Researching a Move to Another State--What Resources are Avaliable?

[Qs Laptop]

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Originally Posted by Cessna152 I was born in St. Paul and spent the first 37 years of my life in the Twin Cities area. So I can relate some. Then moved to California (Folsom) and then in and around East SF Bay (Pleasanton), South SF Bay (San Jose,) and Monterey Bay (Aptos.) Spent about 9 years there. Moved to Eugene/Springfield area of Oregon and been here 12 years. We're planning to move yet again, now that we too are retired. Also looking for sun, minimal snow, not too hot, not too cold, and of course affordable. Will have to settle on less-than-perfect of course! I already posted a climate comparison tool in an earlier post. "Number one for me is climate. I need sunny days. No snow, or very little snow. Moderate to low humidity. This criteria cuts down a lot of territory." Indeed - driest and sunniest areas of the country are west of about the 100th longitude and east of about 120th longitude. Given your preferences, in that area probably no farther north than Rapid City, SD and no farther south than, say, San Antonio TX (humidity may become an unpleasant factor much south of the Hill area of TX.) Financial comparisons: Since property taxes are set at the city and county level, it is surprising that that a single tool exists at all that seems to allow one to estimate them: https://smartasset.com/taxes/property-taxes Of course if you intend to own a home (or even rent) you'll need tools to compare the costs of the single largest non-liquid asset you are likely to own, so a site like https://www.zillow.com/home-values/ helps. With respect to income taxes, sunny, dry, snow that doesn't stick around, and avoidance of high humidity (I personally have no issue with cold so long as there is plenty of sun) you may want to check out Rapid City, Cheyenne, and northern areas of Texas. Wife and I took a driving tour from Oregon through Evanston WY, Cody, Sheridan, Casper, Cheyenne and Rapid City areas in June to see what we thought of them as places to move to. The only one that stayed on our list was Rapid City (the Black Hills act as a barrier to the prevailing winds that put Rapid City in a banana belt - i.e. averaging slightly warmer than places around them.) However, our elimination of WY places had more to do with limited scheduled air carrier access to hubs of future interest than anything else - Wyoming is a great place to find isolation. Other issue is winters last longer due to most of WY at a higher plain of existence (lapse rate and all that means.) In August we flew from Oregon down to San Antonio, rented a car, and spent a couple weeks touring the "Hill" country of Texas. Stopped in at a few open houses of places meeting some of our preferences to get a feel for the housing market (otherwise too soon for us - we were up-front with the agents about our time frame.) Definitely warmer climes and housing prices were reasonable. Property taxes are definitely higher, though of course Texas has no income tax Kerrville TX and Rapid City SD may not seem to have much in common, but at the moment they both are on our short list. But we're in no hurry and they both may vanish to be replaced with something else.

Thank you so much for that property tax site. Very helpful.

I knew about Zillow. I've been using it recently. Another site like Zillow is Trulia.

My sister lived in Rapid City for three years back in the 80's. She loved it. Lot more sunshine than in Minneapolis. Summers were about the same temp, but a lot drier, less humidity. She said it was a lot milder in the winter than she expected with less snow. (But when it came, it came in big.) She also lived in Austin, TX for a while. Didn't like that too much. Hot and humid.

[Souschef]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop Yes, I learned that when Minneapolis was ranked in the top ten cities to retire to. Actually #2 on Sperling's. The climate is terrible. The taxes are high. The cost of living in moderately high. These are some of the main things I want to escape. Number one for me is climate. I need sunny days. No snow, or very little snow. Moderate to low humidity. This criteria cuts down a lot of territory. Number two would be low to moderate cost of living. That eliminates another big chunk. (California.) If money were no object I would move to Santa Barbara, CA.

Come a little bit further south to Ventura County.
In my +55 park, they are installing 2 brand new manufactured homes. I think they will ask about $200--250K for them.
We get the ocean influence, but not too much of the fog.
If you want details, PM me. I love it here
Also SBA is only 45 miles from here.

