Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Where Should I move To?

Tired of Seattle. No real ties here other than a couple friends. Real estate/rent is pricing me out, don't like the politics, and want a change in scenery.

I have a B.A. in History, currently work in customer service/user support/project management and been doing that gig for 10 years. Time for a change up in location, would like to be within 10-14 hours driving distance from my parents who live in NW Illinois.

Looking for city of about 100k+ so jobs are readily available. Don't care so much what I'm doing, but I LOVE process improvement type stuff. Not looking far north, hate long winters but snow is OK for a month or two. Would like somewhere where cost of living is low (it's incredible in Seattle as we're fast becoming the new San Fran).

States I don't want to live in:
-Illinois
-West Virginia

States I am interested in:
-Kentucky
-Tennessee
-Indiana
-Ohio
-Missouri
-Arkansas
-Others?

I was reading about Lexington and Louisville and those piqued my interest. Ample hunting/fishing/outdoors opportunities a bonus. Anywhere near southwest Ohio might be nice, my B.A. from Miami University of OH is a foot in the door in that area I hope.

My ultimate goal is to go somewhere near a relatively large city with jobs available, low cost of living so my dollar goes further, and to be somewhat closer to my family while not sweating or freezing my nuts off for 6+ months on end.

What say you?

As far from NW Illinausea as you can go West or South.

I would say Missouri or Arkansas..in that order...then Tennessee..

Ohio is so dismally boring you'll be deep throating a .357 before you know it.

Any interest in Iowa? Des Moines is going like crazy (esp insurance and healthcare) and Iowa City/Cedar Rapids corridor seems to be fairly popular.

Might be too close to NW IL... ?

10-4. Need a long so no surprise visits from the parents. Right now there's a few mountain ranges. Would like a state border or two as well.

Also, would like somewhere friendly to guns... goes w/o saying.

If it were me I would look hard at northern ID.

I read about Des Moines doing research last night, and have history in the healthcare industry. Not stoked about the winters though. Sis and her fiancee live in Iowa City.

I would be open to that, but a little farther from family than I want. Why do you suggest it, Scott?

Knoxville

Kansas City.

I would highly recommend far SE Iowa or SW Iowa. Both tend to miss the really cold weather that comes out of the northwest. Southwest Iowa has Omaha and Kansas City within a couple of hours driving. Southeast Iowa has the Quad Cities and is a couple of hours to St. Louis or Chitcago.

I'd like to get out of north central Iowa. There are some days in January that would freeze the balls off of a brass monkey but be close to family. Southwest Iowa would get you at least 3 hours closer to the Colorado ski slopes than southeast Iowa.

Unless you really feel the need to be cold a lot, I'd stay the hell away from Minnesota.

kwg

First place I thought of.....

You sound like a city person. Best of luck being happy with that.

Bismarck ND.

Gotta have job opportunities. Don't like driving 30+ minutes to get groceries. I'd be living on the outside of town anyways. Hated living in downtown Seattle. Suburbs are good though!

Yeah. City person. Wouldn't wish your game plan on anybody. Sure you don't want to rethink your whole economy?

X3

I'm 31 and single at the moment. Lot of single toothless chicks to blow me while I'm unemployed out in the sticks with my thumb up my ass?

Thanks for your input. Not interested in BFE until I got a nest egg to retire on. And don't want to commute 2 hours one-way unless I'm really making bank.

Tell me more about why everyone thinks Knoxville?

It is beautiful country for one. I like the outdoors opportunities they have there. I like to political climate. I think it is still affordable. I do not know about the jobs there but a good project manager is in demand a lot of places.

Most of all the people there are real. A lot more real than where you and I have been living.

I just left Idaho yesterday. I was down south but even though it was hot and dry it has a good feel. I think a little north of I-84 to the the Canada border would be the place I would look if family did not keep me near I-5.

Montana would probably be my second choice with Alaska being my third.

This is the biggest challenge in my life right now!!

I'm in the exact same (where do I live) boat as you. However, I have the privilege of living and working from anywhere I desire for now including the road. Sooooo.... I have a 3 year discovery plan in the works.

I'm considering an on/off road cool RV that I can work from while having fun. Pick multiple destinations over time and base my stay's around the reason for the season. Example -- August in Sitka. The Keys in the Winter and early Spring.

Work and fish. Fish and work. Thanks IBM!!

3 eventual goals.....

-Work and play in as many National parks as possible while seeing the surrounding cities and small towns.

-Meet and play with as many trailer park gals as possible. Make friends!!

-Find that special place to eventually retire too, which is the ultimate goal.

I have 3 properties to sell right now. I will likely sell 2 and keep one in SC as a go to destination until I decide.

