Where should I move???

[HBuehler]

I live close to Nashville and have several family members that are nurses from general nursing to surgery nurse-she had a hard time last fall finding an opening when she moved back home. We do have some very big hospitals-Vanderbilt and many more.
I'm a New England transplant it's much cheaper to live here than other states taxes are pretty low but we do pay nearly 10% sales tax on everything including food..food is just a little lower.NO Income tax!
It's hot and humid most of the summer most summers.This year we have had more rain than we have had in years-happens every 15 years or so. Hardly ever snows. Yesterday was 95 at the bank signs at 9:30 AM but June and July we set record lows in the mornings. Overall a beautiful summer this year.Last year we were in a severe drought.
We are contractors-new homes so we live here because it was BOOMING huge now it's slowed way down but personally we are busy-many are not. Unemployment is less than 10% where we are.
TN is a very varied state...we have the well to do-middle TN is well known for that and has the highest income bracket.We are not that hilly hard to find a hill nothing say a mountain but it's not flat.Then there are areas of real depression and areas that are beautiful mountains those areas also have less job opportunities so there are trade offs to both.
We also have lots of Rivers lakes and streams A State Park within a short drive of everyone in the State no matter where you are.We are in the top 3 of equine ownership there is lots of livestock around...lots of chickens as well

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
Yes. But taxes are high. Stay away from Milwaukee.......Chicago area. High crime rate.

X Wisconsinite.

Quote:
Taxes are not high in most of Wisconsin. And Marshfield clinic is a nice paying clinic...but I too have family in that area and you don't want to move West of there. Clark County is the highest poverty rate in the whole state. Most of the roads are red gravel and unemployment is through the roof. School systems are horrible. But there taxes are almost nothing. If you don't work in Marshfield or are not a farmer....don't move there. Appleton and the Fox cities and central Wisconsin and south, and the Madison area. Even towards the north. Very beautiful but mostly National Forest. Not alot of jobs up there.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
No it's not!! The flint hills are beautiful and so are the Smokey Hills. Our sandhills are pretty too. We may not have mountains, but we're hardly boring and flat.

 

[chickenbottom]

Quote:
The area of WV in which I live is the most temperate in the state. It is simply beautiful with abundant wildlife, big green valleys and high, blue mountains. The streams are clear and cold, the winters are mild, the summers are perfect and sometimes cool with little to no humidity. The crime rate is nonexistent and the schools are good if not great.

Summer temps range from 50-88 degrees but average at 78 most of the time...no humidity.

Winter temps range from 5-55 degrees, but mainly stay around 38-40. Not much snow, some ice.

Low taxes, good water supply, very little zoning laws except right in the bigger towns.

The downside? Little job opportunities. I'm an LPN here and the pay is dismally lower than national average and especially much lower than CA.

The upside to that is that people are all related to their patients here, thus take better care of them and have more pride in their work.

Little cell reception, stores and shopping centers are a far piece from home, and good places to eat are about the same.

The upside to that is the small town flavor of it all...with country festivals and simple pleasures.

I rent this house, 4 miles out of a small town in the eastern panhandle (only 2 hours from D.C.), for $375. It has sweet, spring-fed well water, a large apple orchard on an acre+....and no near neighbors!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00004.jpg


The amount of snow you see on the ground is the deepest it has gotten in the 4 years we have lived here. And that was only for one day....it melted off the next day!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_mountain_trip_072.jpg


http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00010.jpg

The pic of the big valley is right over the mountain from me. On a clear day you can see for miles and miles.

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_007.jpg

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_006.jpg


My chickens free ranging in my apple orchard.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_varied_pics_of_dogs_chickens_kids_horses_078.jpg


This is an icestorm from my front porch.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/5508_mountain_trip_018.jpg

that reminds me so much of home in Virginia beautiful pictures

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Quote:
The area of WV in which I live is the most temperate in the state. It is simply beautiful with abundant wildlife, big green valleys and high, blue mountains. The streams are clear and cold, the winters are mild, the summers are perfect and sometimes cool with little to no humidity. The crime rate is nonexistent and the schools are good if not great.

Summer temps range from 50-88 degrees but average at 78 most of the time...no humidity.

Winter temps range from 5-55 degrees, but mainly stay around 38-40. Not much snow, some ice.

Low taxes, good water supply, very little zoning laws except right in the bigger towns.

The downside? Little job opportunities. I'm an LPN here and the pay is dismally lower than national average and especially much lower than CA.

The upside to that is that people are all related to their patients here, thus take better care of them and have more pride in their work.

Little cell reception, stores and shopping centers are a far piece from home, and good places to eat are about the same.

The upside to that is the small town flavor of it all...with country festivals and simple pleasures.