[ocean view]

OP-can you be more specific on your ideal temperature/humidity? When you dismiss a town as too hot are you considering the difference in humidity that may exist between MN and the new town? For example I’m in CA where humidity doesn’t really exist, so 80-85 is quite nice. My SIL in Michigan says 80 is horrible, but that’s due to the humidity. Just something to keep in mind.

Btw, the eastern parts of CA are more conservative and relatively lower COL than the coastal regions.

[Qs Laptop]

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Originally Posted by ocean view OP-can you be more specific on your ideal temperature/humidity? When you dismiss a town as too hot are you considering the difference in humidity that may exist between MN and the new town? For example I’m in CA where humidity doesn’t really exist, so 80-85 is quite nice. My SIL in Michigan says 80 is horrible, but that’s due to the humidity. Just something to keep in mind.

Yes, I am taking humidity into account. Actually, dewpoint is a better indicator of overall comfort at hotter temperatures.

Generally speaking I would like summers, June, July, August to be in the upper 80's, lower-mid 90's with humidity levels no more than 40%. I think this would be dewpoints in the 50's. I could stand temps around 100 for a week or two if it were not humid. Winters need to have very few days (or nights) that get below freezing (32 degrees F) I would like a change of season, even snow once in a while if it didn't stay on the ground.

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Btw, the eastern parts of CA are more conservative and relatively lower COL than the coastal regions.

Any suggested towns or cities?

[Fedup]

I live in Coastal regions of California and it’s been known to be conservative. Turning a little less, but still conservative. It depends on your budget. But some people from our area sold their condo and bought in Temecula. I don’t know whether it’s more conservative or not, but it’s wine country so it’s cool enough for grapes. Maybe dry heat, no humidity.

[Souschef]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop Y Any suggested towns or cities?

Ventura, Santa Paula, Camarillo

[Bamaman]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan I notice you don't mention availably of public services and/or political climate of the new area? Is this at all important to you? I'm in MN too and we do have higher taxes but great public services and programs. I can tell you right off that many low tax states can't hold a candle to our programs. In NM ranks at the bottom of public services for a lot of areas.

One thing that made me move to Alabama is a lack of public services and programs. We have all we need without getting the state government involved in any "programs."

The low price of real estate has allowed me to have a 5200 square foot home in a luxury neighborhood (7000 to 10,500 square foot homes) for under $300K. We also have a lake house across town. The property taxes on our main residence are waived due to my wife being disabled. The property taxes on $400K for the lake house are $1,147 per year. We have 2 colleges in town bringing culture, and a very active music scene. Two Robert Trent Jones golf courses are down the street from us at the lake.

But there are many, many great places to live for different reasons. I especially like small to medium size cities with major universities for retirement. Like Oxford, MS, Columbia, MO, Springfield, MO, Clemson, SC Auburn, AL and many others.

[ocean view]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop Any suggested towns or cities?

The Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley will be too hot, but the foothill communities that run east of the valley might work. Minor league baseball may be an option in some of these areas.

-Paradise CA which is east of Chico (college town)
-any community along Hwy 80 or Hwy 50 between Sac and Reno/Tahoe
-Any community in the foothills around Yosemite and Sequoia NP (Robbie B’s neck of the woods)

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop Yes, I am taking humidity into account. Actually, dewpoint is a better indicator of overall comfort at hotter temperatures. Generally speaking I would like summers, June, July, August to be in the upper 80's, lower-mid 90's with humidity levels no more than 40%. I think this would be dewpoints in the 50's. I could stand temps around 100 for a week or two if it were not humid. Winters need to have very few days (or nights) that get below freezing (32 degrees F) I would like a change of season, even snow once in a while if it didn't stay on the ground. Any suggested towns or cities?

Good luck on your hunt you are starting to sound a little bit like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears ...not too hot and not too cold. Fair enough but area that fit your desires and usually pretty darn expensive...as someone who lives in your state try not to get too hung up on the weather, it's important but so far weather is really the only thing you are talking about.

