Vlad Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 My wife an I have been talking for some time about escaping New Jersey. For a variety of reasons we are stuck here for couple of more years, but knowing what our plans are will make those years more easier to deal with. It also gives us time to properly research our options and maybe scout some of the regions of the country which we may move to. So I'd like to hear from the members of the benoverse with any advice you may have to get us started. Neither of us has traveled enough around the country. Here are some of our requirements, and we know that not all may be met - "shall issue" state - not a liberal hell hole, but not an area where we would feel too out of place for not being church goers or not having children by choice - jobs in IT available, but that also can mean medium to large universities around, as most of my work has been done in that enviornment - I shouldn't have to sneak hunting hear into my car, as to not freak the locals. - rural/spare suburban much prefered. I would like to be able to own 10 acres or so - there should be seasons, but if the area has less then the usual 4, then the colder ones should be the ones droped. I could live in Alaska, my wife would not. - for reasons no worth explaining it can not be Indiana - the geography should be varied, a large flat plain might get boring. Deciduous forests are a big plus. - hiking areas nearby (less then 1:30 hours away prefered) - active USPSA community a big plus for me Yes we know some of those things fight each other and keep in mind we are not anywhere near the time when we can actually do this, but we would like to start planing and know our options. Thank you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 - for reasons no worth explaining it can not be Indiana Hahahaha. One of my best friends is a Hoosier, hahahaha. :D Boise is pretty nice and fits every item on your list. The IT work is probably the weakest fit, but there are decent IT jobs - nothing I would call spectacular though. Our USPSA clubs aren't huge but there's 4 matches a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Vlad, Sounds like Az to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 shooting meca would be AZ, but any where in the SOUTH will suite you just fine. all though you, being a ...yankee may you have trouble with the language. IT down here is just "it". lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbradley Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Why didnt you just say you want to move to Kentucky! - "shall issue" state Sure is! Class 3 also. Open carry along with concealed carry. - not a liberal hell hole, but not an area where we would feel too out of place for not being church goers or not having children by choice We have a republican Governor(in my opinion in label only), 2 republican Senators and most republican congressmen, State senate is Republican, House is Dems. Most local offices are held by Dems, progun dems for the most part. - jobs in IT available, but that also can mean medium to large universities around, as most of my work has been done in that enviornment We have many Universities. UK, UofL,Western KY,Eastern KY, Morehead, Georgetown, Transyvania, Centre. - I shouldn't have to sneak hunting hear into my car, as to not freak the locals. Guns in truck gun racks everywhere. - rural/spare suburban much prefered. I would like to be able to own 10 acres or so Not a problem. - there should be seasons, but if the area has less then the usual 4, then the colder ones should be the ones droped. I could live in Alaska, my wife would not. Seasons but not to extreme either way, weather is usually pretty nice hear. - for reasons no worth explaining it can not be Indiana Yea I know, thats where the Hoosiers are, dont blame you. Of course you have to become a KY basketball fan. - the geography should be varied, a large flat plain might get boring. Deciduous forests are a big plus. We have Mountains and pastures. Red river gorge and natural bridge about 45 minutes from Lexington. There are so many places, too many to list em all. - hiking areas nearby (less then 1:30 hours away prefered) See previous. - active USPSA community a big plus for me We have 6 clubs in the area 5 are within 1:30 of each other. That doestn count the clubs in Tennesse and Ohio and Indiana in driving distance. More than you can find time for. Do you want Toll roads- sorry we did away with those. Do you want 55 mph speed limit- Sorry again. Do you want extreme property prices- Sorry , average home is around 150,000 How about extreme property taxes- nope most about 1% a year, some less. Biggest drawback - a little traffic in the cities during rush hour. So did i scare you away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Ohio is the "heart of it all" Not bad for all purposes, just a little cold for my tastes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsb45acp Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 After reading Chuck Bradley's post, I want to move to Ky.!!! Now, if I could just convince my wife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p99shooter Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Sounds a l lot like the same questions that have been going through my mind. I'd like to live in a place that wasn't a communist country with ridiculously high house prices. Hello California! I work in IT too, and that seems like the biggest challenge. Finding a place that has the IT jobs with all of the other things you want too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima45dv8 Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Just follow that long line of cars headed south to Atlanta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyJ Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 After reading Chuck Bradley's post, I want to move to Ky.!!! Now, if I could just convince my wife +1 but no wife to worry about. Military will prevent me from moving there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbradley Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Ohio is the "heart of it all" Not bad for all purposes, just a little cold for my tastes. Not very gun friendly either. Have they fixed the conceal carry law yet that says