Ask Lemmy

Find a purple voting district, move there and vote blue - the republicans need more social services to use regularly while they complain about people expecting "handouts"

Snow? Realllllyyyy depends on where in the state

Western Washington gets almost none, and you’ve got the whole I5 corridor to move to. Vancouver is the biggest city with the most affordable housing ratio. Not that it’s an oddly deep red district which is counter intuitive considering its size and proximity to Portland.

Bellingham up near the border is next in line, but it’s smaller and further from city activities.

Tacoma and Olympia are both cities that Seattleites are starting to move to despite the commute due to more affordable housing.

Then there’s Everett, the home of Boeing and about 25 miles north of Seattle. Cheaper than Seattle and has reasonable access to Seattle or to head north to the border. Still expect to pay 600k plus for a house though.

Lastly there’s everything between. It’s all small towns, rural areas, trees, and hills. The spot about smack dab between Tacoma and Portland gets more snow than most of the west side of the state, so maybe not for you. But the rest is good. And these places will all be cheap as hell to buy in. You just won’t have city amenities.

I hear Arkansas is great

Just live where other people don't want to live. Living in desirable places drives the prices up.

Is the East Coast out of the question?

I know this will be unpopular, but if you're ok with heat and traveling out of state if you need an abortion, Texas may be an option. Yes, our governor is terrible, but day to day life is not the horror that you see on tv. Our big cities are blue and populationwise we're not as red as you think (52-46% in 2020). Snow and ice are pretty minimal. The topography varies tremendously across the state - mountains, desert, coastal, etc. - and each big city has it's own vibe, so there are lots of opportunities for weekend getaways. We have great food, good airports, and colleges and universities of every size and focus. Housing prices have increased since COVID but are still much lower that the east or west Coast. I'm in Dallas and i like it here. San Antonio is a very fun city and a little cheaper.

City Nerd has a few great videos on affordable places to live that have urban amenities, for example: https://youtu.be/1qzePci2N6E?si=dWq43GmzH5ObF1q8

Raleigh/Durham in NC. it's a little bubble of progressive in a red state. Houses aren't crazy yet. Lots of tech work. No snow.

I'm told Seattle isn't bad. And you're close to Vancouver.

Are you working remotely or would you depend on the local economy for a job?

Because the big catch is, the places you can afford have no work.

Or even with remote work, you need broadband access, so no DSL, no Hughesnet.

Upstate NY, VT, ME, NH, basically new england, some snow, but pretty nice places

I would recommend somewhere in Europe. You will have paid vacation and heathcare insurance and (almost) free school and … :)

Split the difference. Go somewhere in northern CA or southern OR (Portland is pricy too).

I’ve lived in Washington State (western) for 4 years total and have seen exactly 10 days of snow the entire time I’ve been here. Houses are still 3-400k. I want to move either closer to SeaTac or down to Vancouver because I bought a house in an area with a lot of flags on trucks if you catch my drift. We have more cloudy days than anything. We get lots of rain but it’s mostly just clouds and drizzles.

Tennessee still has some affordable housing in rural areas. Very little snow as well.

Are you prepared for no-flouride water, septic tanks, an awful education system, a sub-tropical climate that seems to get less "sub" every year, more types of pollen than you've ever dreamed of, more guns than people, and rampant meth/opioid abuse?

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.

What's your issue with snow?

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.