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We left Naples, Florida and moved to Bone Cave, TN, which no one has ever heard of and it actually isn't even listed on here, but the towns surrounding it are.
We looked in sooooooo many places, both in and out of the state. We started the TN search in Chattanooga and started widening our search circle until housing and career fields were matching up for us.
Then I went to a real estate website to search houses. I found about 50 within a 30 mile radius and posted for info on the towns on here. I got some great feedback, so we came up for a week.
The first house we saw was the realtors idea - and about $200,000 above our price range!! So I pulled out my book of the houses we'd found on line and all the different pages of towns that I'd printed from this website. We did process of elimination based on housing cost, schools, crime rates, etc. The first house we saw that we picked out wound up being the house we bought!!
We just love it and wish we'd done this years ago! But if it weren't for this site and we didn't have the data, there are several towns that we probably would have looked into instead because of the cost. Turns out some of them were really bad, crime wise, and the schools just didn't measure up to ours.
This forum was extremely helpful in narrowing down our location. We currently live in AL and knew that we wanted to move back to MN - the Minneapolis area in particular. Our criteria was: close to the airport and good schools. We received some very helpful replies and narrowed our search to a particular school district. We went up to scout out the 4 towns we were considering over the holidays. After looking at about 15 houses we ended up purchasing a home in the town that was our first choice based on much of the feedback we received on this forum, through PM's, and friends in the area. Thanks to all who provided such great feedback!
We recently moved to Ashland, Oregon and are liking it very much. I know that someday I will miss being near the ocean again however and have been looking at various towns. The information people share on here is SO HELPFUL. Much of it confirms what I already know and some of it comes out of the blue. I had no idea that Sequim in beautiful Washington State is on a major earthquake fault. Yikes.
I don't want to be downer but what I've found is I am more discouraged about the country than before I joined. The comments on so many of the forum are negative and make so many places I've been visited and sometimes loved sound awful.
I wish I had a better experience but some of the cities/towns I had been considering now seem like h**l and not where I want to be--most particularly because of the anger, and political climate that may or may not be present in those communities but continue to be named, repeated and occasionally shouted.
We’re still in the process of deciding where to settle, but I consult this site regularly. There are many thoughtful people here that contribute valuable information.
Ontheroad, I think the trick is to try and separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, try to ignore the “shouting” and emotionally-charged responses and focus on composed statements that offer factual information. Often, the helpful posters provide links or published quotes to back up what they say.
Still, you need to research on your own. If someone says, “oh, that place has horrible crime, look at what it said in this newspaper”, you still should check reliable crime-stat information published by trusted government sources. And sweeping, unsupportable statements like, “the people that live there are all mean”, should be completely ignored, in my opinion.
I am a professional but retired ressearcher. It was the personal touches or rather attacks that keep me on edge. I don't think it is the wheat or the chaff but the chafing that gets me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by newt
Ontheroad, I think the trick is to try and separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, try to ignore the “shouting” and emotionally-charged responses and focus on composed statements that offer factual information. Often, the helpful posters provide links or published quotes to back up what they say.
I don't want to be downer but what I've found is I am more discouraged about the country than before I joined. The comments on so many of the forum are negative and make so many places I've been visited and sometimes loved sound awful.
I wish I had a better experience but some of the cities/towns I had been considering now seem like h**l and not where I want to be--most particularly because of the anger, and political climate that may or may not be present in those communities but continue to be named, repeated and occasionally shouted.
First of all, you should realize that these forums do not represent a cross-section of the local residents. Most people who find their way onto a forum such as this do so because they want to move, and venting their frustrations about the place they are leaving makes them feel better about their decision. Their concerns should be listened to carefully, but don't assume that your experience will be the same.
Secondly, we need to realize that the 20th Century, for better or for worse, is gone. There are now over 300 million people in this country and we are feeling the squeeze of overpopulation in both livability and cost of living. There is a lot of resentment over how the livability of many attractive places has declined as more people have flocked there. Lots of us are looking for Mayberry and it just doesn't exist anymore in a country with this kind of population density.
Peak oil will change our lifestyles drastically in the next two decades, and maybe for the better. 20 years from now, the ability to move just because you feel like doing so may be a luxury that very few will be able to afford.
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but continue to be named, repeated and occasionally shouted.
useful? yes!
