If you could have a home anywhere in the world...

[Carmine]

...I'd like to know where and why.

I've been doing a lot of long-range thinking lately. That means about 8 years from now. If cards fall correctly, work-commute won't be an issue. Everything from ideas I'd like to incorporate into a "dream house" to system of local government. I'm skipping the novel I wrote giving pros/cons of where I live now and simplify it to this:

I very much like the community I currently live in. I like living in the Detroit suburbs for many reasons, but I'll just say that cars and "car-culture" are some of them.

However, I have some concerns that the ranks of normal folk (who cut their lawns, fix their roofs) are shrinking while the ranks of illiterate morons (who shoot fireworks at 1 AM, put trash on their lawn days before actual trash day, paint their businesses lime green) continue to expand. This isn't drawn along any specific boundary line, in fact my area has bucked the trend pretty well. But I can see lions near the gate, if I squint. I think this phenomenon is occurring in every major population center, probably around the world. Maybe it's just because I saw an "I'm with her" bumper-sticker today and it scared me. :0

The easy answer is move to the country I suppose. But I don't know if I quite want to completely check-out... It's nice to live near expressways, hospitals, entertainment, festivals, cruise nights, multiple Home Depots, a major airport, etc.

Complicating this... As much as I love Michigan, I'm not a winter dude. I hate being cold. I love being hot. I get depressed without sunshine. My plan to deal with that has been owning a second home in a Phoenix, AZ suburb. I lived there from '99-'03 for a job assignment and I liked it so much I usually go back a couple times a year. Phoenix also has a car-culture, so that's something that puts it way ahead of just another warm-weather state.

*Not mine, but something I'd consider. Has RV Gate and huge rear yard for a shop...

I can actually deal with 120-degree days, but if I can manage both and be in MI when it's sunny and 85 in the summer, why not?

So this has been my goal/plan for some time now. Wife is on board. I have no family that would influence where I live. Her family travels, (and they aren't from MI anyway) so they'd probably spend some time with us.

But lately I have been questioning this plan.

I suppose I'm suffering from the same angst that many people feel about where this country will be in 10-years. States like Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, etc. are starting to have some appeal to me. But I know I'd freeze my *** off, and I'd miss seeing old Mopars just hanging out in traffic like I do now. Driving 150 miles back to the Home Depot because I purchased the wrong tile cement doesn't appeal either. When I watch old 70s movies, the south appeals to me... But I suspect it's not like that anymore. The good ol' boys are probably working the line at Hyundai and chasing Pokemon on the weekend.

So where do you like? Nothing east of Ohio has ever done much for me, but maybe I'm missing something? I don't want to pay $30 for a hamburger, so I think that rules out the NE which is cold anyway.

I might even consider another country. But considering the only reason I might leave is that I foresee less freedom, your suggestion should probably not be a place that has "more" government than the US by 2024. Mexico might be a good choice, but being kidnapped would be a negative. Maybe I'm full of crap on that and it's only the border towns? Argentina? Brazil? I read the posts of a guy on HAMB who lives in Ecuador and he makes it seem pretty nice. I've been to Germany and liked it, but that was 12-years ago and I suspect things are changin'. Still had more rules than the US, even then. Time to go back to Sicily? From what I read that sounds like a bad idea.

Share your thoughts. So far I can't beat my original plan, but I don't want to get tunnel vision.

 

[65 500]

I would say the U.P., or northern Minnesota/northern Wisconsin, but that might not fit into your dislike of cold weather. I hate the heat/humidity, so it would work out for me. If you like the mountains you might look into WV, western Va., or western NC., and it doesn't get really cold. They can get a fair amount of snow, but it's usually mostly gone in a week, and that's if they get 2.5 feet. North east Utah is pretty nice too if you like mountains, but you better love snow too, and lots of it.

 

[Carmine]

I've thought of the UP, maybe for summers?

 

[LeBaron1973]

Personally, I hate the heat and am moving from Australia (Adelaide) to New Zealand (Christchurch) next July to live with my partner - she also hates the heat.

Take a chance, if you can do it go for it once you're sure everything will work out as you hope.

Best wishes to you both.

