ProDarwin wrote:
And of course with the climate in the SE, you don't spend a ton on utilities either.
That is confusing to me.
(I'm not trying to sell Michigan BTW)
But in SE MI- we spend a lot more money cooling hour house in the summer than keeping it warm in the winter. Not sure how a warmer climate can be less, unless it's more moderate all around- so both warmer winters and cooler summers relative to us. But unless you are right on the water, that doesn't seem to be happening- warmer winters and hotter summers.
None the less- good luck in finding a new place, oldtin! You have a lot of options to sort through, it seems.
captdownshift wrote:
Become a driving instructor in the USVI
Or Office manager and instructor
One key skill both of those jobs need- driving on the left with the LHD car. 
alfadriver wrote:
ProDarwin wrote:
And of course with the climate in the SE, you don't spend a ton on utilities either.
That is confusing to me.
(I'm not trying to sell Michigan BTW)
But in SE MI- we spend a lot more money cooling hour house in the summer than keeping it warm in the winter. Not sure how a warmer climate can be less, unless it's more moderate all around- so both warmer winters and cooler summers relative to us. But unless you are right on the water, that doesn't seem to be happening- warmer winters and hotter summers.
None the less- good luck in finding a new place, oldtin! You have a lot of options to sort through, it seems.
Apparently you have never expereienced a $300 electric bill for 3 months in a row and all that is running is an AC that can't keep up and refrigerator that you contemplate moving into. That is very common in the south. Winters aren't horrible. My electric bills in Louisiana in my most efficient place went from $100 in winter to $200 in the summer and about $50 in the no HVAC months. It was a very efficient place too (constant shade except on one part of on side of the roof, slab foundation with high water table, <5 year old Heat pump). Add 30% across the board for the "luxury" apartments that were actually just slapped together and had HVAC units on the southern side with poor insulation.
I've said it once and I'll say it again. Figure out the life style you want to live outside of work, then find work as close to that's perfection as you can.
Moving to the south, you trade summers for winters. I find no real advantage unless you really hate snow and Ice. However, depending on the area of the south you just get tornado's, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. I relaly don't see an advantage to either weather wise. After living near the beach, I realized I hated it and went to the mountains for vacation.
Here's the deal. I've done a fair bit of moving in my life and I'm looking for another soon. Here is what I have found as real differentiators in places to live(in no particular order).
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The people that live there, Making good connections and having friends is very important.
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Distance to friends/Family. You don't want to spend your entire vacation traveling to see the important people in your life. Trust me..
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Cost of living.. You can find cool things to do, just about anywhere close to a larger city or town. But you don't want to be stuck in a boom economy that makes everything so painful that you can't even afford nor find soccer classes for your kids(or whatever analogy you want). This is also tied to the economy and job prospects. Having a good job in the middle of nowhere is great, but having one in an area with lots of opportunity or growing opportunity is important.
I've never really found the location and climate to be a factor.
And Flight Service, $300 electric bills are weak sauce. Come to Connecticut and have a house with electric baseboard heat.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
And Flight Service, $300 electric bills are weak sauce. Come to Connecticut and have a house with electric baseboard heat.
I bow to your superior (inferior?) heating technology!
I have had one house catch fire because baseboard heating, never again.
As far as the bills, I am uber cheap ass when it comes to electricity. Turn off all the lights constantly, programmed thermostat, obsessive with hot spots and air circulation. I usually run about 20% cheaper than my similarly sq ft neighbors.
In reply to Flight Service:
It was a horrible house. Run the pellet stove and january cost you $500 for electricity. Don't run the pellet stove and it'll cost $700.
szeis4cookie wrote:
Chantilly to Middleburg is definitely on the order of 15 miles, not 45. I'd say that transition qualifies as city to farms.
Chantilly is suburbia (barely). City would be more like Alexandria or Arlington, which are another 15-20 miles down the road.
alfadriver wrote:
ProDarwin wrote:
And of course with the climate in the SE, you don't spend a ton on utilities either.
That is confusing to me.
(I'm not trying to sell Michigan BTW)
Not sure, but here are some numbers from a random cost of living website:
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment
Winston-Salem 145.94 $
Detroit 274.63 $
Seems significant to me.
My heating bill is only significant about 2 months per year. My electric bill is significant about 3 months per year. At its highest it is 70% larger than at its lowest. The highest bill I've seen is $160.
It shames me to admit that, because I consider myself rather efficient. My family on the other hand. I'm sure most of it is multiple lengthy hot showers per day, and 1234125134534523 loads of laundry every week. The 11 month old isn't helping with that last part.
In reply to Flight Service:
My 2006 built 2000 sq-ft house is about $100/month for electric, another $100/month for water and $40 for Gas.
This is with my wife and I and I work from home. I expect that once the baby arrives, things will go up a bit.
Housing prices are getting stupid, but if you look further North in Vancouver/Washougal/Camas/Ridgefield, etc or further out East of Portland in Gresham, Sandy, Boring you can still find good deals provided you don't mind a slightly longer commute (public transit isn't bad here, but it isn't what it once was unless you're in the "core").
In reply to Stefan (Not Bruce):
I pay $110 just for Sewar in the beltway! It is more than my electric, water and gas combined!
In reply to ProDarwin:
I get that. But we actually pay more to cool our house than to heat it. Dunno why, but we do, and we are efficient, too- one of the better around us. Just 40miles west of Detroit.
Just saw a thing on FB that apparently I cant link to on the work computer. WWW.smartasset.com ranked the top cities for college graduates to live in based on a pile of factors. Austin TX got #1 and Lexington KY was #2, yay us! 
