Looking for greener grass in another state

[GMFan]

I currently live in NY state and while it is a beautiful state let's just say we are disenchanted with how this state is run and no longer want to live here and are tired of struggling financially.

My entire family is looking to make the move including my parents, brother/his wife, sister/her husband and my younger sister who will soon be graduating college.

We have been looking at the Carolinas as we have vacationed on the coast all our lives and like the atmosphere and hospitality. I have visited for work many areas in the south including Tennessee, Carolinas etc. and I feel at home there and find myself really liking the people I've worked with and they have been friendly to me.

We have been looking at moving for work in the Charlotte, NC area however are looking to settle south of Charlotte in South Carolina for cheaper cost of living. We would be making the move in ~3years once my father retires from his construction job.

Questions for those who have made the move from North to South:

1. Do you regret it or was it a good decision?

2. Have folks in the south been accepting of tax fleeing New Yorkers or did you feel like an Okie in The Grapes of Wrath? We do not want to live in a place where there would be hostility toward us. We are not from New York City but to most people 'New York' mind as well be the same thing.

3. Was the adjustment difficult or easy?

This would be a huge decision for our family and we know that once we made the move it would be pretty much impossible financially to move back if we regretted our decision. Even if we determine moving down South isn't for us we have also been considering Pennsylvania and Delaware.

I have had a good friend of mine who was struggling to find jobs around here and recently made the move to San Antonio, TX absolutely loves it. He went to trucking school and is driving big rigs and has never turned back. I've had numerous other friends who have moved throughout the country and have told me the move was worth it.

Thank you for any input.

 

[suspiciousmind]

Eh...us locals are already outnumbered anyway. Y'all come on down.

 

[Chris142]

I moved fron socal to cincy ohio. I stayed 6 months and could not wait to leave. It rained every day I was there! No fun for a guy with a convertable jeep. Nobody goes out like they do here. Just stay home and smoke weed or drink. Only unfriendly I had was in indiana. Went to an off road park since you can't go off roading anywhere else and was turned around at the gate due to my Ca plates.I say get away from the city, you will be much happier.

 

[HerrStig]

The "hand it out" mentality of the blue states is worth leaving behind. Of course you trade bad winters for hot summers.

 

[SuperDave456]

Lots of people and businesses are looking to move.

I've lived in Dallas most of my life. I spent a few years in the Air Force traveling around the country, and I was always amazed at how dirty other cities felt compared to the North Dallas area. I never knew how good I had it.

My Brother is in the Coast Guard, and he speaks of how Desolate Connecticut is. All they have is the Navel base in Groton and the state Insurance industry. No other industry, unless you commute to another state.
Due to the State Tax system everything has pretty much packed their bags and left for one reason or another. All of their neighbors that own houses are underwater, and want to move but can't.
Both he and his wife went to college in Houston, and if they downsize the Coast Guard they will be moving back to either Houston or Dallas.

Much like The Grapes of Wrath, there will be a great migration to new jobs.
That being said, I think you have the right idea. Be willing to be flexible.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The "hand it out" mentality of the blue states is worth leaving behind. Of course you trade bad winters for hot summers.


aka: FSA.

 

[SrDriver]

My wife and I live in Southern Alabama. I am from Wisconsin and cost of living is much lower here.

Property taxes for the year are about what I would pay for One month in Wisconsin.

Being retired much of my retirement income is not taxed by the state which is a plus too.

We are about 90 road miles to the beaches in Panama City Beach Florida.

As far as employment it just depends what kind of job you are looking for. We live in Dothan and there are a lot of medical jobs and aviation jobs here.

There is no perfect place but we like it here.

 

[raaizin]

Here are a couple of sites to do some research.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Charlotte-North-Carolina.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north-carolina/

 

[dparm]

I always come back to Illinois. Went to school out west, worked/traveled in a ton of places (MN, NY, NJ, DE, PA, DC), but still love Chicago and Illinois in general. It's very balanced and well-rounded.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Home is where the heart is.

 

[GreeCguy]

I was born and raised in Florida. I moved to California and lived there for a little over a year, (we lived in Lancaster out in the Mojave Desert). Loved the people, loved the desert, but taxes and the high cost of living ate us to death. Lived in Nebraska - wonderful people but hated the cold. Lived in Indiana, ditto to Nebraska only it was a wet cold. Then we moved to Northern Alabama. To me, it was heaven. You don't make a lot of money, but the people are wonderful and the cost of living is cheap. I had a three bedroom house on an acre of land with a shop behind the house and I paid 97 bucks A YEAR in property taxes. Ten years ago, I moved back to Florida to take care of my aging parents. It's been very nice to be with them as I love them very much, but when they are gone, I'm moving back to the heart of Dixie!