Since we still farm we leave for a month or two from Jan to March or so. My main concern is that my area doesn't get blizzards and that there is never ice on the ground so we don't need to worry about falling on the ice.

You'll find in areas like St George during the worst of the summertime people stay inside or go visit family in other areas just like we Snowbird.

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by Bamaman One thing that made me move to Alabama is a lack of public services and programs. We have all we need without getting the state government involved in any "programs." The low price of real estate has allowed me to have a 5200 square foot home in a luxury neighborhood (7000 to 10,500 square foot homes) for under $300K. We also have a lake house across town. The property taxes on our main residence are waived due to my wife being disabled. The property taxes on $400K for the lake house are $1,147 per year. We have 2 colleges in town bringing culture, and a very active music scene. Two Robert Trent Jones golf courses are down the street from us at the lake. But there are many, many great places to live for different reasons. I especially like small to medium size cities with major universities for retirement. Like Oxford, MS, Columbia, MO, Springfield, MO, Clemson, SC Auburn, AL and many others.

I think you are misunderstanding my comments about public services. It's a fine line between making your community safe and healthy and improving the life of taxpayers with government money and giving everyone a free Cadillac. You are fine without the services because you don't need them, but providing the basics for everyone improves the whole community. You don't think that the two colleges are government services? This is the stuff I'm talking about.

[Qs Laptop]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan Good luck on your hunt you are starting to sound a little bit like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears ...not too hot and not too cold. Fair enough but area that fit your desires and usually pretty darn expensive

When someone asked me directly, "be more specific about your ideal temperature and humidity" I gave my answer. Yes, I am finding out that good weather areas are more expensive.

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...as someone who lives in your state try not to get too hung up on the weather,

Thanks for the laugh. Minnesotans are obsessed with the weather. Consider how much of the local news programs devote to it. Think about the "weather terrorists" (weather forecasters) that warn us about the Next Big Storm® that is coming, typically for 5 to 7 days before the cataclysm is supposed to occur.

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it's important but so far weather is really the only thing you are talking about.

It is my #1 factor in my search. I've also mentioned cost of living, housing searches on Zillow and Trulia, property taxes, income taxes, population density, proximity to metro areas, etc.

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Since we still farm we leave for a month or two from Jan to March or so. My main concern is that my area doesn't get blizzards and that there is never ice on the ground so we don't need to worry about falling on the ice. You'll find in areas like St George during the worst of the summertime people stay inside or go visit family in other areas just like we Snowbird.

My concern with Minnesota weather is that from November through April you are cooped up inside your house looking at a blanket of snow on the ground. Then, once a week or so, more snow comes along which you must remove in order to be able to get around. It's lovely that the government throws salt on the roads to melt the ice, thereby rusting the metal in your vehicles.

As far as being cooped up inside because it's too hot, that is something I also want to avoid.

[ivinsfan]

You definitely have that MN malady "weather fatigue" but you are exaggerating the weather just a tad


Funny how the bad winters are engraved in the mind and the milder open winters are never remembered....

I do get it but matter where you go your everyday life is definitely more then the weather in total. We found something that works for us since we still farm and have very young grandkids who we want to be close to and I hope you find what you are looking for...

I'll be following this with interest, to see if you find your Nirvana .. keep us updated.

[Midpack]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop I've got a friend that lives in Wake Forest, NC, and he's urging me to look at his area. He loves it. He grew up in Minnesota and left because of the weather. Moved to NC in 2013. My wife is hesitant because of humidity and hurricanes.

We’ve looked all over for the past 7-8 years and we decided years ago that Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill-Wake Forest was the best choice for us. Made several house hunting trips, almost bought a new home. I’d always wanted to give Charlotte NC a look, but DW wasn’t interested. We finally spent a week in Charlotte and DW was quite impressed. We’ve been twice since, and there is no question Charlotte is a better choice for us than the Triangle (as great as that area is). All I’m saying is if the Triangle is appealing, you might want to look at Charlotte too.

