Topic: where should I move to?

[Sleeve of Wizzard]

Well I think California is a sinking ship so me and the family are looking to move. Well honestly we are mainly tired of Fresno but  so a leading possability is Kingwood Texas because my girlfriend used to live there and loves it. The only down side is that her crazy Ex lives near there and we definitely want to stay the hell away from that A hole. Here is a quick run down of the things we are looking for.

Work : as much as I don't like it I have to, so being able to find a Job would be nice.

Housing : well my dreams of home owner ship have yet to come true but cost of housing needs to not be outrageous such as my current environment.   

Edumacation : Me and the woman I have thus far tricked into thinking I'm awesome are going to continue with our Jr. college and the kids should probably continue their schooling as well. smaller communities are nice.

Crime : Just had another drive by shooting that killed two more gang bangers two blocks from my house so maybe somewhere that I can let the kids go outside would be neat.

Weather : I don't want to feel like my skin is going to melt off because my Yota doesn't have a/c every summer so some where that doesn't hit 110 + would score some points on my check list.

I like the beach and the mountains.             

[Toymin8r]

I've only ever lived in St. Louis, MO but I think its a pretty good place to live.    

Jobs:  unfortunately St. Louis has lost a lot of jobs over tha last several years due to the Closing to 2 Chrysler plants, 1 ford plant and Since Anheuser Busch sold to InBev it cost 1000 or so jobs but there are plenty of opportunities.

Housing:  St. Louis is one of the cheapest placed to live as far as Major Cities goes.  Just stay out of the City limits.    Depending on whether you like neighbors you can get a nice 1500sq ft home for $150k on either an average sized lot of on a few acres if you like living rural.

Education:   St. Louis has a very large Catholic population so there are plenty of private schools to choose from and 2 or 3 public districs are some of the best in the state.  As far as college we have Washington University or St. Louis University but you btter be rich to attende either of those.  University of Missouri St. Louis is a good 4 year school and there are 3 decent jr colleges.  All of these schools are within 40 minutes of each other.

Crime:   Like I said as long as you stay out of the City you shoule be ok.   The South and West parts of the County are much lower crime areas.   Jefferson county just south of St. Louis is the meth capital of the country but violent crimes are pretty low.


Weather:  St Louis has 4 definite seasons.  Summers reach into the low 90's and on rare occasions you will see a 100 degree day.  The humidity sucks though.  Winters are generally mild and you will usually see 3 snows of 6" or less per year.

Sorry, no beaches...and I wouldn't recommend swimming in the Mississippi.  Ozark mountains aren't too far away but they are only foothiss compared to the sierra's, Rockies or Appala....however the heck you sppell them

My sister-in-law is from Fresno and she likes it better here....if that helps 

[Steve_925]

i hear australia is pretty sweet

[ElkoToy]

What kind of work do you do the mines in northern Nevada are hiring. They pay good and lots of time off. My shifts are 5 days on 4 days off 4 days on 5 days off. So I get almost a week off every 3rd week.

[bleakhorizon]

i would tell yea to move to Oregon... but there are to many here already  Idaho is really nice lol....   I hear the most recession proof areas are the mid west,  yea know... the areas that would be boring

[Plekto]

Oregon.  Better than Nevada for the most part, no crime really(cept tools trying to swipe your rig that is...), and no sales tax.  Oh, and state-run healthcare that already works.  They beat the government to it and you'd think that someone would notice already.  But they're NEVER brought up in any discussion about health care.

The minuses are the weather, the schools(the best in all of Portland area is only B+ compared to the best schools in California), and there's very little work in anything technical - it's just not a very active state in terms of that sort of thing like California or Washington are.

For me, the far more lax rules and no sales tax are big incentives, though...

[83 Crawler]

move up here to portland 

[bigarms23]

oregon or idaho are good choices or washington pending on if you like rain or not

[Jan84HJ60]

i would tell yea to move to Oregon... but there are to many here already  Idaho is really nice lol....   I hear the most recession proof areas are the mid west,  yea know... the areas that would be boring

these areas are recession proof because there were no jobs even before the depression.

[toyotanner]

portland, or... even some of the outskirt cities are worth it like milwaukie, gresham, clackamas all good places

drive 2 hours one way you have the beach
drive 2 hours the opposite way you have mt. hood

there are some good educational schools as well as some duds... Pretty much all the colleges are good... but some of the portland public schools are a little on the weak side as far as education for the kids goes.... but i was in the David Douglas district and they are a pretty fine school

not really much gang activity in portland unless you live in NE then maybe you might see something... mostly wannabes haha

4 months of sun 4 months of cold and 4 months of rain

don't know what you are looking for as far as work but portland has pretty much everything you could imagine.. and believe it or not there actually are job opportunities up here.

and some good wheelin! not as good as cali.... but better than most

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

  Cool guys, I really appriciate the info the more the better.

[gnarrkill]

i second toyotanner i love portland area your just about 2 hours from everywhere!

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

I lived on Bainbridge Island in Washington with my grandparents for a couple years when I was a kid. I loved the weather and area, nice clean air. I have also driven through Oregon and loved it as well.

