Where to go?

[Azn Occassion]

They say preparation is the key to succeeding in the future so would like to get yall’s input, if you please. I am currently on active duty and trying to start to make plans for once I am out. I am going to stay in as long as possible and try to get to retirement. I have 7 yrs until retirement and have 3 yrs left on my current contract. My wife and I are starting to plan on where to go once I am out of the military. We are looking at Nebraska, Kentucky, Tennessee, North/South Carolina as our possible go to places but we both are not a fan of humidity and like snow. I would like some input about the pros and cons of these areas and would be open to other suggestions. My main concerns is jobs (I’m an Aviation Electrician with security training, working on my universal HVAC license) & good schools for my kids that have good gifted programs. Secondly would easy access for off roading, hunting, fishing etc...


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[MN4runnerman]

Northern suburbs of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Too many places to fish in this state I can’t get to them all. Plenty of public access, wma’s for hunting, snow for snowmobiling, ice fishing I think is better than open water. And they’re plenty of good schools in the northern/west metro area and really all over the metro but that area has easier access to the roads that lead out of town in my opinion. Lots of development so trade jobs are in high demand.....shameless plug

 

[2ndhandyotaman]

" not a fan of humidity" pretty much rules the entire east coast and SE area of the country. The snow thing would suggest pretty much anything north of the latitude that VA sits on, or high elevations ( CO, UT, ect..)

SW corner of the country can't be beat for open spaces and jaw dropping beautiful scenery. PNW has it's own beauty, but overcast/rainy fall, winter and spring gets old quick. ( at least for me it did, I moved to Seattle when I got out of the Marine Corps. I lasted 5 years in Seattle and couldn't take anymore, YRMV)

Congrats and thank you on serving this long, hope that you make it to 20 and get the benefits that you've rightly earned. :thumb:

 

[gamefreakgc]

I have friends from Colorado and they mention it being an outdoor enthusiast's paradise. Cities have great options for trails and snow very close by.

I'd mention California, but your pension wouldn't even go half as far as it does in other places of the country. Housing in Sacramento has gone up in price by about 40% in 3 years.

 

[Wedgy]

Ya, I'm in CA and it's great but expensive and the lead free hunting sucks for shotgun/upland. Areas around Reno are good and Bend, OR is good but turning a bit Yupster as all the CA people move there. Utah, Idaho, Colorado are sportsmans paradise.

 

[ToyotaBrah]

I know Kansas City is really not the city that pops up in anyone's head to move to, but it's a great place to live. I'll list some pros/cons for you. If you're considering Nebraska, look into here as well.

Pros:

-Jobs pay higher here and low cost of living
-No annual emissions or anything of the sort. Just register your car once, and done
-Very safe school districts like Blue Valley and Olathe 233
-An array of unique places to eat and shopping venues (Town Center, Plaza)
-Very friendly and normal people
-Typical morining and evening traffic on the major highways, but nothing compared to LA or NYC traffic
-Sprint, Cerner, Garmin all have their Headquarters here
-8-10 hours away from Denver, CO
-Mild winters (even more so in the past few years)


Cons:
-Very little to do here in the way of outdoor activities. No mountains, no interesting topography. Just plains. But there are tons of lakes for fishing.
-Bipolar weather. One minute sunny and calm, the next minute thunderstorms with snow. Yep, it's happened here.

 

[Road Bull]

With all the items you mentioned, I am surprised that Washington State isn't on your list. The climate is very moderate. You have good access to snow, but generally don't have to live in it. There is plenty to do here with hiking, fishing, hunting, off roading, skiing, snow shoeing, camping, etc. And we are only about 3 hours south of Canada and about 3 hours north of Oregon. Boeing is out here. You may not want to live way out here though. I don't know if you are trying to stay close-by family or anything. It's not really cheap to live out here, but it is what it is.

 

[Azn Occassion]

Thanks for the good info. My and I talked about Washington a little bit she has some reservations about it. Family yes we would like to stay relatively close to an airport for them, as going back to PA is just not really an option as there has been way to much drama and bs. It has been not necessarily easy to have to cut my family out but I couldn’t and will not tolerate the crap they put me and my family through. My in laws are wonderful people so being near a airport for them to see us would be better. There is a lot for us to consider and it’s going to be a huge change for us. My kids don’t know anything else as being home since I have been stationed in Norfolk, VA for the past decade () . I am glad to see people expressing interest into help us get plan for this next milestone. As long as I have my family and they are happy, healthy and I can provide for them in all their needs I’m good.


