If you were able to ESCAPE (err move out) from NJ...Where would you move, and why?

[JerseyGirl08]

A few years back I had almost convinced my then fiance' (now Husband) to move to Greece with me. It was before the Euro and the US Dollar was strong. We could have sold our house and bought something nice in cash. My dream was squashed since what would have cost us less than $200K would now cost about $550K.
I would still love to live there. My family is from the Islands and it is such a lovely relaxed lifestyle. They are not into material things and live a much simpler life.

[kaytidid]

We moved from South Jersey 15 years ago and went to Utah. We love it here and only every once in a while (when I am craving a cheesesteak or hoagie) I miss it.

Life here is good!

[BergenCountyJohnny]

If I were to move it would most likely be to the southwest or west coast. I love the desert and life would be different enough out there that life would be a different experience from living in NJ. I wouldn't consider it "escaping", I'd just be moving to experience a different lifestyle; only a real complete douchebag would call it "escaping" from NJ.

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by diva360

For people thinking of moving to Austin, TX, it's a great town, as I'm a recent transplant. Some things that I have noticed that are different and that might annoy lifelong New Jersey residents about Austin are as follows, based on what people have posted here. I'll post the pros first, because I'm an optimist:

Pros:

• Property taxes are lower, there's no argument there, but zoning laws in TX are crazy. You may find yourself thinking you're moving in to a residential area, but there might be businesses all around you.
• You will have access to really good Mexican food, but you should still avoid the tourist trap places with terrible Mexican food and go where the locals go, which, depending on who you are, could mean bad tourist trap places. The best Mexican food can be found in transitory taco trucks which may skeeve some of you out. You will have to look for these, but you can find absolutely delicious food. Knowledge of Spanish will serve you well here.
• Places like Barton Springs and Hamilton Pool are absolutely lovely--cool natural spring pools where you can cool off in the summer. The first time I went to Hamilton Pool to swim there were armadillos swimming next to me--how cool is that?
• Hippie Hollow has long been a refuge for nudists who want to hang out in a cool environment without a lot of harassment. I'm not one of those people, as I think most people look better with clothes on, but there it is, and it's Austin at its best.
• I didn't know how to categorize this, it's a con to me but a pro to some: There are a lot of cool shops and restaurants, but you have to be willing to drive. Public transportation sucks, and the buses will mostly take you north and south rather than east and west. You have to have a car
• The people here can be really cool. A good friend of mine stopped on a highway to let a turtle family cross, and no one honked. In fact, someone stopped to help all the turtles cross the highway. Then business proceeded as usual. In my book, friends of turtles are friends of friends.

Cons:

• In most places in Austin, there are no regulations, which means that your neighbors may do things that annoy you, such as change their oil in the middle of their street or driveway, leave junked out cars all over the place, or replace their transmissions on their days off. None of these things really bother me, but I can imagine that they would bother people from NJ. All I'm really trying to say is caveat emptor: having lived in a lot of regions in the U.S. and being highly adaptable myself, I am thinking that a lot of the people who ***** about NJ really wouldn't be happy anywhere else. From what I've seen and where I've lived, I really don't see such people fitting in elsewhere.

I might take you up on that offer, We're actually going out to the Austin area in April to do some house hunting.

As for that "con" you have, that's what we want :lol: We are the reasons there are HOAs, to keep people like us from working on their cars in the driveway.

[stevemorse]

some excellent posts here. Wish I read this first. Some interesting answers too. Like Greece? Very interesting!! I really cant imagine moving out of NJ but I love to travel. I have no kids so I just pickup and go alot!

[DailyJournalist]

If I ever moved from New Jersey the only places I would consider are New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, or Washington DC. You could not pay me to live in those bland southern areas.