Do you like where you live?

[Three Foot Johnson]

Other than a 4 year stint in the Navy in the 70's, I've lived in four rural locations here, all within two miles of each other. It's hottern hell in the summer, with extreme fire danger for 4+ months, coldern hell in the winter, with the wood stove going pretty much continuously for six months straight, and sporadically for another six weeks. The house was built in '75 by my dad, who built it as cheaply as he could. It's 2x4 construction, instead of 2x6, poorly insulated, and in serious need of major repairs/maintenance/remodeling. Whoever buys this place might live in the house long enough to build a new house, then call the local VFD and schedule a practice fire. Seriously, it would just cost too much to fix it up, unless someone did all the work themselves.

 

I've really been thinking strong about signing this place over to my two daughters, taking a few things, and bugging out for greener pastures. They can take what they want, sell the rest, and put a good chunk of money in the bank. I start my 69th year on my next birthday, I'm not in very good health anymore, and living alone for several years now, plowing snow, cutting firewood, spraying weeds, maintaining a mile and a half driveway, etc., is really starting to wear on me. I think I'm ready to "move to town" after all these years. A small house in a small town, or rural subdivision close to town, a more temperate climate, reasonably close to a VA medical center, with a couple CAS clubs nearby I think would suit me just fine anymore.  

[Badlands Bob #61228]

You could always move to Florida like everyone else.  They have lots of SASS clubs and good medical care.  No more freezing winters.  However, that doesn't solve the "Hotter than Hell" problem.  You'll also have to learn how to wait in line..... for everything.  You'll need a good golf cart.

[Rye Miles #13621]

I live in Northeast Ohio just east of Cleveland on Lake Erie. It’s not the greatest weather but not the worst either. We get some cold winters but not too bad. I’ve lived here all my life and will probably the rest of my life. There’s great medical care, lots of friends and family and there’s cowboy shoots every weekend within 1-2 hours drive. We have all the major sports MLB, NFL and NBA all in all not  a bad place to live and it’s very affordable too. 

[bgavin]

I like where I live... I don't like how it is run.

[Tyrel Cody]

No.

 

Except for a year at college in '92/93 I've lived within 5 miles of where I grew up, currently about a half mile. This rural town has changed too much and grown. We're getting a lot of less than desirable people out of Nashville and I just don't like it here anymore.

 

I know where I'd like to move to when my daughter gets out of high school, but have to get Missus Tyrel on board. I do want to stay in Tennessee though.

[Pat Riot]

I love West Virginia. Even when I was a kid living in Southwestern Pennsylvania I loved this state. 
I live near Morgantown, WV. It’s a West Virginia University town. The population is 30,000 but during the school year because of the University the population doubles. 
Crime is low. 
Medical care is very accessible due to WVU Medicine and Mon Heath Care hospitals and facilities. 
There are a lot of stores and restaurants here. 
The cost of living isn’t bad here. Real Estate is higher here than outlying areas due to the University, but still very reasonable in pricing. 
Outdoorsman type sports are plentiful here. Fishing and hunting opportunities are very good though public lands are pressured hunting areas. 
People are genuinely very friendly here. 
Weather wise I would say that you would consider the weather here to be very moderate. It does get below freezing in the winter and we got a little snow last year. Summers are warm and somewhat humid but tolerable. 
The SASS clubs are a bit of a drive 70-90 miles, though I haven’t shot with these clubs I hear they are very friendly. 
When my wife and I were retiring we studied all of the US. Mostly in the southern regions for places to retire. 
We are both from PA. We came “home” to visit a year and an half ago and after spending some time in WV we decided to make it home. We are close to family, but not too close. 

We love West Virginia. It’s a very nice place to live. 

[J-BAR #18287]

Yes.  Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas is low cost of living and gun friendly.  We have all 4 seasons, sometimes in the same day.  Springfield is a medical center for those of us who need attention.  Plenty of colleges and micro breweries around, and too many deer in the woods.  It's tolerable.

