The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Outpost Cafe => Topic started by: SKATE RAT on March 20, 2012, 05:27:36 PM
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ok. i'm sick of new york. been here my whole 39 years. i need a change, the only problem... i have no idea where to go. my girl and i have been talking about it a lot lately.
possible choices
Richmond Va.
Portland Or.
Austin Tx.
nothern California
Australia!
any good suggestions? this place sucks.
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Denver has a decent job market, no humidity, and is about to have a very interesting NFL season. It's also close to the mountains - a pretty grat place!
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You might like Austin - still a great place for music and the job market is not too bad. The downside is that you will have to have wheels - at very least a scooter. That and it does get hotter than hell in the summer - no snow to speak of though. ;D
Birdie, aka Leslie, just moved to NYC from Austin - you might want to look him up and get his input.
Leftybass, aka Ron, is a longtime Austinite - you ought to rattle his cage for the skinny on Austin as well.
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thanks guys, i have been to Breckenridge & Colorado Springs before, never Denver. beautiful but a little too rural for me. Austin on the other hand i have been to a few times and always had a great time plus i have a few friends there.
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and we have a car and a not working motorcycle
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Wow..........2.7 million people in the Denver metro area is too rural??
Check it: that's 1 million people more than the Austin metro area at 1.7 million.
But if Austin floats your boat, be my guest. I lived in that climate (in Bryan 90 miles east) for 13 years and would not repeat the experience. It's over 90 degrees every day starting in May, and it doesn't get under 90 in the daytime until November. And humidity? Yessir, they have all you need. At least the weather is decent from November through April. And it does have a great music scene. Not ever gonna get me back, though.
Portland is a great area and has much more moderate weather. Not as grey and cloudy in the winter as Seattle, which is one of my favorite cities.
Just be aware - anywhere in the West you go, you will need at least one car because there is limited public transportation in most areas, no public transportation between most towns, and it's not unusual to drive 60 miles to go out to dinner.
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I think he meant that Breckenridge and Colo. Springs were a little too rural, not Denver.
Austin's an awfully tough place to establish yourself musically.
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Seattle!
A scooter is a handy thing if you live in the city, otherwise a car.
Gotta be ready for some rain, but when it's nice, nowhere else even comes close ;)
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Hawaii doesn't suck...
;)
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What are you looking for?
No Snow?
Urban?
Jobs?
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I agree, NY sucks. High taxes, high cost of living, too much snow upstate, politics, dysfunctional government....but, we have the best friends and relationships you could ever ask for, so leaving is almost impossible for us to imagine. The people and relationships are most important us. We just soldier on and let the positives overcome the negatives.
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My son just moved to Denver and loves it so far. He's also working at The Great Divide brewery, which is what he was hoping for.
I'm curious about South Carolina, personally. Anyone have any info? I've been considering moving there one day.
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ok. i'm sick of new york. been here my whole 39 years. i need a change, the only problem... i have no idea where to go. my girl and i have been talking about it a lot lately.
possible choices
Richmond Va.
There's a pretty decent music scene in Richmond, plus it's close to Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk, not too far from Philly, right on I-95.
Robert (Hornisse) lives in Austin and his band plays regularly but they've been established for some time. Also, a friend who moved away from Austin said property taxes have been going through the roof the past few years. He moved away because he couldn't afford to live there any longer though he'd lived there for years. He also said it's not the nice, quaint little music town it used to be.
I'm curious about South Carolina, personally. Anyone have any info? I've been considering moving there one day.
I think Charleston is the place to be in South Carolina. Nifty, OLD city, easy access to boring old I-95.
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been in ny for 55 years.... in my blood but but it does have issues. the northern suburbs are really nice but really expensive.
Have you been to Asheville NC. great area...
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As a lifelong 'yorker going too far south could be troublesome. we don't fit in that well.
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As a lifelong 'yorker going too far south could be troublesome. we don't fit in that well.
