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I’m brand new here and other posts similar to what I’m writing were what caught my attention so I wanted to share my situation and see if anybody had any thoughts.
We currently live in Dallas/Ft Worth. I grew up here, she moved here from Wyoming. We want to end up settling down in a place that meets all of our needs. Here is what I’m working with (in vague order of importance):
1) Warm, dry(ish) weather - less intense summers and winters than North Texas, but warmer than her home state of WYO…it’s nice and I love it up there, but I’m not sure I can live in it
2) Red state - this is much more important to me than it is to her, but I am very passionate about my conservatism and it is important to me that we live in an area with a strong sense of community and patriotism. I appreciate states like TX and FL that are very pro-individual freedoms and states rights.
3) Lots of land for low cost - we want to purchase a home on 1+ acres and be somewhat secluded from neighbors and be able to build upon our real estate investment over time…we just don’t want to break the bank doing so
4) Easy access to water - we’re both outdoorsy, but I’m a big beach bum, and living far inland all our lives made it difficult to get to the coast without spending lots of money and/or taking lots of time off of work. At this point, it doesn’t even need to be an ocean; a large, beautiful, natural lake will do.
5) Valuing education - I’m in the process to become a high school teacher and I’m hoping to find a community with old-school perspectives on education, even/especially if it means teaching at a private school/academy. Not to mention we’d like to have kids eventually and it’s important to us that their education matches our values.
6) BUGS - ok, here we go…I hate bugs. Cockroaches to be exact. I cannot handle them without experiencing a major out-of-character panic attack. I wish there was something I could do about it, but here we are. If possible, I need somewhere where they can’t thrive or even exist. I know that scientifically they are drawn to hot, wet climates, so this might be an impossible order to reach given #s 1 and 4…but it’s worth a shot.
So, any suggestions? We started looking at Delray Beach forever ago, then it became Charleston or Kill Devil Hills, then we crept into the Virginias and played with that idea a bit. Any suggestions will do - cheers!
Provo, UT. Big lake (not the salt lake), conservative friendly people with a sense of community and strong belief in education. Not nearly as severe a winter as Wyoming. No bugs to speak of. Not sure about real estate prices, but might be doable outside of town, but within commute distances. Don't let the LDS stigma of the area scare you away from considering the area.
If it does, then consider Klamath Falls, OR. Big lakes, ocean a couple hours away. No bugs, we'll mosquitos for sure. Mild winters,, warm summers.. Conservative, but maybe not the most open education system. I could be wrong on that since I didn't interact with the schools there.
OP, I was thinking Florida would be great for you, but then you got to the part about bugs. Yeah, they've got cockroaches, all right. Some of them even fly. No, I'm not kidding, I lived in Florida for six years and I saw it with my own eyes. The entire Southeast is the most humid part of the country, which is great for bugs, so I think you can pretty much eliminate the entire region. Too bad too, because it certainly does check many of your other boxes.
I do like the idea of Utah, in particular the Salt Lake City metro area, though you'd probably have to go a little bit east (and not to Park City) to find a large plot of affordable land. OF course, then you're in the mountains, so that might not work either. Maybe go a little north of Ogden or a little south of Provo for more affordable land. Arizona might work, though I'm not sure how many lakes they have. The Dakotas have quite a few more lakes than one might think, but you'd probably find it to be colder than you'd like. How about Oklahoma or Kansas? You live near those places now, so it would be pretty straightforward to check them out. Indiana might be another place to look.
I’m brand new here and other posts similar to what I’m writing were what caught my attention so I wanted to share my situation and see if anybody had any thoughts.
We currently live in Dallas/Ft Worth. I grew up here, she moved here from Wyoming. We want to end up settling down in a place that meets all of our needs. Here is what I’m working with (in vague order of importance):
1) Warm, dry(ish) weather - less intense summers and winters than North Texas, but warmer than her home state of WYO…it’s nice and I love it up there, but I’m not sure I can live in it
2) Red state - this is much more important to me than it is to her, but I am very passionate about my conservatism and it is important to me that we live in an area with a strong sense of community and patriotism. I appreciate states like TX and FL that are very pro-individual freedoms and states rights.
3) Lots of land for low cost - we want to purchase a home on 1+ acres and be somewhat secluded from neighbors and be able to build upon our real estate investment over time…we just don’t want to break the bank doing so
4) Easy access to water - we’re both outdoorsy, but I’m a big beach bum, and living far inland all our lives made it difficult to get to the coast without spending lots of money and/or taking lots of time off of work. At this point, it doesn’t even need to be an ocean; a large, beautiful, natural lake will do.
5) Valuing education - I’m in the process to become a high school teacher and I’m hoping to find a community with old-school perspectives on education, even/especially if it means teaching at a private school/academy. Not to mention we’d like to have kids eventually and it’s important to us that their education matches our values.
6) BUGS - ok, here we go…I hate bugs. Cockroaches to be exact. I cannot handle them without experiencing a major out-of-character panic attack. I wish there was something I could do about it, but here we are. If possible, I need somewhere where they can’t thrive or even exist. I know that scientifically they are drawn to hot, wet climates, so this might be an impossible order to reach given #s 1 and 4…but it’s worth a shot.
So, any suggestions? We started looking at Delray Beach forever ago, then it became Charleston or Kill Devil Hills, then we crept into the Virginias and played with that idea a bit. Any suggestions will do - cheers!
Based on your criteria:
1) If Warm, dry(ish) weather is your #1 criteria then you really have to be in the Southwest. The rest of the country will either be colder or more humid than you would like.
2) Arizona, New Mexico, or Nevada are red states in the Southwest that are warm and dry(ish), so your first criteria have already narrowed down your search significantly.
3) Each of those 3 states has lots of land that is relatively cheap compared to most other parts of the country.
4) There is very little water in the southwest and that issue is getting worse and worse. You may find a nice lake to live near and you may be able to enjoy it for a while before it dries up. So far so good.
6) Bugs are generally not a huge issue in the desert when compared to wetter places. You can never completely escape bugs though.
Here is where things start to break down:
5) You are looking for a red state that values education. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that is an oxymoron. Now, before everyone gets upset with me for saying that, I am not a liberal or Democrat. While it is true that I am to the left of the Republican Party, I am to the right of nonsense, so I am in no way a leftist or Democrat. This was not a political answer. Just an objective one.
So, In my opinion, you should focus on these 3 states: Arizona, New Mexico, or Nevada. They are all huge states, so you will need to do some more homework to find the perfect spot, but they are able to check all of your boxes except the 1.
I think Wichita, KS would be a good option (except for maybe the bugs). It's warm and dry, it's one of the last conservative big cities, there's plenty of land in the area, and there are two big lakes nearby. Not sure about education though.
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