As for hurricanes, we were concerned too, or we’d live on the East coast. The Triangle and Charlotte will get wind and rain from hurricanes sometimes, but not nearly as destructive as the coast since you’d be hours away. Most places have some risk of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, etc. or something - it’s hard to avoid natural disasters entirely.

Add on climate, crime, COL, culture, economy, size, religion, politics and other factors and there is no perfect place. If there was it would be so crowded and expensive you wouldn’t want to live there...

[misshathaway]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop . Some of the higher elevations in Arizona and New Mexico have my kind of climate, but cost of housing is high. I will look at Reno. Right off, I'm wondering about crime rate.

I'm doing the same research you are now, except that I've narrowed it down to Arizona, mainly because there was a huge thread here where people who had lived in various cities in az contributed.

For SN*W just Bing "city state-abbreviation climate" and look at the little bar graph that appears close to the top. Come to find out several Arizona cities get snow in Jan and Feb and don't approach 60 degrees. Spreadsheet, delete row, Prescott.

I am finding areavibes.com good for graphic comparisons that include crime. Somewhat overwhelming as it offers other nearby alternatives, so then more go on the investigate list.

Another resource is searching for the city or town on youtube. Sometimes you get people who moved to an area who just video daily life and you get a feel for the terrain - and the wildlife, like javelinas (wild pigs) tearing up your garbage or a rattlesnake behind a nice elderly lady's recycle bin. Then the wildlife guy comes and his snake-pinner stick ISN'T LONG ENOUGH for this huge snake. He has to go back and get a bigger one.

I am going to Arizona for 2 weeks in January to visit, at the most, 3 someplaces. This ought to be a challenge since I don't like to travel, or drive rental cars in unfamiliar areas. Not sure how I got this way since I used to do data conversions for hospitals going to a new computer system, all over the US, and other than the boring places I sometimes had to go to, travel and driving were not an issue.

[haha]

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Originally Posted by Qs Laptop I'm looking at Prescott AZ, or Prescott Valley, AZ (very close to each other). Flagstaff AZ is intriguing but they get a lot of snow. I don't know how long it sits on the ground, though. I'd like to be within an hour and a half or less from a major metro area. Sparks NV is a suburb of Reno. Might be a candidate. Otherwise NV is just too dang hot. I'd look at Santa Fe, NM or areas around it. Same thing with suburban Albuquerque or areas around it (Rio Rancho, for example). Utah should be a candidate but I can't find a happy median between snow to the north and desert to the south.

All good candidates. The Reno area is not all that hot. Seattle is cooler, but much more humid. I was often more comfortable in Reno/Sparks than at home in Seattle. Reno can be chilly in winter, but to me very pleasant.

Ha

[COcheesehead]

Here's a wildcard. It's not within 90 minutes of a major city, but...

https://binged.it/2Co0MBM

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead Here's a wildcard. It's not within 90 minutes of a major city, but... https://binged.it/2Co0MBM

I almost mentioned Grand Junction this morning but decided it was a little too chilly. We drive through on our way to St George and it's a great little town..the airport access is probably really poor...what do you have Denver, SLC or Vegas those are long drives.

[COcheesehead]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan I almost mentioned Grand Junction this morning but decided it was a little too chilly. We drive through on our way to St George and it's a great little town..the airport access is probably really poor...what do you have Denver, SLC or Vegas those are long drives.

GJ has the third largest airport in the state. Direct flights to Phoenix, LA, Dallas, SLC, Denver. Montrose down the road also has seasonal direct flights. I heard GJ is trying to add flights to San Fran, Chicago and DC.

[ivinsfan]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead GJ has the third largest airport in the state. Direct flights to Phoenix, LA, Dallas, SLC, Denver. Montrose down the road also has seasonal direct flights. I heard GJ is trying to add flights to San Fran, Chicago and DC.

Good to know and it make sense because it is far from a lot of airline hubs...

[Qs Laptop]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead Here's a wildcard. It's not within 90 minutes of a major city, but... https://binged.it/2Co0MBM

That's intriguing. I sort of passed over Grand Junction because of the 90 minute rule, but maybe I can loosen that rule.