Should we move south???

It's warm to very hot and humid most of the year with beautiful weather most of the year. I'm located in the Dallas area. Depending on where you want to live will determine what you pay for a house and how much space you want between you and your neighbors. As previously stated, no income tax, reasonable gas prices and lots of boating options. Along with good schools and a healthy economy to pay for our fun. We're within a days drive for snow skiing in Colorado or the beautiful white sand beaches of either South Padre island, TX or Destin, FL. Most of the people are friendly and the women are beautiful! Traffic isn't too bad, you're either hauling ass or sitting still. It's a great place to be!

P.S. My wife and her family moved from PA to Dallas in 80 due to the job slump in PA at the time and have never looked back.

We moved from a very small town on the coast of Maine to South Carolina last year. We started planning our move two years before we did it. We considered and traveled to multiple places across the country. Once we settled on the Carolinas it became an exercise in picking a metropolis based on many factors. For us the greater Raleigh area is growing too fast and becoming less cost effective, same thing with Charlotte. We wanted to be near/on a large deep lake and we visited Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, and Columbia areas based on our own research and others suggestions (@Andy S suggested Chapin, SC where we live now). We ended up in Chapin, SC for the high school which is truly is fabulous and the smaller town feel while being close to almost everything we wanted. We love it and probably would have loved Charleston or Greenville too. For us being in-between Charlotte and Atlanta was a plus for our jobs and we have family and friends spread from Virginia to Florida. We both work from home but have to travel every so often. From the state income tax perspective we may have even liked Florida or Texas.

Pros: Cheap quality housing (brand new houses under $100 sq ft!) with average other costs of living. Weather, weather, weather. Friendly people. More diversity for our kids to experience and thrive off of.

Cons: Dangerous cycling with no break down lanes. Missing family. Traffic compared to the little town I lived in before.

Recommendations: Travel first. Check out the areas and take a day to make pretend you are house shopping while making note of how far things you will need everyday are. A major move is a very big deal.

haknslash said:

You guys are doing it all wrong. DO NOT MOVE TO THE SOUTH.

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Tired of all the "Damn Yankees"? For those unfamiliar southerners refer to northerners that relocate down south as "Damn Yankees". I have run into more folks who have relocated from up north than those who were actually born here.

Mainah said:

Tired of all the "Damn Yankees"? For those unfamiliar southerners refer to northerners that relocate down south as "Damn Yankees". I have run into more folks who have relocated from up north than those who were actually born here.

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Couldn't be any more true. Any time I tell someone I was born and raised in FL, they are dumbfounded.... I guess we are a rare breed (of course most the people I know were born and raised here lol)

I'd say come to Dallas - Ft. Worth, but I'm worried it would mean just one more freakin Eagles fan invading us!!! If you come down you must assimilate into a Cowboys fan!!

Haaa I was born and raised in Taxachusetts back then when you left a town you drove through wooded areas before you arrived in another town. I am sure that has changed somewhat in the last 50 years LOL.
However before moving away from the snow, I visited LA and St Pete FL Hands down and without question I chose St PETE.
I had no idea we would become the densest populated county in the state, and the traffic is really bad now in the tourist season ,especially with people on phones or drugs, or both driving around with no clue.. we have fatalities all the time here, SERIOUSLY!
I was a state certified traffic homicide investigator at one time and I never saw the level of fatal accidents back then that I see now just driving down the street. We had 2 vehicle vs bicycle fatalities and one pedestrian fatality in the last few weeks just in my area alone.
As for heat They invented air conditioning for that and if they had not I would not be living here. I never owned an air conditioner before moving here. So nothing is perfect but the humidity is not a southern problem we had our share back in Mass. Same goes for BUGS plenty of those in Mass also.

captras said:

Central Texas. ..hill country. ..no income tax, good gas prices, great economy, friendly people, plenty of places to boat!

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@captras, you forgot to mention that Texas has the best BBQ in the country.

Tennessee has no income tax. Property taxes on a 5,200 sq ft house runs about $4K a year. Sales tax bites you at 9.75%. Greater Nashville area has the #1 and #2 fastest growing counties in the USA for the last ~10 years with approximately 90 people moving here PER DAY. Job market is fantastic for workers, as unemployment is X<3%. Weather is pleasant most the year and there's just enough seasonality to make you appreciate the good weather. Typically snows here 1 or 2 weeks out of the year. Warmer weather starts in March and Winter doesn't start until November or December. We start boating in April and go until October. I've even cruised the lake in January or February before (water is too cold for swimming). Lots of beautiful lakes and rivers around the state.

Lots of my friends relocated from Michigan or Ohio (we're in automotive) and love it here - we call them "carpet baggers". The Californians love it here as well, but they all gripe about the 1 month-long winters. Moving from southern Cali to anywhere will be a downer, except they all appreciate the 'normal' political atmosphere and low taxes here.

what do you call the south?
I'm a NH to NC transplant. moved down here on a 1 year plan, even kept our house in NH......10 years in we sold our NH house, 11 years in we bought a retirement house......NC can give you a nice touch of winter, last week we got 10", 3 days later is was gone and almost 70. summers can get hot/humid, but not florida hot/humid.

population is growing, traffic around the cities SUCK, housing cost is increasing. taxes are reasonable, lake properties are reasonable.

