illinois taxes and people who are moving out of the state (Chicago: income tax, clubs)

[Exwyocowboy]

Originally Posted by geebabe

Exwyocowboy - I see your location is Súðavík, as in Iceland? Very cool. I got to live in Iceland for three years ('77 to '80) when the Navy gave me orders to Keflavik. At first it was scary, but I grew to love Iceland. There is a lot I still miss about Iceland all these years later.

\\

KEF is civilisation compared to the west fiords. Súðavík is the only place in the country without a fault line or volcano.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by BRU67

But will it stay like that? A check of Zillow does confirm the low property taxes but it also shows a lot of properties for sale. Usually, an erosion of a tax base leads to higher property taxes.

I mean, I'm not trying to be a smarty britches here. I'm just implying that if I was going to leave "Illizuela," Portland certainly wouldn't be in my top five, if you know what I'm saying.

Well I certainly wouldn't want to live near Portland even if it does have a reputation for great cycling (I guess if you can dodge the Molotov cocktails). But it is an improvement over Illinois and I highly doubt property taxes in Oregon are going to rise at a faster pace than Illinois' not to mention it sounds like the Democrats here are planning to help the working people some more by raising the income tax to 6% soon.

I personally am looking at the Southeast, GA, TN, maybe the Carolinas. Just away from Democrats "helping the working people." Any more help from them and we'll all be homeless.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Well I certainly wouldn't want to live near Portland even if it does have a reputation for great cycling (I guess if you can dodge the Molotov cocktails). But it is an improvement over Illinois and I highly doubt property taxes in Oregon are going to rise at a faster pace than Illinois' not to mention it sounds like the Democrats here are planning to help the working people some more by raising the income tax to 6% soon.

I personally am looking at the Southeast, GA, TN, maybe the Carolinas. Just away from Democrats "helping the working people." Any more help from them and we'll all be homeless.

I think Charlotte, Nashville, and certainly Atlanta are going to become deep blue with a lot of the same policies that we deal with here. I think those states may be okay if you stay rural, though the whole state of Georgia did just vote blue last Presidential election, and It'll be interesting to see what happens with their senate race, which is neck and neck right now per polls (for what those are worth, though Trump voters are pretty turned off by the Dominion Conspiracy, so they might not turn out).

If I were conservative, I might scratch Georgia off my list honestly. Demographic and migration trends for Georgia point blue.

[pantstofry]

Originally Posted by BRU67

So, you moved to Portland, OR to escape bad political leadership?

No, but to actually get some benefit out of it. Portland's issues are somewhat of a different brand than Illinois. At least in Portland I can pretend my taxes are paying for the scenery out there, lol, but in both states taxes basically are for naught. I'll give IL as having better schools overall, but there are a few good ones in OR if you're in the right spot - regardless, I'm far from the point in my life where I have to care about that.

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Thinking the same thing, especially Portland. Bend? Maybe. But, Oregon, in general, is not much better than Illinois. Those sky-high income taxes for nonetheless resource-challenged public schools and lackluster infrastructure strike me as unjustified.

High income tax, but lower property tax and no sales tax thus my overall tax burden is less in Portland. I've found the infrastructure to be no worse than IL, probably better due to the lack of snowy winters. Schools are an issue here, but they are in Chicago as well.

Originally Posted by BRU67

But will it stay like that? A check of Zillow does confirm the low property taxes but it also shows a lot of properties for sale. Usually, an erosion of a tax base leads to higher property taxes.

I mean, I'm not trying to be a smarty britches here. I'm just implying that if I was going to leave "Illizuela," Portland certainly wouldn't be in my top five, if you know what I'm saying.

No offense, but a Zillow check of an entire city doesn't really tell much of the story. Right now houses are flying off the market for well over ask - anyone thinking of selling is wise to do so now as even more Bay Area remote workers move here, paying cash. Also west of the river is more of the 'Silicon Forest' area where it's more affluent and higher-end jobs, while east of the river is more of the typical "Keep Portland Weird" thing goes on. Almost two different places at times so difficult to put the entire place in one bucket - much like you wouldn't put the north side and south side of Chicago in the same bucket. Even if property taxes did go up, they'd have to increase by like 125+% on average to get to IL. Granted, they'd probably need to rise less to make the overall tax picture match IL, but IL is throwing bills out there to raise income tax as well, so it's a two way street in terms of future risk.

