Georgia on my mind

The further away from Mogadishu Atlanta, the better.
I live there when I was a kid in the 80's.

Summers are hot. But it gets hot in the summer up here too. The biggest difference in the seasons is that winters are shorter, but it still gets cold, just for not as long.
Any large city or town will be very "diverse" as will most locations near 285
 
See my comments in the Mississippi thread; they all apply to Georgia as well.

I would NEVER be happy there, but YMMV. You need to visit and spend a lot of time there, to figure out whether it's a good fit for you.
 
Supermoto said:
Western North Carolina is not flat. That whole area of N GA. W NC, W SC and TN are great places to live, I would pick based on the property and not the actual state.
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I was going to mention this as well. Western NC gets into the heart of the Appalachian's, which is clearly NOT flat. On the other hand, the milder winter temps clearly favor coastal NC. In 25 months of being stationed at Lejeune, I never saw any snow, only saw a bit of flush one time and winter temps are generally much milder than Mass.

Be careful with Georgia. I have a BIL in Georgia and he reports that summer days in certain parts of the state get VERY hot. If I were selecting Georgia, I'd probably stick to the Savannah area.
 
I'm from NC and my girlfriend is from Atlanta. We are moving back to NC this summer. Honestly, pros and cons to the South vs. the North, but the South wins every time in my book (I'm biased though). You can actually afford to live there (property taxes literally 1/5 of here, other taxes in general are lower, food, power and housing are way cheaper etc.), people are generally friendlier and have a more freedom-oriented mindset, healthcare is better (as long as you can afford insurance or have medicare; my GF had a lung transplant a few years ago at UNC, so we both have some experience with healthcare in both places) and it's not so damn cold. Get ready for hot summers though.

Atlanta is massive suburban sprawl, I would honestly not live there if given the choice. Constitutional carry though!

Northern GA is very nice but can be expensive. I don't think you are going to find land like you want for a decent price though.

NC is not flat as others have stated, not sure where you went but basically anything west of Winston Salem/Charlotte is foothills/mountains.

Asheville has gotten expensive and super touristy, some of the smaller towns around it are nice.

Boone is a mini-Asheville kinda, a college town and super touristy in the summer

I'm from Raleigh and we are moving back to that area, just signed a lease on a rental house and are selling our house here. It's a nice area but has grown a LOT in the past few years. Houses are much more but still way cheaper than here.

Charlotte is very nice, we are actually thinking of eventually buying a house there.

Eastern NC is...meh. Smaller towns and cities and the "coastal plain" is mainly farm land. Wilmington is just OK and has the USS North Carolina museum, but...hurricanes.

My advice is rent something in NC or GA if you can and explore for at least a few months or a year, then buy. That's what we're doing and I'm from NC.
 
n1oty said:
I was going to mention this as well. Western NC gets into the heart of the Appalachian's, which is clearly NOT flat. On the other hand, the milder winter temps clearly favor coastal NC. In 25 months of being stationed at Lejeune, I never saw any snow, only saw a bit of flush one time and winter temps are generally much milder than Mass.

Be careful with Georgia. I have a BIL in Georgia and he reports that summer days in certain parts of the state get VERY hot. If I were selecting Georgia, I'd probably stick to the Savannah area.
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I stayed in Savannah once. Right in the historic section. Architecture is great, food is great and everyone we meet was really nice. Even the guy delivering soda to a store said hello. Reminds me of Ireland when I was growing up. People were polite and decent.
 
APFSDS said:
I'm from NC and my girlfriend is from Atlanta. We are moving back to NC this summer. Honestly, pros and cons to the South vs. the North, but the South wins every time in my book (I'm biased though). You can actually afford to live there (property taxes literally 1/5 of here, other taxes in general are lower, food, power and housing are way cheaper etc.), people are generally friendlier and have a more freedom-oriented mindset, healthcare is better (as long as you can afford insurance or have medicare; my GF had a lung transplant a few years ago at UNC, so we both have some experience with healthcare in both places) and it's not so damn cold. Get ready for hot summers though.

Atlanta is massive suburban sprawl, I would honestly not live there if given the choice. Constitutional carry though!

Northern GA is very nice but can be expensive. I don't think you are going to find land like you want for a decent price though.

NC is not flat as others have stated, not sure where you went but basically anything west of Winston Salem/Charlotte is foothills/mountains.

Asheville has gotten expensive and super touristy, some of the smaller towns around it are nice.

Boone is a mini-Asheville kinda, a college town and super touristy in the summer

I'm from Raleigh and we are moving back to that area, just signed a lease on a rental house and are selling our house here. It's a nice area but has grown a LOT in the past few years. Houses are much more but still way cheaper than here.

