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With the bad economy, high cost of living, as well as high unemployment, how many of you are considering a move out of RI, and where are you considering moving too?
Our state is in a terrible financial mess primarily because previous politicians refused to back down to state worker unions, and continued to give generous benefit packages without consideration of the tax payers. If the future of RI wasn't so bleak, I would be tempted to laugh at mayor Angel Taveras' statement, that we ALL need to do our share to help out the budget crisis. ---ALL, meaning all working Rhode Islanders, and tax payers, NOT those who are collecting there generous pensions!
I agree that some states have better employment rates and better cost of living. In Florida there are many Northeast transplants, the cost of living is cheaper and the weather is nicer.
Now I will try to offer a different outlook to think about....
The 1990-1993 recession was bad and we got thru that, the 2007-2009 recession might be officially over and we are now in a slow recorvery though which is dragging things out.
It is not the first time a recession has dragged out though. I heard the 1970's recession dragged out as well, and you cant forget about the 1982 recession in RI either, unemployment was at 10%(9.7 U.S. average, vs 2010 U.S. average of 9.6 unemployment). We will get more recessions, and we will have periods where EVERYONE seems to be hiring so things will improve.
For people with kids...
RI has nice things about it and is a good state to raise a family. The crime is lower than other places, the public school systems are better (although I did not have a great experience in school and ended up getting my GED later) but you get a better academic education and overall it is a good comfort zone for people because it is a small state.
Although it is proven that weather might be linked to depression, people will always complain about something, it's human nature.
I agree that some states have better employment rates and better cost of living. In Florida there are many Northeast transplants, the cost of living is cheaper and the weather is nicer.
Now I will try to offer a different outlook to think about....
The 1990-1993 recession was bad and we got thru that, the 2007-2009 recession might be officially over and we are now in a slow recorvery though which is dragging things out.
It is not the first time a recession has dragged out though. I heard the 1970's recession dragged out as well, and you cant forget about the 1982 recession in RI either, unemployment was at 10%(9.7 U.S. average, vs 2010 U.S. average of 9.6 unemployment). We will get more recessions, and we will have periods where EVERYONE seems to be hiring so things will improve.
For people with kids...
RI has nice things about it and is a good state to raise a family. The crime is lower than other places, the public school systems are better (although I did not have a great experience in school and ended up getting my GED later) but you get a better academic education and overall it is a good comfort zone for people because it is a small state.
Although it is proven that weather might be linked to depression, people will always complain about something, it's human nature.
Sorry if my message was too long
Let us not forget the Credit Union crisis in RI, which initially put several thousand people into foreclosure on their mortgages, their savings were lost, etc. That tragedy took RI many years to recover from, and I don't believe the state will ever fully recover, certainly not the unfortunate people for whom it was too late, and who lost everything in the 18 months it took the Governor to set up a recovery strategy.
RI has had more than its share of historical financial woes. Weather is a minor detail in RI or the entire northeast for that matter. High cost of living is why no one retires TO Rhode Island. The latest news accounts of Mayor Fung in Cranston talking about raising Cranston taxes again, has residents begging him not to. Cranston is one of the most overtaxed impoverished cities within a radius of Providence. Many cities are on the verge of bankruptcy in RI. Providence being one discussed currently. Pawtucket has always been on the edge. And the beat goes on. The CNN Money website recently, March 2011, had an article stating that RI is only second to CA in highest taxation.
Quite simply, RI has a reputation of being a very liberal welfare state. www.projo.com has the facts.
Yeah- wow- the place is a total hell hole and absolutely unlivable. I simply can't understand why everyone in the entire state hasn't moved to North Carolina by now.
Recently I returned from a two week stay in Arizona. I traveled all over the Scottsdale, Mesa, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe areas.
It was beautiful, super clean, the roads are extremely well maintained, clearly marked, the highways were actually manicured, these people don't even know what a pot hole is... people were friendly and helpful. During evenings we viewed sparkling clear skies, and a busy, thriving night life.
