A to point B? Where the supermarket is? That stuff will be second nature within a short time in your new home.
I expect you to follow up once you are there...let us know how great it is. And post some fall color landscape pics this autumn!
Thanks your sweet. Where is your spot???? Now, what's bothering me is my parents and peoples negitivity. Comments like its so dumpy, have fun shoveling and yeah Walmart is a great place to work. I love my log cabin, and I am a loser here working for a low wage so at least my cost of living there is cheaper for the same ass wiping job. I am not a professional. It comes down to why are they so damn discouraging? I want out of here, I like the woods, I can blend with red necks, I think at times I am more of a red neck that a corporate ceo type. Yeah I graduated college yeah Im smart but Im not motivated to kill myself working. I would rather hike, lift weights, and plant trees. I think that all these negitive people convey what they like to me or they think thats what I should be. I dont care if I dont have bloomingdales. But they care. They can't conceive living in the woods, they will miss shopping and fancy crap. I wont. Now what worries my husband is will the people accept him. But he is not a yuppie either. I want to be positive and who cares if I work at a ****ty job, at least Im working.
i thought overall this was a decent post, but the end left me a little puzzled. are you saying that you had to move out of the state in order for your kids to play outside, all children in NJ have become hardened thugs and the ENTIRE state is polluted? because that's the message I'm getting and I'll tell you, that's NOT my NJ. i can walk out into my backyard for pristine-ness (if that's a word ), my kids play outside for hours at time with their 15 friends on our block, and we haven't had a death threat.
if you moved for new experiences, more power to you, I think that's wonderful and I feel everyone should either live somewhere else or travel at one point in their life. but to infer that you can't find the above ANYWHERE in the entire state is just wrong.
I agree with you Tahiti, that's the message the poster is giving. I live in Northern NJ, and my daughter grew up playing outside, walking downtown to get pizza or ice cream, we have a great town pool, a great school system, and crime is extremely low (as per city data stats). And the majority of the towns around this area are the same. People please don't have the impression that most of NJ is as this poster stated.
hey stevemorse,
we're headed to the roanoke valley in va. Regarding your husbands concerns about being accepted...
Some of those smaller upstate towns are pretty "closed". But that's why I'd move there!! I want woods between the neighbor's place and mine! I don't want everyone in my business. I want to walk around my property and not feel like I'm living in a fishbowl!
People are most likely being negative for one of two reasons...one, they are jealous of your move and it's a "sour grapes" reaction. (They probably are going to miss you too, and this is their way of showing it.)
Two, they are judging an area based on what they like or do not like! My parents got sick of dealing with northern winters and snow. So they moved to FL. Well, I like snow! And well....you already read about me and FL.
Plattsburg is an amazing location! I don't think too much of the "city" itself, but you aren't moving there for it's rich culture, right? (Sorry if I offended any Plattsburgers!) There's a gas station, a Dunkin Donuts, and a grocery store. That's enough reason to hit town once in awhile.
The positives? Less than 20 miles to the Adirondack Park...a short drive into the High Peaks...another short drive over to Burlington (one of the greatest places around!)...Lake Champlain, skiing, camping, hiking, low cost of living, etc, etc. Sounds like paradise!
I have a friend who aced high school, graduated from Rutgers with a degree in statistics()!! He loves mountains...huge skiier, photographer, hiker, camper, etc. After college, he headed to Utah and spent a few years skiing. Then he had a close call, settled down, and took a corporate, big $$ job in Minneapolis/St Paul, MN (flat, flat, flat midwest). Now? He's miserable. He traded his passions for a paycheck, and if it were up to him, he'd be living in a cabin in Alaska or something.
