Relocating to warmer climate...

OK, my family and I live in New England, which is a great place to live, without a doubt. However, we have been thinking about relocating to somewhere with a warmer climate for several years now. We are avid boaters and would never move far away from a lake.
We were considering Florida, obviously, but have friends who tell us that it is very congested and over developed.
We also like Arizona, but know very little about the area.

So, if anyone wants to offer some suggestions, I would be much appreciative!! Here are some loose requirements:

-It must be warm!!
-Not crowded!! We live in Northern NH and like not being around traffic and crowds.
-Cost of living is important, we are not rich and must work, I am a cop and wife is a teacher.
-Politically conservative? Is that too much to ask?
-Close to lakes, recreation areas!!

I know that is kinda broad, but what the hell. I can tell you that with the exception of the warm weather part, northern NH is the greatest place to live!! Anyone ideas?

the suburbs of sacramento! it's hot right now, but usually warm spring thru fall. the winters are pretty chilly and wet here, but i'm sure it's nothing you and your family can't handle. there are tons of lakes nearby (1-3hr drive), and in the winter, tahoe's nearby as well. if you like visiting the city, san francisco's about 1.5hrs away.

the traffic here isn't bad at all. the people of sacramento bitch about it and it's funny...traffic here is nowhere near as bad as some places (socal and seattle).

cost of living is pretty affordable compared to socal and seattle. we moved up here to buy a house since property values in socal are ridiculous!

i lived here for 3 years, moved to seattle, then back down to socal. i've since moved back here!

Sean, I'm looking at the same thing right now. California has gotten way to crowded, and I'm a little sick of it. We have looked hard at Mojave county in Arizona (Fort Mojave, Bullhead, and Kingman). My parents and bunch of old friends have moved there in the last 3 or 4 years. They all love it. Cheap housing is easy, recreation is great with Havasu, Mojave, Mead, and the river all nearby. 300K to 400K buys a very nice place. I friend of mine is trying to sell a place right now, two acres, pool, ten minutes from the water 1700 sqft house - $319K.

Alot of the area around the river is retired cops and firefighters from California. Politically, it's pretty conservative.

The bad part, being a cop. You'd make very little there. I looked into it last year, and it would have been tough to make a living, even with the low housing costs. I couldn't do it easily, and afford the boat, RV, and other toys, so I stayed in CA.

I highly recommend this area, if you can afford to live on an arizona cop's salary. The Sheriff is probably the best option to get hired fairly quick, and deputies are patrol only, so no jail duty. If you think about heading that way, drop me an email and I can get you some more info. I know a few people in the Sheriff's office.

Thats great, I have kinda avoided CA for the same reason, it seems crowded and restrictive. I have done OK here with money, so I don't need to get rich, but still need to work. I am actually a Detective, so I have some time on and experience, I hope that would help me get on a little easier.

I like the 'less crowded' idea, can't stand traffic at this point of my life, LOL.

What part of AZ in Mojave County? What is that climate like? Hot, but it's a dry heat? LOL

Thanks Jeff!

Sean

Not all of Ca is over populated.

i think people think that los angeles is socal and san francisco is norcal, and the rest aren't even part of cali.

Thats what I'm talking about Joe !

Oh yeah, I don't want to fall into the ocean when the next earthquake hits either.

Sean

I live in Loomis, CA. Town of 6500, but within 30 min of Sacramento, 90 min to the Famous Delta, 15 min to Folsom Lake or 30 min to Rollins Lake or Camp Far West, 2 hours to the beach or the mountains. Some of the best schools are within 30 minutes, along with multiple police and Sheriffs Depts.

I love it here.

That might be a problem in Ca but Fl has hurricanes.

Sean, it's in western AZ, nearest the california border, on the Colorado river. Aot of the county is an hour or two south of Las Vegas. It's hot, in the middle of the desert.