That's the plan and it all begins in about 6 months!!! I'm excited!!

May even take my sister and parents with me on some of the trips!

Cause you are only about 7 hours from the coast.

You sound just like the left. Only city people are sophisticated. Toothless chicks in the country. All dirt roads in Idaho, people in Oregon still go to town on horses, no culture anywhere but the city.

Yep, a gen-you-ine city dweller. Is this one of those Yankees Steelhead is so fond of?

I wouldn't wish Ohio or Indiana on my worse enemies.

Plenty of jobs, lakes all around, Smokies nearby, trout fishing, good hunting, and SEC football on Saturday.

X4

And if you pick Knoxville you can watch the Gators kick Tennessee's ass every other year without leaving town.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but how is your sister doing byc?

Knoxville: No state income taxes, the city is exploding with growth, large university there, tons of people under 40, low housing costs, close to mountains, great fishing and hunting, friendly people, everyone has a gun so very gun friendly and very friendly people. It even gets better if you move out of Knoxville a little, like to Loudon, where property costs are even lower, lakes right there, plenty of hunting, great little town. Knoxville, 30 minutes away.

Good luck with your move and congratulations on your decision to leave the left coast.

Hey CFT. Many thanks for asking!! I plan to post an update but for now we are in the clear.

Life for her is now quarter to quarter, which is a big reason for my decision and the post.

Much obliged Sir!!

David

HOT DAMN!

Lexington, KY.

Although Fayette County has very little land open for hunting ( lots of mega-million dollar horse farms ), everything around it is GTG. Elk hunting, trophy management deer hunting, small game & upland birds, varmints, and very friendly gun laws.

Lexington has a pretty low crime rate, housing costs are "reasonable", with several very nice small towns close by for commuting and lower cost housing. The city/county is a merged government, with a total population of approx. 250,000. Sounds larger than it feels. City is well kept. Bourbon industry surrounds the county, and the University of Kentucky is located there, also. Kentucky basketball drives a lot of the excitement in the area.

For a city, it's not a bad place to be.

If I had to live east of the Mississippi KY and TN would be on my list.

Great News!

Apparently you missed the smiley face.

It would also seem you would like to tell me how to live my life- that you want me to live just like you. How nice. I'll live my life how I like and not how you tell me to since I am in charge of it... and not you. You continue living how you'd like. Thanks for the (complete lack of) contribution to this thread.

ETA: And to everyone else so far, thanks for the input. Looking into Knoxville now... Keep suggestions coming. Thanks!

Outstanding! Happy to hear it. 1 quarter at a time is way better than one day at a time. Good news like this always makes my day.

OP, you'd do well to listen to the advice offered by this man.

Southwest Ohio would be pretty good. Get within commute distance into Cinci for lots of jobs, shopping etc.
Seems to be a lot of growth, even down into northern KY.
Rush hour traffic is like any other big city, though.
Not as much winter there as in central and northern Ohio, either.

Terrain is rolling and varied, but if you want bfe rugged, just drive to the eastern part of southern Ohio. Poor as a mud hut, though.
Easy drive to Kentucky and Indiana for a change of scenery.
Jeffersonville Outlet Mall is a bit north off I71.

If you visit the Cincy area, be sure to check out Jungle Jims foods. All manner of international and weird stuff. They are in the fringe suburbs IIRC.

Gun laws are pretty good here: not much restriction on anything, and have come a long way in the last 15 years or so.

Not bad for fishing and hunting. LOTS of deer, and a little bit of everything else except bears and hogs. Pretty long bow season for deer. 'Yotes are fair game 24/365 except for deer gun season.

Myron

I love good news!

+1, just a few quick pro/cons that come to mind.

Pro's

1. Smoky Mnts, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge (Tourist trap, but entertaining)
2. Centrally located to Nashville, Asheville, Atlanta, KY, ect.
3. Rated 5th best boating city in U.S. ,,,,lots of lakes w/entertainment for summer & fishing in spring/fall.
4. Tons of hiking trails, ATV riding.
5. Nearby range has 100-1000 yard targets
6. Plenty of nightlife, malls, restaurants, ect.
7. Our downtown BLM protesters last week consisted of approx 10-15 people and lasted about 30min.

Cons

1. Knoxville is growing at a rapid rate(sellers market).
2. Summertime is brutal hot
3. 10 million visitors a year into Smokys-Gatlinburg can make traffic a bitch at times.
4. Most bars & restaurants don't carry Bacardi Limon.

Places with low cost of living tend to also have lower paying jobs. Go figure.

Given your apparent attitude about country folks, I'd suggest someplace already full of people fleeing the Left Coast, Colorado perhaps.

