Where ya' going ?

United Van Lines has released its annual report addressing which States folks in the good ole' USA were moving to and from throughout 2018.

New Jersey, illinois, Connecticut, New York, and Kansas topped the list of net outbound folks.  (Hey !  What's wrong with Kansas? ? ? ?)

Vermont, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona were the favored locations for folks moving to.  

(n.b.  The rakings are based upon the ratio of folks moving in/out not the actual number; hence the inclusion of, f'rinstance, Vermont.)

Ref: United Van Lines

DonDiego presently resides in a state once a member of The Confederate States of America, but he finds even the moderate Winters here ever-more unpleasant.

So he's been thinkin' about relocating one last time.  So far the west Coast of Florida - somewhere between Tampa and Ft. Myers - or southern Texas - somewhere between Austin and San Antonio seem most appealing.

Anyone else got the wanderlust ? 

Don I would reccomend that you come for an extended vacation trial in the summer. It is VERY hot and humid here in July, August and September. I get out of town as much as possible in that time frame. Of course some people love the 95 degrees and 95 temps at 6 am. It has been know to rain for weeks on in also in September.

Also very big difference between liviing in the Tampa area and Fort Myers. I live in Naples and love it  but even we are becoming very big city . I have bears, crocodiles, coyotes, otter and deer in my neighborhood but I can see that stopping as urban sprawl creeps in.

Good luck

I lived in the FLorida panhandle for 2 years.    I thought it was paradise for about 6 months...but ultimately the beach, bars and seafood ran their course and I realized there wasn't much more to be offered in the area.    After you've heard the same band cover Margaritaville for the 100th time its just not as enjoyable  =)

I would think San Antonio would offer alot more in the way of social activities - festivals, sports, food scene, concerts, etc.    And the cost of living is dirt cheap.   Austin is probably offers even more but the cost of living is getting quite high there.   El Paso is cheaper than both and regularly makes the list of best cities to retire.

I've lived in the eastern half of the US my entire life and have been to almost every destination therein.   I plan on retiring somewhere west.   Maybe even vegas.

siwst852 writes: " I have bears, crocodiles, coyotes, otter and deer in my neighborhood . . ."

Poor old DonDiego is envious.

He's got a diverse bird population, although he's begining to think they mainly come by for the seeds he puts out as opposed to companionship.  There have been rock doves killed by hawks near the birdfeeders too. 

Oh, and the peacock and peahen from the bottom of the ridge occasionally visit too.

Other than that deer are fairly common, . . . watching the youngest ones is especially entertaining - they are just full of energy !

And lots of wild-turkeys - DonDiego gets to see the males strut in the Spring, . . . and observes the groups of females with the resultant little-ones from Springtime on into Winter. 

Occasionally a skunk, . . . sometimes a resident groundhog, . . . rarely a coyote - usually in Spring with pups, . . . 

A bear was spotted about a quarter mile away last Summer, but DonDiego did not see it.

But no crocodiles or alligators !

Jeez why do the fingers type one thing while the brain thinks of something else. Alligators we have alligators not crocs . That is why we have alligator alley lol.

Birds ,my favorites are the Herons with their huge wing span. Also the wood storks once a year again just mammoth. We use to have nesting eagles til the tree toppled over, :-(.

Re: "crocodiles"

DonDiego was surprised when he saw "crocodiles" in siwest852's post.  But he Googled a bit and discovered that there are indeed crocodiles in Southern Florida.  

"American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are a shy and reclusive species. They live in coastal areas throughout the Caribbean and occur at the northern end of their range in south Florida. They live in brackish or saltwater areas and can be found in ponds, coves, and creeks in mangrove swamps. They are occasionally encountered inland in freshwater areas of the SE Florida coast as a result of the extensive canal system."

Ref: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

If poor old DonDiego were living among crocodiles he would prefer they be "shy and reclusive".  

Re: PJStroh's reference to "list of best cities to retire" Poor 

Poor old DonDiego employed several of those lists to narrow his search.

These are the places that popped out as DonDiego's favorite candidates:

__Austin-San Marcos-New Braunfels-San Antonio Corridor - presently atop the list.  Lots to see and do; one experiences Winter but not much of it.  There's a commuter rail-line runing north from Downtown. 

__Boise, ID - looks nearly perfect, . . . until poor old DonDiego realizes he wants to get out of Winter weather.  Decent entertainment venues - e.g. one of the Broadway Show touring groups has Boise on its schedule.  He'd love to be within a day's drive of Yellowstone, . . . until the volcano blows !  On the other hand, . . . it might be better the closer one is considering the likely  effects on national food supplies.