 

[Polara-Star]

Dislike of Cold is a significant problem, but being a Mopar fan is a major plus...As long as you understand being east of Eden is where car nuts are here. Gets hot in the summer, cold in the winter.... no matter what, mopar nuts gather... we even have an original A&W drive-in, just up the road from our local Dodge dealership. You could do worse than Vermont.

 

[saforwardlook]

All I can say is that I hated living in the suburbs of Detroit for the entire 3 years I was there. The incredible cold, gloom and factory town atmosphere was too much for me. But I grew up in Southern California, so maybe that I why I could never adjust. I hate cold and it lasted so long that it seemed I was wasting half my life because of it. And the rust on my cars from salt was unacceptable.

I like mountains and a more upbeat culture, although I did like the auto culture of Michigan. Southern California is warm most of the year and the mountains are stunning - I never tire of looking at them. But the attractiveness of California's climate is also its downfall - endless people and traffic to cope with when you want to go anywhere. But overall, I love living here. From some of your comments, though, it might not be conservative enough for you out here either. To some of us, she makes more sense than he does............................even if I don't care for either one of them.

 

[cantflip]

No politics in my thoughts (it's all simply going to hell)... I don't want more people around, but more car people wouldn't be bad.

My father and brother both live in and like AZ. I thought it was a bit brown and dusty for my tastes. On the other hand a nice rust preventing climate isn't ever a bad thing.

Apparently my unusual last name is Australian for "loud mouth a##hole"... so I would love to check it out someday, but everything there is poisonous. At least that's what my wussified city boy self has been led to believe from the nature channel.

NZ sounds really nice and nothing trying to kill you... long drive from FL though.

Rural GA or SC/NC sounds nice... but all I would do is be too far out to find work and not wealthy enough to be away from people. I have seen some pretty poor looking places and realize I wouldn't all the way belong... and I couldn't afford the nicer ones without a decent job.

Mexico is out... I'm way too stupid to learn Spanish...

I like many things about middle Florida... but unless "Stan and Jeff's Formal Heaven" did one heck of a business, I would be sleeping in my tool box... (it would work out as a nice place for a parts car or two).

With my current employer I could try to transfer to several different states, but all in populated areas... of the location list, NC sounds the best... but not good enough to want to go through all of that. I could change jobs, but I have lasted here long enough to have good vacation time.

If I can drive my 440's enough to get this global warming thing working right, I might be able to move to CA and work for Dobaluvr, but he has already turned down my request for the wash rack... apparently I'm underdeveloped in the import area's for that job.

Either way I need to move before FL is swallowed by the ocean, but I really want to stay here long enough to become beach access from my Orlando neighborhood.

 

[LeBaron1973]

Australia is ok, just gotta stay away from areas the crocodiles or sharks live.
They have scorpions in Arizona but folks still live there.

 

[polara71]

Great write up Carmine as usual.
The east has no redeeming qualities except the beach and some like the four seasons, I could do without. Right now we are experiencing 98 degree days of course it also is accompanied by high humidity.
Extreme cold frequently visits us in February , where zero is not peculiar ..
I've always liked the beach and the salt water, boating and sand in my shorts but the herds of people have ruined every aspect of this enjoyment and now with age I'm finding I really could do without it.
The taxes , expenses , rules and regulations are also extreme here, in Jersey anyway.
I agree, everything east of Indiana is off the table, it's gotta be.
My wife and I are looking elsewhere, and it all appears to be West.... mid Northwest to the Pacific sounds best.

Good luck finding your destination, I'm currently soul searching myself.

 

[1978 NYB]

Door County, Wisconsin....

Beers, Brats, Broads, Packers.....and cheese!

 

[1978 NYB]

2nd choice would be somewhere on the Equator.....maybe Ecuador. Average year round temp is 80. Never snow and 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness every day. Cruising 365 days a year.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

As soon as my son graduates high school I am gotta here they(politicians) have taxed me out of PA and 5 months of snow is not cutting it. Probably South Carolina east of 95 corridor to keep my truck working.

 

[cantflip]

Hmmm... well maybe I could learn Spanish...

 

[commando1]

I found my paradise. If you are predisposed to hating it without living here, there's no use in me even trying to convince you otherwise.
FWIW, it has been in the low 90's for mostof the summer.

