The "S" word...

[Harry P.]

Bad weather.  Bandit politicians. Excessive taxes.  Stay there in Illinois, Harry.

1. I have no idea where I would move to.

2. I would probably have to spend $10K to move all my stuff, or have the world's largest garage sale ever.

3. With real estate prices down generally, if I sold my house for what it's worth today, then paid off the mortgage, I'd have about enough $$$ left to buy a used Hyundai, let alone a house.

[crazyjim]

Excuses.  Excuses. Excuses.

[Harry P.]

Excuses.  Excuses. Excuses.

I know. I'm looking at all the reasons why not to move. I should look at all the reasons why I should move. It's hard, though, to pull up stakes. At least for me it is. I've owned this house since the day it was built (1987). Heck, my youngest daughter was born in this house (my wife was into the whole "natural childbirth" thing, so we had a home birth with a midwife... no hospital, no doctors, no drugs).

That's a long time in one place, and you sort of get used to life not changing. But I do know that I can't stay here forever. Illinois is a cesspool of political corruption and sky-high taxes. I know I have to get out of here. But the question is... where do I go? That's what I have to figure out.

[High octane]

Many other people have been in your boat Harry and they've figured it out. I'm sure that you can too if you can get yourself to "pull the trigger."

[mikemodeler]

 

That's a long time in one place, and you sort of get used to life not changing. But I do know that I can't stay here forever. Illinois is a cesspool of political corruption and sky-high taxes. I know I have to get out of here. But the question is... where do I go? That's what I have to figure out.

I used to think that I would never get out of Northern Illinois as my family and in-laws were all there (minus one or two). About 11 years ago I was approached by my employer to relocate and never thought my wife would embrace the idea but she did! We settled in Charlotte and have never regretted it. We don't miss the bitterly cold winters, the cold spring and fall seasons and certainly not the corruption and high taxes! Once we moved here, other family members followed and now I have more family in this area than I do in Illinois!

The thing you want to ask yourself Harry is what will you do once you retire? Can you relocate your business somewhere else and continue doing what you have been or would you need to go to work for someone? How close to your kids do you want to be (you stated your youngest wants you nearby)?

If you decide to move, I can honestly say that there is a ton of stuff you THINK you need to take with, while the reality is you DON'T need to! In many cases it is cheaper to sell something and replace it once you get settled than to pay for it to be moved, trust me I know!

We get the taste of all four seasons here in Charlotte, and the winters tend to be fairly mild and relatively snow free (compared to what you have dealt with!) and if we want snow, it's a couple of hours to the mountains and if we want sand, it's a couple of hours to the ocean! I can be in Daytona Beach in 6 hours by car and Key West in 2 by plane! While you were dealing with snow and temps in the 30's today, I worked up a sweat mowing the lawn and trimming bushes in the 70's here!

[Ace-Garageguy]

When I could have easily afforded to move, I stupidly chose to stay in a city I've grown to intensely dislike with a climate I've always hated because my then-current significant-other's family was here. A series of poor decisions on my part...and a series of completely unforeseeable events...pretty well wiped me out. The 'stuff' I've accumulated, some pretty good stuff, is somewhat irreplaceable and it's the cost of dragging it across the country that's got me stuck here now. Moving house is a piece of cake compared to moving a full-size milling machine, lathe, and a shop full of equipment...not to mention several non-running project cars and literally a couple of tons of parts.

There are multiple ways of containing the cost of moving a residence, one of them being having a container dropped at your house. You load it, it's picked up and shipped to your new location and you unload it. Services like this are available between most major cities. Just a thought.

The point is, if you really think you'd be happier somewhere else and are in a position to make it happen, you owe it to yourself to at least fully investigate the possibilities.

Life is short.

And hey...there are only 266 days until Christmas (snow, you know?)  

[cobraman]

Harry, Arizona is waiting for you. Just don't move here in the summer ! Oh and bring your shorts, hats, and sunscreen ! Nice here most of the year and you kinda get used to the summer heat. Remember................. it's a dry heat ! So is an oven but that's beside the point.

[Harry P.]

If I ever do move, it's definitely going to be west of here. Someplace that never has tornados (I'm so tired of all the scary weather we have here every spring). Idaho... Montana... Wyoming, maybe. A small town with no big-city traffic would be ideal.

Maybe the desert southwest, specifically New Mexico. Taos, maybe. No Florida for me, I can't stand the humidity. I've been there... didn't like it. We have that humidity here in the summer, and it sucks. I want warm, but dry. Not Phoenix, though... I've been there several times and for some reason that city just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe Tucson. Then there's my youngest daughter, who wants me to move to Urbana (Illinois) to be close to her. Actualy, both my daughters live in Urbana, so that's sort of tempting. But that wouldn't get me out of this hellhole of a state.