Charlotte is very nice, we are actually thinking of eventually buying a house there.

Eastern NC is...meh. Smaller towns and cities and the "coastal plain" is mainly farm land. Wilmington is just OK and has the USS North Carolina museum, but...hurricanes.

My advice is rent something in NC or GA if you can and explore for at least a few months or a year, then buy. That's what we're doing and I'm from NC.
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I got my states mixed up. I was thinking NC and wrote SC. Good info, thanks.
 
As others have said, go spend some time down there. Pick three or four states and take vacations there a few times a year with the the 1,200 or so days you have left up here. Our opinions are just that, opinions.

We spent seven years traveling out west. Always went at different times of the year and always traveled/camped somewhere new. When I was finally fed up enough with the state of affairs in massachusetts, we knew where we wanted to be and we knew what it was going to be like there, no matter the time of year.

Don't know your age but I'm guessing you are close to my age. Do not under estimate the importance of access to medical care and the simple conveniences of life like a hardware store or a haircut. I'm into self sufficiency and being left alone as much as almost everyone else on this site. But having everything five minutes away and a property that requires ten minutes a week to care for sure is nice as I get older. Gives me a lot of time to play, and I like to play. Big difference of wanting to get out and get your own food, and having to do it, if you know what I mean. Nothing is perfect. Be honest with yourself, think of what you're needs will be as you age, and take advantage of the time you have left in massachusetts to explore the area you are considering.
 
We are also thinking along those lines. Buy a camper and travel around to different areas. Moving with the seasons is very appealing but having a home bases is equally as important. We really like the North East but even my better 1/2 is questing what’s going on now. She puts up with my hobbies but when I point out what MA is trying to pull she now sees why I want out. Access to good health care is very high on our list. We are spoiled here in MA but I’m certain we’ll find it elsewhere.
 
We vacationed in Savannah in July 2019. Hot and humid every day. I'd go back, but only in spring or fall.

n1oty said:
I was going to mention this as well. Western NC gets into the heart of the Appalachian's, which is clearly NOT flat. On the other hand, the milder winter temps clearly favor coastal NC. In 25 months of being stationed at Lejeune, I never saw any snow, only saw a bit of flush one time and winter temps are generally much milder than Mass.

Be careful with Georgia. I have a BIL in Georgia and he reports that summer days in certain parts of the state get VERY hot. If I were selecting Georgia, I'd probably stick to the Savannah area.
Click to expand...
 
Seriously though. We looked in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina as we were gearing up to move. We even looked in Alabama until our son and family moved to SC. All have their advantages and disadvantages. My son lives in SC just outside of Charlotte. He liked both, but they chose SC because of financial and political reasons. NC, at least Charlotte, is very blue. SC at least where they are is still very conservative. Not AL conservative, but conservative.

We looked in eastern TN, which is very, very pretty. If you like mountains, they have them there. Of course with more people moving there, it's getting more expensive to buy land.

In the end it came down to TX or SC. We chose TX for a number of reasons, but if things had been a bit different we'd have been happy in SC.

Outside of the big cities, TX is very conservative. We've met a lot of people who have moved down here, from just about everywhere. A lot of people have moved down here from the mid west because of the weather. The political climate between the two areas is similar. I've seen a lot of FL plates around here lately, but don't know what to make of that.

No matter where you move, it will take a while to get used to how things are done. Texas does some things better, some things the same, and a few worse than MA. If you can imagine that.
 
just don't f*** round down south.
You don't want to end up in prison down there.
and they do love throwing people in jail in TX, MS, AL, OK, AR, MO, TN, GA, FL etc...
The Carolinas have a slightly better reputation.
 
Gun laws are better down there, but I hope you like copy and paste strip malls.

Northwest Georgia is nice if you want hills., and near Savannah is nice for some more “culture”.

North Carolina can offer you true mountain hiking and good beaches, but it’s a 6 hour drive from one end of the state to the other.
 
APFSDS said:
Honestly, pros and cons to the South vs. the North, but the South wins every time in my book (I'm biased though). You can actually afford to live there (property taxes literally 1/5 of here, other taxes in general are lower, food, power and housing are way cheaper etc.),
Click to expand...
This true. But...while goods and services are cheaper, the wages are less too. Like a lot less. Big companies move to the south mostly for cheap labor
APFSDS said:
healthcare is better
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This is not true. The best health care in the world is in Boston. No ifs ands or buts..

