Thinking of moving to a more temperate climate

Txrider · #21 09/08/11, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

Where in Texas do you live?? There are more temperate areas of Texas too. I live just outside of Kerrville in the Hill Country. Its green here most of the time and still pretty green if you count the trees in this, the worst drought on record. Our temps are usually about 4-5 degrees cooler than San Antonio. Something to think about is also TAXES. Most other states have a state income tax. Is it worth losing 10% of your salary to state income taxes?? I moved here from the Seattle, WA area. It took about 6 years of living there to realize that I couldn't handle the constant gray gloomy days. That and the really short winter days. Think about it, the state of Texas is a BIG PLACE and the drought won't always be here. The Kerrville area averages 32 inches of rain a year. That's the same amount of rain as they get in Seattle. Difference is that in Texas we get 285 sunny days a year and in Seattle they don't. Most sunny days there occur in the period July - October.

Taxes...

Texas has no income tax, but we do have property tax to make up for it.

My 11 acre place is 2100 per year, and will go up significantly when I build a house.

It would seem to me that Texas is a great place to live when your working age without the income tax, but when you're retired and your income is likely lower and fixed it might be best to move to a state with income tax and low or no property tax instead. But I haven't compared states or done the math.

#22 09/08/11, 08:52 AM

Right here is the finest place on earth.

Heritagefarm · #23 09/08/11, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmonslayer

I get a kick out of folks like Heritage Farm who wax about how tough the winters are in Missouri (and he lives south of where I am)..both months of them. We survived the great "Blizzard of 2011" here and didnt even break out the winter coats...that 6 inches of snow that stayed around for almost 2 weeks was a real bear though. Of course we moved from a place in Alaska where there was 6 months of winter and 6 months of fall...its all a matter of perspective.

Well, like you said, it's a matter of perspective. I'm a warm-weather person, I really would not mind living in Florida most likely (aside from the bugs and swamps). However I am fully willing to trade "HOT" for "weather that doesn't always kill your garden and pasture."

salmonslayer · #24 09/08/11, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

Well, like you said, it's a matter of perspective. I'm a warm-weather person, I really would not mind living in Florida most likely (aside from the bugs and swamps). However I am fully willing to trade "HOT" for "weather that doesn't always kill your garden and pasture."

I was pretty much funnin ya because we are still chuckling about the great blizzard this year. We used to get over 200 inches of snow and bitter cold for months at a time so we thought this last winter was very mild...we were fencing in shirt sleeves in January.

But this summer has been brutal hasnt it? I keep hearing that these are all records but if thats so...when do we ever get normal?

geo in mi · #25 09/08/11, 10:41 AM

If I had gone through a hundred year drought like you have, I would be thinking the same way. But, forty-five years is a lot to give up. I keep thinking about "the grass is greener" thing, and I would hope you would feel differently, come next year. Hang in there....

geo

Kshobbit · #26 09/08/11, 11:11 AM

Kansas has been a hard place to live this summer. I live in the far southern region just 30 miles from the Oklahoma line. We have the drought and the two months of temperatures over 100 degrees this summer. It has had me wondering if I live in the wrong place too. I don't want to move as I am a native Kansan. I have invested all my energy and money into this itty bitty farm, planted an orchard, fenced and cross-fenced. We have every kind of weather but the bad weather used to only last a few days to a week. I do not think there is a safe haven anywhere anymore. Good luck in your search.

Countrygent51 · #27 09/08/11, 11:16 AM

Erie, Pennsylvania, snowfall for 2010-2011 was approximately 107 inches. Interpret that as you will

Pretty green and lush the rest of the year, with a gorgeous golden autumn.

Wanderer · #28 09/08/11, 12:05 PM

Thanks again for all your perspectives. Just to clarify, I've lived in Texas for 45 years, but have moved around a lot -- no more than 8 years in any one place. (I was a minister's wife.) And I'm getting older, so this summer's heat really did me in, along with the high electric bills. As I said in an earlier post, I'm just in the "wondering" stage right now.

Common Tator · #29 09/08/11, 12:17 PM

Well, here in California, and in fact, the entire West coast, the closer to the coast you are, the more moderate the temperatures.

Heritagefarm · #30 09/08/11, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salmonslayer

I was pretty much funnin ya because we are still chuckling about the great blizzard this year. We used to get over 200 inches of snow and bitter cold for months at a time so we thought this last winter was very mild...we were fencing in shirt sleeves in January.

But this summer has been brutal hasnt it? I keep hearing that these are all records but if thats so...when do we ever get normal?

I know.