I also forgot to mention, no matter your experience, AZ police academy is waiting. Its a shorter academy for laterals from other states. Pay wise, it really sucks. My friend is top step sgt, and make over twice what he did as a top step officer in CA. That's counting special assigment pay he gets, and not counting mine.

yes, you're right....cali is the only state in the whole nation that has natural disasters.

sean check into yuma, az. ive lived here for 3 1/2 years. very warm climate. 110 summer and 65-70 in the winter. i just bought a new home 1600 sq ft for 180k. we are desperate for teachers here in az. i too am in law enforcement but on the federal side and my girlfriend of five years is a teacher. with the combined income and you guys can live decently

come to nor-cal the delta was 115 deg today

Joe I wish I knew you when I was stationed in SAC because I also I grew up there and now I'm up here at Whidbey Island..

Sean Sac is/was a great place to live, having grown up there is has become way crowded from all the bay area transplants but you can live on the outskirts like Loomis, Placerville, etc. I 'am looking at retiring in Angels Camp which is bout 90mins south of Sac because you have both New Melones and Don Pedro right there and no big city to congest the lakes 24/7. they do get busy but nothing like Folsom!

And no CA is not crowed its more like if you were to splater paint on a map, just a few places are way over crowed..
As for earthquakes, heres a question when was the last time CA was hit with a Quake that caused as much damage as FL recieves each year from hurricanes?

(Message edited by ghostrider_2 on July 24, 2006)

kenny, just get on a hop every weekend and ride the river/delta!

I will take you up on that offer just not this year as my wife is expecting end of Sept(high risk)and the Navy would not be to happy since I am spose to be at the war right now, not boarding in ca.

My wife and I both still have family in Sac so yes I will be back, but no camera as if you takes pics of my horrible riding it will break....(LOL)

I used to live right up the street from Attila, and sometimes got to ride with Tate and Renee..

Phoenix...

- It is warm. Like 115 and thunderstorming.
- The lakes aren't crowded on week days in the winter at 8am.
- Homes are free here, or at least used to be.
- (work) there is plenty of violent crime in phx, and there are a ton of schools.
- politically conservative? Is that like morally flexible? They do let 10 year olds ride around in the back of trucks, and you don't need to wear helmets on motorcycles... that is pretty conservative!
- The lakes are really close if you don't live in any major metropolitan area.

Hope this helps!

The tri-cities, WA is great. cold winters but very warm summers. Yesterday it got to 112. But other than that we have rives all around us and great public schools! I love it here.

Jamie

There is a lot more to the south than just FL. What about NC/SC/GA/TN?

Take NC for example, Raliegh and Charlotte are consistantly rated some of the best places to live in the US. You get the 4 seasons (if you want to call it a winter), yet a 6-8mo boating/boarding season (yr round w/suits). There are mountains and coastline, cities and country. Waterfront homes on some of the less populated lakes can be found for $200-400k. If you can't/don't want to live where the land is cheap (ie the sticks), there is usually a lake nearby (I have 3 med-lrg lakes w/in 10 miles of my home). With our new "lottery adjusted" state budget, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to find work as an officer and teacher either.

If you want to come down here(Florida) let me know I'll point you in the right direction. Where we live, Winter Haven, within 30 min drive you can be in a big city or in the middle of nowhere.

I have to speak up for Florida. Yes, there are some highly populated metropolitan areas where congestion and traffic are a problem, but this is primarily along the coastal areas, which are also the most expensive areas anyway. The inland parts of Florida (for the most part) are small rural towns. The inland areas are also not really affected by the hurricanes. As long as you live 15-20 miles from the coast and you have a home that was constructed after Hurricane Andrew (Late 90s) you have nothing to worry about with hurricanes.

One thing that is unique about most inland Florida communities is that their populations double in the winter months when the snowbirds come down from northern states and Canada. Most inland areas of Florida have a number of good local lakes or are within a very short drive. Lakefront homes are abundant (although some nicer areas may be pricey).

Law enforcement officers and teachers are both at a critical shortage everywhere in Florida. One of the problems is that the pay is often less (maybe significantly less) than in California or northern states. The good part is that there is no state tax and the cost of living is usually significantly less.