the gun has to be on your person in the car and it cant be concealed? I relaize just getting what they got was a miracle now it needs some tweaking. One thing we are trying ot do here is get the schools to clearly mark their property lines or there is no penalty for carrying on school property. Comes from schools that have land that isnt marked and we have no idea its school property but we just committed a felony by stepping onto it with a gun. Now we can have it in our car on school property with a CCW. Just dont show it or get out, then your a felon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfwmiket Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Texas. We have plenty of shooting events, reasonably good concealed carry laws, good weather, and friendly people. C'mon on down!! -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 After reading Chuck Bradley's post, I want to move to Ky.!!! Now, if I could just convince my wife +1 but no wife to worry about. Military will prevent me from moving there. Probably shouldn't ask but is the Military after you for some reason? They took our Coast Guard Station away a few years ago, but we still have Fort Knox with its armored division, Ft. Campell and the 101st Airborne and I noticed on the news just recently the KY Air National Guard has returned from the sandbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Western Washington! - "shall issue" state Yes (but no Class-III) - not a liberal hell hole, but not an area where we would feel too out of place for not being church goers or not having children by choice If you look at a political map of WA, you'll see that the Seattle area is blue, but the whole rest of the state is red. Loosely translated, that means that if you get 15 miles outside Seattle in just about any direction, you're in good country, with good people - jobs in IT available, but that also can mean medium to large universities around, as most of my work has been done in that enviornment Redmond-area (just east of Seattle) is basically a "northern Silicon Valley". Microsoft, most major IT vendors, and a whole bunch of IT-related services companies. Plus a healthy variety of big companies with substantial IT orgs (eg, Boeing, Weyerhauser, Safeco, etc). Oh, and the University of Washington. - I shouldn't have to sneak hunting hear into my car, as to not freak the locals. Heh. I trot 3-gun and MOR gear out to my car, and the only thing my neighbors have ever asked is when I am going to bring them out to the range. - rural/spare suburban much prefered. I would like to be able to own 10 acres or so Again, once you get 15 or so miles outside Seattle, things get rural in a hurry. Snohomish, Carnation, Fall City, there are lots of places north and east where you can get land. - there should be seasons, but if the area has less then the usual 4, then the colder ones should be the ones droped. I could live in Alaska, my wife would not. Well, the running joke is that we really only have two seasons - Spring and August. Seriously, it doesn't rain as much as we tell you it does. Our winters are pretty mild - it snows a couple times a year at my place, sticks around for a few days which is just long enough to feel like it is winter, then goes away. Never gets much below freezing in the winter, never gets much above 80 in the summer, and we usually have a nice sea breeze off Puget Sound, too. This is an absolutely *gorgeous* place to live. - the geography should be varied, a large flat plain might get boring. Deciduous forests are a big plus. You mean, like, snow-covered mountains everywhere you look, sailboats on the Sound, forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, hiking trails, skiing.... - hiking areas nearby (less then 1:30 hours away prefered) Tons. Plus bike trails. - active USPSA community a big plus for me yup. 6 active clubs within a 90-minute drive of Seattle, many of which also do 3-gun, carbine-matches, rifle-matches, as well as SASS, IDPA, etc. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 You should consider Colorado, specifically the front range (Ft. Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs). We are shall issue, allow class III, politics depends on where you go, Colorado Springs is probably the most conservative (incorrectly portrayed nationally as full of bible thumpers, which isn't the case), Boulder is the most liberal, the rest are in-between. We have several great USPSA clubs, great weather and of course lots of natural beauty. There are a fair number of IT jobs as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyJ Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 No they aren't after me for anything.. but I am in the Navy so kinda out of the picture. Western Washington!- "shall issue" state Yes (but no Class-III) - not a liberal hell hole, but not an area where we would feel too out of place for not being church goers or not having children by choice If you look at a political map of WA, you'll see that the Seattle area is blue, but the whole rest of the state is red. Loosely translated, that means that if you get 15 miles outside Seattle in just about any direction, you're in good country, with good people - jobs in IT available, but that also can mean medium to large universities around, as most of my work has been done in that enviornment Redmond-area (just east of Seattle) is basically a "northern Silicon Valley". Microsoft, most major IT vendors, and a whole bunch of IT-related services companies. Plus a healthy variety of big companies with substantial IT orgs (eg, Boeing, Weyerhauser, Safeco, etc). Oh, and the University of Washington. - I shouldn't have to sneak hunting hear into my car, as to not freak the locals. Heh. I trot 3-gun and MOR gear out to my car, and the only thing my neighbors have ever asked is when I am going to bring them out to the range. - rural/spare suburban much prefered. I would like to be able to own 10 acres or so Again, once you get 15 or so miles outside Seattle, things get rural in a hurry. Snohomish, Carnation, Fall City, there are lots of places north and east where you can get land. - there should be seasons, but if the area has less then the usual 4, then the colder ones should be the ones droped. I could live in Alaska, my wife