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I would take the risk and head back to Jersey if I were you. I know what you mean about the south. It is a different world. Currently in Jacksonville, I long to get back to the northeast, I don't care how cold it is. The northern culture is worth the cold and the taxes.
You couldn't have said it better. It's a different world down here. I really miss the northern culture. I had thought about trying different locations in the South to get away from the hurricane insurance and to have more career opportunities (lots of folks head to NC - Raleigh or Charlotte) but I may be just swapping one location in the South for another. No place is perfect but a lot is to be said about northern culture.
I wouldn't live in the South either. Have you considered other parts of the country: Southwest, Colorado, Midwest or Wisconsin? I'm just saying - there are many other parts of the country where you might find many of the "northern" culture aspects you enjoy, without the huge property/income tax burden of the NY-metro area (which, sadly includes just about all of NJ).
Go back to where you'll be happiest and just make it work for you. Take care of the now and ease into the future as it happens.
Sounds like good advice. It's funny because I have friends at both ends - North and South - that are pulling me in each direction. My friends in upstate are telling me to move back because it's well worth the snow & expense (they couldn't wait to move back to NY from the South after a year or two). My friends in the Carolinas (former NYers) are telling me to stay in the South because of the high taxes and snow back in NJ.
It's hard to just move and you have your fors and againsts on the forum. Some people will say they left and didn't and won't turn back. Some can't wait to come home because it wasn't all the grass is greener in another state syndrome. Thats up to you because I'm going thru the same thing for at least a year. But my thing is moving several hours away to Delaware and we flip flop weekly if not daily.
That's it exactly - the flip flopping!!!! One day I'm packing up boxes to move and the next I'm reading all these gloom and doom posts about NJ and how folks can't get out soon enough. Not long after I'm back to searching on gsmls.com, reading posts about how great the Garden State is and packing boxes again. I read so much about the property tax situation in NJ and see how so many folks are fleeing NJ to 'escape' that I can't help but think if it's this bad now, how will it be in 20 years and will I be forced to move out. Flip-flop, flip-flop, flip-flop......
I wouldn't live in the South either. Have you considered other parts of the country: Southwest, Colorado, Midwest or Wisconsin? I'm just saying - there are many other parts of the country where you might find many of the "northern" culture aspects you enjoy, without the huge property/income tax burden of the NY-metro area (which, sadly includes just about all of NJ).
You must have read my mind because that was going to be my next question - if South Jersey's taxes were less expensive than North Jersey. I'm from Bergen, born and raised, but wouldn't go back to Bergen for anything. I was intially thinking about NW NJ (so pretty out that way) but wondering if South Jersey's property taxes are any less expensive. Is there any website for South Jersey like gsmls.com that lists the taxes? As for other parts of the country, no I haven't really looked into those areas. I just know that the South is not for me and thought of coming back home to NJ. I guess other areas near NJ would be an option too. I see how some posters in other threads have talked about Delaware and PA - just over the Delaware by 80 (don't know anything about other areas of PA though) as options with less taxes. I imagine the NY side of the NY/NJ border (Port Jervis, etc.) would be just as expensive with taxes too.
That goes right along with my fear of 'what if' when it comes to retirement age. I don't want to turn 70 years old someday for example and not be able to afford the taxes on my house then have to move South again (or somewhere else where it's must less expensive). I'm very disillusioned with living in the South. It's not as cheap as folks are led to believe. Salaries and wages are very low in comparison even though the housing is less expensive. Yes, the property taxes are lower but there are other costs involved - vehicle tax, HOA dues, good ole hurricane insurance (wind and hail - it's not called hurriance insurance anymore) - that quickly add up and it's not as inexpensive as folks are led to believe. The bills keep coming but the salaries are very low and opportunities just aren't there so it becomes much more expensive than folks ever realize. A large part of me wants to come back to NJ for the higher salaries, better opportunities, etc. so that I can make some money to stash away for retirement but am afraid I won't be able to stay in the long term once I do get there because of the high taxes. In a way I feel caught between a rock and a hard place.
I'm in the similiar boat. I live in the south and may be moving to Jersey. My wife will go there again this week for 3 more days to site see and meet with peers etc. I've worked the math a few times and we don't see the huge pay increases. My wife is a Occ. health RN and the pay here is 70K in Jersey it's not much more the same goes for me mild increase in pay. Maybe some true white collar jobs pay more in NY and such I don't know. I'll be flying up week after next. We live 30 miles from New Orleans, so city life is there when we want it, but we can relax in our 3000sq/ft 3yr old house in a burb on a daily basis. We're anticipating our house note to double and we'll get much less house, but we're still going to keep making trips because being close to the mountains, beach, NYC, DC is appealing to us. You've gotta to pay to play mentality I guess.
Good luck in you're decision NJ seems to be a pretty cool place so far.
I'm in the similiar boat. I live in the south and may be moving to Jersey. My wife will go there again this week for 3 more days to site see and meet with peers etc. I've worked the math a few times and we don't see the huge pay increases.
I keep working the math over and over and each time, I'm always surprised at how much the costs are in the south well above and beyond the low property taxes. I really miss NJ salaries.
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Originally Posted by Jasilsouth
We live 30 miles from New Orleans, so city life is there when we want it, but we can relax in our 3000sq/ft 3yr old house in a burb on a daily basis. We're anticipating our house note to double and we'll get much less house, but we're still going to keep making trips because being close to the mountains, beach, NYC, DC is appealing to us.
