Where should I move???

[jeaucamom]

As far as rural is concerned... the fewer people the better.

My lifelong dream has been to move to AK, but now that I am alone with just my 11yo daughter... I'm kinda chicken... still considering it heavily though....

My one rule is cold is good.... hot is bad....
And the fewer the people the better. So very NOT into big towns.

The problem is that I am an LVN, not an RN. I have 11 years experience on a med/surg floor in a hospital, but CA and many other states are forcing LVNs out of the hospital and into the clinics and home care. I really, really want to stay in the hospital, which limits my where I can move, unless a VA hospital has an opening in the area (cuz they use their LPNs on the floor).

I did just find an opening in Salida CO... it's in a clinic, but the area looks great... anyone know anything about that area.

 

[jeaucamom]

Quote:
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.

Fort Lewis is one of the places that has an opening, but the cost of living seems high there compared to the salaries. I was considering it still though because it seems you can go out to some smaller communities and get good rentals. Is there weather there as bad as it sounds? Rain Rain Rain?

 

[Eggs4Sale]

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.

I've been to Kansas hundreds of times.

The first time was with my mom to see the places she grew up. I was 16. Everything was boring and flat. It was humid, VERY humid. I wanted to go home, BAD.

The second time, I was an adult. And I wasn't even there. I was here, thinking about being there, remembering the two-story farm house that leaned precariously, the little grocery store where the clerks knew everyone's names, the mom and pop diner where the food was actually real food. The laundromat where we didn't even worry our clothes would get stolen or thrown on the ground if we didn't attend to them immediately. Where the streets were identified by large concrete blocks on the corners, marked with the street name, and this newbie thought people had tombstones in their yards. Where the roads roll along past cows and silos and wheat, and a dirt road heads off into the hills and you wonder for the life of you where it goes. Where you can see oil wells in people's yards, just pumping up and down like a metal chicken poking for worms. Where there were little turtles crossing a back road.

Everywhere has it's charms.

 

[write2caroline]

As an LPN

I would check out the job market and see which job is best and move to that state. Also consider state tax, etc...PROPERTY TAXES.

We lived in Greenwood Lake NY and the property taxes rose 11 percent every year! INSANE YES!!!!!! The people had this crazy idea that the school budget had to pass each year no matter what and after 3 years we couldn't afford the 33% increases. Plus they would base it on a little less than the homes current value not what you actually paid for it like in California.

I would consider each state carefully and not just ask the people or the realtors - Oh Great Schools, Great neighborhood - We heard that about EVERY PLACE we moved to and I have moved more than I care to count.

Currently, we live in a place my son lovingly refers to as RED NECK HELL HOLE - It is great having no state tax, property taxes are high and increasing, public schools are bad 61% of kids graduate??????? Yeah Scary! Heat and Humidity kill me (San Francisco girl!)- Oh and wages are really really low here.

My kids attend private school 18K each per year! I have made some serious life changes and paradigm shifts to pay for it.

Just search out tax rolls and get to know the place and wages before you make your decision. Ask really good questions.
Cal
Jax FL

 

[write2caroline]

Oh Alaska is great! Check out the dividend check! My brother in law and his family of 4 got 16K because they visit every year to their "Home State" and he is in the Coast Guard living in Miami.

I think I am related by blood or marriage to nearly everyone in Ketchikan.

If I got to choose a place to live - I would go there. But alas I married the merchant marine and get to go where his company sends us.

CAL
Jax FL

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
May I make a suggestion? Move to Alaska.

You don't get unlimited shots at your life's dream - and very few second chances.
If you have to work in a clinic vice a hospital, well, what of it?
You make do and you either improve yor lot or learn to be content.
There is you and your daughter. DO the most you can for each other and get to it of you want it.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Quote:
Big time humidity in the WV Mts. only lasts a week or two at the most. It's said to be the dog days of summer, August. Our humidity levels are not like being in VA, FL, North or South Carolina. Beekissed and I are both in the mountainous areas of WV considered the North Central to Eastern part of the Appalachian Mt. range. Only large hospitals would be in the Morgantown area, WVU and Mon General. towards the north. Other towns would be 35,000 people or smaller with of course smaller hospitals & staff. Charleston the capital is to the south west.

 

[lurky]

You should choose MAINE for sure. VT NH and ME are all so beautiful. Heaven on earth

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Big time humidity in the WV Mts. only lasts a week or two at the most. It's said to be the dog days of summer, August. Our humidity levels are not like being in VA, FL, North or South Carolina. Beekissed and I are both in the mountainous areas of WV considered the North Central to Eastern part of the Appalachian Mt. range. Only large hospitals would be in the Morgantown area, WVU and Mon General. towards the north. Other towns would be 35,000 people or smaller with of course smaller hospitals & staff. Charleston the capital is to the south west.

In other places, you can actually SEE the humidity....its like a fog over the whole landscape. Down in the lowlands of WV, near the Ohio Valley, it's horrible humidity levels. Up here in the mountains, the humidity is not so heavy and the winds blow more and blow it right out in a couple of days.

The humidity does indeed depend on elevation and the wind patterns. That is why I love this area of WV! Not too high up to get the bad weather in the winter, not so low down to get the heat and humidity of the lowlands.

 

[Slinkytoys]

Madison WI and little Waunakee are nice places to live. However the mosquito is the state "bird". Man, those suckers can drain you of blood in seconds flat. I know of people who can't use their decks and yards in the evening because of them.
Carrie (who lives in CO with 20% humidity and not too much snow, but don't come here, we have too many people moving here!)