If you are on a fixed income or are lucky enough to have a job that you work remotely, your standard of living will be higher in the most of the south. If you need to earn a living, in most cases, your standard of living will be higher in Massachusetts.
 
quinnjalan said:
I stayed in Savannah once. Right in the historic section. Architecture is great, food is great and everyone we meet was really nice. Even the guy delivering soda to a store said hello. Reminds me of Ireland when I was growing up. People were polite and decent.
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My BIL and I had to go back to Parris Island for MOS School from May to July of 1977. Fortunately, I had a car, so we typically went to Hilton Head or Savannah on payday weekends. Good times. I loved hitting some of the restaurants on or near the Savannah waterfront for great food. It beat the hell out of the slop we ate at the chow hall. LOL.
 
They don't like deadbeats either, so people better pay their bills. Even in liberal Travis county they will hold people in jail for trial. That's if the DA doesn't dismiss the charges.


bigben111435 said:
just don't f*** round down south.
You don't want to end up in prison down there.
and they do love throwing people in jail in TX, MS, AL, OK, AR, MO, TN, GA, FL etc...
The Carolinas have a slightly better reputation.
Click to expand...
 
I can tell you for certain that plumbers, HVAC guys, and electricians don't make much, if any less, in Texas than they do up north.

Where you see cheap labor is in things like roofing, which isn't licensed down here. Framing, building foundations (no basements), and other manual labor may be cheaper but the overall cost is the about the same.

We've done a fair amount of work on the house we bought and it was more expensive than the same work we had up north before we moved.

Health care is a mixed bag. As we got older it became more important and we shopped carefully for doctors and dentists. So far I haven't noticed a difference in day to day stuff and fortunately haven't needed anything more serious.

Depending on how you get your health insurance you have to do a lot of homework before you move. If you aren't old enough for Medicare, your insurance might not be accepted outside of MA. If you do qualify for Medicare AND if the medical facility you go to accepts Medicare, they have to accept your supplement.

Note that medical facilities are not required to accept either Medicare nor the state's version of Medicaid. Texas and Florida have the highest rates of not accepting them. In Texas there are free standing 24 hour emergency rooms. Not urgent care, but emergency rooms. Back in November I was sick as a dog and thought about going to one of them. They all have text chat functions and I asked each about insurance. Two took NO insurance and required a credit card up front. One took insurance, but not Medicare or Medicaid and again required a credit card up front. I ended up waiting through the night and went to urgent care instead. They took Medicare, but like a hotel wanted a credit card just in case Medicare refused the bill.

Our experience is that there is a lot that has to be changed when you move. Some is obvious, but some is subtle. Do your homework.

fencer said:
This true. But...while goods and services are cheaper, the wages are less too. Like a lot less. Big companies move to the south mostly for cheap labor

This is not true. The best health care in the world is in Boston. No ifs ands or buts..

If you are on a fixed income or are lucky enough to have a job that you work remotely, your standard of living will be higher in the most of the south. If you need to earn a living, in most cases, your standard of living will be higher in Massachusetts.
Click to expand...
 
fencer said:
This true. But...while goods and services are cheaper, the wages are less too. Like a lot less. Big companies move to the south mostly for cheap labor

This is not true. The best health care in the world is in Boston. No ifs ands or buts..

If you are on a fixed income or are lucky enough to have a job that you work remotely, your standard of living will be higher in the most of the south. If you need to earn a living, in most cases, your standard of living will be higher in Massachusetts.
Click to expand...

But quality of living is much better down south.
 
Garys said:
Our experience is that there is a lot that has to be changed when you move. Some is obvious, but some is subtle. Do your homework.
Click to expand...
This, think about every aspect of your life and how it would change in a move. As we are considering this some things are not a big deal, others, yea a big deal. Cardiac care is a biggie for me. As for jobs Me and the Mrs. both work in fields that jobs can be had easily.
 
I ended up in the hospital in Savanah a few months ago. It was a scary experience. The healthcare is not good. Florida is just as bad. If you end up at Duke in Durham NC you have a fighting chance.
 
Garys said:
We vacationed in Savannah in July 2019. Hot and humid every day. I'd go back, but only in spring or fall.
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Love Savannah area. Going for a week on Tybee next week. Probably spend a lot of time in the city itself. They have one hell of a St Patrick’s Day parade but haven’t been able to catch yet.

Prolly check out the club where GSSF is having a match in Nov as I was think of volunteering. Don’t mind helping out for the experience but gotta be warm.

Mrs does not do well in the heat so I predict we’ll be quasi-snow birds as we get to the age where it’s possible.
 

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