Visited at least once a month while in college. always took a couple hours to get through. Six aisles of hot sauce. An entire section of adult themed hot sauces. A 6oz bottle of hot sauce that cost $2k.

A wine area the size of a normal grocery store. Walk in cigar humidor. Products from all over the world. Legend I heard is Jim made his money on smuggling cocaine in food shipments. But maybe that was what us college kids said...

Fine. I'll move to Mt. Carroll, IL.

+6 for knoxville, wherever that is.....

Idaho has too many dirt roads, 0 night life, no wimmins, LOTs of us dumb locals.....

I'm in Bowling Green KY. Fastest growing town in the state with unemployment sub 4%. Great place to live. Housing and land inexpensive. Hunting is good, but land harder to find for lease. Louisville is OK. Prefer Lexington.

Knoxville or Nashville.

If you choose Nashville, live in the northern end out past Gallatin.

I live one exit down from the new Jungle Jims

Pretty comical ain't it, that stupid phugger telling anyone how to live their life.

X whatever it's up to now

I've spent a month in Knoxville and the surrounding area over the years.

Why Knoxville?

Besides the beautiful country, you're 31 and single. That town has some of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen and unlike other areas of TN, they have teeth and can carry on a conversation.

The toothless thing was a joke that a few missed.

Springfield, MO

lol


I'm not really joking. Go to a diner in Memphis sometime and when the waitress approaches you, you will no longer wonder why the dentists get food stamps.

I've been to Monroe, WA- the meth capitol of my state. I'm good...

I wouldn't. Place sucks.

Coeur d'alene is the only N. ID city that comes close to 100k and it falls short. but it is close to Spokane.
lifestyle is what you make it
real estate is popping.
winters can be long but mild.
also the spotting of people of color in n. Idaho is rare

that said .... go east young man go east.

THAT my friend, is good news.

I'd look long and hard at how many days a year you actually spend hunting/fishing/outdoors vs. everything else. I pass up fishing daily in a backyard pond for a bigger adventure elsewhere. Steven Rinella lived in Brooklyn and is now your neighbor. I'd say he spends a little time outdoors.

Personally I'd take a badass apartment with nothing to maintain, fix, remodel, mow, yadda, yadda that's close to work (wherever that may end up being) You can make more money, you can make less money. You can't make time, but you can sure save a lot of it by avoiding the remedial bullschit.

Different strokes........

Yup. Not looking to move and buy a house. Be renting for a while, trying out a new part of the country and seeing if I like it. I've got nothing tying me down here, want to try a new area! Going to be making plans to take a trip to probably Knoxville and another area or two in a couple of months. Scope it out.

What a fun part of life

My only advice is enjoy it

And I too am tickled pink to hear the great news about David's sis

Fargo......
Or Wisconsin

And Nazis. Don't forget the Nazis. Der whole staat ist crawling mit dem....


In a more serious vein, can't help with any Eastern recommendations but good luck on your search. I've been in the same boat, looking for outdoor recreation opportunities but needing an urban setting to find work. That combo is tough to come by but there are still opportunities out there.

Bless your heart. Another transplant to Oregon contributes to it's demise.

Westmoreland, Portland, Cross Plains?

Seriously there is better deer hunting in Middle TN compared to East TN (Knoxville)

If Hookers are your thing, why not TX?

Lots of good places to think about...

Knoxville is a very nice town, as many have said. Socially, historically, and politically, it's very different from Nashville. You might check to see which you prefer.

You might think about the Provo-SLC-Ogden corridor here in Utah. Winters are milder than some places, economic opportunities are good, and the outdoor life is excellent.

I've really enjoyed the Carolinas. Might check that. In one or the other of them, your hunting license includes your first six deer tags. You can get more if you run out.

Lol. I was thinking of changing my name on my DL to "I'm not from here" because that's usually how I introduce myself, but sing it proud, sister.

Far too close to my b!tch sister in Raleigh. Definitely want space from family, but a day's drive.

I love what little I have seen from Idaho. Including this little schitty gas station 50 miles from nowhere where a bucket of rocks tied to some twine was used to shut the bathroom door. No pay @ pump. Rattlesnake warnings as you walked in the front door. Owner had an old 20ga in plain sight behind the counter. Ice was used in troughs to keep drinks cold. No joke. In the middle of potato country, flat as a pancake.

CDA was nice too. Would have liked to have stopped in Boise. But alas, too far from family.

Everything's bigger in TX I hear!!!

Gotta link to the range with the 1000 yards???

Paris Tenn.

No income tax on wages in Tenn.
Shop at KY walmart/lowes.
I've heard it helps to be white in Paris Tenn; but I don't really know.

I hear what you are saying about Western Washington. I lived in Mukilteo for many years and the commute down 405, starting at Canyon Park was a nightmare.

