Where do I retire ???

[steve123]

I live in Flagstaff AZ, a nice place to live for many reasons but I want to move someday and need your help finding a place that I'd like better.

The things I don't like about living here are...

Property taxes are high as well as everything else like vehicle registration, etc. Winters are cold. In the spring the wind starts blowing in March and doesn't stop till Monsoon season in June or July, which to me is extremely aggravating! Also this spring we got a few light sprinkles of rain at my house till the monsoons started, talk about a dust bowl! Our few local lakes are a muddy brown. We have a short growing season. Too many anti "anything that makes sense" 2cnd amendment hating commyfaggetliberals around.

Seems like every place has it's ups and downs so...

What I'm looking for is a location with nice spring weather, not overly windy, hopefully with pine trees but hardwoods will do, rivers, lakes and streams, a longer growing season with good soil (always wanted to farm for some reason???), a decent amount of sunny days over the course of the year, lower property taxes and generally less expensive to live in. A rural setting is fine by me! I hate the sound of freeways, traffic, horns, ambulances and couples yelling at each other!

Help me out here please. Know any places you'd think I'd like?

Thanks

 

[RHunter]

Florida! And the best part, gun friendly!

 

[oughtsix]

Central Louisiana. Lots of pines, cheap land, and low cost of living.

 

[RHunter]

Central Louisiana. Lots of pines, cheap land, and low cost of living.

Don't forget the swamp people and the Duck Commander!

 

[steve123]

Central Louisiana. Lots of pines, cheap land, and low cost of living.

How's the humidity and heat there? I don't know which is worse, freezing my ass or frying my brains out, LOL. The low cost of living is appealing for sure and I'd like a decent amount of acreage.

I like deep sea fishing! Be nice to live closer to the ocean.

 

[steve123]

Don't forget the swamp people and the Duck Commander!

I better get a beardy beard going! I like that silly show. Uncle Si's a funny one.

 

[Sugarbug]

How's the humidity and heat there? I don't know which is worse, freezing my ass or frying my brains out, LOL. The low cost of living is appealing for sure and I'd like a decent amount of acreage.

I like deep sea fishing! Be nice to live closer to the ocean.

I've lived all over. Near New Orleans in Louisiana and in Pensacola and Jacksonville in Florida. Way, way too hot in the summers for me. Of the three, Pensacola is the nicest for access to the gulf and lower population density. New Orleans has great culture, but I don't plan on staying around these parts for too long. Heat and humidity is high in all from two weeks into spring to the end of fall. Winters are very mild (too mild for me).

The favorite place I ever lived was Bend, OR. I'm quite outdoorsy, as you probably are, and the NW is a great place. I think I'm going to try NC if the opportunity presents itself.


I'm 25-30 years from retiring so who knows where I'll end up. Good luck to you.

 

[Pester]

Agreed on Bend. Still pretty cold in the winter and the wind can come up but depending on where you live in Bend it can be nice. Other nearby locations to Bend are also great.

I have heard a lot of places in NC are also nice...never been there myself

 

[JB5812]

Oregon does have a lot of great options, but depending on where you live, it can be rainy/gloomy for months on end. But the spring and summer is fantastic. I do like the Bend area as well.

 

[ChemE1975]

Carson City, NV? Maybe a bit south of there in Minden. It is kinda windy and not terribly cheap, but it is at the base of the sierras.

 

[Mark williams]

Never lived their, just passed through on hunting trips. Missouri would just about fit the bill for everything you want. Nicer weather than down here in alabama, great hunting, fishing, timber and farmland. Only drawback is its not close to the coast. That would be one place I would move to.

 

[Deerhunter 28]

Key West


PSE EVO 60 Lbs.
Blacked out

 

[long range newbie]

I like eastern oregon, its beautiful there.

 

[Switchblade]

Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, are all decent places to live, and have pretty good firearms laws as well. TN offers lakes, rivers and good fishing and hunting(according to my neighbor, squirrels are damn good..medically retired SGT who I call a closet hillbilly)
The weather is not as humid as NC/SC/LA/GA/AL
Just make sure you stay away from the larger cities where miscreants concentrate.

 

[long range newbie]

I also love montana, When I was there, they had everything, fishing, hunting, beautiful land, nice people and farm areas. I like that its hot and cold there so if you like mild weather I don't know a state that has all mild.

 

[oughtsix]

How's the humidity and heat there? I don't know which is worse, freezing my ass or frying my brains out, LOL. The low cost of living is appealing for sure and I'd like a decent amount of acreage.

I like deep sea fishing! Be nice to live closer to the ocean.