That's also one of the things I'm having a hard time with. I had my house here built ten years ago and it's spacious, modern, new, has all the bells and whistles, etc. I'm anticipating what you just wrote - in NJ, I'll have much, much less house, much older, and the note will double too. To me, I'm finding that real hard to take but I guess it's all about trade offs. I don't have the opportunities down here that I used to have in NJ plus there are other things like availability of healthcare, lack of services for seniors, lack of proximity to major cities, etc. Trade-offs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasilsouth
You've gotta to pay to play mentality I guess..
It's taken me ten years to come to the conclusion that cheaper property taxes isn't always better. It's great for the first couple years until the honeymoon period is over then reality sets in. The idea of once again being by NYC, Philly, 4 hrs. from Boston or DC is appealing. Heck, the idea of being close to an interstate is great!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasilsouth
Good luck in you're decision NJ seems to be a pretty cool place so far.
Good luck to you too. I keep coming back to the NJ decision. Yup, NJ is a pretty cool place to be.
I wouldn't live in the South either. Have you considered other parts of the country: Southwest, Colorado, Midwest or Wisconsin? I'm just saying - there are many other parts of the country where you might find many of the "northern" culture aspects you enjoy, without the huge property/income tax burden of the NY-metro area (which, sadly includes just about all of NJ).
I have some imput about this observation, as an ex-New Jerseyan now living in New Mexico, which I think qualifies as the southwest, as well as someone who has spent a lot of time in Colorado. If you are associating 'the South' with regard to cultural uniqueness vis a vis theocratic tendency, I'd say you are going to experience similar religious influence nationally, wherever poverty exists. There seems to be a strong corollary between the two. Southern New Mexico, where I live, is very religious, compared to New Jersey, in the sense that religion is more overt, more visible, in the form of radio and advertising. Something else to consider with the southwest (and this to me is much more of a factor) is the complete difference in terrain and climate. Family members (all living in NJ, PA, or Delaware) that have visited here, to a one, have commented on how stark the differences are here in how land is laid out, and how different it looks (think brown instead of green, think scrub instead of trees, think azure blue sky with 30 mile sightlines in any direction) and how none of them could ever get used to it or be comfortable, being life long east coast residents. Even in states such as North Carolina, Georgia, etc, the land is similarly laid out in that there is a continuity of towns in succession, adjacent to one another. In Colorado (save for the I-25 corridor from Pueblo to Fort Collins) and in New Mexico, once you leave the population center, there is practically nothing in terms of settlement to the next population center, which is typically (at least in New Mexico) about 30-50 miles away. When I mean nothing, I mean, no homes, no farms, literally an expanse of nothing. From Las Cruces (where I live) westward, the next town, Deming is 60 miles away, and there are probably no more than 100 people total living in these 60 miles between the two towns. Similarly, it's 60 miles to Alamogordo from Las Cruces, headed eastward, and there is literally not one house in the drive between these two towns. It's a different world, a different culture entirely. Arizona and Utah are laid out the same way, when it comes to settlement patterns. This is what makes these big square states so removed from a state such as New Jersey, or even perceived 'more rural' states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, central PA, etc.
. I imagine the NY side of the NY/NJ border (Port Jervis, etc.) would be just as expensive with taxes too.
This is what we have started talking about? We have always said we would live in NJ and we looked at mostly central Bergen but we have also been looking all the way up north like Mahwah, Montvale and Park Ridge. We are starting to wonder if we flip onto the NY side into Airmont or Suffern or those type of areas, maybe we can get a tax break.
Sounds like good advice. It's funny because I have friends at both ends - North and South - that are pulling me in each direction. My friends in upstate are telling me to move back because it's well worth the snow & expense (they couldn't wait to move back to NY from the South after a year or two). My friends in the Carolinas (former NYers) are telling me to stay in the South because of the high taxes and snow back in NJ.
I know the pain.
I'm absolutely in love with NJ. Probably to the point where it's sickening for those around me .
I have friends both here, and in NJ/NY. So they're all tugging at me, as well.
I have my mom (and a couple other family members) here in FL - and while I don't want to leave her, and I feel bad about wanting to (I'm the last "kid" ["kid" at 21] and she's unmarried) - I want to go out there and explore the world on my own (and go to the college that I've been looking at for a long time), etc. I'm from Michigan, originally, and I miss the seasons, the people, etc. I don't miss exactly how cold it is in MI (but I do love cold weather) - which also draws me to NJ. I've visited NJ 3 times over approx. 6 months (late July/early August - until mid Feb.) - and each time I fall more for it, and it becomes harder to leave.
I wish you could just pack up the loved ones, make it so they were happy, and drag 'em along. Sadly, my mother hates the cold (part of the reason we left MI), and won't come along.
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I'm from Bergen, born and raised, but wouldn't go back to Bergen for anything. I was intially thinking about NW NJ (so pretty out that way) but wondering if South Jersey's property taxes are any less expensive. Is there any website for South Jersey like gsmls.com that lists the taxes? As for other parts of the country, no I haven't really looked into those areas. I just know that the South is not for me and thought of coming back home to NJ. I guess other areas near NJ would be an option too. I see how some posters in other threads have talked about Delaware and PA - just over the Delaware by 80 (don't know anything about other areas of PA though) as options with less taxes. I imagine the NY side of the NY/NJ border (Port Jervis, etc.) would be just as expensive with taxes too.
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