[Pat Riot]

I forgot to mention that in my life I have lived in:  (#x equals number of times living there)

Pennsylvania 4x 

Georgia

Alabama 3x

New Mexico 2x

Arkansas

Minnesota

Virginia

California 4X

North Carolina 

Oregon

West Virginia 

My favorite places out of all of them were Roger’s Arkansas and Morgantown West Virginia. 

[DeaconKC]

59 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Yes.  Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas is low cost of living and gun friendly.  We have all 4 seasons, sometimes in the same day.  Springfield is a medical center for those of us who need attention.  Plenty of colleges and micro breweries around, and too many deer in the woods.  It's tolerable.

I'm in North/Central Arkansas now. We left Southern Illinois 3 years ago when we moved to be closer to family. J-Bar nailed it. And there are several very good CAS groups around here and a ton of very active groups within a few hours drive.

[Bearfoot Tracker]

I've lived in central North Carolina (Raleigh/Cary) pretty much all my life. Do I like the the city I live in? Not as much any more. It has gotten too crowded and too expensive. The rural areas outside the city is nice, but due to the huge growth in this area over the past three decades, even the rural areas are starting to get expensive. The weather is not too bad as the only bad months are July & Sept due to the humidity that comes with the heat. The good is you are close to some very good medical centers and can get to the mountains or beach in 2-4 hours in either direction. There are also lots of CAS clubs in the state.

 

I am thinking I want to find a piece of land out west around the Carson National Forest in NM to spend the summers nearer to our two families in OKC & Albuquerque. I don't know what the summers are like in that higher altitude but it would have to be better than the sweat box here in July and August.

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Down here, it can easily be in the upper 90's at midnight. I would say Montana does get cooler than that, at night. If you do not like the heat, do not come down here. In the summer, the trees are chasing the dogs. 

[Chantry]

No.  I don't like CT or most of the Northeast.  Cost of living is high, the politics suck, the drivers are horrible.  Summers are often hot & humid and winters can be cold and damp.

 

Hospitals are decent, food stores stock things not always found in more rural areas and there are spots in CT where you have a selection of restaurants with different national cuisines.

 

I'm still here mostly because of my mother and to a lesser degree a lack of energy to move again, having moved 6 times before I was 18.

[Blackwater 53393]

I guess I must like where I live. I’ve moved back to this area three or four times in my lifetime.

 

 I’ve lived outside of Nashville, TN this time for nearly forty-five years and in this house for forty-three.

 

We bought this place new. It was built well and we had choices in how it was built.  It’s a small, (16 homes) subdivision, situated on a cul de sac off of what was once a state highway.  Brick house, steel roof, set on a little over an acre and two thirds. I built a nice big shop next to the house and had the driveways paved.  It’s far enough out of town that the folks on the next street over have a different town address and the county line is a mile down the highway. I say highway because that’s what it used to be, although it’s only a well paved two lane road.

 

The local grade school is close enough that Schoolmarm sometimes walked to work by going out through the back yard, directly onto the school grounds.  It’s a half mile drive, but you can walk there in a little over a minute.

 

It’s mostly quiet. Taxes are pretty low and water and power are much lower than the national average, lower even than most nearby counties. Shopping and services are close enough to be convenient, but far enough away to not be annoying. I’m close enough to major thoroughfares to make transportation convenient and only late at night can you faintly hear the trucks on the interstate highway that’s two miles away as the crow flies.

 

The weather is temporate. Usually four or five weeks of really hot weather and that not all at once. A little snow and some freezing rain in the winter, but it’s usually gone in a couple of days. There’s fabulous colors in the fall and lots of bright flora in the spring and there are fine lakes and great hills and valleys close by. 
 

The Great Smokey Mountains are less than half a day’s drive and the Mississippi River is about the same distance in the other direction.  We have our own big rivers closer and streams and creeks almost in our backyard.

 

Then there’s Nashville with almost any kind of entertainment you can imagine! Music, professional sports, top colleges, superior medical facilities, a modern airport, and three major interstate highways are all within minutes of the house.

