Screw New York State. I'm Leaving. Where To Go?
 

I love Syracuse. It's home; and it would be one of the boomingest (tm) cities around if it were anywhere other than strapped to the stifling NYS tax/regulatory stone. However, my hatred for New York State today surpassed my love for the 'Cuse. I've lived in NYC, on Long Island and upstate and there's no escape as long as I'm in this benighted neo-socialist petri dish.

So, I'm done with this state and its pestering nanny policies. Evidently I'm not alone, as NYS is losing more people than just about any other state (MI and MA lead NY, I think ... hmmmm; also Liberal nanny-states... coincidence?). I'm not going to bear an increasing share of the burden for social-experiments-without-accountability (and NYC) because others are skedaddling and thus pro-rating their burdens onto me. I'm done.

Anyway, I'm thinking about TN, KY, NC or maybe VA. But I need to stay away from the over-popular, ridiculously infested trendy regions where the roads are mobbed and everything is a strip mall (NOVA, I'm looking at you).

I could go just about anywhere, but as long as I'm going, I figure I want to be able to use the toys 10-ish months a year and do not want to swelter all summer. Can't do the surreal, unending flatness of the midwest... it makes me psychotic.

Does anybody know a good resource for comparing various states' tax systems, state policies, gun laws, etc.? It's time, as we say in the legal biz, to forum shop.

I'd appreciate whatever insight/experience you've got. Thanks in advance.

JP

I moved from the NOVA area to NC, took a pay cut but pocket more money (cost of living) There are three main areas in NC, Eastern, Central (Raleigh/Triangle) and Western (Charlotte). I live in South Eastern NC, do contracting for the Marines. Cost of living is cheap, cheap, cheap!!!! I bought a 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 2 1/2 car garage on an acre for 75K.

The Raleigh area is continually growing. The tech industry is big in the area there.

Charlotte I am not to sure about, don’t make it around that way to often. I know there are some other members on the board that live in that area. One plus though you would be a whole lot closer to the Dragons Tail!!!!!!!

NoVA is packed, and VA is, in general, a police state. Commuting is a b!tch. Property is still pricely. Taxes are up there, too. Otherwise, it's a lovely place to live.

I hear ya. I'm heading to FL. Wellington.

When I left NoVA I had a smile on my face. When living there I rode a bike to work. It was 4 miles from my front door to work. In the car it took me min 45 mins. 30 Mins by bike. I still travel there on business every so often and it is just a reminder of why I left.

I'd say look anywhere in NC along the I40-I85 corridors which runs from Charlotte, which is in central NC (not western NC), through Winston-Salem to Greensboro, and on east to Raleigh the state capital. There are expensive areas, but homes and land can be had for a good price if you shop wisely and stay away from new developments. I40 splits away from I85 in Greensboro and goes through Durham (not recommended), near Chapel Hill (home of UNC) and on down to Wilmington on the coast. I'd look that way too.

South Carolina is probably too southern for you now, but NC will be easier for you to adjust to.

Northern NV, AZ, NM, Eastern OR, WA..., CO...How bout S Utah????...St George...

I'm a Westerner..don't want to live anywhere else. I love CA, but its now the Peoples Repblic of Mexifornia. When I was growing up there, it TRULY was the best place on earth to live...unfortunately paradise was discovered by everybody and now its paradise lost. Anybody who has visited Santa Barbara tell me different about it being paradise.

If U lived in the Reno, NV area U could always take a weekend trip to Carmel, Monterey, Wine Country or the Bay Area and then dart back over the border before they even figure out you've been there. In NV there is NO STATE INCOME TAX.

JP: Are you sure this is not January talking? With the weather finally getting cold - the reality of an up-state winter must be settling in..

My neighbors are moving out. I think I can get you a good price. Great house with a two car garage (with a lift!).

Welcome to Sweden! Home of fresh air and even fresher blonds. :D

Up here in N Florida is pretty nice, although it does get hot n muggy...

Sweden was great until the muslim in migration began. Now you've got real trouble with no sign of it getting anything but worse.

Unfortunately that is true. Or maybe I am merely a racist bigot..

you'll love California :p

We get a lot of goombah imbeciles from NY here on the Md. shore. Most own/work at boardwalk junk shops selling bootleg CD's and henna tatoos to tourists. Some buy food/gas establishments. If the migration continues you can have my house as i'll be heading elsewhere to avoid it.

wait...i thought muslims did not like cold weather?(like cockroachs). i tell you man, what has the world come to when the land of abba is now the land of mohammed! damn!~

I would say Florida, Atlantic side, north of Jupiter!!!!!!!!!!!!

pensyltucky is pretty much free AND cheap....if you want to work at walmart

Livi -
Perhaps we'll arrange a visit where Sweden and I can audition each other!

I've gotten along famously with every Swede I've met, so it could be a great time. Except for the shipping of 6 cars, a bike, a quad and two truckloads of other toys to Sweden.

The reality is, unless I'm going to switch vocations (which I'm open to, for the right $) I'll need to be close enough to (i) a reasonably sized metropolitan area or (ii) a company that requires sophisticated legal counsel. After 10 years of securities/joint venture/capital markets/international transactions/M&A work, I'm not going to hang out a shingle to do parking tickets and divorces.

Pat - thanks for the insight, NC is looking like a promising candidate. I have family in Charleston (which I'm visiting in 2 weeks) and I've considered moving there, but (1) the heat, (2) the humidity, (3) the lack of a sophisticated legal market/business requiring my skills, and (4) see 1 & 2, above.

Tabby - I really like it out west; especially Colorado. A friend is moving there in a month or so to attend some ridiculously elite gunsmithing school. Parts of WA and OR are supposed to be fantastic. I'd need to stumble on an opportunity out there, however, not having contacts or a real chance to go check it out for myself.

It's not the weather, smartass. Just one more rule/reg today that would otherwise be innocuous enough just broke my back. They're just passing **** b/c they can, w/o thought to additional burdens or need, or anything we'd call reason. And I have a choice whether or not to subject myself to these pinheads' whims. I choose no. And the beauty is, when I leave, there isn't someone clamoring to take my place, to pay my taxes, to bear my share of inane regulatory burden. The last one to leave New York won't have to turn out the lights...

JP

It's not racist to tell the truth. If one ethnic group commits crime at a higher rate than another, reporting that is the right thing to do.

Ask them to take you north to Brookgreen Gardens, this time of year, if it's not raining, would be really comfortable and it's pretty unique. Charleston is interesting too, it's as much a colonial era town as antebellum southern town. Lots of things to see there. It's oyster season too.

Brookgreen Gardens