[cowpat5]

Hello. I'm deciding where I should move... I'm currently located in central FL. I've been here for years. I just want out... I don't think one reason trumps one or the other... but my reasons are: it is not very affordable anymore, my town is growing way too fast... 5k population in 2000, now at 40k population and still growing very rapidly -- HUGE neighborhoods popping up everywhere. And these neighborhoods (I'm talking like 100+ houses) get built in a matter or months... I'm talking one day it's woods and 6-8 months later blocks/rows of houses. No change of seasons, hot year-round makes it feel like ground hogs day. Too much hustle and bustle. No sense of community, too many people moving here. It just doesn't feel right to me anymore... I feel like Florida is a lost cause. May be kind of nice if you're retired I guess...

I am looking for a highly conservative state (I don't like politics... but if I had to pick... less mandates/rules/government interference the better!!). Not heavily taxed. More freedoms the better! Homesteading friendly. I need to be close to some suburbs though. I want to live semi-rural but... I think if I'm too rural I'd get lonely. Plus I own a service business and I need customers... Nice change of seasons but not too much snow!! I used to live in a place where winters were 5-6 months long and BRUTAL! Not dealing with that again!!

What's Oklahoma like?

The states that I am currently considering (ranked from most liked to least liked) are: (East) Tennessee, (North) Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia. I just had someone in another thread suggest Oklahoma as a state to look into so... just getting some information and then I will visit for some time.

[StillwaterTownie]

Oh, yes, you need to get out of Florida. For starters, I can't imagine how sweatingly humid the long summers are like there from the high humidity. And then the threat of unusually bad hurricanes during the fall. When I drove through Florida last, I couldn't believe how many times the car had to be stopped in order to scrape the dang bugs off the windshield. Believe me, the bugs aren't that crazy bad in Oklahoma!

Oklahoma would be quite a wonderful state to move to if conservative. Afterall all, all its 77 counties voted for Trump both times! In Oklahoma, Stillwater would be a wonderful city to move to. It's considered as No. 1 as the best conservative college town to live in the country. https://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/3...ns-in-america/ There are no mask mandates there. At OSU's new McKnight Center, Stillwater is now able to attract world class acts. So now Bernadette Peters Valentine's Day concert is nearly sold out. Later on, in March the Philadelphia Orchestra will perform Beethoven's 9th. What small college towns can attract that much mega talent! Stillwater isn't growing crazy fast. So the unemployment rate there is only 1.3% Tornadoes crashing through town seldom happen there. The last one struck in 1990. If you need big city shopping, dining and entertainment options, then Oklahoma City and Tulsa are just an hour's drive away.

Furthermore, Stillwater will pay you $5000 plus a year's free coffee, if you will agree to move there to become a remote worker plus buy a home. https://www.makemymove.com/get-paid/stillwater-oklahoma

If you would prefer living in a big Oklahoma metro, then Tulsa will pay you $10,000 to move there as a remote worker. It is a nice place to live. Unlike Oklahoma City, it's somewhat more scenic from having more trees and hills.
https://tulsaremote.com

If you prefer an Oklahoma suburb, then Edmond is the best wonderful choice in Oklahoma. It's so great, it doesn't need to bribe you to move there. What's more, it's just a very short drive away from the most fun parts of Oklahoma City! Edmond is growing FAST, so would be good for your service business.

Taxes in Oklahoma aren't bad. The 2022 Oklahoma State Legislature will probably decide to lower the state income tax again.

It hasn't snowed much at all this winter, so far, in central Oklahoma. Those other states you mentioned would be more sweatingly humid during the summer. It would feel too much like Florida.

[Threestep2]

Townie how doe you remotely clean houses? Well, I have been in some that looked like that

[eddie gein]

In my opinion Oklahoma fits in with the other places on your list regarding culture and political bent and the like. It's certainly not as green out here but it is greener than many people think.

Weather is crazier. We have gone from 70 degrees to 25 degrees and back up to 70 for high temps in the last couple of weeks and we will be in the 20s again next week. Wind is going to be an adjustment. Not always windy but a good portion of the time it is.

There are few good choices for "semi rural" in the state if you are looking for smaller towns outside the metro areas. And there are a few free standing towns in the state that could work (like Stillwater). In the OKC area Guthrie is a town that might work for you. Far enough away that it's not a "suburb" but it is getting some spinoff growth from OKC/Edmond.

But the crazy growth you are talking about is restricted to the OKC and Tulsa suburbs and even those towns aren't growing like Florida or DFW or places like that.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by Threestep2

Townie how doe you remotely clean houses? Well, I have been in some that looked like that

I don't know. It would be up to the person moving in to decide between starting a housekeeping business or first decide with doing the remote job.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

I don't know. It would be up to the person moving in to decide between starting a housekeeping business or first decide with doing the remote job.

Only one problem - you need a job.

[cowpat5]

I want to continue doing my business... if I can make around a grand a week or a little more and have a super low mortage. Like $8600-800 a month I think I'd be golden... Therefore I can't be *TOO* rural. But being semi-rural or a short commute away from a large suburban area would be fine

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by cowpat5

I want to continue doing my business... if I can make around a grand a week or a little more and have a super low mortage. Like $8600-800 a month I think I'd be golden... Therefore I can't be *TOO* rural. But being semi-rural or a short commute away from a large suburban area would be fine

Guthrie, nearly 20 miles north of Edmond is a great semi-rural town, while not growing as fast as Edmond. So, the town doesn't have the feel of an overgrown congested suburb. Guthrie is famous for keeping with its ornate downtown western frontier architecture as it looked over 100 years ago. It makes downtown Stillwater look dull.

[cowpat5]

I'll have to take a visit. Do you know of any decent places in the south east corner? Or would it be too rural to have a cleaning business in that area? I know that people that are low income aren't going to pay for my services.

I just happened to notice that there was a house on trulia in a town called Quinton for 80k with 4.5k acres, a shop, storage building, and supposedly a pond. It's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Looks like it could use a little work but nothing major.

edit: eeh... Quinton probably would not work lol... just came across a YouTube video of the town and I don't even think it has a stop light. Ehh..

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by cowpat5

I'll have to take a visit. Do you know of any decent places in the south east corner? Or would it be too rural to have a cleaning business in that area? I know that people that are low income aren't going to pay for my services.

I just happened to notice that there was a house on trulia in a town called Quinton for 80k with 4.5k acres, a shop, storage building, and supposedly a pond. It's basically exactly what I'm looking for. Looks like it could use a little work but nothing major.

edit: eeh... Quinton probably would not work lol... just came across a YouTube video of the town and I don't even think it has a stop light. Ehh..

I would avoid the southeastern corner. Too small and it's not growing. I've driven through Idabel before and didn't know a town could look so run down and weather worn.

Not too far from the south central part of Oklahoma is Durant. It's one of the few small towns in Oklahoma that's been growing. You'd be closer to Dallas-Ft. Worth than Oklahoma City or Tulsa, if that is a plus.