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[gamefreakgc]

With all the items you mentioned, I am surprised that Washington State isn't on your list. The climate is very moderate. You have good access to snow, but generally don't have to live in it. There is plenty to do here with hiking, fishing, hunting, off roading, skiing, snow shoeing, camping, etc. And we are only about 3 hours south of Canada and about 3 hours north of Oregon. Boeing is out here. You may not want to live way out here though. I don't know if you are trying to stay close-by family or anything. It's not really cheap to live out here, but it is what it is.

Washington used to be a great place to move to from CA, but the Seattle area prices have rocketed up in price faster than CA prices lately so now it's just more of the same as far as costs go.

But I agree, it's absolutely gorgeous up there. If I had to move anywhere out of CA, it'd be Washington but that might just be me.

 

[repo]

There is zero off-roading, camping or hiking in Nebraska. I don't fish but I imagine the fishing is terrible because there are hardly any lakes and the rivers are pretty gross. LOTS of hunting though. There is a bit of stuff in Western Nebraska but but no cities or anything, and by the time you drive out there you might as well go to the Rockies. Otherwise it's awesome, great people, safe, convenient, good economy, pretty drama free besides some interesting weather, and a big USAF community here with Offutt of course. It's a good place to raise a family, the schools are very good in most neighborhoods but the property tax is sky high. Lots of construction at the moment and having security clearance helps because there are a bunch of defense jobs. People complain it's like going back in time to the 50s but that's a good thing IMO.

Another place to look at is Coeur d'Alene in Idaho. That was the other place I was looking at before I moved to Omaha but there is less going on there job-wise because it's smaller. Heard good things about it especially if you are an outdoors person.

 

[Road Bull]

Washington used to be a great place to move to from CA, but the Seattle area prices have rocketed up in price faster than CA prices lately so now it's just more of the same as far as costs go.

But I agree, it's absolutely gorgeous up there. If I had to move anywhere out of CA, it'd be Washington but that might just be me.

You're right about housing prices getting ridiculous. Amazon has turned the area upside down. I am lucky that I decided to buy something outside of Seattle at the end of 2014. I am not sure what I would do today. On the one hand the place I bought has pretty much doubled in value. Of course along with it my property taxes. But, if I wanted to move I'm in the same boat it's not as though it allows for a lot of movement once the market has gotten so crazy. It's a fantastic time to move out of the state if that's what you're into. But if you're not ready to do that then moving can become tricky with multiple people putting offers and trying to outbid others on what little housing there is available.

I have to say that Washington continually amazes me at all the different cool things there are to do and see, and I've lived here for about 17 years now. I have also gotten very used to the idea of everything being green so that when I go visit my sister down in the Bay Area and see all the brown hills, it doesn't feel quite right.

 

[JayRolla]

OP you want CO. Covers everything you want. Housing is expensive though.

 

[4flyer]

You said aviation electrician? If you are wanting to do something similar in aviation but in the commercial sector, you will likely need your A&P. You can probably get it paid for under the GI bill (don't know exactly how that works though). Lots of aviation manufacturers in the Kansas area.

 

[Bijan]

we both are not a fan of humidity and like snow.

c o l o r a d o

 

[tcbaklash]

The only places in California that are affordable, low crime, not crowded, and have good off-roading or hunting have absolutely zero skilled jobs. I lived in the mountains for a few months and it felt like a totally different state, but the coast is hell and you have to be rich to afford a house near your job. I'm trying my best to leave since it's too late for me to afford a life here. 15 years ago, I could've made it, but I just started my first big boy career 2 years ago and housing prices are totally out of reach for me.

I lived in Yakima, WA for a couple years as a broke college student. Medium-sized and inexpensive city with some outlying rural towns. Crime in the city is high, but there are nice neighborhoods. Seattle is 3 hours away. High amount of sunny days, low humidity, hot in the summer, cold winters but you can count on never getting snowed in. It's high desert so it's ugly as hell, but lots of wilderness in the nearby forests for hunting, off-roading, fishing, camping, hiking. Rich beer country with solid local breweries. There's an air and land military training facility nearby that hires contractors for various work and a large municipal airport. You can fly Alaska Airlines to Seattle for $50. I really liked living there even though I spent most of my days too impoverished to leave the house.

 

[4-Ripcord]

No humidity, yes snow, easy access to outdoors, aviation industry = Colorado springs, CO

 

[2ndhandyotaman]

Spokane was always a nice trip for me to escape the winter blues, it was much more seasonal than the Puget Sound region. No idea what the job market is like there, but the town was big enough that you could find just about anything that you needed. Scenery was typical Northern Rockies, I thought it was beautiful.

Damn, As I'm reading all of these posts I'm realizing that I need to get out of Baltimore, more so than ever.