 

There is major manufacturing and industry in the area. Three automotive manufacturing facilities are close enough that folks in my neighborhood are employed there. Locally, one of the largest water heater manufacturers has its plant and headquarters located here. Medical, food service, automotive, and insurance companies have their headquarters in Nashville and that’s not counting the entertainment/recording industry.

 

For now, it’s pretty good here. Because of that, people are flocking to middle Tennessee. The city of Nashville, which is in the next county, is growing too fast and it’s becoming more expensive and less desirable to live there for people like me. I’m seventy and I don’t expect the sprawl to wash over my neighborhood for years to come. Many of the “bedroom communities” like ours are far enough away from town to be safe from overpopulation right away and most are planning to control it.

 

There are shooting facilities nearby and we’re still gun owner friendly as long as you aren’t in downtown Nashville, (it’s starting to get a little blue in the metro area) and some great CAS clubs are not too far away.

 

Yeah! I’m happy with where I’m living.

 

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

13 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

Other than a 4 year stint in the Navy in the 70's, I've lived in four rural locations here, all within two miles of each other. It's hottern hell in the summer, with extreme fire danger for 4+ months, coldern hell in the winter, with the wood stove going pretty much continuously for six months straight, and sporadically for another six weeks. The house was built in '75 by my dad, who built it as cheaply as he could. It's 2x4 construction, instead of 2x6, poorly insulated, and in serious need of major repairs/maintenance/remodeling. Whoever buys this place might live in the house long enough to build a new house, then call the local VFD and schedule a practice fire. Seriously, it would just cost too much to fix it up, unless someone did all the work themselves.

 

I've really been thinking strong about signing this place over to my two daughters, taking a few things, and bugging out for greener pastures. They can take what they want, sell the rest, and put a good chunk of money in the bank. I start my 69th year on my next birthday, I'm not in very good health anymore, and living alone for several years now, plowing snow, cutting firewood, spraying weeds, maintaining a mile and a half driveway, etc., is really starting to wear on me. I think I'm ready to "move to town" after all these years. A small house in a small town, or rural subdivision close to town, a more temperate climate, reasonably close to a VA medical center, with a couple CAS clubs nearby I think would suit me just fine anymore.  

Come visit me in Prescott (Pronounced like "biscuit" here) Valley, AZ.  I love it here.

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Come visit me in Prescott (Pronounced like "biscuit" here) Valley, AZ.  I love it here.

Seriously? It’s pronounced “Pres-kit”?

 

Learned something new today. No wonder a few people gave me funny looks when I visited there. Of course, no one informed me they called it Preskit. 

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

PR 

 

  what years were you in Rogers AR ? 

 

  CB 

[Pat Riot]

14 minutes ago, Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 said:

PR 

 

  what years were you in Rogers AR ? 

 

  CB 

Just less than a year. Aug 1972 - July 1973

[Maddog McCoy SASS #5672]

8 hours ago, bgavin said:

I like where I live... I don't like how it is run.

 I second that option. I love the farm that I am on that belonged to my grandparents, grandpa raised corn, hay, hogs, cattle, Bird dogs, and we turned quail loose every year to train the dogs. There are a few quail left, the hogs, cow and dogs are a good memory. I am slowly rebuilding the place and have my own range in the back yard and can deer hunt off my back porch. The hay fields now have corn or beans in them every year as they are rented to a local farmer, and we are reclaiming the pastures and the ponds .  It is peaceful and quiet and after living in the Chicago area, it is nice not to have the traffic and crowds everywhere. The only problem with Southern Illinois is the Chicago politics we have to endure.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

Seriously? It’s pronounced “Pres-kit”?

 

Learned something new today. No wonder a few people gave me funny looks when I visited there. Of course, no one informed me they called it Preskit. 

Could be they gave you funny looks because you look....Nah, that can't be it.

[Caladisi kid]

Floridians move North to the Carolina's, Arkansas, Tenn. and such.

Californians move to Texas and Oregon.

East coast just drains South till they don't feel cold.

