upstate NY is beautiful. if not for the snow, i would stay here forever. you have the adirondack mtns, the finger lakes, wine country, lake ontario, farm country, plenty of hunting and fishing and you can buy an extremely nice house on the water for about $300K. taxes are bad though. plenty of good eats and arts depending on where you are. Woodstock is really cool and a quick ride to NYC and close to the Catskill Mts. I have seen few states with the diversity and beauty and affordability of New York state....if you like snow. I live on Lake Ontario and its gorgeous in the summer time but the winter puts a damper on my porsche and 911 hobby

and Toronto, another awsome city just across the lake from me. The only state that compares to NY as far as diverse geography and culture is California

oh, and i forgot to add, there are no hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes (except perhaps a rumble every 15 years or so) and no wild fires

but the snow, it sux. truly unfortunate

I travelled through there years ago and it struck me as one of the best places to live. I loved all those historic towns where so much has been achevied in. The fantastic lushness of the spring growth. And that fabulous BIG town down the road.

i drove around in my pcar tonight, looking around, thinking that i should have mentioned that word exactly, "lush". indeed it is. i had a girlfriend from LA once who would visit and thats how she described it. the glacier-made finger lakes are stunning as well. sure, nothing as big as and grand as big sur or the sierra's but in its own way, its beautiful. and cheap

and Walkins Glen is here too. :-)

yeh - upstate NY -- that's the ticket - beautiful

yeh - not just income taxes -- but property txes will drive you into the poor house.

So income and property tax make up for the no sales tax then...good to know.

Scratchyourass WVa would be my choice. Shallow gene pool from inbreeding is the only downside. And.....if ya keep the wheels & tires attached to your double wide, no property taxes.

Cedar City Utah is my version of what you described.