West Texas is a great place to live. San Angelo has lakes that are the best fishing for hundreds of miles. The deer and turkey hunting is some of the best in the nation. The air is clean and people are friendly but let you do what you want as long as you respect their rights. LOTS of work as people are finding out how good we have it here. I usually don't promote how we have it out here but it would be nice to have some more traditional rodders nearby! Oh, I almost forgot, we are only 2 hrs from Del Rio (semi-tropical) and 3-4 hrs from AUSTIN (Roundup,Contenental club ect.)
You forgot to mention all the 2 lane around here that seems to be utterly forgotten by the PoPo. It's sad just how little there is, aside from Lazy Dog, Rt 66 museum in Pontiac, and a few other things. If I hit the lottery, I am going to buy out the damned Monical's pizza on Main Street and turn it back into a Drive In. Steak & Shake so never shoulda moved out of that location.
I liked the Atlanta area when I moved back to it 6 years ago but......looks as if the car scene has slowed somewhat & "progres" has edged its way to my (use to be) quit, mind your own bizzness area. Zoning NAZIS got to me late last year & I had to shuffle & move some of my "junk" behind the fence. I've been trying to convince the wife that TX is wide open & a place to hang our hats..........mabe after the olderst is out of school (4 years to go).....I'll probably be to old to enjoy it........ PACO
I am in Spokane, Wash. and ABSOLUTELY ___HATE IT___!!! Wayfarer on the other hand ___loves it___!!! It all depends on the person! I have a "fairley" large shop 24X36 but with no heat and snow on the ground I do NOTHING but hide in the house and bitch about the cold! I am originally from San Diego, ( We are in the proccess of trying to move back now) so I miss the 100 degree temp.!! I love to sweat, and Hate to shivver!!!! But then again I'm an "odd ball"!!!...Ken
We moved to West Virginia about 3 years ago from Santa Maria, California. We really wanted to get out of California (both of us born and raised there) because of the cost. I would much rather live in Idaho, over near Boise. I lived there for about 3 years but my wife didn't like it so we went back to Cal.!! Idaho has tons of car folk and super junk yards and plus you've got Tony Farnetti and Bo Huff close by. Close to Oregon and Washington and not that far from Montana, Utah, Nevada.
No! To many people just don't care and are very unfriendly. Monterey county is very nice depending on where you live. I guess it's like anywhere else with a large population. Right now the drug thing (meth) is way out of hand because the ingredients are so readily available. The gangs are pretty rough and there are quite a bit of drive by shootings throughout the year. I just make it a habbit of not working to late so that I can be with my children during the after school hours. I try to keep the kids busy with after school sports. I know that I can't be with them every waking moment but I am very involved in their lives. I know that if I don't give them the attention they need someonelse will. I know that everyones hometown changes from one generation to another. I just miss the way the town used to be when I grew up. It always looks better somewhere else and one day soon hope to move to AZ or TX. I have friends in both states and it feels a little bit more homey than it does in Salinas.
Arizona's worst months are June & July before the summer rains come because during those two months it is like stepping outside into a pizza oven/blast furnace. You can't grab the doorknob on the Southwest side of the house because it is to hot! I hate that furnace feeling. But compared to Minnesota in the 60's & 70's when it use to get down to -40 below with wind chill factor I guess it is a toss up. I still think I would like live in Northwest Missouri - It is a garden of Eden up there! They tell the guys in Oklahoma it is called "Misery" just so they won't move there....
Western Washington was a nice place to live 20 years ago. Now the yuppies have taken over and turned all of the nice areas into a suburbian nightmare. The cost of property has escalated so high, it is driving alot of people who were born here to move elsewhere. Traffic is really horrible from 6am to 7pm. The Pacific coastal areas are still somewhat affordable, but there are no jobs beause the decline of the lumber industry that supported those areas. I got my teaching certificate so I could just pull the plug and move if it gets any worse here. Dave
NOOOOOO! I grew up in So Ca.(Huntington Beach) Graduated high school here, moved away @ 18, moved all over, moved back @ 31, been here for a year now, and wish I'd never returned! All my family is here, and I still can't wait to move. Oh, and plan on spending top $$$ for vintage cars........
I started out in California 63 years ago. Left at 17 to join the Army. Since then I have lived in Georgia, California again, Florida, Indiana, California for the last time, New Mexico, Arkansas, Florida for the last time, Illinois, and Arkansas for the rest of my life. I could have been happy most anyplace. But here we have elbow room, access to first class services, cost of living is low, no smog or vehicle inspections, and the DMV is easy to work with. Don't tell anyone.
Thats funny, I couldn't get out of Grants Pass fast enough. Not seeing the sun for a month sucks. I came back to L.A.
I live in San Bernardino, Ca. It's the armpit of so cal. It has high murder and crime rates. The city government is one of the most corrupt in the U.S. The people are hostile, and as a white boy I'm in the minority...it has a great car scene, it's never really too cold to work outside on your car; you can find good live rockabilly 2 or 3 nights a week to go to... it's paradise!
Like the man said..Home is where you make it, there are nosey neighbors everywhere..I'm a Texas boy, except for five years in N.California, great trout fishing, but would scurry back to Texas to avoid cold winters..everywhere in the sunbelt houses are springing up like weeds, with that, subsequent problems, do you have to pack up and move farther out every five years? doesn't that just put you closer to another city?..Texas Hill Country is truly paradise..try and find ten acres with some water on it..I know, I know, the rest of these Texas boys will want me to shut up....