I think everyone knows that Florida has some of the greatest boarding and winter weather around. Why do you think so many professionals and board camps are in Florida for the winter months? Boarding 12 months a year and almost all of it with water temps above 72 degrees.

I just had to stick-up for Florida, but really I would rather see you move to Arizona or California, after all I like having the lake all to myself.

LOL, nice post Bill!! You are alot like me, "don't come here. it sucks!! Stay away!" LOL

I have seriously considered Florida, we have friends down there, and I guess I have generalized a little too much about it being crowded in certain areas.

Where is Winter Haven near? Also, I thought NH was the only state with no sales or income tax, didn't know Fl was that way also. Awesome!

Thanks for all the info, it has actually been very helpful, I sit here and run Google maps every time someone posts an area. Cool.

Sean

(Message edited by seanmcd on July 25, 2006)

look into Lake Placid, Fl. My gf has a vacation house there on a beautiful lake and it is not even close to being crowded. it is just southwest of lake okeechobee.

No, not Lake Placid! That's too close!

lol ya usually im the only one on the HUGE lake, nothing but butter and good times with my friends.

By the way it is NW of Lake Okeechobee. But don't go there!

I have to speak up for the southeast as well. I live in Atlanta and as far as crowds go, I don't think that it could get any worse.

However, I used to go to school in the South Carolina upstate, Clemson, Anderson, and Seneca South Carolina. The are in the middle of the boondocks. However, you are a 2 hour drive from Atlanta and Charlotte should the urge stike you.

As far as lakes, you have three to choose from. Hartwell, Keowee, and Jocassee. Hartwell is a very popular lake and is generally pretty crowded, but Keowee and Jocassee are much more secluded and are great places to ride.

As far as climate goes, Summers are hot 85-95 with a lot of humidity winters are not bad can get into the 30's. You can get 6-8 months of warm weather and can ride all year with a heater and dry suit.

North Carolina is terrible. You don't want to live here. The lakes in Raleigh are crappy. Those polls don't know what they are talking about. Our Hockey team sucks. The college basketball sucks around here. The weather sucks. The schools suck. The crime rate is through the roof. We have raping lacrosse players. Drunken basketball players. Blah Blah Blah...

Anyone from up North reading this... Look at Charlotte not Raleigh

Winter Haven is right in the middle of the state, an hour SW of Orlando and 45 min east of Tampa. It is where Cypress Gardens is located and we have a Chain of Lakes connected by canals. Last year the water never got below 65 deg. in the middle of winter.

You definately don't want to live in Orlando. It is a tourist capital and everyone moves in and out. You can't find steady people to ride with on a regular basis, everyone's flaky. You wake up at 5am to get good water and the second you get your gear on you turn around to see jet skiers coming out of the wood work. Oh yea, it's way crowded and too over populated. Move to the outskirts and you'll be fine, but that's growing quick.

Lake Placid Florida! Theres 30 lakes there I think I only ride on two of them though. Lots of good water warm enough to ride almost all the time. Not busy it's in the middle of the state so not to many tourists. Even in season it's not busy there.

Sean:

Just for clarification, Florida does have a 6% sales tax and most counties also impose another 1% on top of that. Florida does not impose any income taxes on individuals.

Also, Byrd is correct, Winter Haven is right in the middle of the state. Lots of lakes and the chain is cool with the Cypress Gardes ski show, the restaurants and all the sightseeing. Lake Placid is about 1 hour and 15 minutes South of there. Waterfront in Winter Haven will probably cost you a little more than in Lake Placid.

I actually live on a private lake in Avon Park (45 minutes S of Winter Haven or 30 minutes N of Lake Placid) so if you came here it really wouldn't hurt my feelings. Lots of water to go around. You and I are about the same age, so even new crew would be welcome.

Let me know when you get serious and if you are interested in Lake Placid/Sebring/Avon Park and I will happy to help you out.