Location, Location, Location.

[VJG1977]

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Other than to be near family or work, why do you live where you live?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">With most members having the ability to move about, as they desire and finances allow, what factors influenced your choice of where to live?</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I have read the post about states with no income tax, low vehicle registration cost... but it looks like there are members scattered all over the U.S.A. and overseas. When I retire I want to find a location for a home base and will probably only be able to do this once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>I'm looking for a location that I can stay most of the year without a lot of heating or air conditioning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I would prefer to stay east of the Mississippi River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I'm not looking for your home address, just building a list of locations-towns/counties with the pros and cons for each.</span></p>

 

[AltTransBikes]

Wooo, tall order. There's got to be as many answers as there are individuals. I'm interested in where this thread goes though. <br><br><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><em>"I'm looking for a location that I can stay most of the year without a lot of heating or air conditioning.&nbsp; I would prefer to stay east of the Mississippi</em> River."<br><br>Heh, that's one I ponder almost daily though I got to say the majority of my conclusions all fall way west of Ol' Man River.(though the highlands of western NC do come to mind.)<br><span><em>&nbsp;</em> </span></span></span>

 

[bk2valve]

Hi VJG1977,<br><br>We chose our base camp quite a while ago when we lived in Alaska and came down here to take a break mid-winter....I notice a lot of Alaskans did the same. It has a lot of what I liked about Alaska..few people, pretty stark and extreme natural elements, a hot spring place and a feeling I cannot describe....you recognize it if you belong here, if you don't you hi-tail it out of here.<br><br>We are just a few miles from the first wilderness area set aside by Ol' Teddy R way back and right on a river...the Rio Grande or Rio Bravo as it is in Mexico. We are 100 miles from Mexico and since we love Mexico and the folks that live there, that is perfect. For many here the first language is Spanish or an AmerInd dialect and I love the Hispanic and Native American cultures...the closest things to my indigenous family roots in England.<br><br>There is the fact that I know my vote is important as we are pretty evenly balanced in New Mexico, Blue and Red, and I can have an effect on how my community grows and what happens here.<br><br>I have a mix of artists, healers and cowboys here...a friend from Alaska just spent a month here with me taking riding lessons from a local horse trainer. He had a blast.<br><br>Where? A little town in southern New Mexico called Truth or Consequences but there are other little towns around that are mostly as sweet as this one...<br><br>I like to be within walking distance from all the downtown and the senior center, etc. and I am. I can ride my little tiddler up to Wally world should I desire and the cuisine here .....New Mexican is like no other...we have a cuisine based on the chile pepper and the many flavors of it and I can't think of any place I would rather be for food....well the Gulf I guess but that is only a couple days away..LOL<br><br>That's me, I live in a paid for house on 1/3 of an acre roght in the mineral bath area of town and have a house, a studio, a two car garage/shop and a hot spring well....it cost us $70k when we bought and I will be here til I die. <br><br>Since we only have a $400 yearly property tax bill and utilities I can travel where and when I want and we keep a fleet of old rigs to do just that. <br><br>We were drawn here by whatever does that sort of thing and I would urge you to do what we did and that is a whole mega-lot of travel...not many places in the US we haven't been.....to give the universe a chance to guide you and to see where you want to be...<br><br>I have lived in the east and ruled it out long ago, so I am useless to recommend out there...I can only speak to the west...especially the southwest since I like to be warm....and dry.<br>Cheers,<br>Bri

 

[VJG1977]

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">bk2valve, </span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Thanks for the wonderfully detailed reply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I spent 3 hours last night looking at what Truth or Consequences had to offer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>I was very impressed with what I saw.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">A short list of Pros:</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">No Snow to shovel</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">No Grass to mow, the only thing I hate more than mowing grass is shoveling snow.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Low Property tax</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Affordable Real estate</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Small Town pop 7,000+</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The only Con so far is the distance to family; it's a long drive to the North Carolina coast.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The reason I had limited my search to east of the Mississippi river was to stay closer to family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The travel time while on vacation eats up a lot of my vacation days now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>After I'm retired that will not be a concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The journey becomes as important as the destination.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I'm not saying I'm ready to move but I am adding Truth or Consequences to my short list of possible locations.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I hope others will follow your lead and try to convince me that their home town is the best place to be. </span></p>

 

[Ballenxj]

bk2valve &amp; VJG1977, <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">Truth or Consequences sounds like a very nice place to live. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce<br></span>

 

[Seraphim]

Before we decided to keep our house and home-base here, mostly due to family and the hassle of selling the house, we had looked at Salida, Colorado.&nbsp; It's central to the western area, with good access to roads in all four directions.&nbsp; Housing, before the drop, was a bit on the higher side, but it may have dropped a bit. Land's available in the surrounding area. It has the mountains we love, a river running through it for kayak/canoeing. In the winter, we had planned to snowbird south and return in the spring.&nbsp; Essentially, it's a community of former hippies who grew older but never grew up. A lot of transient young people in the good weather makes it a neat community around that time. Some cool camping areas if you can get to them and dont need hookups.<br><br>Camped here:<br><br> <br>Branches by jglennhart, on Flickr<br><br>Here's river - a spot right&nbsp;in the middle of town:<br><br><br> <br>Salida-Kayaker by jglennhart, on Flickr<br><br>Haven't found anywhere east of the Mississippi we wanted to stay. Lived here all our lives, travelled it out. Maybe Maine, if my arm were twisted a bit. Never Florida. Got tired of sand constantly in my undies...