With the requirements you listed, Knoxville would be a good choice, but I would head a little further SE to Charlotte (minus the sister issue). Medium sized big city, housing is reasonable (especially coming from Seattle) and the job market is solid. 3-4 hours to Myrtle Beach, a couple hours more to the Outer Banks. 12 hours to Chicago, 4ish to Atlanta and other medium sized cities are only a couple hours away. Winters are pretty mild and summers aren't too bad either (your gonna get humidity anywhere within 10 hours of IL), so it could be a lot worse. It does rain a fair bit there, but not like the "driving mist" you get in Seattle. If you are a golfer, the Carolina's are a great destination, plus northern FL is less than 6 hours and an easy drive down 95 for a weekend getaway.

Missouri would disappoint you.

Louisville Kentucky is full of jobs being on a big river...and just over the river is Jeffersonville IN were our sister company lives

Lot of good options offered here. Iam very partial to a arc that begins from Frankfort down thru Bowling Green toNashville. The prettiest part of Ky is IMHO the U.S. 27 corridor from Frankfort to Danville. Knoxville is nice with the park nearby but I would probably choose to live down toward Maryville maybe Louisville. Yes there's one in Tn. Be sure to check your crime stats as Tn has some issues as well as areas of KY. May not seem bad to city Dwellers but it seems there are daily shooting in Lexington. Usually drug/gang related. I suspect the same is driving Tn.

If you were thinking about that area I would consider Oak Ridge TN. Good amount of work and lots of recreation opportunities without the crime and sprawl of Knoxville but if you need to go to Knoxville it's close enough. Educated populous and a higher income (and thus services like medical care) than other areas around there.

as everyone points out you have the park , lakes and it's just a beautiful area. I will also point out that there is a noticeable difference in weather. I live in S Ky and winter is about 3- wks later and spring is about 3-4 wks sooner. The redbuds and dogwoods will bloom a month sooner than in KY. This translates to a winter that is 30 % shorter than in KY.

Sorry, We're Closed.

From what you've described, Huntsville, AL would be worthy of a look. It's more than just rocket science.

Western Nebraska is a great place to hunt and fish, but no large towns. North to Rapid City might be good. 100k+ metro area, but winters won't be short.

You couldn't pay me to live in Missouri. Does anyone there not do meth?

East Tenn is nice. So are most places in the South East.

Being young, single, and looking for a decent sized population base, find a college town you like and give it a run.

I could live in Portland...They have a Sonic

that is a nice area - I'm partial to Guntersville and Gadsden

The OP has the entire Shenandoah Valley, all of TN, western NC from Charlotte/GSO west, western SC from Columbia west, all of GA from an hour or so S and E of Atlanta, basically all of AL, MS, and LA, east TX, all of AR and KY, ... and that's just the SE. He's also got CO to about Grand Junction, and eastern WY and eastern MT as well as all the Dakotas in his geographic range to be close to the parents in NW Illinausea.

By God, if he can't find somewhere decent to live in those areas he ain't trying hard, and if he manages to f'k this up it's on him.

Why would Missouri disappoint?

(Plenty of meth problems in rural Appalachia, unfortunately.)

FL panhandle is a nice. P'cola/ Mobile area. Straight up 65 to see the folks and you are still on the salt, if that matters to ya.

It's full, the beaches are black and the seafood comes pre-oiled...

I would suggest a long road trip and see for yourself. I have traveled the country quite a bit and it really helps in narrowing it down.

2 major cities....one being St Louis....remember 2014 Ferguson?

Jobs have left the St Louis area for Mexico

Kansas City.....St Louis 2.0

Look into Warrensburg or Knobnoster and these might be of interest but as for jobs, I can't recommend Missouri

As was said a while back , Springfield Mo pop. nearing 200,000 than add Ozark, Nixa, Republic, Rodgersville, All very nice , very close. Building is booming in theses areas. Right now I'm booked for over 2years , for dirt work on housing const. forgot Strafford & Willard.
And yes Meth does seem to be a problem in the "area" but no worse than a lot of other places it just gets publisized more be cause of the arrest, Maybe due more to a lack of other BS problems in the area that other places seem to have.

The most important thing to determine is where you don't want to live. If you don't move to one of those places, you're golden.

Too many choices can be as difficult as none, but it's not a bad situation to have.

Big Fish,

Take a look at Poplar Bluff, MO. A Pretty little town (15-20,000 people?) at the edge of the Ozarks. A medium sized impoundment nearby with boating and fishing. Right next to some of the prettiest rivers in the ozarks. Tons of public ground nearby in the Mark Twain NF...

2 hours from ST Louis, and 5-6 hours from Savanna.