Damn yankee!!!!! ;D
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My son just moved to Denver and loves it so far. He's also working at The Great Divide brewery, which is what he was hoping for.
I'm curious about South Carolina, personally. Anyone have any info? I've been considering moving there one day.
All of Colorado is uber expensive. I'd love to live there, but I think the costs are way out there.
I spent 4 years going back and forth to Clemson, SC where my son attended college. I like the slower pace of life, low taxes and cost of living. It's pretty rural for the most part, center of the Bible belt. Charleston is the best place to live, IMHO, if you want some culture, access to the ocean and lots of fun stuff to do. The weather is a beast in the summer, however. Lots of days in the 100+ range and humidty is just as high. It would be worth a visit.
I agree Ashville, NC is a great place to check out. More expensive than Charleston, but it's in the mountains, more temperate summers and lots of culture for a smaller city. If I were to move down south, I'd look at Ashville and some of the larger cities in Tennesee, based on costs and weather. However, I doubt we'll ever leave our friends here.
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Thanks for the info. My son is making $1/hour working in Denver. Seriously. He's got a week-end job to help pay the bills.
As far as SC, I've been looking at Florence. Inland a bit, near the Interstate, and close enough to the coast. Just by coincidence, my job has a big processing center there, as well.
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77 and sunny in Chicago right now. ;D
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77 and sunny in Chicago right now. ;D
...sigh.... I miss home. Weather is about the same in Columbus right now.
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Quite honestly, moving to the Southwest (Texas) for me was a cross-cultural experience. I am pretty sure that moving into the deep South would be comparable.
For a gent from NY, depending on your ability to adapt, I'd suggest looking at the northern tier of states or the west coast. Less cultural dissonance with the northeast.
Denver pays well for tech jobs and has become kind of a tech center for the West. Housing is expensive, but not as expensive as a metro area like NY or much of California.
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Quite honestly, moving to the Southwest (Texas) for me was a cross-cultural experience. I am pretty sure that moving into the deep South would be comparable.
For a gent from NY, depending on your ability to adapt, I'd suggest looking at the northern tier of states or the west coast. Less cultural dissonance with the northeast.
Come now we're not all heathens down here! ;D To my knowledge a carpet bagger has not been tarred and feathered in least ten or twelve years :rolleyes: :P
Pilgrim, remember that you were in Bryan/College Station and not Houston or Dallas. Yes, there is a definate culture shock but lets face it - in Houston probably 60% + of the population are not native Texans and the place is quite the melting pot. Same goes for Dallas and Austin.
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Fair enough!
As a friend noted...first, there's the South. Then, there's Texas. Finally, there's College Station. It is a different place, where the world is viewed as Maroon and White.
Unless you've been around Texas Aggies, that's a bit hard to understand. But I used to ask people who had just been in the area a few months "How far back in history did you move when you got here?" The average answer was "20 years".
Maybe that's specific to College Station, but it illustrates that the cultures really are different. Not better or worse, but different. Texans are very nice people with a strong independent streak - but being a state employee is like working under an observation window, there are so many regulations and so much paperwork. Total oversight, volumes of paperwork...it's a pain. I called one of my predecessors who had moved to USDA in Washington DC one day, and I asked: "Larry, did the paperwork get more complex or less when you moved to DC?" He started laughing, and said "Al, my life never got simpler than when I moved here."
There is a lot of good in what we experienced in Bryan/College Station...but over time, perhaps based on A&M, I knew that I would be happier moving north. And here I am in Colorado!
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The bizarre insect population would be reason enough to not move to South Texas ;D
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"The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland!" :mrgreen:
I have friends in Portland. Great town, nothing quite like anywhere else I've visited -- all the goofy stuff in Portlandia is pretty on-target for types of people in Portland.... but it does stay rather gray and grim in the winter.
Summer there is great though, much nicer than our (NYC) horrible hot+sticky climate anytime.
