So the work I do is 100% remote now. I moved to Southern California because of an industry that has in part moved to remote work. My only requirements are a temperate climate, nature access and hopefully a blue-ish state. Is there a place out there that makes sense financially? I’m hoping to buy a house less then 500k. I don’t need access to large cities as I honestly don’t do anything. The only requirement I can think of is access to solid internet as I stream full screen video for what I do.
I’m currently looking at Michigan and Virginia as options.
north of Sacramento and south of Seattle… for that price you’ll have to be inland a few miles.
North of Sacramento? Not cold at all, and there are lots of great places to get out in nature. I can’t speak to Seattle much, it will get colder than Sacramento but the nature is probably even better. Summer near Sac can be very warm and get over 100, but that’s becoming more common more places
South of Seattle (South King or North Pierce counties, or even further south, closer to Olympia) gets occasional snow in the winter, and occasional 100+ degree days in the summer. Summer is gorgeous FTMP, with temps around 75-80 most days. Oct-Mar can be rough if you’re prone to seasonal depression, from the lack of sunshine. Plan to vacation somewhere sunny for a week some time in January or February, and you’ll do better.
I will say this specific area is pretty rural and red, vs the city centers closer to Seattle and Tacoma.
Michigan gets frigid winters, doesn’t it?
Michigan definitely gets cold if you’re north. Places like Holland, MI seem a bit warmer
I will say this specific area is pretty rural and red
That’s really farther South or East, really. Olympia is largely “progressive” (of the rich, slightly out of touch, white liberal variety) and that attitude extends to the city suburbs. The only area where that might not be as true is Lacey, which has way more of the JBLM population living there.
Speaking of which, because of JBLM and basically daily accidents on I-5, going anywhere North from the Olympia area is a fucking crapshoot. An accident can shut down I-5 for hours and because of the nature of the area, there’s not a lot of side-roads to offload traffic onto, I-5 is really the main thoroughfare. It’s not as bad going south because there’s less traffic going south, so fewer accidents. But if you want to visit a friend on Tacoma, or catch a flight out of SeaTac, or see a show in Seattle… you pretty much have to add a guesstimated 2-3 hours of travel time depending on how far north you’re going based on how long traffic could be backed up if there’s a severe accident.
The frequency of accidents honestly keeps me off of I-5 because holy fucking shit. I don’t want one of those accidents to involve me. A lot of them are real bad.
south of Seattle
Dear god please no. I’ve been here in “South of Seattle” for a good portion of my life, and due to the influx of remote workers, I’m being priced out. Restaurants are shutting down because the workers can’t afford to live in the city anymore.
I know that’s not the fault of the remote workers, it’s the fault of a capitalist system that refuses to budge on pay for work that just a few years ago was deemed “essential” and these people were expected to brave a deadly pandemic to keep things running but are now back to being treated as disposable and replaceable. They’re pretty over it, and many of them are giving up on cities like this because of it.
I can’t recommend Kentucky enough. It ain’t blue, but it meets your other criteria. House prices are very reasonable. We live just outside Fort Knox and when the Army is done with my wife we’re moving back
What do you like about it so much? I’ve never lived in a place I wanted to live in. All my choices have been because of family or career. I really just don’t want be be too hot (Southern California here) or have to carry inflated prices because I live near ‘all this cool shit’ that I couldn’t care less about.
It’s beautiful.
From where we live a bunch of interesting places are within an easy drive. Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati are all three hours or less away.
The people are mostly kind and mostly polite.
The cost of living is relatively low.
The pace of life feels slower.
You can do ok for 500k here in Rhode Island. No mountain wilderness, but the beaches and islands are gorgeous, and there’s lots of nature to the western part of the state.
A little while ago, I read an argument that Traverse City, MI will be the next Portland. I think that’s right. There’s a lot of outdooring within a day drive, and it’s pretty affordable.
Your main downsides are summer wildfire smoke will presumably be a regular thing going forward, and winters are cold with lots of snow thanks to lake effect. Michigan politics are interesting, and Traverse City is in a historically red part of the state - but I think that’s changing.
500k will definitely get you a good house unless you want something extremely new or right downtown. That particular listing is also one block away from one of my favorite breweries of all time.
Ironically my wife mentioned Traverse. We’re thinking of a lake house situation and I like the Michigan weather with climate change in mind. Thanks!
If you go with this option and haven’t lived in a cold climate before, do your research! A lot of the lake towns up there clear out during the winter because it can be pretty rough. That also means a fair amount of property maintenance every Spring (weather damage etc). If you’re new there will be a bit of a learning curve (taking in docks, potentially a septic tank, etc). I would seriously consider visiting in the winter before you commit, and also looking up when spring typically kicks in (they have long winters).
It is gorgeous and would be a lovely environment to sit on your computer.
I would not say the area feels blue even though parts are— you’ll see more trump signs than in socal (still for some reason), and fishing, beer, and hunting are quite common hobbies which makes it feel a bit like living in a southern state imo. (I’ve lived in the east, west, Midwest, and south—can’t speak to southwest or northwest). I actually think I’d choose Minneapolis suburbs if I was in your boat and didn’t mind winter.
Why Minneapolis? The house upkeep is a great tip, wasn’t thinking about that. We don’t need much, maybe 1500-2000 sq ft 3 bedrooms. I’ve always liked the idea of living on a lake. I’ve been in NJ, FL and Southern CA, so hoping for something different for the last stretch of life
I might be a bit biased for my own state, but Oregon sounds like it could be right up your alley. Real estate prices have kinda settled down recently after the inflation we had the past few years, so you can find nice houses for 350-500k in the slightly-rural areas surrounding Portland like Gresham, Oregon City, Estacada or Sandy.
Nature access is excellent, especially if you were to live around the Columbia River Gorge like in Corbett. A drive to the coast is under 2 hours from there also.
Brother in law wants to move to some Washington/Oregon border town to take advantage of tax stuff. What would you say are the downsides of Oregon?
The biggest downside of late in my opinion has been the homelessness and mentally unwell / drug abuse issues. Measure 110’s decriminalization of hard drugs without actually having sufficient treatment options available just exacerbated existing problems. Rural areas have a lot less of this but you’re almost guaranteed to see some nasty stuff if you’re in the bigger cities.
A lot of people do take advantage of taxes around here. There’s no sales tax in Oregon so people from Vancouver just drive over one of the bridges to do their shopping.
Corbett looks nice, the yearly average temps look good. Would you say that’s a more rural option? I’m looking for something outside any major city, I don’t go anywhere honestly.
Aside from the social issues mentioned by Jim, if you’re looking to move somewhere on the I-5 corridor be aware that Oregon’s reputation for ceaseless rain is, in some ways, well-deserved. Fall through spring is very cloudy and rainy. It gets gloomy and if you suffer from SAD it can be hard on you. On the other hand, summers are beautiful, with mostly sunny and warm days with the occasional heat spell.
Being a fairly large state with varied terrain, there are several climate zones:
- Summers are hotter on the I-5 corridor south of Eugene.
- The coast is cool and cloudy year-round, and rainier than the I-5 corridor.
- Areas east of the Cascade Mountains are much drier, with hotter summers and cold winters.