Ohio isn't great, the winters SUCK but carwise this is probably the least restrictive state state in the nation.No State Inspection, no Smog Check but in about 5 of 88 counties., buying tags for ANYTHING without much hassle, more drag strips and circle tracks than anywere that I can name plus low property values make the buckeye state someone bearable to live in. Given the choice, I'd check into N/GA or SC's laws, because I like the climate down there. Jan
Southern Cal. is the best!there is allways something happening..you see we don't really have winter,so if you can get along without the falling leaves,frigid weather and all that B.S.,come on over we could allways use more car guys!...and girls!!!
Born and raised on the east coast and would gladly move back. Stuck in west TN right now, it's hot and humid in the summer and winter weather going from 50 one day to 30 the next, and rain. No swap meets without a long drive, and not much of a car scene. No mountains or ocean either. Now east TN is allright, except for all the orange. lol
I like where Im at. although its 30 degrees out and my garage has no heat. we have the goodguys at Puyallup,hot-rod-a-rama,and some other local shows.AND, we celebrate the "rain festival"360 days a year! there are lots of hambers around here.We dont have vehicle inspections in most ZIP codes,{but mines one that does}or for vehicles over 25 years old. Anyhthing along the I5 corridor is going to cost an arm and leg,two fingers and a pint of blood for real estate! Although, southwestern Washington is okay. But best of all, I'M HERE!LOL. R.R.
What do you want in a place to live? what do you do for a living? do you have to be near a large city to work? What don't you want.. those are the things that will help you sort it down. I live in rapid city, south dakota and like it for the most part. I would like more land and a large work shop.
Wisconsin is OK. The good things are cheap real estate (my house would be worth an easy 3 million in the right parts of Cali), no emissions testing where I live, lots of easy going little towns. I never lock my house door, very little crime unless you're in a bigger city. The shitty part is cold snowy winters with lots of road salt that keep you from driving anything old. Used to be a LOT of old car junkyards but they're slowly being crushed out. Tons of little local car shows during the summer but nothing really fun except Iola. I'm in the business of parting out rotted old shitboxes and there are TONS of them around here to be had so I'll never move. Plus there's no way I could pack up and move all my shit, even across the street, it'd take weeks.
I live in the high desert of CA, above LA, been here 5 years. I love the desert, I think it's beautiful, and I like the dry heat. If you can find shade, it's ok to work in, but the sun will zap your energy quickly. I think it's a good car scene, lots of old daily drivers around, but everyone knows what their car is worth. Me and my girl are planning on leaving though. Housing is getting insane, and all of the LA gang bullshit is coming up here... traffic is getting nuts, too many super aggressive assholes. People in CA are NOT laid back compared to WV. We're going back to WV, my home state. I loved WV, it's very beautiful, and for the most part you can do what you want. I lived in Charleston, good town, nice people, but the city was corrupt as hell, and liked to tell you what to do. No car scene whatsoever, people kept them in all in the garages. Everything old is rotted away. No emission testing, but thorough inspection every year. Lots of nickle and dime taxes, but very low cost of living. Kinda hard to find work. Horrible grey winters. Don't like the weather, wait and hour and it'll probably be different. Almost everyone is white, but i've met more "different" people back there then in CA. Lots of artist, crazys, genius-level types that can't read a sentence, etc. I miss those mountains, it's like a magnetic force. Ultimately though, home is where you hang your hat. Also, the grass is always greener near the outhouse...
I love the Austin aea and have been in Texas all of my life. The truth be know the old car car nazis are found in ALL metropolatan<spelling/beer> areas. If you want to be safe from the old car nazis you will have to move to the country with enough property that you prize possesions cannot be seen. I personally am looking in the Rockne area.
I am in the process of moving from Pittsburgh, PA to Defiance, OH. Defiance is a small town in NW Ohio. It is a rural area and I think it will stay that way for a while. From what everyone tells me the schools are good. I came here with a job so I do not know what is available since I didn't actually have to look for one.
We can go financial... Texas has high property taxes, by %, but housing is half the cost of the major California markets. I'm told $100K in TX is compareable to $300K in Cali. But... We have no state income tax, prolly never will. Sales tax is usually just over 6% for the state with municipalities adding another 2%, on average. Rural property is easy to find between $1K and $3K an acre and there are rarely any restrictions on construction outside city limits. We have tall tree woods in the east, wide open pastures north and west, hill country in the middle, coastal low lands and tropical breezes down south, Mountains, deserts, hundreds of lakes, a super speedway, two NFL teams, two MLB teams, and the Lone Star Round Up. What else do you want?
Well, I'm impressed by the LACK of MI responses...only one. For now we're in a lil trouble here. But it cycles about every 10-12yrs and we're on the way up again. Best damn real estate deals EVER right now. As far as zoning and shit you'll possibly never win. It's what you make it. I live in a rural community about 30min from the metro Det area and I'm embarrassed to let out what I pay for property tax considering what I have...it's that good, not bad. I think it's one of the prettiest states in the US and has 4 seasons. It's gonna depend on what you want. My place is no junkyard but I've had a non-running car outside my shop in the back for like 3yrs or more of 1 kind or another. At any given time I'm liable to see a couple horses strolling down the road or a couple quads rippin along, 'cept in winter when I see snowmobiles. To your original question, I LOVE my place.
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