re: For those of you who moved to a completely different state you didn’t have ties to….

Try to move to a state where your vote actually counts.. ive lived in blue states, and ive lived in red states- neither place did my vote make one bit of difference.. maybe you could try Florida, which always seems to be evenly divided, or another ‘toss-up’ state .

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that first year sucked. I missed BR terribly and was 22 years old and a 5 hour drive from everything I had ever known.

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It’s funny, i felt the same way at 22… Now, in my 40s, i realize that Houston is so fricking close to home that it’s basically like living on the Northshore, with a slightly longer commute.. Super easy to come home for LSU games twice a month no sweat, except for BR traffic once you get close .

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And didn’t move there for a specific job opportunity. What research did you do to narrow down your choices? How did you handle the logistics of moving your family, finding new jobs, etc?

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I have an entire spreadsheet of this data because we are moving soon, but I did something very similar when we moved from Louisiana to Boise.

TL;DR -- We got fed up with crime and the negativity. I'm also a bit of an oddball, so it was hard to see people with whom I went to school my entire life, especially as I grew out of some of my more immature traits.

Looking at my spreadsheet now, I have the following categories for each city:

Population (Wiki)
Metro Statistical Area (Wiki)
MSA Population (Wiki)
Unemployment rate (Best Places)
Median salary acct (BLS)
Location Quotient for Accts (BLS)
Median Home Price (Best Places)
Property Tax (Gov website)
Sales and Income Tax (Best Places)
Violent Crime Rate (Best Places)
Property Crime Rate (Best Places)
Air Quality -- I have asthma (Best Places)
Rainfall (Best Places)
Snowfall (Best Places)
Sunny Days (Best Places)
July High (Best Places)
Jan Low (Best Places)

I used to use city data, but a lot of the data there it takes a while for them to upload to the site. Best Places is nice as well, because if the city has over 40-50k people they will usually have a little blurb about the town.

We have been in Boise for 5 years but we are now priced out. My wife can keep her job if she moves within a 3 hour drive of certain areas, which gave us 82 metros to choose from. About 1/3 were eliminated immediately because housing was too high. The rest were whittled down depending on crime and the likelihood that I can find a job easily.

We have a top 3 and none would be anyone's first choice, but they are solid middle of the road cities.

You have to do your research based on what you find important. Everyone has their preferences and there are a million reasons not to move to any towns. City Data, Best Places, BLS, Government sites, etc. are your friend.

As far as logistics, we came up here with about $1500, a broken jeep, no jobs, and a lot of debt. We sold most of our shite. We didn't have kids so that was good. We are now out of debt, I lost 60 pounds, got my degree, took care of our mental health issues, and are just generally a lot happier. What we heard a ton was "your problems won't go away just because you move." This is a simple minded line from people who can't seem to understand that if you have problems, sometime a better frame of reference is all you need. Family will also never like the idea that they were the ones holding you back because your entire life was rooted in the phrase "you can't do that."

Our family often freaks out because we don't know anyone up here and "what will we do if you get in a tight spot?" which has made me realize just how much they rely on others, which is the antithesis of what I want to be.

I don't blame you for being done. Just go. It's not that hard as long as you have a partner. There's a great big country out there.

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I used to use city data, but a lot of the data there it takes a while for them to upload to the site. Best Places is nice as well, because if the city has over 40-50k people they will usually have a little blurb about the town.

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I got burned using city-data information into thinking Boise was cheaper than it really was. For cities with rapidly rising housing markets, city-data information can get stale quickly.

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I know a lot of people crap on that state any chance they get

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The Midwest gets overlooked a lot, but on the whole is a pretty good place to live. My only big complaint is the winter weather.

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Don’t know if you have been to both Boise and SLC but if someone is willing to put up with the longer winter, it’s Boise, all day and night.

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Having lived in one and visited the other, I think winters are the only time I'd pick SLC over Boise, and that has more to do with the far superior skiing available near SLC over Boise.

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The Midwest gets overlooked a lot, but on the whole is a pretty good place to live. My only big complaint is the winter weather.

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A friend of mine moved outside of Columbus and loves it. He lived somewhere near the Sacramento / San Francisco region of California for about 5 years. They hated the culture of California and felt it was extremely refreshing to be around normal people in Ohio. He has the same complaint about the weather, but likes it culturally.

I was youngish I just did it on the fly and it worked out for the best.

Didn't have a job lined up but researched for a good two years, before computers. Meant a lot of time in the library and snail mail requests.

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Moved in May 2019. Started looking to buy houses at the beginning of 2020 and actually did buy one in March of that year before the market completely went nuts. Even then, Boise home prices were rapidly rising (just in a normal hot market way). If I were looking now, I would probably be priced out of Boise as Boise's salaries are low compared to what a home costs here these days.

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Yep, We actually are priced out. I had commencement for my degree this past weekend at BSU, but was able to land a job back in November. It pays $50k, pretty low but not an awful starting salary for someone not in public. But it may as well be minimum wage as far as Boise is concerned. After taxes and 401k contribution there is no way for us to save anywhere near what we would need to even buy a cheap townhouse in Boise.

The housing prices rise has been so monumental everywhere, but it's really something else here. The rental market has trended similarly. I remember moving in to a duplex the day LSU played UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. A 2 bed, 1 bath for $1100 which I thought was kind of steep, but it was near the greenbelt. I'd kill for a studio at $1100 in Boise right now.