[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

That's what I meant. Either one can be outsourced.

Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo

I think he meant you.

I can't afford to do either, and snow removal isn't a fixed rate as you never know how many storms we'll get.

Originally Posted by JayCT

Come on now. You can do the same for snow removal too. Jay

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

You can outsource lawn work, too. So that's moot.

Originally Posted by JayCT

So you would also rather cut your grass every week in 90 degree plus heat and humidity than shovel snow a couple of times a year? Not me. Plus I have someone handle my snow removal. Jay.

Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo

I'd mow every day if I had to. And we are shoveling snow more than a couple of times a year. Much more. Never have to worry about finding a place for grass clippings either. We've had 2-3 years since 2010 where it's gotten harder as the winter has gone on due to many storms and extended freezes.

Takes me longer to clear snow than mow as well.

The reality is in the northeast people would have to pay for both snow removal and landscaping services, twelve (12) months of expense. In the south with their warm weather grasses, the landscaping season is only eight (8) to nine (9) months long. The warm weather grasses go dormant when temperatures average in the 30s and 40s. Since much of the south rarely gets snow, that creates a three (3) to four (4) month reprieve from intensive landscaping needs. Seems like the south wins on this subtopic.

[FunkOdyssey]

Originally Posted by bridgerider

Just my 2¢....travel. Travel as often as you can, time and money permitted. When I first started daydreaming about leaving upstate NY, my driving reasons were the long winters and outrageous taxes. As time passed, my daydreaming started to take a more serious turn. So every chance I got, I started visiting places where I thought I might want to move. The triangle area of NC; the western portion near Ashville; pretty much all of VA from the coast to the Blue Ridge; Tennessee's eastern half including Knoxville & Chattanooga. All I was finding was how much I loved the scenery. I had friends anywhere from a half hour to 4 hours away from any of these spots, and feel fairly at ease making new friends, so being a lonely newcomer wasn't a concern. But I just wasn't "feeling" it.

I kept thinking maybe I should just move back to my home state of Colorado, but I go home a lot to see my mom...let's just say CO is a great memory for me but not the destination of my journey. No matter how much snow CO gets, imo it will never have the brutality of a northeast winter because CO lacks the humidity that makes a winter here in the northeast so umm, memorable.

But then I started working a lot in CT & MA, (freelance floral installation & design)...& fell in love with CT. Taxes are high, but not as high as what I'm paying here in NY. Winters are brutal, but the growing zones are "just enough" milder than where I am now. Most of all, I feel at home when I'm in CT, so will choose to compromise on taxes & weather.

Good luck wherever you wind up; I would just encourage you to see as much as you can before you make the move.

Thanks for the advice. You listed off many places that initially looked promising for me due to climate and outdoor activities. My enthusiasm has since cooled off but I would still like to visit them all.

Speaking of upstate NY and loving the scenery, I just got back from a road trip where I spent a night in Saratoga Springs, three nights in the Finger lakes, and a night at Niagara Falls. The highlight was the finger lakes which I am now obsessed with. Nearly every location around the lakes looks like a postcard, the vineyards were amazing and the people are so warm and friendly. It isn't a place I could move due to the lack of jobs but it might be a candidate for a summer home someday.

[NCOriolesfan]

Originally Posted by jp03

LOL! 12 straight days over 90 in Charlotte now..several upper 90's .. Another 12-14 forecast over 90..a couple over 100. Yea , thats paradise alright! A big OUCH

AND....June? 21 days over 90 and FOUR at 100! Damn. And you are bragging about your weather?

If anyone tries to tell me the northeast gets just as much heat as the south in July/August I am just going laugh...lol .. This year seems especially bad down there..

Well, you make some great points. This heat really does get old. I miss sleeping with the windows open. Every time I visit back home I feel really sad coming back down here. I guess I'm not much of a spokesman for the south after all.

[bridgerider]

Originally Posted by FunkOdyssey

Thanks for the advice. You listed off many places that initially looked promising for me due to climate and outdoor activities. My enthusiasm has since cooled off but I would still like to visit them all.

Speaking of upstate NY and loving the scenery, I just got back from a road trip where I spent a night in Saratoga Springs, three nights in the Finger lakes, and a night at Niagara Falls. The highlight was the finger lakes which I am now obsessed with. Nearly every location around the lakes looks like a postcard, the vineyards were amazing and the people are so warm and friendly. It isn't a place I could move due to the lack of jobs but it might be a candidate for a summer home someday.

Yes it is beautiful there. Check out Letchworth Falls & Watkins Glen if you ever get the chance.

I bought a guide to CT - it is huge & packed with information. Anyone who suggests CT is boring should riff thru this book. There is plenty to do and see....I guess the pace is slow for some, but for me it's just right.

[sleddust]

Didnt read the whole thread, but ppl here seem to have the same attitude that posters have in the New York Boards They say they want to move and move to the three fastest growing states but then quickly regret it and wish to move back. New York had the highest population for a long time before California and Texas knocked New York down and just recently Florida passed New York

[Jnvlv247]

Sorry but you can show me 100 great things about CT and I still wouldn't be convinced. When your heart belongs in a different place, there is no where you can live. You can make the best of it for a while but eventually it catches up to you.

I grew up here, went to college in AZ and stayed. I lived in AZ for 8 years and recently came back to CT for economic reasons. Hope to be out in a few years, along with my parents who plan to retire out of state. Can't stay in a state that keeps voting a certain way and they screw the state up along with its people and no one cares

[ctguy87]

Originally Posted by Jnvlv247

Sorry but you can show me 100 great things about CT and I still wouldn't be convinced. When your heart belongs in a different place, there is no where you can live. You can make the best of it for a while but eventually it catches up to you.

I grew up here, went to college in AZ and stayed. I lived in AZ for 8 years and recently came back to CT for economic reasons. Hope to be out in a few years, along with my parents who plan to retire out of state. Can't stay in a state that keeps voting a certain way and they screw the state up along with its people and no one cares

What do you do when your heart belongs in CT, but you share the same sentiment you have about the leaders we have and the decisions they make? I don't want to leave because I hate the state, I have become open to leaving because I see the state just going more and more downhill. When you smell smoke, you don't stay put and wait it out, you take action.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by Jnvlv247

Can't stay in a state that keeps voting a certain way and they screw the state up along with its people and no one cares

As a progressive, I lived in Texas for many years. Happily. How other people vote wasn't in the top 10 reasons I came back here.

Do you just seethe when you seem Democrats on tv? I can't imagine being so hung up on who gets elected to care. Sure, I want people in my party to win, but, if they don't and when they don't, I don't make plans to move out of state...

Some in this country have become so absorbed in to politics that don't effect them that what would have been considered ludicrous 25 years ago is common line of thought today...

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ctguy87

What do you do when your heart belongs in CT, but you share the same sentiment you have about the leaders we have and the decisions they make? I don't want to leave because I hate the state, I have become open to leaving because I see the state just going more and more downhill. When you smell smoke, you don't stay put and wait it out, you take action.

You get off your butt and work to make changes you feel are needed. It is that simple. Connecticut is a small enough state that you can make a difference. I have seen it. It is easy for people here to complain constantly about things but they do little or nothing to change it. You can do it. Jay

[ctguy87]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You get off your butt and work to make changes you feel are needed. It is that simple. Connecticut is a small enough state that you can make a difference. I have seen it. It is easy for people here to complain constantly about things but they do little or nothing to change it. You can do it. Jay

What exactly do you suggest I do?

I didn't vote for Malloy. I expressed my dissatisfaction on the budget to my local leader. The next step is to voice my opinion with my feet and not my voice.