Me, I'd probably be in the bay area if not for my daughter's grandparents all being more or less near NYC.
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Me, I'd probably be in the bay area if not for my daughter's grandparents all being more or less near NYC.
The planes fly both ways and it's about the same as getting from Austin to NYC. Of all the places I've lived in the US, the Bay Area gets the nod. Best climate, culture and diversity. Expensive but cheaper housing can be found. I lived in Alameda, an island about 1/4 mile west of Oakland. It had a small town vibe 10 years ago but the developers were itching to develop the closed Naval Base property. Easy to get in and out of all the Bay Area had to offer.
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I for one am very glad to be back East, and back in NYC. My situation is not typical but no need to get into that on an open forum.
as others have said, there are plenty of things that can wear on you here, but the same was true in Vermont (isolated and f*** cold)
in Santa Fe (skip it- it is absolutely the most messed up place I've been!!) and even Austin (it's getting just a leeetle bit too cool for it's own good) Plenty of good to great musicians though,yet was never asked to play more free gigs, "benefits" etc. tough to break in, especially if you just aren't a Western type of person-like me!! having said that,I think everyone should check it out (Austin) for sure.
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Eleven years ago I stepped out of a nightmare job that I loved/hated, usually at the same time, to take a job that would keep me here in town with my family. I traveled up to 80% of the time - sometimes I would buy a one way ticket to Seattle and wind up in Denver, Vegas or Phoenix before I made it back home to the Houston area. One thing that was begining to happen all across the country back then was the corporate takeover of everything. Yeah, there are still regional restaurants as well as mom and pop joints but TGIchillisFriendlysRubyOutbackRedOliveGarden were popping up everywhere. :sad: What I was seeing big time years ago is now rampant - it's sad, cities are moving towards the middle. When I traveled I went out of my way to hit locally owned shops and restaurants - all the rest was tasing like Soylent Green when you had to eat it four or five days a week. While I don't travel nearly as much as I used to I still get out around the country and I'm starting to see cities melding into one plastic blob of sameness. I guess I am officailly an old fart :P
Austin is just a prime example - fifteen, twenty years ago it was just a cool little city, it's still nicer than most, but it's definately gotten a bit too big for it's britches ;)
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Sperling's Best Places just released their 50 Stressful Cities list (http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/stressful_cities_2012_list.aspx) for 2012.
I see that five of the top ten most stressful are in Florida, and here in the Twin Cities, we're the least stressed. Of course, this is just another list to be taken with a grain of salt.
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Money magazine 2011 best places.....http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2011/
Their #1 town (Louisville, CO) is about 20 miles south of Fort Collins.
Their 2010 list...http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2010/
Fort Collins is #6 on the list.
Their 2009 list....http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/
Louisville #1 again.
Their 2008 list....http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/
Fort Collins is #2.
I think we must fit their criteria pretty well. I hereby volunteer to buy a local craft brew for my forum friends who visit.
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OK, I'll stop shilling for Colorado now....don't want to kill Skate Rat's thread....
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thanks guys. some great ideas. i really liked Tennessee. there is some weird conection between Memphis Tn & Portland Or. for some reason people move back and forth. NC is beautiful and worth considering. the bay area is awesome and would be my first choice if it were a lil bit cheaper. maybe something close. i kinda like Richmond as i have some friends there it's close to DC, Philly etc.
i'm also considering leaving the US. maybe Australia?
it'll be at least a year before i do anything but i know i want to try something other than NYC. the cost of living is too damn high, all i do is work and i'm still broke. plus i'm sick of everything being so crowded.
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thanks guys. some great ideas. i really liked Tennessee. there is some weird conection between Memphis Tn & Portland Or. for some reason people move back and forth. NC is beautiful and worth considering. the bay area is awesome and would be my first choice if it were a lil bit cheaper. maybe something close. i kinda like Richmond as i have some friends there it's close to DC, Philly etc.
i'm also considering leaving the US. maybe Australia?
it'll be at least a year before i do anything but i know i want to try something other than NYC. the cost of living is too damn high, all i do is work and i'm still broke. plus i'm sick of everything being so crowded.