And that is a lot of snow. Makes me feel better about our winter.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #31 09/08/11, 01:28 PM

"Well, here in California, and in fact, the entire West coast, the closer to the coast you are, the more moderate the temperatures. "

AND the higher the cost of living and land prices are, and the more Progressive Liberal Wacko's you have to contend with.

In my Navy career I lived a lot of places and I chose Texas to retire. Yes it has been hot the past 13 years I have been in Texas, but things are cyclical and we won't have La Nina conditions forever. AVERAGES are just that and the averages say that we are due for some wet and cool years. It is especially important as NASA, et al indicate we are going into a very low sunspot activity time where they indicate GLOBAL COOLING is coming (think Maunder Minimum type cooling also known as the Little Ice Age). It doesn't take much global cooling to make places in the north really hard to deal with and the global cooling could conceivably be around for 20-100 years. If we really get into the global cooling there are a lot of people in the world who won't have anything to eat. Imagine a world with all the people there are with the bread basket of the US unable to plant any grain.

Nevada · #32 09/08/11, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

Yes it has been hot the past 13 years I have been in Texas, but things are cyclical and we won't have La Nina conditions forever.

Of course it's also possible that you're mistaken about global warming. If so the La Nina condition might be in Texas to stay.

campfiregirl · #33 09/08/11, 02:47 PM

Check out the Treasure Valley (between Boise and the Oregon border) in Idaho. High desert, only a couple of days each summer month over 100, if it snows, 90% of the time it doesn't stick, etc. If we get a tornado, it is so small they usually call it a microburst. You'll have to irrigate everything (high desert, 13" rain/year), but that isn't a problem on established land. Since the real estate market is flooded with foreclosures, you can easily find something for under $70K. Check out Emmett, Idaho. It is north of the Treasure Valley, very pretty area, a bit less desert-like. You have to go over a pass in the winter that is nasty, but if you work at home, it would not be an issue. If you don't have to work outside the home, then there are a LOT of great places in that area.

Nevada · #34 09/08/11, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by campfiregirl

Check out the Treasure Valley (between Boise and the Oregon border) in Idaho. High desert, only a couple of days each summer month over 100, if it snows, 90% of the time it doesn't stick, etc.

Yes, but we've had some pretty nasty winters in northern Nevada too.

Most winters the snow comes and goes, but I recall one winter when it snowed in late November and we didn't see the ground again until spring. But you can count the nights that go below zero each winter on one hand. You can't compare it to living in the deep freeze up on Montana.

campfiregirl · #35 09/08/11, 03:24 PM

Sorry Nevada - I had not read your post when I made mine; I was just responding to the OP.
More weather info: Our coldest month, January, has an average daily low of 22. July's average daily high is 90. "It's a dry heat" ;-) We have 4 seasons, but winter isn't that bad and neither is summer. There are a lot of fruit trees in the Emmett area as well as the west Treasure Valley (wine grapes!)

Heritagefarm · #36 09/08/11, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

and the more Progressive Liberal Wacko's you have to contend with.

A good reason to go.

jwal10 · #37 09/08/11, 05:27 PM

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Originally Posted by HeelSpur

West coast would be nice, but...

But.... I love it here, rarely over 85, cools off early at night, 40 degree average winter temp, lot of green (lots of rain) 4 seasons, a week of snow every 3 to 4 years. Ocean 40 miles west, skiing 50 miles east, lots of rivers. Mountains all around. What's not to like....James

jwal10 · #38 09/08/11, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWK

I lived in western Oregon for two years. I would like to know where you can get any kind of decent house on two acres for $90,000. I would go there in a heart beat.

My Son just bought a 1.29 acre parcel (5 1/2 lots) with 2 septics, 2 water meters, a nice double garage with an old dumpy trailer, a single carport and a nicely kept 1992 14'x66' mobile home for $20,000. City water is $14.00 a month all you can use. He will demolish the old trailer and build a small cabin on 1 acre. Then sell 1 lot with the mobile, septic and carport. It has a beautiful southern, mountain view out across his own nice spring fed pond. Land CAN be bought cheap here....James

Txrider · #39 09/11/11, 08:35 AM

Personally if I were to change locale, it would be up to Arkansas in the Ozarks I think.

But I'm pretty much set on Texas, if it gets too hot or dry here in central Tx I'll just mosey on down to south Texas by the coast where it's more tropical and doesn't get so hot and drought includes 30-40 inches of rain a year.

I've been through many hot summers like this, it's just the dryness this year that is really unusual. Come December I'll be loving being here instead of up north.

the mama · #40 09/11/11, 01:21 PM

Florida panhandle. Good prices on property, low population density, gulf breezes keep heat down. Green all year with few days of freezing.