We just had to check into real estate, what we found is the following: at present in RI we own a home that is valued at $350,000, we pay $8,400 a year in property taxes. In Arizona we looked at homes in the same price range, that were much nicer, much bigger, with pools etc. the yearly taxes were $2,400 per year. Arizona is only guilty of overbuilding, too quickly, and then being caught housing bubble.
Every City or town has areas that are less than middle class, or lower middle class, but there property's are still clean and cared for. I would have to say in general these citizens have a bit more pride, and respect for there home Town or City than the average Rhode Islander.
Is Arizona perfect?...no, but you had the feeling they tried like hell, to give you all they can.
We have been thinking of moving for a few years, this is just one state we visited, we will visit another in the near future.
I agree that some states have better employment rates and better cost of living. In Florida there are many Northeast transplants, the cost of living is cheaper and the weather is nicer.
Florida has a higher unemployment rate than Rhode Island, the property taxes are going up, and the Christian Taliban under Rick Scott have taken over. (It also has a way higher foreclosure rate than us.) Oh, and after three tries they are finally about to outlaw bestiality. It's a backward state and the hicks have taken over.
My parents who live down there and are in their 60s are actually considering a move HERE!
The latest news accounts of Mayor Fung in Cranston talking about raising Cranston taxes again, has residents begging him not to. Cranston is one of the most overtaxed impoverished cities within a radius of Providence.www.projo.com has the facts.
Actually, Cranston has a budget surplus - so calling it "impoverished" is highly inaccurate. That is a fact. Also, if you look at median household income, Cranston is actually slightly above average for Rhode Island. The poverty level in Cranston is 28.1% less than the Rhode Island average and 40.8% less than the national average:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Next time you provide an internet link to prove your point, you may want to actually make sure it directs the user to a specific article instead of claiming a website has "the facts" with no reality based reason for doing so whatsoever.
I actually am against the tax increases Republican Mayor Fung has proposed, I am glad the Democratic City Council is already pushing back. Et tu conservatives?
However, just remember that an increase in property taxes would not be felt as much as in normal years because of the fact that property values have plummeted so precipitously.
Mark my words...you will not see a decrease in property values in Cranston, if you do, the small decrease in property value will be eaten up by the increase in actual taxes applied. I'm sure the overall increase will be cleverly manipulated and be easily "explainable"
This is one time I hope Rnr is right... or should I say correct.
We miss RI...we miss the convenience that RI has to offer.
But we don't miss the high cost of living, the stuffy built up feel of it, etc.
My husband took a job in a small city in western NY. It's considered a "city" here, but it's probably pretty equivalent to Cranston...parts are really nice and parts are less so.
A lot of people warned us that property taxes would be outrageous here. And they are. But not all counties have outrageous property taxes. The county where we are purchasing our home is actually pretty reasonable. The home we're purchasing is a 3500+ sq ft renovated farm home on 3 acres smack in the middle of a Mennonite community. The selling price will amount to about 110k and the property taxes are just over 2k a year. Not bad.
The closest grocery store is only ten minutes away and about a half hour away, we've got pretty much all of the conveniences that we had in RI.
It's absolutely beautiful here! There are miles and miles of unspoiled land. The weather is mostly comparable (though we did have our very first tornado warning two weeks ago. Albeit rare, it was still pretty scary for us newbies).
So far, our cost of living is considerably less than it was in RI. Gas prices are a bit higher, but auto insurance is much more affordable. Food prices are a bit less and there is an abundance of local fresh food of all varieties because this area is primarily a farming community.
We've only been here since February...but so far, we're loving it! And the local community has welcomed us with open arms.
It's not perfect...a lot of the locals laughed when we moved in because most of THEM want to leave. The grass is always greener I suppose. But I suspect most of them, if they were to leave and see how expensive it is to live somewhere else, they'd come right on back. Yeah...property taxes are high. But depending on the region of NY, house prices are so low, the amount of property tax you'd pay here is comparable to what you'd be paying in RI on a more expensive house anyways.
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