Midwest just ferments.

Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado just stay there.

You Pick.  

(Tongue in Cheek having lived, traveled to a lot of places )

[JD Lud]

could you compromise and move to a condo or apartment somewhat close to where you are that gets you access to medical and a lot less maintenance? Maybe keep your friends and shooting situation?  Wondering if that might keep the best of both worlds.  Some make the change and can’t get used to new areas so would hate for that to happen.

Best climate/geography state I have lived in without a doubt was Washington state….but it has a ton of other issues.  You can’t beat the summers on the west part of the state at 75-80 degrees most of the time and no humidity and barely any rain.  Winter is around 45-50 daily high and although it is overcast much of the time the rain is almost always a mist or sprinkle….almost never a downpour…no thunderstorms…minimal freezing and snow.  When I am older and don’t care about kids in school or politics I would go back for retirement…so much to see and do.

 

I wasn’t as enamored with TN as some here but might have been not knowing anyone.  It was hot as can be last summer around Nashville, no nice breezes,  24 hour humidity, and it still freezes snows in winter.  

 

 

[Three Foot Johnson]

@JD Lud, I lived on Whidbey Island for 3+ years, and really liked it. Tennessee too, at the Millington Navy base.

I guess I really wouldn't be against staying in this area - there are advantages. Fort Harrison VA hospital is just a mile out of Helena, I've lived here all my life so know my way around the state, I've shot CAS here for 31 years, and so on. The big thing I hate is my immediate location - this old house is barely one step above living in a tent. When it's 90 outside in the summer, it will be 92 inside, and it's so damn dry during the summer. I live at the top edge of a field of CRP grass, and it's only a matter of time until some yahoo down below me burns me to the ground. My closest neighbor, a local store owner who lives about a thousand yards down the hill from me, has set the field ablaze twice with his Fourth of July employee parties. No wind either time, and the fires were contained to just a few acres. I keep a fire break mowed between my buildings and the field, and always put the word out for cattle to pasture, but a strong wind, common in the spring and early summer, would still be catastrophic with a fire coming up the hill. I ordered a new Craftsman riding mower at Lowes just today actually.  I'm about three and a half miles from the VFD, paved about halfway and dirt/gravel the rest of the way, with a 500' rise in elevation, so response time is a good ten, probably twelve minutes, under the best of conditions. You can't imagine my relief when the weather turns and the snow starts falling, but winter brings on a whole 'nuther set of problems with plowing snow, cutting firewood, and trying to heat this old house.

In the winter, I often sleep on the couch in the living room because I can barely keep my bedroom above 60 when it gets down to 0 outside. I often actually have frost along the lower edge of my bedroom walls. I've got a daylight basement with the back and side walls below ground level and windows across the front, and have had the water pipes in the back laundry room freeze. The basement is even more poorly insulated than the main floor, so I only turn the electric heat on down there when it gets below zero, and then just to the lowest setting to keep the pipes from freezing. Last year, they froze anyway. I was researching "cities with the most temperate climates in the US" or somesuch wording, and Boise came up - I would never have thought of the Boise Cascade area as "temperate". 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I live a mile or so from where I grew up. A medium-sized city on Puget Sound. Grew up in the gulches and ravines that run down to the waterfront: a country boyhood in the city in a lot of ways.

 

An hour or so from saltwater to the Cascade mountains. Nine of our twelve grandkids have grown up within walking distance; the others three 30 miles away. All the kids and grandkids still live close; most within a mile and a half.

 

Big old houses on leafy streets with sidewalks. Practiced law here for 45 years; big enough that you have big clients, small enought to know most of the Bar. Ideal, really.

 

The economy stays strong in the long term, includes everything; high tech, manufacturing, much else-- so between that and the natural beauty the kids don't leave, or need to to make any career they can.

 

Very moderate weather. Wouldn't live anywhere else at all.