My point is...by doing what you are doing, you are choosing to live over choosing to die working for almost nothing in NJ. And that's the right choice!
its funny but in the southern town that I moved to from NJ 16 years ago, I hear people say the same things, it's not like it used to be, schools are bad now, homes are high now. My point is quality of life is changing everywhere, not just in NJ. In TN where I live, people need to live in the cities to find work, however, the cities are dangerous too. I happen to live in Memphis which is the most dangerous city in TN, however, salaries for nurses are very comparable and jobs are available. There are pluses and minuses to everywhere, but NJ still has some very nice places to live. And one very big plus is that everyone here in Memphis seems to carry a gun, even pastors and sweet old ladies. I really felt safer in NJ. You are right, though, home is where your heart is and you can make a home anywhere. As for me, my heart is in NJ and I hope to be able to go home again someday.
Nj1 thanks I am feeling less nervous.You are such a good writer, you also bring tears to my eyes especially the last lines. I told the bunch, I want no more bad mouthing this idea. I am excited, its was a vacation home first, so I have spent all my weekends up there so I know what I am doing. I just need to land a small job thats it. Not impossible, so I told them shut up. My spot is so great huge trees, the Salmon River in my back yard rock ledges by the river for me to sit, I am gone. But most important I dont like NJ. I have felt this way for awhile. This is for the lifestyle of the rich and famous type (look at me) I am a woodwomen. I could care less about your BMW!!!! I just hate it. So my mind is made and I am cutting the strings and not looking back. I am killing myself just to keep this house, I paid the mortage off , Im young, and healthy I can shovel, but I am tired , tired of all this stuff. A house full of stuff, it does not love me, it does not hold me, I want out. I am doing a major life scale down here to a small 1000 square foot log cabin in the woods. How many nj women do that???
Thanks and I have been to your moving area, Drove and hiked a lot of the Blue Ridge. Why there and fill me in on how you picked that area. Its a nice area too!!!
Last edited by stevemorse; 08-03-2007 at 04:11 AM..
Nj1 thanks I am feeling less nervous.You are such a good writer, you also bring tears to my eyes especially the last lines. I told the bunch, I want no more bad mouthing this idea. I am excited, its was a vacation home first, so I have spent all my weekends up there so I know what I am doing. I just need to land a small job thats it. Not impossible, so I told them shut up. My spot is so great huge trees, the Salmon River in my back yard rock ledges by the river for me to sit, I am gone. But most important I dont like NJ. I have felt this way for awhile. This is for the lifestyle of the rich and famous type (look at me) I am a woodwomen. I could care less about your BMW!!!! I just hate it. So my mind is made and I am cutting the strings and not looking back. I am killing myself just to keep this house, I paid the mortage off , Im young, and healthy I can shovel, but I am tired , tired of all this stuff. A house full of stuff, it does not love me, it does not hold me, I want out. I am doing a major life scale down here to a small 1000 square foot log cabin in the woods. How many nj women do that???
Thanks and I have been to your moving area, Drove and hiked a lot of the Blue Ridge. Why there and fill me in on how you picked that area. Its a nice area too!!!
I love it!!! I love that you don't want all the material things that some think make their lives complete. I love that the woods makes you feel good, rather then the BMW! I think the world should be filled with more people like you.
It sounds like you won't be all that far from your family to have long weekend visits. They can leave the hussle and bussle too, to go into the mountains and sit by the stream......enjoying the quietness of this gorgeous earth.
It will only feel strange to you for a short while.........as it did to our girls and ourselves. All of a sudden you wake up to the fact that "I'm liking this"........
Lots of land, mountains, rivers........waterfalls........
There is always places to go for more action if need be.
Our family doesn't live as close to each other as we'd like. But, we still spend a lot of time together, and spend many vacations together also.
You know what you want, and your headed that way. No McMansion will give you what you need for that heart of yours. I am so happy for you........keep us posted from that log cabin by the stream......
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There's a gas station, a Dunkin Donuts, and a grocery store. That's enough reason to hit town once in awhile.
)!! He loves mountains...huge skiier, photographer, hiker, camper, etc. After college, he headed to Utah and spent a few years skiing. Then he had a close call, settled down, and took a corporate, big $$ job in Minneapolis/St Paul, MN (flat, flat, flat midwest). Now? He's miserable. He traded his passions for a paycheck, and if it were up to him, he'd be living in a cabin in Alaska or something. 