would not. Well, the running joke is that we really only have two seasons - Spring and August. Seriously, it doesn't rain as much as we tell you it does. Our winters are pretty mild - it snows a couple times a year at my place, sticks around for a few days which is just long enough to feel like it is winter, then goes away. Never gets much below freezing in the winter, never gets much above 80 in the summer, and we usually have a nice sea breeze off Puget Sound, too. This is an absolutely *gorgeous* place to live. - the geography should be varied, a large flat plain might get boring. Deciduous forests are a big plus. You mean, like, snow-covered mountains everywhere you look, sailboats on the Sound, forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, hiking trails, skiing.... - hiking areas nearby (less then 1:30 hours away prefered) Tons. Plus bike trails. - active USPSA community a big plus for me yup. 6 active clubs within a 90-minute drive of Seattle, many of which also do 3-gun, carbine-matches, rifle-matches, as well as SASS, IDPA, etc. B +1 but that whole class 3 thing makes me mad. But then again I say that seattle should be it's own state then it would be better for everyone. Like that would happen... kinda like California being 2 states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Not very gun friendly either. Have they fixed the conceal carry law yet that says the gun has to be on your person in the car and it cant be concealed? I relaize just getting what they got was a miracle now it needs some tweaking. One thing we are trying ot do here is get the schools to clearly mark their property lines or there is no penalty for carrying on school property. Comes from schools that have land that isnt marked and we have no idea its school property but we just committed a felony by stepping onto it with a gun. Now we can have it in our car on school property with a CCW. Just dont show it or get out, then your a felon. Govenor vetoed the bill. House overturned the veto, and it goes to the senate on Monday. (I think) Should pass shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral404 Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Do not forget the weather. Since you're from NJ you are probably used to the humidity. So KY might be ok. But it has mountains. And not much IT LA is nice but down in the southern part of the state is more accepting than the northern. Not much IT as a general rule Texas is very a nice. Much IT. CA Much IT but stinks for shooters, yeah I know there are some decent matches but all in all, it is not a gun friendly state. AZ is the Mecca. Phoenix has mucho IT, Mucho everything including farily dry heat. IF you can get used to the summer it is a great place. AZ/NM/CO are your best bets for the total package. IMnotsoHO. I have worked/lived in about 8 states and those three are pretty hard to bet. No offense to the others but if you come to one of AZ/NM/CO you probably will not regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Vlad, you can't leave until after I've stepped down as match director..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronEqualizer Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Auburn, Alabama.....Columbus, Georgia area....within an hour and a half of each other both have colleges...Auburn University....Columbus State University....very mild winters lots of shooting action, deer hunting, IT AFLAC, TSYS (total systems) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Middle Man Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Birmingham, AL isn't bad either...University of Alabama B'ham and the associated hospital system plus several other major hospitals. Two private colleges and a handful of small state and community colleges. IT jobs abound in education, healthcare, and finance industries and we're at the tail end of the Appalachian chain. The only goofy gun law is a ban on SBR's so no 12" Tommy guns. Some type of match every weekend and more USPSA within a short drive. Less traffic and congestion than Atlanta... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbradley Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Ok to be honest. Kentucky is great. I hate the few weeks in summer when it gets real humid. And i hate the few weeks in the winter when its cold. The rest of the time its pretty nice. I guess every place has its pros & cons. When i was growing up in Los Angeles I remember the earthquakes,(I rode the 1971 sylmar quake) the santa ana winds(I thought the roof was coming off), the forest fires filling the air with smoke and the flooding rains washing the roads and canyons out(Big & Little Tujunga where i used to shoot,fish, camp,swim and hike) but overall it was a great place to live back then. I even bought the first season of Adam 12 on DVD, those were the streets I grew up on. But today I dont think i could raise my kids there. If it wasn't for family in KY, kids to raise and the gun laws I just might be back in So CA. Being that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence i think i would like living in Arizona. For now i am staying in Kentucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Arizona? Where do I sign up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Not in Ohio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmccrock Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 You described Austin, Texas. Rural pretty close to town (I am on 86 acres about 30 minutes from the airport). Pretty big university (about 50k students), state capital, and some major corporations so there may be some IT here. Co-worker won a hog hunt at a local ranch, and he was not bashful about sharing about it. He also hung his CHL qual target in his cube for a while. Downside is the Austin USPSA club is having a hard time getting going again after losing 2 ranges in a year. January, for sure. Unless the bays flood out again. There are also clubs in San Antonio, Houston, Bryan, etc, all within 60-90 minutes depending on what side of town you're on. Oh, there is a Cabela's. And Sportsman's Warehouse. And STI. Brazos Custom up the road and TSS down the road. Dangerous places, all. Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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