Lots of places to fish here, inshore, in the marsh, and offshore. But like everyone said, it's either hot, humid, or both all year long (which makes it way worse in the winter). For what it's worth, as soon as I can make it happen, I'm moving to the PNW and never looking back. I have everything I need from this place (high alcohol tolerance and a classical training in creole cooking)

 

[long range newbie]

I am not a fan of humidity, if its 90 and really humid it makes it feel like 100+. I like the cold (to an extent) and I like it warm but not too hot.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Sounds to me like you just described Western NC and Eastern Tennessee. There are two places I would live, you described them and I just named them.

Plus you would have an instant rimfire shooting pal if you moved here.

 

[bacamike]

Northeastern Oklahoma Covers about everything except the coast.

 

[coldboremiracle]

ST George! everything you like about Flagstaff, and nothing you dont.

 

[steve123]

I've lived all over. Near New Orleans in Louisiana and in Pensacola and Jacksonville in Florida. Way, way too hot in the summers for me. Of the three, Pensacola is the nicest for access to the gulf and lower population density. New Orleans has great culture, but I don't plan on staying around these parts for too long. Heat and humidity is high in all from two weeks into spring to the end of fall. Winters are very mild (too mild for me).

The favorite place I ever lived was Bend, OR. I'm quite outdoorsy, as you probably are, and the NW is a great place. I think I'm going to try NC if the opportunity presents itself.

I'm 25-30 years from retiring so who knows where I'll end up. Good luck to you.

Thanks for the info Sugerbug.

I've lived here in this dry climate for 40 years now so I'm not sure I'd adapt well to a high humidity location.

I guess ideally it would be nice to have a summer home higher up and a winter home lower down but I doubt at this point if that'l happen.

I've never been through Bend. I think I'll plan a driving vacation up there next spring. I saw on youtube they have a nice river there, cool!

 

[steve123]

Carson City, NV? Maybe a bit south of there in Minden. It is kinda windy and not terribly cheap, but it is at the base of the sierras.

Thanks, I'll look into Minden as well.

 

[steve123]

Never lived their, just passed through on hunting trips. Missouri would just about fit the bill for everything you want. Nicer weather than down here in alabama, great hunting, fishing, timber and farmland. Only drawback is its not close to the coast. That would be one place I would move to.

A friend that used to live here moved to Mountain Home AR which is a nice area. The guy who built his log cabin lives in southern MO. He had one of the prettiest pieces of property I've ever seen. The bad thing was the ticks and chiggers were on the attack big time.

 

[steve123]

Key West


PSE EVO 60 Lbs.
Blacked out

Heck yeah! I love Key West. I spent 2 weeks there one year during January. Property is expensive though and summer might not be tolerable for me.

 

[steve123]

Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, are all decent places to live, and have pretty good firearms laws as well. TN offers lakes, rivers and good fishing and hunting(according to my neighbor, squirrels are damn good..medically retired SGT who I call a closet hillbilly)
The weather is not as humid as NC/SC/LA/GA/AL
Just make sure you stay away from the larger cities where miscreants concentrate.

Alright I'll look into those areas too. Thanks.

 

[steve123]

I also love montana, When I was there, they had everything, fishing, hunting, beautiful land, nice people and farm areas. I like that its hot and cold there so if you like mild weather I don't know a state that has all mild.

Haven't been to Montana. Been to Yellowstone though.

A friend bought some property up there about 30 miles south of the border. He'll be moving in a few years. Hopefully he'll let me visit and harass him a little.

 

[steve123]

I am not a fan of humidity, if its 90 and really humid it makes it feel like 100+. I like the cold (to an extent) and I like it warm but not too hot.

Same here.

 

[steve123]

Sounds to me like you just described Western NC and Eastern Tennessee. There are two places I would live, you described them and I just named them.

Plus you would have an instant rimfire shooting pal if you moved here.

You guys got a awesome match happening up there! I'll start researching those places too.

 

[steve123]

Northeastern Oklahoma Covers about everything except the coast.

I've driven through there and had forgot about that area.

 

[steve123]

ST George! everything you like about Flagstaff, and nothing you dont.

I drove through the Flaming Gorge area in May. Man, it was nice up there in the mountains, especially near the top! Even saw a few Rockchucks.

 

[TheGerman]

ST George! everything you like about Flagstaff, and nothing you dont.

You shut your mouth.

Ignore what he said; St.George is dirty and filled with herpes infected racoons. Plus, we changed our name to Salt Lake City.