 

[gfh77665]

God has blessed Texas!

 

[HerrStig]

The Palm Beach Florida area would be nice except that it is rapidly being filled with beauties who moved from "hand it out New York" to save dough but expect the same level of services and "caring for the poor and downtrodden" they got tired of paying for back north.

 

[BeerCan]

Born and raised in NYC but I have lived most of my adult life in the south. FL, NC and AL mostly. There are certainly things I miss about the north but I will never move back there. I live in FL now but when my wife retires we will probably end up in NC or TN. I don't think you will regret it, especially if you are with family members.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The Palm Beach Florida area would be nice except that it is rapidly being filled with beauties who moved from "hand it out New York" to save dough but expect the same level of services and "caring for the poor and downtrodden" they got tired of paying for back north.


HerrStig, why do you remain in MA? Isn't MA worse than NY!

Either way, I'm voting with my feet.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: GMFan


2. Have folks in the south been accepting of tax fleeing New Yorkers or did you feel like an Okie in The Grapes of Wrath? We do not want to live in a place where there would be hostility toward us. We are not from New York City but to most people 'New York' mind as well be the same thing.



There was in the late '70s to early '80s when there was a mass migration from Ohio and Michigan to Texas.

During that time Detroit and Dallas reversed population numbers. Dallas soaring over a million and Detroit falling under a million.

There was even a phrase coined for it. "Blacktaggers". It's not as racist as it sounds. It had more to do with the color of the Michigan license plates.

I wouldn't worry about it too much in the bigger cities. If you go to any sports bar on a fall Saturday in DFW, you'll see quite a few folks in Scarlet and Grey or Maize and Blue amongst the sea of Longhorn Burnt Orange or Sooner Crimson.

I even married an Ohio girl that moved here in '79. She's the one that will greet a total stranger at a sports bar with a "Go Bucks" or "O-H!" She never fails to get an "I-O"

I can't say too much about the Carolinas. I'm a native Texan but I grew up on the other side of the Savannah River in Georgia. They were pretty tolerant of Texans in Georgia.

Trust me, we hate the Californian transplants now more than the Yankees.

 

[Tom NJ]

I was born and raised in central NJ, but last year bought a home (farm) in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, near the NC border. We kept the house in NJ and go back and forth every month. We fine the people in the rural south to be very friendly and we feel welcome. And real estate taxes are only $1,600 as compared to NJ at $8,200. We can't wait to move permanently.

Tom NJ/VA

 

[Jarlaxle]

GMF: what about New Hampshire, especially if you like mountains?

 

[sciphi]

I lived in Columbia, SC for 2 years in graduate school. I did not want to settle there despite having friends and frankly better job prospects. My female classmates, especially those from other states, reported consistent difficulty with getting anything resembling customer service when their cars broke, even at the dealers. They also said that they didn't feel safe going out after dark, even in the safer areas of Columbia where they lived. That was consistent between the native South Carolinians and the out of staters. As a male, I had no issues with customer service or feeling safe after dark, although there were some areas of Columbia I would definitely pass through as fast as possible no matter what the time of day. Folks definitely treated me better when I adopted a SC accent, and tried to fit in.

Another thing that got me was how there was a fee on everything, and taxes on things that were not taxed up here in NY. If you wanted to do anything with a government agency there, get out your checkbook. And, vehicle taxes often ran into the thousands of dollars a year on multiple newer vehicles. Two close friends who lived nearby were surprised when they moved there that they owed $1500 in vehicle taxes on their two newish compact cars. Link to county tax assessors: http://www.sciway.net/gov/sc-county-tax-assessors.html That wasn't a one-time fee, that was a yearly tax on their cars. It does go down a little the less the vehicle is worth.

Whatever you do, don't go down there thinking it's all sunshine and smiles. The sunshine is strong enough to burn badly, and the smiles often conceal how they're thinking of screwing the Yankee.

And, telling folks you don't live in NYC gets old fast. If I had a dollar for every time somebody asked me how I liked NYC, I'd be rich. I stopped telling folks I was from NY very quickly to avoid the inevitable questions about NYC.

That's my experience. I'd not move back after experiencing it.

 

[Mr Nice]

Jobs, jobs, jobs. Is your family able to land a stable good paying job in the state you are considering ?

I have a bunch of relatives south of Charlotte NC in the Rock Hill / Columbia SC area and are happy. A few are in the Greenville SC area and they like it... but again, they all have good jobs.

Lots of retired New Yorkers are in the Palm Beach area always bragging how great things were in NY. I tell them pack their bags and head north on I-95.

City-Data has tons of info on cities you are considering.