Amen! I hear ya, I could never survive in NYC. Good luck, I hope you can make something happen and work out the way you want.
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Bill and I were just talking about this the other day, NYS does have its disadvantages. Upstate NY is a beautiful place to live and raise a family. The winters can be brutal but the rest of the year is great, no Tornados or Hurricanes, no real earth quake activity either. Property values are good you can get a lot of house for very little compared to the rest of the country. The suburban schools for the most part are good. Taxes are wicked high and they make it just plain hard to do biz here. If we were younger we would consider moving but we have built lives, businesses and have family here. Good luck with your search, but before you bail on NY completely maybe take a look at Upstate.
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Good points Scott. I can promise you there are a lot more rednecks out here than there are in NYC! Overall, we are not as "sophisticated" here in the forgotten west. Contrary to what people in NYC think, we don't have dairy cows roaming the streets.
I live out in the country where there are lots of farms, fields and wildlife. I have 5 acres and a nice house. I couldn't have that anywhere downstate. An urban center, Rochester, with culture and lots of stuff to do is 20 minutes away. The Canadian border is only 1 hour away and Toronto is every bit as much fun as NYC and a heck of a lot cleaner and safer.
So, we are trying to live with the warts and console ourselves with the fact we have a wonderful life and friends in spite of it all! Man, I hate the 100+ inches of snow we typically have though................. :o
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If all winters were like this year it would a almost perfect place ( gov. and taxes aside) to live. I had the snow blower out twice this year that was it, what a gift!
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Not many places in the U.S. that have the same late nite hours as NYC and the music/arts scene, if you like to gig. New Orleans is one of them. Finally back to being liveable after Katrina. You can find work. Rents have gone up since Katrina but you can still find affordable places. The people are really cool and laid back.
Great food.
Downside is it gets hot and humid July-mid Sept but beats the hell out of NY weather. Always some festival going on. The "murder rate" is supposedly the highest in the U.S. but that is almost exclusively black-on-black drug murders only in those sections, sort of like the Bronx/Harlem. Rarely anything like that in any area you would be living in.
I am a NYC native and moved to New Orleans a year before Katrina and had to move back after that. In the process of moving back. Still have my house there. Have been doing the back and forth thing the last several years.
There are also still a lot of gutted/repairable Katrina houses you can buy dirt cheap if you are handy and want to fix them up.
My bud who watches my place for me is a sax player from Connecticut....living his dream....plays in six different bands and gigs pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day.
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"plays in six different bands and gigs pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day." That ain't gunna happen in upstate NY !
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"plays in six different bands and gigs pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day."
I don't even have sex with myself that often :rolleyes:
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Every place has pluses and minuses. You have to figure out what's most important to you.
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"plays in six different bands and gigs pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day."
Yeah.....that's a sax player and keyboard player thang. In demand bastards.
Fortunately, the real band members usually get more T&A :)
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Yeah.....that's a sax player and keyboard player thang. In demand bastards.
Fortunately, the real band members usually get more T&A :)
and STD...
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i'm also considering leaving the US. maybe Australia?
That's not necessarily easy, unless you work in an occupation that is on the "skills in demand" list (and have a totally clean criminal record) What do you do for a crust?
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That's not necessarily easy, unless you work in an occupation that is on the "skills in demand" list (and have a totally clean criminal record) What do you do for a crust?
Yes, Australia has never allowed criminals to settle there. :-X ;)
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Yes, Australia has never allowed criminals to settle there. :-X ;)
We learned our lesson, although it took us 100 years to work that out
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Yes, Australia has never allowed criminals to settle there. :-X ;)
That's a lie, after all they've got politicians too there. :P
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That's a lie, after all they've got politicians too there. :P
I thought Australia was once the prison farm of the British Empire. Kind of like South Carolina...