I came from Florida and I'll say, don't waste your time looking in Florida. The word is out and people (the ones that are worth a shit) are slowly beginning to leave because the larger cities like Miami, Tampa and Orlando are getting even larger and starting to show signs of 'big city thinking'. Prices/cost of living being less in the south is total bullshit except maybe gasoline and what they don't get from you in state income tax they make up for it in property tax, toll roads that are built to where you practically have to use them and fees on fucking everything imaginable that they like to double each year.

 

[rookie101]

Eastern Oregon gets cold in the winter, but it is fantastic here all the same. If you drive up to Bend look me up, I am a couple hours south and you almost have to come through Klamath Falls. Good hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, shooting (you get the idea), and East of the Cascades things are not wet/gloomy like everybody thinks when they talk about Oregon. Bad side: the whole state is controlled by Portland/Salem, a larger group of hippies I have not seen. Fortunately our constitution has stood up to the many attempts to take away our rights (so far)

 

[Deerhunter 28]

Heck yeah! I love Key West. I spent 2 weeks there one year during January. Property is expensive though and summer might not be tolerable for me.

I was there this past August mid 80's not too bad.
Awesome place!!!!


PSE EVO 60 Lbs.
Blacked out

 

[mkollman74]

Forget anything positive that anyone says about the PNW, especially eastern OR, or eastern WA, and ID. There's a reason these areas are relatively sparsely populated (and I'd like to keep them that way)

 

[desto]

I hear you Steve, agree 100%. I have been researching this for about two years now, so far I'm thinking Texas, or perhaps Utah (not Mormon, will have to visit there first). Has to be somewhere without anti 2nd commies. Too much bad weather in Florida. Louisiana, perhaps north on the Texas side. Texas has high property tax. Good thing I have a while to think about it.

 

[Glen1978]

I live in East Texas. It gets hot but not too aweful cold. Property taxes high....? I got 15 acres with a 2400 square foot shop/apart ment on it and pay $700ish a year. 4 hours from the coast. Sounds like what your looking for. Land around me is getting higher but you can still get it for less than $3K/acre is you look a little.

With all that said I have looked at places in Arkansas and you can alot for your money there. Hilly/creeks/wooded/etc for dang cheap. I really like East Tennessee and N. Carolina too.

 

[long range newbie]

Yeah the land there is amazing. If you've never been fishing on a lake where you can see fish swimming to your bait, well montana has lakes like that... You can also see the bottom of some parts

 

[timjoebobbradley]

Eastern Oregon gets cold in the winter, but it is fantastic here all the same. If you drive up to Bend look me up, I am a couple hours south and you almost have to come through Klamath Falls. Good hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, shooting (you get the idea), and East of the Cascades things are not wet/gloomy like everybody thinks when they talk about Oregon. Bad side: the whole state is controlled by Portland/Salem, a larger group of hippies I have not seen. Fortunately our constitution has stood up to the many attempts to take away our rights (so far)

If you want to move to oregon that is fine, you are conservative gun lover so you can't be to bad. I'll warn you that Bend has already had a year or so of 20% increases in property costs already, its shaping up like another boom and in 5-10 years it will all bust again. Don't buy any property on the wrong part of the boom/ bust cycle. no sales tax but we do have high property tax and the city of bend is run by a bunch of evil crooks that make serious financial mistakes and just end up raising your utility costs and other fees to cover their dumb-assery.

yeah and ginny burdick is our state's equivalent of n pelosi. Ultra- liberal and incapable of rational thought

 

[xray9]

No hurricanes, skeeters, smog, traffic, around here in Central Washington. Here's a link from Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce

Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce

You can take a look from there, close to all the mountains, lakes and rivers you want, in fact the Columbia river runs right through it, only 3 hr. easy drive to Seattle, lowest electricity rates in the nation, all the stores and shopping I need, 300 days of sunshine every year, nice modern housing, a recreation destination, no 5 o'clock traffic rush, served by Alaska Airlines, just 10 minute no traffic ride, served by bus lines, Amtrak, what else is there? Formally from Bend, Or.

 

[Redseal11]

I was thinking of the same thing as the OP. I've been doing some research myself and ran across a guy that has been in the relocation field for 30yrs. He wrote several books but one that piqued my interest was called "Strategic Relocation". Check it out he analyzed everything in the book from taxes, population, government sites, water, potential nuke targets.....everything. It's interesting if not useful. I think small town America is where I want retire, tired of big cities

 

[c1steve]

Mid to Eastern Oregon or Washington would be nice. However depending on elevation they could also be cold in the winter. Salt water fishing is not too far away.

s

 

[lwrkeysfisher]

Spent a few years in Key West and plan to retire somewhere in the lower/middle keys. People are pretty quirky but remarkably laissez faire. The fishing in the keys cannot be beat, and there are several very nice ranges and places to hunt within 3-4 hours.

