re: Louisiana peeps - if you could transplant your life elsewhere, would you (and where)?

I left to establish my career and then returned.

I’ve gone where my career took me for 20 years and lived for a time in Tampa, Atlanta, Houston, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. I also travel almost weekly for work and have spent a lot of time in most major US cities (and some smaller ones) plus international cities like Toronto, Istanbul, etc.

I know more than most how imperfect Louisiana is…but I love this place. Glad to be back.

But my favorite town outside of Louisiana is pre-pandemic Chicago. That place is awesome. For some reason it gets a lot of hate. It does have a high costs of living. I will probably never move back.

For retirement (20+ years away for me), I’m hoping that either Mississippi gets more developed or Louisiana drops income tax on retirement income. I wouldn’t mind either place outside of Jackson, Shreveport, or New Orleans. I really like Lafayette and Ocean Springs for that.