I currently live in California, but it’s literally impossible to afford to buy a house.
Where are some good places to move to? I was thinking about Washington State, but I’m not sure I could handle the snow.
Western Washington doesn’t get a lot of snow unless you’re in the mountains.
“No snow” and “Affordable housing” are going to be a tricky combo.
Eastern Washington gets lots of snow and is basically Idaho, but houses are around 3-400k. Western Washington doesnt tend to get much snow, but it does happen, and housing is averaging around 600k for a 2bd/2ba even out in more suburban areas, so not exactly affordable. Big cities think more like 750-850k.
Im also assuming you’re looking for West coast vibes given the Cali to Washington idea. New Mexico/Arizona/Nevada might match what youre looking for.
A friend of mine just moved to California. San Diego. Couldn’t afford a house so he bought a boat and he now lives on the boat. He said the boat is much better than any house. It’s much larger than any house he could maybe afford there and if he doesn’t like San Diego, he could just float away to somewhere else.
What’s your issue with snow?
I’ve never lived in it, so I wouldn’t want to be a menace on the icy roads
Can’t be any worse than most of the people who have lived in it their whole lives.
Seriously, I’d take someone new to driving in snowy/icy conditions over someone who has a bunch of misplaced confidence in their driving skills because they’ve “been driving in worse than this for decades!” in a heartbeat.
The newbie is much more likely to actually adapt to the conditions and drive more cautiously.
I have lived in a snow area for decades after moving from California.
Nobody knows how to drive in the snow here. They forget every year, so you will fit right in. Get a car with AWD, leave room to stop, accelerate slowly, no throttle when sliding to regain traction(don’t put your foot to the floor), and keep your tires where others have driven. Snow tires are amazing, but not necessary and are a hassle. Keep a small snow shovel in the trunk and non-folding traction mats if you can. You should also keep a charged jumper pack in your car because the cold don’t give a shit about you needing to start your car.
Get a car with AWD
Be prepared to pay 4x as much when you need a replacement tire (you have to replace all 4)
Icy roads are generally ok if you have a front or 4 wheel drive and you know they’re icy so are on high alert and ready to deal with other motorists doing reckless shit which is 99% of the issues you’ll face (like driving their rear wheel drive car round a corner up a hill, then spinning out as they accelerated too hard and ending up sliding back down the road towards you, which happened to me but as I was driving reasonably I just pulled over to the side)
What you’ve gotta watch out for is wet leaves though… Sounds innocent enough but in the wrong conditions they’re as slippy as if not more than ice and because usually they’re fine your brain just dismisses them until the day you slide/spin on them
You’ll get used to them. Just remember to check if your tire profile is deep enough (4 mm), and slow down before curves + start accelerating halfway through them. And obviously keep more distance than usual.
Oh and always carry chains. Putting them on the tires isn’t too hard, but try it once before (when your hands aren’t cold and you aren’t stressed). Most of the time you won’t need them but when you do need them you really do.
I think New Mexico is where it’s at for low/no snow and affordable housing. Not coastal vibes at all, but neither is it anywhere close to Texas feeling. They just kind of have their own thing. Almost anywhere on the I-25 between Albuquerque and Las Cruces might suit your desire.
I worked in Red River for about a year and a half and it was pretty great. It was like Colorado Lite up there, and presumably much more affordable–I just had a condo paid for by my employer so I dunno. It’d be tough to live there without a remote job, I admit.
Taos was cool, but a little small/touristy. Santa Fe seemed great, but I heard it was expensive so I dunno. The rural areas did feel very impoverished overall.
I agree that it had its own feel. The native New Mexicans I met out there were just kind of their own people doing their own thing. The state had those fruit/pepper/produce stands here and there on the side of the road that you’d see in like Brazil. The landscape and terrain was this pretty mixture of desert shrubland right adjacent to mountain cypress-type ecosystems, at least in all the places I went to.
Would be worth going back again one day.