I dunno. The whole thought of packing up and heading out sort of scares me. The logistics of selling this house while buying another house, coordinating all of that, moving a house full of stuff, shipping my Impala across country... it all seems sort of overwhelming to me. And expen$ive. But on the other hand, people do it all the time, and if they can do it, I suppose I can, too. It's just a matter of finally making up my mind to act on it.

[Harry P.]

And you know what the craziest part of living here is? The weather.

Today it was in the mid 30s and snowing. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the mid 60s. Typical crazy spring midwest weather,

[slusher]

If I ever do move, it's definitely going to be west of here. Someplace that never has tornados (I'm so tired of all the scary weather we have here every spring). Idaho... Montana... Wyoming, maybe. A small town with no big-city traffic would be ideal.

Maybe the desert southwest, specifically New Mexico. Taos, maybe. No Florida for me, I can't stand the humidity. I've been there... didn't like it. We have that humidity here in the summer, and it sucks. I want warm, but dry. Not Phoenix, though... I've been there several times and for some reason that city just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe Tucson. Then there's my youngest daughter, who wants me to move to Urbana (Illinois) to be close to her. Actualy, both my daughters live in Urbana, so that's sort of tempting. But that wouldn't get me out of this hellhole of a state.

I dunno. The whole thought of packing up and heading out sort of scares me. The logistics of selling this house while buying another house, coordinating all of that, moving a house full of stuff, shipping my Impala across country... it all seems sort of overwhelming to me. And expen$ive. But on the other hand, people do it all the time, and if they can do it, I suppose I can, too. It's just a matter of finally making up my mind to act on it.

When we moved from Chicago, i did not like it. Took me and my mother about 3 years to like it here. Now i love it but not the summer heat but that's 4 months of the year. I wouldn't move back to Chicago but i miss some things. The biggest question is will you like where you move long term.? Maybe moving close to your daughters may not be so bad...

[crazyjim]

Warm and no state income tax. I looked at Aridzona before Florida and decided the major change of retiring would not allow another major change in climate.  I grew up with grass & trees.  Moving to rocks and cactus was not in the cards for me.

[madhorseman]

..... And now back to the the winter weather in April.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/as-seen-on/WEB-5pm-pkg-Winter-Weather_Orlando_Chicago-374381531.html

 

[Tom Geiger]

I know where you are coming from Harry!  We were in our New Jersey home for 25 years when I got the job offer to move to Pennsylvania. It was a logistical nightmare and I tossed a lot of stuff... two 20 yarders worth!  I sold off all the old cars and I moved collections and stuff one mini van load at a time!   We have a nice house on an acre and the taxes are half what they'd be in New Jersey.  The area is great with convenient shopping and services.  We have good neighbors, but we really have no ties here. Somehow it doesn't feel like  "home".  We've always felt we're just here temporarily.  We are only a 2 hour drive from our old home where our friends and family are so we go often, so I cannot begin to think about relocating somewhere distant.

[Crazy Ed]

     Harry, If you're planing to move West to avoid your Weather I don't think Taos would be first on your List. Heck I just looked at a Live Web Cam there and saw a bunch of Guys prepping the area for the Days Skiers. And I think it's among, if not THE most expensive places in N.M. to live. So if you want to avoid Snow Taos is Out.

[Harry P.]

Yesterday the high was 35 and it snowed all day.

Today the high was 69.

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be in the 30s again.

Man, we have some wacky weather here in the spring.

[1930fordpickup]

Harry thanks for the laugh with the comment about the cesspool of political corruption only being in your state. They must turn honest south of Ohio River then? LOL

 

[High octane]

Ya gotta "pull the trigger" and do it Harry, or else you'll be where you are today fifteen years from now. Trust me.

[Harry P.]

Harry thanks for the laugh with the comment about the cesspool of political corruption only being in your state. They must turn honest south of Ohio River then? LOL

I don't know if they're honest south of the Ohio. Heck, I don't know if they're honest anywhere! But one thing I do know is that there's no place else where the politicians are more dishonest than Illinois.

[1930fordpickup]

Have you read about the Flint water problem? Detroit and Toledo are not much better. It is a shame we can not even keep our own house clean. 

[Harry P.]

Chicago is well on the way to being the next Detroit. Chicago is already billions behind in union pension payments, for example. If they don't change the way they operate, Chicago will have to declare bankruptcy soon. Illinois is in the same sad shape. Years, decades, of fiscal mismanagement has left Illinois billions of dollars in debt.

[High octane]

Chicago is well on the way to being the next Detroit. Chicago is already billions behind in union pension payments, for example. If they don't change the way they operate, Chicago will have to declare bankruptcy soon. Illinois is in the same sad shape. Years, decades, of fiscal mismanagement has left Illinois billions of dollars in debt.

Hmmmm, billions behind on union pension payments, how did that happen???

[Harry P.]

Hmmmm, billions behind on union pension payments, how did that happen???

Crooked and inept politicians.

[Harry P.]

BTW... 6:15 PM, Monday, April 4. Current temp?

32 degrees.

[cobraman]

88 here right now.

[slusher]

61 Here