Cobra Jet Steering LLC said:

Haaa I was born and raised in Taxachusetts back then when you left a town you drove through wooded areas before you arrived in another town. I am sure that has changed somewhat in the last 50 years LOL.
However before moving away from the snow, I visited LA and St Pete FL Hands down and without question I chose St PETE.
I had no idea we would become the densest populated county in the state, and the traffic is really bad now in the tourist season ,especially with people on phones or drugs, or both driving around with no clue.. we have fatalities all the time here, SERIOUSLY!
I was a state certified traffic homicide investigator at one time and I never saw the level of fatal accidents back then that I see now just driving down the street. We had 2 vehicle vs bicycle fatalities and one pedestrian fatality in the last few weeks just in my area alone.
As for heat They invented air conditioning for that and if they had not I would not be living here. I never owned an air conditioner before moving here. So nothing is perfect but the humidity is not a southern problem we had our share back in Mass. Same goes for BUGS plenty of those in Mass also.

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Hell there was two nasty wrecks on 49th on my way to work this morning. I read about death on 49th every week. Of course when j-walk while texting - you probably have it coming.

I grew up in NJ and was in the military for almost 30 years. My last duty station was Panama City and retired here and love it. Its a little "red necky" but I am a red neck at heart. I love fishing and hunting and hate the cold (except when hunting). The winters here can get cold we just had a couple of nights in the upper 20's but that's not normal. Winter is usually December thru February. The spring is usually beautiful March thru May. Summers can be a bitch but being on the water and owning a boat make it bearable June thru August. Fall is usually beautiful and no tourists September thru November. So you really only have a couple of months that can be either too hot or too cold.

I live in Northwest Arkansas which is frequently listed in the top places to live. We get cold winters but they’re short. Can comfortably boat from March-October and get in the water without freezing starting Memorial Day weekend (late May) until September.

adrianp89 said:

Couldn't be any more true. Any time I tell someone I was born and raised in FL, they are dumbfounded.... I guess we are a rare breed (of course most the people I know were born and raised here lol)

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When I lived in FL it cracked me up because it seemed NO ONE was from FL, everywhere you went people asked where you were from and they all were “from” somewhere else.
I went to look at a boat when I was shopping for them, the guy had a very nice house on the bay, he had a very strong New England accent, so I asked where he was from. He said he was from NY, he came down here for 3 weeks to help a struggling dealership get back on their feet....at the end of the story he said, “oh, and that was 37 years ago, I never went back.

I also grew up in taxachuesetts. After I retired I moved to Denver NC to boat on lake Norman. I've been here about 14 months but I did come down twice and rent a boat to see f I liked the lake. My house taxes went from 7k to $1200. Jan 17 to March 17 went out on the boat six times. This is a nice area not as hot and humid as further south. People are nice and there's a lot of transplants here as well. I had to do 20 years to get my pension or I would have done it a long time ago because I hate the snow and extreme cold also. Carolinas also make it easier to commute back up north if we want to. Good luck like others said go check out a couple places your interested in and use Zillow or some other app to check property prices.

There is ethanol free gas here also that you can't get in Massachusetts

The thought of moving south, especially to state like TX or FL that lacks an income tax is getting more and more appealing every year. Only cons would be distance from family and the huge hassle of it all.

San Diego is nice. Projecting temps in the mid 80s this weekend. Taxes suck, politics stuck, gun rules suck, housing cost sucks, and traffic sucks, but I just keep my head in the sand and ignore it. The beaches are awesome, winters are mellow, summer is mellow, great national parks, excellent skiing in mammoth, and the Colorado River with az laws is just 3hr away! I'm off to the river tomorrow after work.

You know what the difference is between a Yankee and a damn Yankee .
A Yankee goes home. Jk. You should look at eastern nc.

@LeeFlan7 I grew up in Chester County PA and moved to DFW 25 years ago this summer. Short conclusion is that I will never go back, but here are my pros and cons of Dallas vs Philly:

Pros:

• Dallas is super convenient. There are tons of restaurants and shopping within just a few miles no matter where you live in the city.
• Economy is strong. There is near 0% unemployment.
• Homes are still relatively affordable, but that is slowly changing.
• Healthcare is top notch and abundant. You need to see a specialist? The wait is days vs weeks.
• Tons of lakes giving ample boating opportunities.
• People are definitely nicer. You meet someone on the street and most likely you'll get a "howdy" vs the Philly "f- off"

Cons:

• Dallas is not what I would call a pretty place to live. A lot of concrete.
• Traffic is awful during rush hour.
• You are at least 5 hours from the beach (Galveston) and it's not a pretty beach. You can make Destin in a day, but it's 12 hours of driving.
• No Yuengling!!!
• Steaks and Tex Mex is incredible, but Seafood and Italian just don't cut it. I'll pit North Atlantic Oysters against Gulf Oysters any day of the week.
• Cowboys fans. Every time they get a first down people are saying their going to the superbowl.

Moving south was the best choice and I'll never go north again. Yeah it's hot, but I could take my boat out today if I wanted as it is nearly 70 degrees.

Whichever place you move, stay strong #FlyEaglesFly

ENC boater said:

You know what the difference is between a Yankee and a damn Yankee .
A Yankee goes home. Jk. You should look at eastern nc.

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Hmmm and i thought we were friends Billy?..... lol