Please do not confuse us with Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Daytona, Disney World, etc. It's just not like that.
It's 77° right now and I have a kayak trip coming up soon. ☺

 

[Fratzog]

The property taxes in Grimsby Ontario are getting ridiculous which will make retirement here an iffy prospect. On the other hand we are close to our girls in St. Catharines. We like our property backing onto a wooded escarpment and will do what we can to stay.

We have relatives in Austria that we like to see. Plan to do that on a regular basis once retired and maybe do side trips to other interesting European locations. Here are some pics of the area in Austria my family comes from.
altmunster austria - Google Search

 

[tallhair]

I'm pretty happy here in Illinois, but when I retired I would probably move further away from Metro STL back to my VERY small rural home town. Not a hell of a lotta people telling others what to do there.

I am not big fan of winters and have lived in Texas twice for a total of 12 years in Wichita Falls and San Antonio and my son now lives in the Irving area of Dallas-Ft Worth. So Texas could be a permanent or a winter candidate.

I've also thought about Florida - been on vacation to Orlando twice and I liked FL overall but would probably look for the least humid, lesser populated locales ... maybe somewhere in fumbuck area .

However as I've been reading others thoughts and feelings and thinking about my own reason for leaving - it's primarily fueled by my dislike for winter. However, with all this pondering I think the prime reason, other than no sunlight is depressing, that I dislike winter time is I have to get out it early in the morning and go to work, and I have to go outside once there to smoke.

So if I was retired, and this is what we're talking about mainly, I really wouldn't have to get out and go anywhere early in the morning so maybe I just stay in my small home town and play on the internet and watch turner classic movies during the winter and not go running around outside and all will be well.

Here's a potential site of tallhair's retirement home. The pine tree got cut down last nov.

 

[Carmine]

I sometimes think MI tries to make up for the clouds, damp, cold by being pretty light on the regulations and laws. For example, you can get a plate on just about anything here. No emissions tests (for about 20 years), no inspections.

(I know it's in the junkyard, but you can see this mess was being driven) The upside is I see more old cars in regular use here than I see anywhere else, even AZ. Figure these are from the last 3 years, and I don't snap a picture of everything I see. I assure you these guys aren't headed for car shows.

With my wife being from OH, I continually learn reasons that I don't see myself headed there. Photo radar, photo red light cameras, city income tax, random DUI inspection lanes, random letters to prove you have insurance on everything, all titles require notaries, snow emergencies that lock you in the house until the almighty state deems it "safe", county sales tax and probably a few I've forgotten. You have to realize that for a Michigan guy who has never had to deal with any of this, it feels like the USSR is just over the state line. By the way, does any of it make a difference for them? Nope. I hear the same stores on the Ohio news about drunks killing people, red light runners, broke cities, need more taxes, etc. So I guess any new state would have to at least meet the freedom-from-chicken-sh**-nonsense bar that MI has set.

My broader fear for the country is just watching politicians trying to divide everyone up and get them to vote for their own little identity. Once you start and exploit that genie, it doesn't go back into its bottle. So what I see on the horizon is more of that, little riots between rival clans, etc. And while this distraction goes on, we continue to depress wages against whichever country does XYZ cheaper and the "middle class" struggles to support an infrastructure created when their grandparents had more money to do it. I won't live long enough to see it rebuild after collapsing, but I'm sure I'll see it get worse. I'm just trying to judge how far back I'll need to stand, hopefully while wearing a t-shirt vs. parka.

 

[Carmine]

Dislike of Cold is a significant problem, but being a Mopar fan is a major plus...As long as you understand being east of Eden is where car nuts are here. Gets hot in the summer, cold in the winter.... no matter what, mopar nuts gather... we even have an original A&W drive-in, just up the road from our local Dodge dealership. You could do worse than Vermont.

This show helped, but I don't think I could get past the cold.

 

[tallhair]

city income tax

Damn, first I've heard of that one.

 

[tallhair]

This show helped, but I don't think I could get past the cold.

I loved Bob Newhart's shows. Best at dry, deadpan humor. "Newhart" had the best ever final scene of all time !!!