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I'm a 49 male, recently single with no children. I'm an executive level IT Professional. I currently reside on Long Island, NY. I own a home here that is almost paid off. I currently work 100% remotely since covid and it looks to be permanent as long as I remain with my present company. I am only there 6 months so I have no real sense of job security just yet. Now single and realizing that there isn't much keeping me physically in NY anymore I am weighing my prospects around relocation to another state.
I am not new to this thought, when i was married (she was from NC), we explored many surrounding areas of NC (surrounding areas of Cary, Charlotte mainly). But that search was a bit different as I was married with the prospects of having children. While theses areas were nice, we weren't ready.
For a few years now I have also considered a permanent relocation to somewhere warmer and cheaper from a retirement perspective. But that would have been 5 or so more years from now, depending on a few factors.
So here I am in this new in between state. Not ready to cash in all my chips and retire to somewhere cheap and warm but also not really in a position any more to move to some exclusively family oriented location per se.
Here is how I deem my current state and needs/wants for now and for the next decade and maybe beyond.....
- single and ready to mingle. Now I'm not a party guy by any means. But what I'm truly hoping for is to have an ample selection of women to potentially date in their 30s & early 40s. I am not ruling out having children so I would prefer to live in an area (or relativity close to one) that accommodates single folks and dating in general. to be clear, I am not looking to date the world. I just want to meet the right girl and settle down near where I am relocating to. i guess i want the best of both worlds here. to be able to meet someone and then settle down near some family oriented location. I kind of have this here on Long Island. Only problem is, to be honest, the women up here arent very nice, hence one of the reasons I'm looking to "Escape from NY". the weather the other........
- having major issues with the NY weather. Born and raised here but every year it just bothers me more. Maybe its age. Maybe its my aches and pains that just seem to bother me more. Regardless of what the reason is, I'm done. I'm done with the loooooooooong winters we have up here. From the beginning of November till the first of June its just lousy. 7 of our 12 months are just grey, cold and depressing. So I need to go somewhere warmer. Extreme colds bother me much more than extreme hots. I've been to scorching hot AZ and NV & I've been to super humid FLA. would I want to live in these places year round? not sure, it depends on other factors. I've been to NC many times and all times of year, to me this was a depiction of great all around weather. Not super humid, it gets hot but their extremes are not sustained and they have very short winters and almost no snow. I'm just not sure that NC is for me at this stage of my life. But i do need warmer. that is a hard requirement for me.
- job market for IT professionals. While i have a job that allows me to work 100% remote, i do not have a crystal ball and i have no idea how long this will last. So i need a back up plan. I need to be within an hour reach of where the jobs are and there should be an abundance of them in my field. So I'll need to be somewhat close to a major city.
- being near the water is a nice to have as I am accustomed to it up here but not a hard requirement. Problem here is the water never gets warm in enough to actually go in! I also do not want to be in a hurricane zone just so i can go to the beach a few times a year either.
- should be a nice, clean & SAFE area.
So that's my short list. Bear in mind that I do not have to jump right into the deep end here. I have no plans on selling my house and making the plunge right away. As a matter of fact I am seriously contemplating keeping my house here in NY regardless of where I go. I might even do the snowbird thing.
My game plan, is to find that place or two and go check it out. spend a week in each corresponding area. Meet with a realtor to show me some apartments, check out the area, and yes open up a dating app or two and see if my theory is true..........that women outside of NY are just nicer!! I've dealt with enough women outside of NY to know this is more than a theory.
I will say that I am a bit biased to the south east states. I've been to CA, but to me its just a nicer weather version of NY; same kind of people, same kind of traffic, same over the top expensive. I think i can also eliminate anything in the mid west minus Texas. Never been but heard some good things.
I will say that someone else on this board posted some similar requirement and the feedback I thought was great. 2 cities were mentioned that fit those asks:
Savannah, GA Charleston, SC
I'm sure there are plenty of others. I guess I just need to start somewhere. Appreciate everyone's help in advance!
I'm a little confused by the vacation comment. To be clear, I am looking to uproot myself and make my primary residence something not long island ny. Deciding to hold on to my ny house is just an option that i thought was worth a mention.
I vacation in the Caribbean.
I'm looking for suggestions for places I can actually move to that fit the criteria I outlined.
I'm a little confused by the vacation comment. To be clear, I am looking to uproot myself and make my primary residence something not long island ny. Deciding to hold on to my ny house is just an option that i thought was worth a mention.
I vacation in the Caribbean.
I'm looking for suggestions for places I can actually move to that fit the criteria I outlined.
Thanks again.
I think Savannah and Charleston are fine cities. It's just that the IT job market in those locations isn't all that great, so you would have to compromise on that.
In fact, I can't think of any coastal city with a low COL that has a good IT job market.
My first thought reading this is to make your money in Cary, Charlotte, or Atlanta, and then vacation in Charleston or Savannah.
I'm not sure where Cary comes from, given it's the land of white bread families with 2 kids. Durham would be a much better if single and working in IT since Research Triangle Park is largely within it's city limits.
I'm a little confused by the vacation comment. To be clear, I am looking to uproot myself and make my primary residence something not long island ny. Deciding to hold on to my ny house is just an option that i thought was worth a mention.
I vacation in the Caribbean.
I'm looking for suggestions for places I can actually move to that fit the criteria I outlined.
Thanks again.
Sorry for not being clear. Like one poster said, if your plan B was to be relatively near some good IT job possibilities, Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, and Atlanta would fit that need. Though Charleston is one of the top small metros in the nation and Savannah has its merits too, you're going to be hard pressed to find as many IT jobs there as you would in the other 3 larger metros. Their economies are not bad, just different.
My first thought reading this is to make your money in Cary, Charlotte, or Atlanta, and then vacation in Charleston or Savannah.
Makes me want to move south honestly. Transport my salary and I can live like a king.
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