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

My wife & I love where we live...small country town that has terrific character with the old buildings, close to everything that we need , our home is 90 years young on 1  1/2 acres...vegie growing area with plenty of farms, gun clubs close buy & only just under 2 hours to the coast [ beach ]

Get really pissed off with  the way our country is being run but  do love where we hang our hat. If you count when I was a youngin' I've lived in approx 15 locations so it's good to finally settle..been here 5 years .

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

Here's an idea: What about knocking the old place down and replacing it with a manufactured home. It would certainly be cheaper than buying a house, and you could stay right where you're at. You can get small "Park" models, all the way to a "Double Wide", which is 28' X 56'. 

I live in one, and while it's not luxurious, it certainly better than the conditions you describe.

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I do love the high country of northern AZ.  No town is perfect but it is the quality of life that matters.  Flagstaff has grown and not in a good way, but that is the case in every western mountain town.   The sunsets and sunrises are amazing along with the seasons.  Yes it snows a bunch but it is rarely Wyoming cold.  Out where we live my neighbors are good people and our big nemesis is prairie dogs and elk.  I may move someday when I am done plowing snow or my health dictates it but for now I think I will refill my coffee and go sit out on the deck.  The horses are are felling fresh in the  cool morning air. 

[Yul Lose]

I love where I live but hate the state that it’s in. We’ve lived here since 1992 in an adobe house with 18” thick walls. Mrs. Lose has 4 sisters, 2 kids and 2 grandkids within 60 miles of us and it would break her heart to leave them so we’ll stay here and grit our teeth at the politics. We’re fairly remote out here, errr not anymore as a 400 unit housing development just went in a couple of miles away. McDonald’s opened up right next to the development and the others are coming. We don’t have cellular service where I live and ATT says they won’t maintain the wirelines anymore. I built my shop and expanded it and spend most of my time out there. Numerous CAS clubs within easy driving distance, you can shoot 8-10 matches a month if you want. Moving would be a monumental task with all the stuff that I’ve accumulated over the years and I don’t envy the people that have to deal with it when I’m gone.

[Rip Snorter]

10 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

@JD Lud, I lived on Whidbey Island for 3+ years, and really liked it. Tennessee too, at the Millington Navy base.

I guess I really wouldn't be against staying in this area - there are advantages. Fort Harrison VA hospital is just a mile out of Helena, I've lived here all my life so know my way around the state, I've shot CAS here for 31 years, and so on. The big thing I hate is my immediate location - this old house is barely one step above living in a tent. When it's 90 outside in the summer, it will be 92 inside, and it's so damn dry during the summer. I live at the top edge of a field of CRP grass, and it's only a matter of time until some yahoo down below me burns me to the ground. My closest neighbor, a local store owner who lives about a thousand yards down the hill from me, has set the field ablaze twice with his Fourth of July employee parties. No wind either time, and the fires were contained to just a few acres. I keep a fire break mowed between my buildings and the field, and always put the word out for cattle to pasture, but a strong wind, common in the spring and early summer, would still be catastrophic with a fire coming up the hill. I ordered a new Craftsman riding mower at Lowes just today actually.  I'm about three and a half miles from the VFD, paved about halfway and dirt/gravel the rest of the way, with a 500' rise in elevation, so response time is a good ten, probably twelve minutes, under the best of conditions. You can't imagine my relief when the weather turns and the snow starts falling, but winter brings on a whole 'nuther set of problems with plowing snow, cutting firewood, and trying to heat this old house.

In the winter, I often sleep on the couch in the living room because I can barely keep my bedroom above 60 when it gets down to 0 outside. I often actually have frost along the lower edge of my bedroom walls. I've got a daylight basement with the back and side walls below ground level and windows across the front, and have had the water pipes in the back laundry room freeze. The basement is even more poorly insulated than the main floor, so I only turn the electric heat on down there when it gets below zero, and then just to the lowest setting to keep the pipes from freezing. Last year, they froze anyway. I was researching "cities with the most temperate climates in the US" or somesuch wording, and Boise came up - I would never have thought of the Boise Cascade area as "temperate". 