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i think what i want is... a little slower pace but not too country. after all i grew up in the city, i live in "Da 'Hood" Bed Stuy Brooklyn. i miss tough old school working class NY. i want lower cost of living & more space. a house would be nice with a yard. less tourists to deal with. when tourism is up so is the price of everything.and everything is so crowded. someplace with milder winters, though this past winter was awesome. we skipped it altogether.
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All you have to do is get out of a major metro city. Plan try of places meet those criteria.
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Of your choices I'd go with Portland OR. Great city, really good pace, affordable by comparison, good music/arts scene, nice weather (I'll take rain over snow), great restaurants and bars. Definitely a place a NYC punk rock guy would find things to appreciate.
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All great choices. If I could see myslef leaving NY, I'd go to CO, KY or TN.
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I thought Australia was once the prison farm of the British Empire
It was - hence Dave's comment. We've done pretty well, considering that heritage. Of course, just like the US, we killed most of the natives as well, which is something we're not proud of.
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Of your choices I'd go with Portland OR. Great city, really good pace, affordable by comparison, good music/arts scene, nice weather (I'll take rain over snow), great restaurants and bars. Definitely a place a NYC punk rock guy would find things to appreciate.
I'm sitting in Portland as I write this.. .a very cool place indeed. I like Oregon a lot!
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It was - hence Dave's comment. We've done pretty well, considering that heritage. Of course, just like the US, we killed most of the natives as well, which is something we're not proud of.
NC was the penal colony for the original 13 colonies IIRC. Yep, we treated the natives horribly as well.
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Another reason to hate NY. Woke up this morning with the ground covered with snow! It should melt off later today, but now we're back to our typical March/April weather.
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Another reason to hate NY. Woke up this morning with the ground covered with snow! It should melt off later today, but now we're back to our typical March/April weather.
That's not a reason to hate it! I enjoy the change of seasons and the unexpected, except for violent weather.
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NC was the penal colony for the original 13 colonies IIRC. Yep, we treated the natives horribly as well.
So was Georgia
come to think of it . . . anyplace the BE needed t colonize was :sad:
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That's not a reason to hate it! I enjoy the change of seasons and the unexpected, except for violent weather.
I love it up to March. After that, I'm over it!
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Normally I'm tired of snow by March. But this winter was boooring.
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Normally I'm tired of snow by March. But this winter was boooring.
Yes, it wasn't much of a challenge, like usual! I have to say I loved being able to go on long walks every night or day.
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It was 84 here yesterday, high of 50 today...but pushing 70 again by the end of the week. It may be too dry, but all last week was in the 70's with our normal lack of humidity.
Don't sympathize with me too much - I'll try to bear up somehow. ;) ;D
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It was 84 here yesterday, high of 50 today...but pushing 70 again by the end of the week. It may be too dry, but all last week was in the 70's with our normal lack of humidity.
Don't sympathize with me too much - I'll try to bear up somehow. ;) ;D
The only downside for me in Colorado is the dryness. I have very dry skin to begin with and after a week there, I'm longing for some good old fashioned Great Lakes humidity!!!
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Light snow today and 36 degrees. Supposed to be 60 tomorrow, 70 the day after.
Our motto: never leave home without a jacket.
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Light snow today and 36 degrees. Supposed to be 60 tomorrow, 70 the day after.
Our motto: never leave home without a jacket.
Not unlike Upstate NY. The joke around here is "if you don't like the weather, just wait a few hours, it'll change!" And that is the normal state of affairs. We have significant swings, but yours are much greater than ours. Being an hour due east of Lake Erie and 20 minutes south of Lake Ontario, we get all kinds of interesting "lake effects" all year long. When it precipitates, it PRECIPITATES!!! We have as many days of clouds as you do sun. It can be depressing and we tend to worship the sun when it makes a rare visit.