I live in Chicago suburb and am thinking of moving somewhere else. West coast is not of interest to me. I’m looking for relatively low RE taxes and prices, ocean or very large lake within about 3 hour drive. Climate subtropical, south of New York - St Louis line. Also, politically, I’d prefer a conservative government on state and local level. I might move next year or year after that. Any suggestion?
Such a decision is actually very complicated. There is probably theoretically a correct way to do it, but likely the vast majority rely on mostly guesswork. Factors such as cost of living, culture, amenities, and climate are considerations to start off with. Also job availability, possibly specifically for certain job fields. Even a single state can be a huge place, with numerous possible different places to live.
There is southern Louisiana, but the heat and humidity can be bad. There are some big lakes in Eastern Texas, but again the humidity in that area can be pretty bad, and the people who live there not the most sophisticated. There are also some lakes in Southern Missouri on the border of Arkansas. Beautiful area and low property costs, but again the people there can be a little... unsophisticated. I don't know if you need to be within an hour of a major city, or if you are okay being out in the middle of nowhere. I'll throw out another place for you to research, Calhoun Falls, South Carolina. But again, not a lot of really good job opportunities out in some of these places. You might also look at areas surrounding the big cities in Northern Florida. You might also research moving to Baja, Mexico, if you are considering retirement, however there would be many things that would need to be considered with such a move. Just a few ideas.