I do Handy man and welding repair / Fab work But don't get crap for calls lately. I have since taken a 9:00 to 5:00 selling cell phones for a Verizon dealer  In my spare time I build one of furniture and home decor. I have experience in lots of different things other then metal working and construction, I also have lots of carpet cleaning experience. Another thing I did was run a fuel truck for a while for a large construction company. I don't really care what I do, just need to be able to pay my bills at the end of the day.

We would prefer not to have to commute more then 30 or 40 minutes to work,  but wouldn't mind living outside of the city limits.

Also if there are any resources for finding a job or housing in your area other then craigslist let me know.

[83 Crawler]

just done move to gladstone oregon cops dont like toyotas! 

[Cheesemaker]

http://www.jobopenings.net/jobs_by_state.php?state=OR

[bleakhorizon]

if yea wana live sorta out in the boonies, I know a family in Christmas Valley Oregon, they own prob 75% of the alfalfa land out there and are always looking for truck drivers to deliver between there and a place in Washington....

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

I looked a bit at portland and surounding areas and it seems to have the same or higher rental house costs as here in Fresno? I will check out pay.

[Cheesemaker]

What you need to do is find a rural area, the costs aren't as bad as the big city, housing is a little cheaper.  Bleak and I live in Tillamook, it's on the ocean from Portland, it's a nice place to raise a family, jobs are kinda limited, but its a quiet area.  And Portland and Salem is little over an hour away, so it's not like we are shut off from the world.  Just got to decide what you are willing to live with/without.  Generally, to live in big cities, it's gonna cost ya more, cause there are more things to do, and things (apts/homes) cost more.  Find yourself a fixer upper to buy and you can generally find those cheaper than a nice place.

Best thing to do is just start with a place you're thinking about, and go check it out for a extended weekend.  Look at the Craigslist ads for the area, Nickelads, or online newspapers. 

I've lived in, visited, have family in big cities, and I wouldn't trade where I live for anything.  Yeah, the job market isn't great, but knowing that I live 2 miles from work is nice.  And my house payments are only $750 a month.  Now, my same house in the Portland area, I would be paying at least $1200 a month payments, and I wouldn't have half an acre with a shop!!   8)

[Cheesemaker]

One other thing to look at in Oregon

~no sales tax
~you can burn in a woodstove
~no DEQ (yet)
~the weather is very pleasant (even though I have a co-worker who misses the 100*+ weather, he's from Modesto   )
~we have a ton of really good MICROBREWS here!!  



Another option on living here.  I have several friends that have done this.  Buy a small RV or trailer and park it at a RV park.  Rent is generally cheap.  And if you don't like your neighbors just move to a different spot.  But seriously, its a great way to really save up money for a home with land and a shop.  That way you can find a location you really like to be.  

Check out Monster jobs, & oregonlive for jobs.


Another thing I was just thinking about.  I've got friends that are thinking about getting out of the land surveying business, and they have talked about how they are willing to pay to send a person to school to learn the trade, and then buy their business from them.  Just a thought!!  

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

  Yeah I agree with all of that and understand, this is an overwhelming project because there are so many poosabilities.   I have always like the Oregon and Washington areas so I am going to continue looking into those for now. The fact that me and my ladie are both going to school limits are location a bit otherwise I would move somewhere real crazy. There are a few areas outside my current city but they have the same issue of limited jobs and colleges.   I was just talking to a guy that is a surveyer and it sounded like a good career. Any idea how much schooling you need for that? 

[87pickup]

I heard Utah is doing ok despite the economy. There unemployment rate is like half what it is here in Az. But all the mormons would kinda suck. I like the oregon and washington area i just always heard its kinda exspensive.

[86rustbucket]

somewhere where you can buy a machine gun   

i always thought it would be cool to take something out with a machine gun

[Cheesemaker]

A quick online search, says a 4 year degree is the preferred.  But you can take some 1 or 2 year vocational schooling and finish up in the field.  If your interested I can give ya my friends #.

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

Heh, we would fit in for a change. Having 7 kids and a 8th coming at the end of march (little nasties) people would not believe me at all that I am not Mormon if I lived in Utah   Speaking of witch, are there any weird religious groups in Oregon that I need to worry about?

[toyotanner]

oregon has every religion

i just choose not to join any
.
..
...
and now is the time to buy a house in atleast the portland and surrounding areas there is still alot of good deals...
as far as renting i would say average is for a 3bdrm $1200 and then probably add another Thousand for every extra bedroom

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

Is Toyota a religion? 

[gnarrkill]

and around  oregon city/ canby area its between portlnd and salem, there are alot of repo houses going for cheap and canby school is decent, idk about oregon city tho, i havent heard the best of things

[Sleeve of Wizzard [OP]]

A quick online search, says a 4 year degree is the preferred.  But you can take some 1 or 2 year vocational schooling and finish up in the field.  If your interested I can give ya my friends #.

yeah I sent you a p.m.

[Goldrush]

go ta hickory, NC. that there is a good place for edumacation!

[junya92toy]

Cheesemaker in the city you have to do the deq thing,. But On a side note you can own a class 3 weapon here!