[RJS5689]

This was an interesting discussion to come across. I was pointed here from a post I made over in the Westchester, NY forums in regards to potentially moving south. You can see the original thread here. It appears the discussion here has become a debate over the weather, though. I'm still up in the air as to whether or not I could ever leave New York and be happy elsewhere. I don't think I'll rush into anything too quickly.

[3DogNight]

Originally Posted by RJS5689

This was an interesting discussion to come across. I was pointed here from a post I made over in the Westchester, NY forums in regards to potentially moving south. You can see the original thread here. It appears the discussion here has become a debate over the weather, though. I'm still up in the air as to whether or not I could ever leave New York and be happy elsewhere. I don't think I'll rush into anything too quickly.

I was born in and from Westchester county, lived in CT from 2000-2004. When I come across license plates (or even license plate frames ) from areas or states up there I want to throw myself on the hood of the car and scream NOOOOO!!!! My mom came down here (nc) 6 months after us because her property taxes in lower Westchester were going to go up if/when something happened to the homeowner, my grandmother, and her STAR discount.

People will throw lots of math at you as if one person's living situation can be traced to the nickel on paper, and duplicated over and over for different families. Doesn't work that way. My family was average and still is, AVERAGE. We did not transfer with a nice huge pair of salaries. He now works for less money but more hours, so I'd say he is likely at the same salary level. I left a job in May of 2012 that I got 6 months after I got here....and it took me 7.33 yrs to make 53% of my former salary. My mom after 5 years is at 75% of her former salary. So essentially, if you are moving here for cheaper anything, your salary if you are *AVERAGE* like us, will be lock step with before we moved.

That's just the money part. The weather? Well let's see - whom are you asking? What is your lifestyle? What is your heat tolerance? The weather killed our ability to hike. I can't function with a pack in 70*+ heat and you can only undo so many layers and get as naked as the law allows.

We were avid hikers. We just learned to snowshoe before we left. We 'heard' this area had fantastic hiking. You know who we determined is the source of that fallacy? Some fat bugger on a state tourism board who has never set foot outside his cubicle a day in his life. "Hiking" here consists of ambling around a blacktop paved path that circles a man-made pond. Sure we can drive 4 hours to real hiking but a real hiker knows if you drive 4 hours and then set off on a 4-8 hour hike you're a dead man.

Understand what we didn't understand: it's about perspective. Whose it is, and how it may or may NOT match yours.

[Stylo]

Nothing beats New England or the Rockies for hikers. Colorado is great because of the abundance and variety of hikes accessible to job/population centers, but also the sunny weather and dryness. The lack of humidity really helps, even in summer when it can get hotter. And of course temps drop with altitude. I've done 90 degree hikes in Colorado with low relative humidity and it wasn't bad. I can't imagine doing a humid hike in NC in 90 degree weather.

[3DogNight]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Nothing beats New England or the Rockies for hikers. Colorado is great because of the abundance and variety of hikes accessible to job/population centers, but also the sunny weather and dryness. The lack of humidity really helps, even in summer when it can get hotter. And of course temps drop with altitude. I've done 90 degree hikes in Colorado with low relative humidity and it wasn't bad. I can't imagine doing a humid hike in NC in 90 degree weather.

AMEN!

I find I function best in 20-40* to hike. Mount Rainier still had snow when we were on it in September 2011 but I still got sunburned. The Rockies when we went still had random snow in the shade. Yellowstone - still snow covered in May. Franconia Notch in NH - snowing on Halloween. Clearly I love snow.

Here I sweat like a farm animal just walking to the mailbox in March. The last thing a friend of a friend in CT said to us before we left was "hope you like to sweat."

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Nothing beats New England or the Rockies for hikers. ...

Don't forget the Connecticut hiker's bonus: Lyme-infested ticks!

CDC - Interactive Maps - Lyme Disease

[3DogNight]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

Don't forget the Connecticut hiker's bonus: Lyme-infested ticks!

CDC - Interactive Maps - Lyme Disease

I'll trade ya for RMSF.

CDC - Statistics - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)

[steven r.]

I say live where you would be the happiest.

[urbanmyth]

Originally Posted by steven r.

I say live where you would be the happiest.

I think being close to family can not be overrated no matter how much they drive us crazy.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by urbanmyth

I think being close to family can not be overrated no matter how much they drive us crazy.

Absolutely. That is exactly why we scratched the idea of moving to the west coast.

[Lincolnian]

There are alternatives to moving south or even out of Connecticut. There are less expensive areas of the state if you change where you live. Sometimes the neighboring town is less expensive. On a relative basis a less expensive CT town may have lower school test scores than a more expensive CT towns but when compared to that NC location one is considering for a bigger home for less money it still outperforms.

Quality of schools (real and perceived) and/or proximity to NYC add the most cost to homes in CT.

NH is also a good alternative if taxes are your prime focus. However, property taxes vary considerably for similar reasons to CT.