Foo - I want to move out of the PNW!

Where should I go? Somewhere in the US of course.
My friend asked me to go to New York with her. Maybe!

Nah, all the big cities stink, literally and figuratively. Move to somewhere somewhat rural, but still reasonably close to a big city so you don't get bored. I really liked living in southern IL. Since it was a college town, it had the small town southern feel, but there was more than enough to do. And you drive 10 minutes down the road and you're in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how people tolerate living in large cities. The concrete jungle makes me depressed. But yea, that's just me. I try to convince everyone I know that lives in big cities to move somewhere else. :D

Doesn't matter. Either it's boring or you're likely to die. The money might be good but the climate or the weather will suck. Either your neighbors will be in your space or nobody will give you the time of day. It's gonna be too hot, too cold, too expensive, too podunk, too weird or straitlaced.

It will suck, for sure.

I think I belong in the forest.

I've always had this fantasy of trying to live out in the middle of nowhere unabomber style... but without the terrorism. You should do that.

insufficient information!

WHY do you want to leave the PNW?
What do you like to do and what are you looking for?
What are your restrictions, meaning what climate do you like, what type of scenery, how easy is it for you to find a job for your skills/abilities, do you want a big city or small town?

I live in a big city and I don't mind it most of the time although most things I like to do are in rural areas. Unfortunately I can't find jobs in my profession in small towns. (But then there aren't any jobs in my profession anywhere but the middle east right now and I'm not going there.)

I've lived in the PNW (Portland and Vancouver, WA area) my whole life. I need a change of scenery/pace. People seem to like Portland a lot though. I've been to other states when I was younger so I don't remember much other than not liking Los Angeles a whole lot.
What do I like to do? What exactly do you mean? I like a lot of things! and I'm not sure what I'm looking for :/

But I've heard the PNW has some damn fine coffee, and damn fine cherry pie.:thumb:

Nashville? Completely different from the PNW (and that's why I moved here and will hopefully never have to move back!) Just get used to heat indices over 100 and about a thousand times more bugs.

States I thought about moving to: Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California (maybe), Chicago....
lots of people told me to move to NC. Not sure why.
My dad told me I should move to places like Lake Tahoe or Big Bear California.

Since when did Chicago declare Statehood?

Of your list, I'd say CO.

But I've heard the PNW has some damn fine coffee, and damn fine cherry pie.:thumb:

Is that a Twin Peaks reference?!

I meant Illinois! duh!

Be advised that the rain that you're used to in the PNW ain't the same in TX. The rain can be heavier, with lightning, hail, high winds, and the odd twister. I once read an account of someone who was used to the PNW describe the first storm they encountered in the Midwest (I believe KC)- it was like being sprayed by a fire hose with ice cubes mixed in.

Since when did Chicago declare Statehood?

Cook county could be a state...

States I thought about moving to: Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California (maybe), Chicago....
lots of people told me to move to NC. Not sure why.
My dad told me I should move to places like Lake Tahoe or Big Bear California.

Year I left Chicago: 1996
Number of times I've returned to visit: 0

I can't imagine anyone who likes CO, being happy with Chicago, (or vice versa).

I think "city people" like Chicago. I haven't lived anywhere else but I would say if you like culture, food, and/or music/night life you'd do alright. Cycling in the city seems popular from the number of people I see on bikes. If you want mountains and outdoor stuff, you probably want somewhere else. For local cyclists, check out thechainlink.org

I've lived in the PNW (Portland and Vancouver, WA area) my whole life. I need a change of scenery/pace. People seem to like Portland a lot though. I've been to other states when I was younger so I don't remember much other than not liking Los Angeles a whole lot.
What do I like to do? What exactly do you mean? I like a lot of things! and I'm not sure what I'm looking for :/

I grew up in Southern California, met my wife in Santa Barbara, and started our life together in San Diego. By sheer chance we moved to Vantucky back in 1996, just in time for the Big Flood. I wondered what we had gotten into...

Since then we've done 4 Cycles Oregon, ridden our bikes all over the place in all sorts of conditions, and built a darn good life together. It's a zillion times better here than Southern California, and there's not many places that I would consider moving to from here.

I can understand wanderlust, though. If you want someplace different but similar to Portland, try Austin, Texas. They coined "Keep Austin Weird", which Music Millennium shamelessly plagiarized. If you don't want to go far, try Corvallis or Ewwgene. I don't think employment prospects are really good in either, though.

Big Bear would be neat, but you'll have to figure out how to stay employed. Seasonal work is great, in season, but when the tourists go away it can get awful tight. Tahoe/Reno might not be bad, but Reno was booming as fast as Vegas until a couple years ago. I'd expect the job market to be pretty tight there, too.

I live in Dallas which is a pretty big city but varied, you can live in the middle of the city or you can live in a rural area. You can have horses and chickens in your back yard but drive to work every day in a 70 story building. I grew up in a town of 5000 people which is very much different.

I plan to live in Dallas until I retire, then we are considering moving to a small town in a different area, say southwestern Colorado. My favorite places in the entire country are Silverton, CO and Moab, UT. I can find towns in southwestern Colorado that are close to both of these places but not right in the mountains where the winter weather would be really harsh.

