I NEED to Move...

[rgtriplec]

I haven't lived there for a while, but the North Carolina industrial triangle, Raliegh/Durham/Chapel Hill is pretty nice. Temperate Climate... is debateable, I prefer cooler weather, so it's pretty hot for me but most people prefer heat to cold. Lots of industry. It has several college communities UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest, so gaming is probably good. It is located like 2 hours from the mountains and two from the beach, so getting away for a day or weekend is easy. Religous neutral ground... I think most U.S. cities are pretty neutral.

[armydillo978]

Don't move to Florida. Our economy is in the crapper and job market is going to be saturated with layed off govt employees. Heck my county just cut 100 positions today.

[Helltown]

Maine is a major no-go.

 

Not many gaming stores left, hardly any comic book stores, jobs are scarce (hence the lack of gaming/comic/hobby stores). The climate is cooler, with very rare spikes into the high 80's - low 90's for summer and we've got delightful winters with lots of snow and/or sub-zero temps. Wargaming in general has gone the way of the dodo since most gaming stores have latched onto prepaints and cards from WotC as a means to survive, sad but all too true.

 

Maine is a nice place to visit, but unless you're set with a good job and can buy an overpriced house... you don't want to live here.

[Ironworker]

Mid Missouri has got an ok game community and a few nice stores but the economy isn't too hot and you can expect people to get in your face about religion. In fact in the smaller communities church is all anyone talks about. I can't get in a conversation in my home town without someone talking about church or invoking god and not casually either. I'm moving to a university town myself to get away from that. Definately look for a place with one or several Colleges if you want a more religiously neutral town.

[Heisler]

I haven't lived there for a while, but the North Carolina industrial triangle, Raliegh/Durham/Chapel Hill is pretty nice. Temperate Climate... is debateable, I prefer cooler weather, so it's pretty hot for me but most people prefer heat to cold. Lots of industry. It has several college communities UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest, so gaming is probably good. It is located like 2 hours from the mountains and two from the beach, so getting away for a day or weekend is easy. Religous neutral ground... I think most U.S. cities are pretty neutral.

 

Mountains? Those barely qualify as foothills to those of us that live in or near the Rockies

[pae]

If there are trees on top, they aren't mountains.

[pae]

Religous neutral ground... I think most U.S. cities are pretty neutral.

 

 

You've never been to Colorado Springs, then. This place is a haven of the religious right wing. For that reason alone, I'd never recommend this place to anyone.

[mattmcl]

That's down there though. The rest of the front range is relatively benign.

[kristof65]

That's down there though. The rest of the front range is relatively benign.

You're forgetting Boulder though, where the religion is - wait, what would you call them - oh yeah, whackos

 

Generally speaking, the smaller the town, the less diversity in religion there will be and less tolerance for one outside the town norm, though some towns will swing more to one preference or another. Colorado Springs and Tulsa are two of the exceptions I've encountered - that is, they're relatively large cities that don't have much diversity. But then both are homes to one or more large religious organizations. To be fair to Tulsa, though, I'm basing my opinion on two visits of about 2 days each.

[rgtriplec]

I haven't lived there for a while, but the North Carolina industrial triangle, Raliegh/Durham/Chapel Hill is pretty nice. Temperate Climate... is debateable, I prefer cooler weather, so it's pretty hot for me but most people prefer heat to cold. Lots of industry. It has several college communities UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest, so gaming is probably good. It is located like 2 hours from the mountains and two from the beach, so getting away for a day or weekend is easy. Religous neutral ground... I think most U.S. cities are pretty neutral.

 

Mountains? Those barely qualify as foothills to those of us that live in or near the Rockies

 

I've lived in or near two Eastern ranges, the Clinch and Smokies, and three of the Western ranges, the Uintahs, Wasatch and the Alaskan Rockies... and while all have their merits and are beautiful. I prefer the Appalachians, granted they are smaller, not great for winter sports, but they are better for outdoorman sports. I guess I like the mountains that have greenery better than those that don't.

 

Foothills or not, its a pretty nice perk to be able to go to the Smokies one weekend and Myrtle beach the next. I guess the West Coast has it similarly good and can day trip to the mountains or beach, but some of us are just left envious wishing we could have it so good.

[matsumoto]

Whoa, responses...terrific!

 

you guys are putting in a load of advice, and i'm listening to all open mindedly. (though, hats off to Wild Bill on enthuiasm!)

 

lemme put that dang list out again and explain myself as far as priorities thusly:

red = top

brick = middle

orange = i can do without...kinda

 

--larger Population base without being sprawl or hi-density, decent city infrastructure.

so we have a decent social base for...anything. wifing, gaming, festivities.

--Religious neutral ground

i happen to be the Kadaj* of religion, so this is nice. i keep underground, all the time...

as long as fanaticism does not affect local culture, i am fine...

--has a FLGS nearby or several within sane driving distance.

actually, not so a prio'. i can go online...but local is convenient.

--actually has local gaming culture that isn't WotC based...

all they play here is Magic, DnD, and Clix. i have started 2 out of 4 super-elite gamer groups in town who can tell you what a Tharn or a Shugenja Path or a Fuzion System is. Most of the metal-mini crowd has gone WoW...

having social gamers is good. here, they are factioned and very prissy, and often, too fanatic to the baseline companies.

diversity is good. oh, and having historicals nearby WOULD be terrific!

--is not a retirement community

i need to find a mate, dammit!

--is not economically challenged

and yes, i need a real job!

right now, i have service/light industry background...nothing awesome.

a return to College is not a bad idea, actually. Design Colleges, anyone?