I live in MT as well, we built 15 years ago.  No problems with the house, but the same fire and snow problems.  I buy firewood, but we don't heat with it. Tearing down a house isn't bad if you know a good machine operator, and the new double wides are pretty nice.  They go up amazingly fast and look just like regular houses.  I just got a riding mower for around the house, and the difference is amazing.  I can do the whole "lawn" in under an hour except small places where the rider won't go.  Should have got one years ago.  Have a plow on the UTV.  If snow is too deep we just wait for it to melt.  Despite everything, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. 

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

PR 

 

  during that time frame , I spent most of my time , around Lake Alanta , and old Highway 12 

if it was warm enough not to have ice forming on the rod , and I was not in school or at work , I was fishing or hunting 

 

CB 

[Buckshot Bob]

17 hours ago, Maddog McCoy SASS #5672 said:

 The only problem with Southern Illinois is the Chicago politics we have to endure.

Same here in Mi , Wayne Co does our state as dirty as Cook does yours. We currently aren’t quite as bad off, but our current governor is trying hard to get us there. 

[Sawhorse Kid]

You might try northern Arizona, Prescott/Prescott Valley area.  

They still get snow, but it tends to be snow in the morning .. gone by afternoon.

 

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

On 7/1/2023 at 5:40 AM, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I live in Northeast Ohio just east of Cleveland on Lake Erie. It’s not the greatest weather but not the worst either. We get some cold winters but not too bad. I’ve lived here all my life and will probably the rest of my life. There’s great medical care, lots of friends and family and there’s cowboy shoots every weekend within 1-2 hours drive. We have all the major sports MLB, NFL and NBA all in all not  a bad place to live and it’s very affordable too. 

 

On 7/1/2023 at 5:40 AM, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I live in Northeast Ohio just east of Cleveland on Lake Erie. It’s not the greatest weather but not the worst either. We get some cold winters but not too bad. I’ve lived here all my life and will probably the rest of my life. There’s great medical care, lots of friends and family and there’s cowboy shoots every weekend within 1-2 hours drive. We have all the major sports MLB, NFL and NBA all in all not  a bad place to live and it’s very affordable too. 

 

But, but you don't have NHL

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

9 hours ago, Sawhorse Kid said:

You might try northern Arizona, Prescott/Prescott Valley area.  

They still get snow, but it tends to be snow in the morning .. gone by afternoon.

 

How come I don't know you?  We must be within  20 minutes or so of one another.  Stop by Zeke's Eatin' Place at Frontier Village any Thursday at 7:00 am and meet the best bunch of people in the valley.

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

 

[Dusty Devil Dale]

On 6/30/2023 at 10:15 PM, Three Foot Johnson said:

Other than a 4 year stint in the Navy in the 70's, I've lived in four rural locations here, all within two miles of each other. It's hottern hell in the summer, with extreme fire danger for 4+ months, coldern hell in the winter, with the wood stove going pretty much continuously for six months straight, and sporadically for another six weeks. The house was built in '75 by my dad, who built it as cheaply as he could. It's 2x4 construction, instead of 2x6, poorly insulated, and in serious need of major repairs/maintenance/remodeling. Whoever buys this place might live in the house long enough to build a new house, then call the local VFD and schedule a practice fire. Seriously, it would just cost too much to fix it up, unless someone did all the work themselves.

 

I've really been thinking strong about signing this place over to my two daughters, taking a few things, and bugging out for greener pastures. They can take what they want, sell the rest, and put a good chunk of money in the bank. I start my 69th year on my next birthday, I'm not in very good health anymore, and living alone for several years now, plowing snow, cutting firewood, spraying weeds, maintaining a mile and a half driveway, etc., is really starting to wear on me. I think I'm ready to "move to town" after all these years. A small house in a small town, or rural subdivision close to town, a more temperate climate, reasonably close to a VA medical center, with a couple CAS clubs nearby I think would suit me just fine anymore.  

Look GOOD before you leap.  There's nothing worse than not having enough to do and vegetating in front of the tube.