__Plano, TX - actually not too bad, but DonDiego fears his Eagles flag would be torn from his yard every Sunday during football season.

__Sarasota, FL - here or Orlando look attractive, but DonDiego agrees with earlier post the humidity and rain can be unpleasant. 

__Vancouver, WA - Nice sized town across the Columbia River from Portland, OR.  Advantage: live in WA, with no income tax; shop in OR with no sales tax !  Scenic area with trails and such nearby. A mite expensive.

Honorable Mention:

__Pittsburgh, PA - for those unfamiliar with the "best places" list, Pittsburgh shows up on most of them.  Moderate cost of living; lots to see-and-do; an NFL team; commuter-rail through the suburbs to the South.  But the Winters are the downfall.

. . . . . . . . .

A cautionary note about "best places lists":  Some of the locales listed surrprised poor old DonDiego because he's lived there.  For example:

__Allentown/Bethlehem, PA

DonDiego was born in Bethlehem, just like Baby Jesus except His Father was wise enough to time His birth for the last week of the year so's he could claim him as a dependent for the whole year. DonDiego was born in February.

DonDiego is surprised it makes the list.  It was pleasant enough growing up in the area, but there's really not a lot of "activities" to recommend it.

If it matters, . . . Philadelphia and New York City are about a 90-minute-drive away.

__El Paso, TX

DonDiego was astonished that this town made the list. He lived there for a decade and there was precious little in the way of amusements.  [An entrepreneur built a small amusement park on the east side of town while DonDiego was there, and it failed immediately; no residents wanted to pay the entry fee.].

There used to be a small Indian Casino operated by the Tigua Tribe, but it was awful.  F'rinstance to get around the Texas Laws the shoe-and-bank in blackjack was passed among the players, who could refuse it and pass it on; the casino just collected a small fee on every bet.  The problem: the player "banking" could give up the bank after any hand; and if the count went positive they would. 

There [i]is[/i] the attraction of Juarez immediately across the downtown bridge into Mexico, where poor old DonDiego occasionally used to place sports bets. The operators used to be unaware of the idea of correlated-parley-wagers so DonDiego cleaned up occasionally. [DonDiego just checked and the sports book is now immediately adjacent to the entry point; it used to be a few blocks south, . . . about 2 blocks from the place where an unfortunate woman was electrocuted when she stepped off the sidewalk into a puddle during a heavy rain about 90-minutes before lucky-old-DonDiego showed up - suggesting an unsafe condition within the wiring underground.]

*** UPDATE *** UPDATE *** UPDATE ***

A colony of 200 feral rhesus monkeys are running wild in Central Florida, . . . and they are carrying a herpes virus which is also fatal to human beings.

Within the monkey-troops the virus is being spread sexually.

Experts suggest the disease could be spread to humans by bites, scratches, or - for example - monkeys flinging poo at humans.

Ref: Miami Herald

DonDiego has just crossed Florida off his list.

A decade or so ago I cast (casted?) an eye on Bartlesville OK.  Visited there when nephew performed in a regional swim meet.  It seemed to be a pleasant town, on the quiet side, lots of cultural happenings, some Frank Lloyd Wright influences (and dwellings).  A decade or so later the same nephew performed there in an opera, a real opera company event...nephew sings bass/baritone in opera for a living.  The town seemed the same, quiet, pleasant, culture, etc.  I never made any serious efforts to move to Bartlesville, don't know about taxes, wildlife, etc., and I'm sure there was more to the town than culture and Frank Lloyd Wright.  I also liked that it was kind of in the middle of the country.  Just a thought prompted by this discussion of desirable places to live.

Candy, surprised you mentioned Bartlesville.  I lived in Bartlesville since 1987, until we moved 20 miles south last year.  We still attend church in Bartlesville and have deep roots there.  I'm sure your nephew performed in the OK Mozart event, a yearly event which is highly hearalded with top name perfromers.  Bartlesville is one of the wealthiest communities in the country with one of the highest percentage of post graduate degree holders.  Mainly due to Phillips Petroleum which was founded and headquartered here.  Population is 40,000.  It is rural Oklahoma with a cosmopolitian feel.  Politically it is the most red county in one of the most red states. I know a few people that were passing thru and decided to drop anchor here, some for the culture of the OK Mozart.