I've only been to ocean shore areas on a few occasions- various places in Texas, Maine, Florida, LosAngeles and Oregon. Each of these is interesting but I don't think I would like the winters in Maine or Oregon, and I don't like the hottest part of the summer in Texas or Florida. Southern California has great weather but bad economic conditions, and not disrespect to the decent residents of California but the great majority of the population IMO doesn't deserve to live in such a great place. Even though I find the ocean interesting I'm not really an ocean type of guy and I would prefer to spend my time on a mountain bike, in a jeep or on hiking boots in the mountains or in the canyons.

Unfortunately the current economy has me mostly retired but I need to work more in my career before I can actually afford to retire so I'm planning to stay in the big city for a number of years more. I'm hoping the economy will make a big recovery and/or I can find a job that will actually pay me a salary so I can work more towards retiring.

Hahaha Arizona, I'd stick to the northern part if anything. You'll wish you didn't move.

Hahaha Arizona, I'd stick to the northern part if anything.

I've been to northern Arizona lots of times. That's Grand Canyon or indian reservation or a few small towns that are Mormon polygamist holdouts. There is some interesting scenery there but no towns of any size, except maybe Page.

My friends told me not to move to Phoenix, Arizona because everything closes at 6pm. haha

Where should I go? Somewhere in the US of course.
My friend asked me to go to New York with her. Maybe!

You should go out and see the world...

Denver. I love it here.

______. I love it here.

Fixed.

Just throw a dart at the map.
http://www.dartonmap.net/

If you're worried about finding work North Dakota is supposedly looking for people.

Fixed.

Just throw a dart at the map.
http://www.dartonmap.net/

If I would have followed the dart, I would have drowned in the Hudson Bay.

You should go out and see the world...

I agree, visit a lot of places on vacation and you'll have a better understanding of where you want to move.

I have looked into moving to the NW, and everyone says it's always cloudy and rainy, but compared to the NE, the NW has more sunny days. www.city-data.com

Buy a van. Drive around until you find somewhere you like or run out of money. Sell the van and set up camp.

I plan to live in Dallas until I retire, then we are considering moving to a small town in a different area, say southwestern Colorado.

You wouldn't like it here...too many Texans. ;)

You wouldn't like it here...too many Texans. ;)

I've heard they have the same problem in TX.:(

States I thought about moving to: Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California (maybe), Chicago....
lots of people told me to move to NC. Not sure why.
My dad told me I should move to places like Lake Tahoe or Big Bear California.I've lived in most of these places, you might like Colorado, the rest are awful places to live. Parts of California are nice, (like Santa Rosa), but it is SO expensive to live there.

Maybe try Bend for a while. If you do, stash some money in Portland so you have some "move back" money.

Move to the Mission Beach area of San Diego. It's the best place in the world for someone of your age to live.

I've lived in the PNW (Portland and Vancouver, WA area) my whole life. I need a change of scenery/pace.

So really you just want to leave a 2-county area. That makes much more sense.

Fixed.

Just throw a dart at the map.
http://www.dartonmap.net/
I landed in the ocean. Should I get a sailboat or kayak?

Yes to jdon's idea. Get an old vw vanagon westfalia and cruise the country!

I've lived in the PNW (Portland and Vancouver, WA area) my whole life. I need a change of scenery/pace. People seem to like Portland a lot though. I've been to other states when I was younger so I don't remember much other than not liking Los Angeles a whole lot.
What do I like to do? What exactly do you mean? I like a lot of things! and I'm not sure what I'm looking for :/

Reverse commute. I left NYC in 1992 to come to Seattle. The people out here are pretty reserved though. You'll will probably find it easier to make friends in NY.

I want you to move out of the PNW. Get the hell outta here.

i'm gonna get outta here and probably come back when I'm done exploring. who knows!

i'm gonna get outta here and probably come back when I'm done exploring. who knows!

Yeah, I hear ya. Go see the world.

Well, don't move to the US Southeast. My neighbors are as dumb as dirt and think they are the cat's ass. They are real polite as they steal your baby's candy.

Austin Tx
Prescott Az
Charlottesville Va
Ashville Nc
Knoxville Tn

Go.Away.Soon.Before.You.Become.A.Depressive.Nuisance.And.Hurt.Someone.

Austin Tx
Prescott Az
Charlottesville Va
Ashville Nc
Knoxville Tn

Nice list.

I approve this message.

The really cool thing about Knoxville is, near downtown, you can stand on the corner of 5th and Gay St. and see the S&M Industrial building.


Or at least you could 15 years ago.

A seriously under the radar town.

There is a town in SoCal that regularly makes the "best places to live in the U.S." lists. And that's Irvine.

It's close to beaches, bike trails and is a very safe place to live.

Irvine is very safe - as long as you don't fall asleep. Like most of Socal, its strip malls and housing.

Yes to jdon's idea. Get an old vw vanagon westfalia and cruise the country!

Sell beads and weed out of the van to fund your trip.Visit Woodstock:thumb:

Last month Alpha girl (after crashing her car,causing a fire in the kitchen)was joining the Army or French Foreign Legion.

Nice list.

I approve this message.

:lol:
Looks like the Nascar circut stops.
HEEEEHAAAWWW!

If I would have followed the dart, I would have drowned in the Hudson Bay.

Why are you not promoting moving to the Great White North to Alpha girl?