I rent this house, 4 miles out of a small town in the eastern panhandle (only 2 hours from D.C.), for $375. It has sweet, spring-fed well water, a large apple orchard on an acre+....and no near neighbors!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00004.jpg


The amount of snow you see on the ground is the deepest it has gotten in the 4 years we have lived here. And that was only for one day....it melted off the next day!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_mountain_trip_072.jpg


http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00010.jpg

The pic of the big valley is right over the mountain from me. On a clear day you can see for miles and miles.

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_007.jpg

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_006.jpg


My chickens free ranging in my apple orchard.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_varied_pics_of_dogs_chickens_kids_horses_078.jpg


This is an icestorm from my front porch.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/5508_mountain_trip_018.jpg

I'm on the other side of this mountain that beekissed lives on. I've lived in WV all my life and would not trade it for any other state I have visited and that is quite a few!!! My best GF and a niece are nurses and have no problems finding a job.

We are not boring and not a step back in time as was quoted. Any nice size city or town in WV has wonderful theater groups, musicals, dining, ski resorts and any kind of recreation you can imagine. 4 seasons and not much humidity in the summers.

 

[jeaucamom]

Quote:
The area of WV in which I live is the most temperate in the state. It is simply beautiful with abundant wildlife, big green valleys and high, blue mountains. The streams are clear and cold, the winters are mild, the summers are perfect and sometimes cool with little to no humidity. The crime rate is nonexistent and the schools are good if not great.

Summer temps range from 50-88 degrees but average at 78 most of the time...no humidity.

Winter temps range from 5-55 degrees, but mainly stay around 38-40. Not much snow, some ice.

Low taxes, good water supply, very little zoning laws except right in the bigger towns.

The downside? Little job opportunities. I'm an LPN here and the pay is dismally lower than national average and especially much lower than CA.

The upside to that is that people are all related to their patients here, thus take better care of them and have more pride in their work.

Little cell reception, stores and shopping centers are a far piece from home, and good places to eat are about the same.

The upside to that is the small town flavor of it all...with country festivals and simple pleasures.

I rent this house, 4 miles out of a small town in the eastern panhandle (only 2 hours from D.C.), for $375. It has sweet, spring-fed well water, a large apple orchard on an acre+....and no near neighbors!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00004.jpg


The amount of snow you see on the ground is the deepest it has gotten in the 4 years we have lived here. And that was only for one day....it melted off the next day!

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_mountain_trip_072.jpg


http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_imported_photos_00010.jpg

The pic of the big valley is right over the mountain from me. On a clear day you can see for miles and miles.

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_007.jpg

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_pics_of_home_006.jpg


My chickens free ranging in my apple orchard.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/5_varied_pics_of_dogs_chickens_kids_horses_078.jpg


This is an icestorm from my front porch.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/5508_mountain_trip_018.jpg

So where in WV are you. I have my application in some places, but go scared when I saw the humidity levels. You seem to be living my dream life in that house... Very beautiful!! So you are an LPN too huh... please pm me and let me know what it is like working out there. I have apps in several places and just started looking at the VA out there. But it seems like the only place I would want to live is where you are LOL!!

 

[jeaucamom]

Everyone says not much humidity in the summers in WV, but when you look at the humidity maps on the weather channel it says 80% etc??? Does it depend on elevation???


And as far as WA goes, they don't use their LPNs in the hospitals anymore so I didn't consider it. I just found out I can work for the VA though up there, so I started considering Tacoma. But boy... sounds like a lot of rain... I will have to look at Spokane.... and see if I can find anything there.

 

[wombat]

If you don't work in Marshfield or are not a farmer....don't move there.

Yeah ... but the OP is a nurse. I would expect that nursing in California pays well enough, but compared to what other people are making in California, it's probably on the lower end of the professional pay scale for the area.

Get a nursing job with Marshfield, and you're probably on the high end of the wage scale in the area and living well. If you're into inexpensive rural living within driving distance of a good job, it's a good place to get that ... as long as you have the skills to get that sort of job.

I can't believe how inexpensive decent quality farmland is there right now. If I could get a halfway decent IT job in, say, Eau Claire, I'd be out there.

You're right in that there are few good jobs in the northern and west-central parts of the state, though ... but the OP is a nurse, and that's still in demand in those areas.

... anyway, I wasn't sure how rural the OP wanted to get, but since she tossed out Fairbanks as a possibility, I figured she was looking for a hobby farm at the end of a dirt road.​

 

[b.hromada]

How 'bout West Virginia or Tennessee. They are both beautiful places. I would imagine the weather is great for the most part, too!!

 

[wombat]

And as far as WA goes, they don't use their LPNs in the hospitals anymore so I didn't consider it. I just found out I can work for the VA though up there, so I started considering Tacoma. But boy... sounds like a lot of rain... I will have to look at Spokane.... and see if I can find anything there.

I was based at Ft. Lewis for a while way back when ... the general area is really beautiful, but Tacoma itself is kinda ... hmmm ... rough.​