I never once in my post suggested Portland as a place that people should go to. I'm not here to advertise for Portland - simply my reasons for leaving the state of Illinois as the thread title suggested. Also, taxes/corruption were just one part of things in my post. I'm currently looking to leave Portland for similar reasons I left Illinois. You could argue "why the hell did you move there, what did you expect?" and your question has merit - but I gained invaluable work experience out there that will boost my career. If I had a similar position in IL, my income to COL ratio likely would've been the same or worse (based on the few similar companies in IL), but I at least got to take in the scenery of the PNW while there.

[jasperhobbs]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Well I certainly wouldn't want to live near Portland even if it does have a reputation for great cycling (I guess if you can dodge the Molotov cocktails). But it is an improvement over Illinois and I highly doubt property taxes in Oregon are going to rise at a faster pace than Illinois' not to mention it sounds like the Democrats here are planning to help the working people some more by raising the income tax to 6% soon.

I personally am looking at the Southeast, GA, TN, maybe the Carolinas. Just away from Democrats "helping the working people." Any more help from them and we'll all be homeless.

I think it is great that you will finally be leaving Illinois and hopefully you find peace and happiness.

[MSchemist80]

Not for at least another 10-20 years sadly. $600k isn't enough to early retire on unless you expatriate to a cheaper country.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by BRU67

If I were conservative, I might scratch Georgia off my list honestly. Demographic and migration trends for Georgia point blue.

I think Georgia is returning to 'swing-state' status, but I think demography as destiny showed itself to be pretty flawed this election. If demography were absolute destiny, Florida and Texas would have been blue states a long time ago.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

I think Georgia is returning to 'swing-state' status, but I think demography as destiny showed itself to be pretty flawed this election. If demography were absolute destiny, Florida and Texas would have been blue states a long time ago.

It would be interesting to know the REAL demographics.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I think Charlotte, Nashville, and certainly Atlanta are going to become deep blue with a lot of the same policies that we deal with here. I think those states may be okay if you stay rural, though the whole state of Georgia did just vote blue last Presidential election, and It'll be interesting to see what happens with their senate race, which is neck and neck right now per polls (for what those are worth, though Trump voters are pretty turned off by the Dominion Conspiracy, so they might not turn out).

If I were conservative, I might scratch Georgia off my list honestly. Demographic and migration trends for Georgia point blue.

Bump

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/u...ate-trump.html

[animalcrazy]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

It's not just the taxes but the corrupt, incompetent, overbearing leadership by the Dems here that reduces the quality of life.

This. The mafia machine politics has been around for decades and is far too powerful. It's a disgrace that multiple governors have been put in jail. Our taxes are ridiculous. We had a Republican governor that I voted for that nearly put us in junk bond status. I don't think it was entirely his fault. Corruption of that magnitude is hard to stop. Especially with our speaker of the house who keeps on getting re-elected because he takes good care of his constituents. They can't see the greater picture.

Would I leave Illinois because of the taxes? No. I have a great life here and the thought of starting over this late in life? That does not appeal to me. I guess if money was an issue I might move, but it's not. Right now my loved ones mean more to me than the high taxes. Besides, it keeps the riffraff out. We have a lot of high quality people moving out of the city into our little satellite suburb driving up the property values. So while the high taxes are annoying, there is much more to the story.

Who was it that said they love Chicago in the summer in this thread? Yep I totally agree. I love Chicago in the summer. It's a fabulous city. Winter is nice too. Ever been ice skating on the ribbon in Maggie Daley park? Chicago is magical at sunset covered by a blanket of snow with all of the regular lights and Christmas lights on. Don't get me started on the architecture, beautiful old theaters, and the food.