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I am the opposite, I want to move back up north. Originally moved to GA back in the early 90's due to dad's employment and looking forward to going back to New England!
There is plenty of history and culture in the South.
From talking to transplants, a lot of them moved because of the weather, got job transfers. In Florida we get a lot of retirees. After seeing how bad the winters are up North, give me the sunshine.
Wow, another sweeping set of stereotypes and generalizations. I bet you have never even been to many areas of the eastern US.
You'd bet wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater
Once you leave the immediate coastal areas the population density thins out significantly and you are in the Appalachians. Where I live, people don't care what school you went to that much. We value community, sustainable development, good schools, a diversified economy, and keeping taxes low. We also hold a very high value on active recreation activities as well as passive recreation.
In all honesty, it is rather annoying when the populace in general makes sweeping remarks without supplying personal accounts of such generalities.
I'm talking about Boston and that area, Philadelphia, Connecticut. Elitism is second nature in many such places.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater
The general closed-minded attitude in the lower Midwest as well as a lack of good jobs in my career field made me quickly realize that I would have to move.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
4,084 posts, read 12,683,905 times
Reputation: 1974
Quote:
Originally Posted by dimpelss
I'm from Tx and it has a lower cost of living a 3 bedroom house can be rented for for less than $400, in the south we have good Southern food along with different cultures and the people are not hard to get along with.
Where in Texas are you??? A 3-bedroom house where I live rents from around $1200+. Less than $400 and you're looking at a roach motel.
I'm talking about Boston and that area, Philadelphia, Connecticut. Elitism is second nature in many such places.
Pot, meet kettle.
New Hampshire is BY FAR one of the most down to earth states I have lived. I have been to many different states in this great country. I just find it amusing how quickly many people from the middle of the country can throw out the "elitist" term about areas of the East Coast. I do not "associate directly" with the East Coast at all. In fact, I am about 70 miles from the ocean and live in a small town on acreage that is wooded AND isolated. I am an entrepreneur and live nearly off the grid. We rely on neighbors if we have trouble, and nearly everyone is friendly. I think you will be impressed if you visit NH, especially towns north of the Concord area.
Last edited by GraniteStater; 03-22-2009 at 03:40 PM..
Climate, job and other life opportunities (much less emphasis on how much money you have now, whether your family has money or is upper-class, which private school or Ivy League university you went to). For 200+ years, Americans have been leaving the Eastern seaboard to make or remake their lives, and that's still the case today. For a lot of people, that's more important than culture or interesting architecture.
Let me clarify. I dreaded having to deal with the overwhelmingly anti-intellectual attitudes and anti-science attitudes of many people that I came in contact with in the lower Midwest. This is not a stereotype. It comes from personal experiences of living in a variety of towns in that region. The nice thing about New England is that intellectual debate is welcomed and having an opinion that might not coincide with the two party system is respected. I have debated others regarding points in the constitution and the applicability of its aspects in this current fiscal crisis based on all that has happened.
The book "Who's Your City" by Richard Florida basically says that the parts of the country that ATTRACT the innovative, creative, entreprenurial, and progressive types of people will be the areas that incubate the most economic growth that comes with new ways of developing and designing innovative items. These might include: medical, technological, biotechnological, nanotech, greentech, etc.
Cost of living. I'm a college student and if my (future/hypothetical) wife and I made a combined income of $100k in Texas, we would be able to live a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Being able to take expensive vacations, owning a descent home in a town with a descent school system(or the ability to able to afford private school), having the luxury to able to save enough money to send our kids to a top notch university, not feeling like you are stuck in a rat race, etc. A household making $100k/year is nothing in the NYC metro. My parents were able to afford their home in Northern NJ by working over-time in $8-10/hour jobs. Even if you adjust for inflation, this sort of thing is impossible nowadays.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 15,939,050 times
Reputation: 1819
Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerJAX
Cost of living. I'm a college student and if my (future/hypothetical) wife and I made a combined income of $100k in Texas, we would be able to live a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Being able to take expensive vacations, owning a descent home in a town with a descent school system(or the ability to able to afford private school), having the luxury to able to save enough money to send our kids to a top notch university, not feeling like you are stuck in a rat race, etc. A household making $100k/year is nothing in the NYC metro. My parents were able to afford their home in Northern NJ by working over-time in $8-10/hour jobs. Even if you adjust for inflation, this sort of thing is impossible nowadays.
My fiance and I make just over 100k and we do just fine. It's just the way you save money. If you live a life of keeping up with the Jonses, then yeah, you'll really struggle with this income.
wow, less than $400?? 3 bedroom rentals in my area are around $2000. But it's worth it for what you get in the area.
I don't know what part of Texas that poster was referring to, but I live in rural Texas and there is no way a 3-bedroom house is rented for $400, more like $1,000 which is still good in comparison to your area.
Keep in mind that Texas (as one of the southern states) has the HIGHEST homeowner's insurance rates in the country. Property taxes are also quite high as is electricity. No, we don't have a state income tax but either do many other states and they don't charge what we do for the above. Grant it though, housing is less expensive but checking out other areas of the country, Texas prices are comparable to other states.
I can certainly understand why people would want to escape freezing and snowy winters, but the summer weather in the south is terrible, long (not just 3 months long), hot and humid. Which one is worse? I don't know because I've never lived where the winters are brutal.
Last edited by Canine*Castle; 03-22-2009 at 09:40 AM..
Reason: addition
It's true that many northern cities are dying, but I personally have not been attracted to many southern cities. There is not as much history, culture, interesting architecture, unique food, seasonal changes, powerful schools, mixed public transportation, and ethnic neighborhoods in certain new sun belt cities.
Not so much culture! History! WOW....Did you ever finish school?
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Where in Texas are you??? A 3-bedroom house where I live rents from around $1200+. Less than $400 and you're looking at a roach motel.