--Non Megatropilan. i could do that, but the cost of living will be out of my par.

like i said, possible, but not too good an idea...

--decent crime rate w/o widespread gangs or related BS.

i can defend myself just fine, but i like to have general peace of mind.

--generally temperate climate

it snowed on May 1st here. IT SNOWED! a good 3 inches, in MAY!!!!

 

in general, i also have 2 other issues: i just don't wanna stay in the place i was dropped off at 18, and i would like to see more human culture and diversity: i live in Napoleon Dynamite-ville. I'm an open minded techno-punk

if the new town has people who think gaming is cool, then i go with it. if they think my attitude and thoughts are cool, i go with it more.... if they actually think on the same level, terrific!!!

 

(closed mind and closed gene pool no good for anyone but members anyway.

and i'm a stow-away!)

 

by all means, might i ask for some finer tuned responses thus? sorry to push you guys!

[pae]

it snowed on May 1st here. IT SNOWED! a good 3 inches, in MAY!!!!

 

 

On the front range of Colorado, you can EXPECT the last measurable snowfall will be in mid May. The earliest will be mid-late September.

 

Higher in the mountains of Colorado, you can see snow anytime of year, except MAYBE mid July - late August.

 

Yes, we got 3 inches of snow here yesterday morning. It melted before the afternoon was over. It was 75 degrees the day before yesterday.

[mattmcl]

I would say for Colorado, you'd want Boulder. Pros- so open minded, people's brains fall out. Decent FLGS though small, but very busy. Cons- kinda hippy-ish, also stoopid expensive unless you're OK with a student-grade apartment. Lots of rich housewives wearing $200 yoga outfits carting their brats around in SUVs.

[Joe Kutz]

 

We got 16" last night. In order to let the dogs out this morning I had to climb out the window and shovel away a 4 foot snow drift in front of the door to the fenced in dog run. All roads within 100 miles are closed to normal traffic (i.e. - the cops will give you a ticket if you are out driving and it is not an emergency).

 

Still hasn't stopped snowing yet either.

[kristof65]

Well, it snowed here in Denver yesterday, too - but only about an inch. We're lower in elevation than where Flynn lives, so we often have nicer weather. However, it was in the 80s the day before that, and the snow's all gone today. Despite the snow, I think one thing that puts Colorado ahead of other areas of the country is the number of days of sunshine. I spent 11 years in Fairfield CA, which was warmer over all, but I also went weeks at a time not seeing the sun - very depressing. Glad I moved back here - I'll take a cold day with sunshine over a day of drizzle anyday.

 

While the Denver area is somewhat of a sprawling urban area, it's made up of a lot of smaller cities that all have their own feel. It's not nearly as urbanized in feel as LA, San Francisco, Chicago or New York. In many ways, it's similar to Salt Lake, but we only have mountains on one side. If you go to one of the communities north of Denver like Erie, Loveland or Windsor, you get many of the benefits of the city along with more of the smaller town feel.

 

There are a large mix of religions here, no single one dominates. You'll run into as many right wing nut jobs as you will left wing.

 

There are several good game stores in the area - Valhallas, Attactix and Enchanted Grounds are the top three that come to mind, but there are several others - like a corporate GW store, and lots of hobby shops that support one part of the hobby or another. Overall, they're scattered pretty decently across the front range.

 

The WotC culture is the strongest here - or rather, it's the most visible. However, there are lots of other games going on, based on what I've seen at the local cons, and what Attactix and Valhalla's are stocking. Attactix has the largest historical's section I've ever seen at a game store.

 

Ok, we're not a retirement community, and the ladies here are prettier than most places - mostly because a lot of them are atheletic and enjoy the mountains. When I divorced my ex-wife while living in CA, the dating scene there sucked - the high tech industries in the SF Bay Area had caused a high ratio of single paid men to available women. With a lot of those guys having a lot of money, it was harder for lower income guys to find girls. Denver was just the opposite - I was casually dating three women within a month of moving back, and I never had a problem finding a date since then (of course, now I'm married, so I have a standing Sat night date).

 

Hmm - economically challenged. Well, yes, in some sectors we are, in others we aren't. I wouldn't move to Denver without some sort of job prospects - I'd start applying here without moving - if a job comes up, then take the plunge.

 

Crime and Cost of Living. This varies so widely over the metro area. Denver does have one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the country, so there are some good bargains available here. That said, there are cheaper places to buy a house - Denton TX comes to mind. Rentals vary widely - I have a 1-br condo that I rent to my tenants for $810 a month, however, in other areas of town, you can find 1 or even 2 br apartments for half of that. Crime varies just as widely - there are definitely areas I wouldn't want to live or travel to, but then I got my truck broken into right outside my condo, which is a nice neighborhood.

 

My experience world wide tells me that the area you live and travel in determines the type of crimes you'll be exposed to - you're more likely to be the victim of a property crime if you live in a relatively nice neighborhood than a slum (or park your nice car in a slum), while you have some personal safety issues in a slum.

 

As I mentioned before - it snowed here - springtime snows aren't uncommon here, but they come and go fast. The saying around here is if you don't like the weather, wait 'til tomorrow - and that statement is truer here than anyplace else I've lived (which is only about half a dozen places).

 

If you definitely don't want to deal with snow at all, look into the corridor between Fairfield and Sacramento, CA. In the eleven years I lived there, it snowed once (and ironically, I was home in Colorado for christmas), and friends told me they just had their snow for this decade last winter. I'll warn you though -it gets hot there - I'm the type who would rather deal with cold weather than hot (you can always put on another sweater or jacket, you can only take off so much).