 

[snipe10]

Northwest Colorado, I'd go Wyoming but it's too windy and cold. I do want to be close enough to it though to get over the border if the need arises. I'm in Denver now but planning on moving the family to Steamboat Springs. The ski towns here have nice amenities like good restaurants, top docs and hospitals, some culture, an airport with connections to major U.S. hubs, lots of recreation and not a whole lot of people in the off season. Plus great hunting.

 

[jcm331]

I lived in Eastern PA growing up. I moved out to North Texas for grad school. I am currently in South Carolina. Out of the 3 South Carolina has the best weather. I don't notice the wind like I did in Texas. Summer is hot but not as bad as Texas. Winter is not bad. Plenty of trees and sun.

 

[RHunter]

I came from Florida and I'll say, don't waste your time looking in Florida. The word is out and people (the ones that are worth a shit) are slowly beginning to leave because the larger cities like Miami, Tampa and Orlando are getting even larger and starting to show signs of 'big city thinking'. Prices/cost of living being less in the south is total bullshit except maybe gasoline and what they don't get from you in state income tax they make up for it in property tax, toll roads that are built to where you practically have to use them and fees on fucking everything imaginable that they like to double each year.

That is complete BS, I live south of Tampa and it is very reasonable to live here and the property taxes are a fraction of many states, especially the north eastern ones, and there is no income tax. If I pay more than $10 a year in tolls I'd be surprised. There is plenty of land in the state, you can grow a lot here due to a year-round growing season and the heat is something you get used to... Especially if you are close to the coast and get the gulf breeze. I can say that because I am originally from Aspen Colorado. If I can tolerate the heat, anyone can. Frigging most of Arizona is insanely hot and so dry you get nose bleeds...

The only thing I miss is Elk hunting but there are plenty of deer and hog season is year round and those sow's are really good eatin'

If the world goes to shit, Florida will be a great place to be, you wont freeze your ass off in winter and we have plenty of water and you will never run out of food with an annual growing season.

And did I say very gun friendly? If they make it, we can own it here... Well with exception to armor pricing pistol rounds and incendiary pistol rounds but who the hell needs that kind of ammo?

Did I mention Florida has more concealed carry permits than any other state in the US?? That should speak for itself. I will agree that Miami, parts of Tampa and parts of Orlando suck but any large city sucks and there are large cities in EVERY state.

If you are a severe gun nut then you need to go where you will be in like company. Outside the big cities, Florida is as red as red can be.

I used to make jokes about red necks but I'll tell you what, they are salt of the earth people who would do anything to help you if you needed it. Good neighbors in my book.

 

[Dogtown]

It's hard for people who didn't grow-up out West to understand just how much we hate humidity It was the single most hated aspect of my active years at Benning and Bragg, and that says a lot.

I know it's a stretch, but the Otago region of New Zealand is pretty nice. You can be in temperate plains towards the east or snowy mountains and fjords to the west. You can pretty much shoot as far as you want and suppressors are unrestricted. That's where I'm looking at least.

 

[.17Sniper]

+1 for Bend. Just starting to build a house over there and can't say enough good stuff about the place. Hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest with great hunting and fishing within a short drive. Awesome skiing at Mt Bachelor 20 min outside of town. Good food and golf, too. Around 300 days of sunshine annually with low humidity!

You're still in Oregon, of course... The only thing separating you from the hippie capital of the world is the Cascade Mountains.

 

[kurt]

if you like -20 in the winter and 100 in the summer south Dakota is you huckle berry. other than that we have every thing you would want

 

[steve123]

Rhunter,

You cracked me up, LOL, because this summer I've had more nose bleeds than I've ever had. So frikken dry here sometimes! It was a revelation when I went on a long range fishing trip for a week because my nose actually felt normal for a change.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! It's going to be a decade or so before I can retire so the thing for me to do is plan on taking the wife to the places you've suggested and see how we like them.

We just got our property taxes appealed last year and received the bill yesterday. I could of made payments on a brand new truck for as much as it was, now it's 1/3 what it used to be, hallelujah !!! Those blood sucking bastards at the county don't mind raping the tax payer for what properties used to be worth before property values dropped! We had to go through this BS appealing process or too bad! And it's the law we can't get our money back for the last couple years since we moved on the property, how convenient for them.

I drove through middle and southern Idaho last May also. Seemed like it might be a consideration. Any comments about living there.

 

[Cartman]

Steve, as bad as it may be just remember things can always be worse. My wife and I pay about $20,000.00 a year in property taxes. How does that grab you? And we're looking to leave before we retire. The weather here, however, is literally perfect.