Good states to setup life

I am interested in automotive, military engineering. I like testing things
There are Department of Defense R&D and testing facilities all over the country that hire tons of engineers. I've been working at one for 23+ years now. As one of the first replies to your OP noted, your eventual happiness won't be about so much of what's being discussed in this thread - the political climate, culture war side(s), housing prices, etc of where you land. It will be about personal fulfillment, relationships, etc. A job you enjoy goes a long way to support that.

PM me if you want some insight into working for DoD.

jeff
 
Or you could choose Clarksburg, WV to have the best lasagna in the history of cooking indoors whenever you want at Minard's Spaghetti Inn. Or choose Louisville to have Mike Linnig's whenever you want and Mark's Feed Store BBQ when you aren't enjoying Mike's. Definitely worse reasons to pick a place than delicious food.
I feel like good lasagna is a pretty low bar for picking a place to live. I have heard good things about Kentucky though.
 
I feel like good lasagna is a pretty low bar for picking a place to live. I have heard good things about Kentucky though.
And yet enjoying extremely good food can make many problems seem less severe. I feel like exceptional food raises the bar higher than many things. And mentioned not as the reason, just a factor in evaluating.
 
And yet enjoying extremely good food can make many problems seem less severe. I feel like exceptional food raises the bar higher than many things. And mentioned not as the reason, just a factor in evaluating.
Learning how to cook for yourself, which of course you can do wherever you end up, is waaaay more valuable on a daily basis than access to superlative restaurants. I tell my younger colleagues (good grief I'm only 45 lol) that they've already got the good job, now just make sure they can cook and they'll have no trouble with the ladies :)

jeff
 
Learning how to cook for yourself, which of course you can do wherever you end up, is waaaay more valuable on a daily basis than access to superlative restaurants. I tell my younger colleagues (good grief I'm only 45 lol) that they've already got the good job, now just make sure they can cook and they'll have no trouble with the ladies :)

jeff
And yet, in spite of being able to cook well enough to satisfy both myself and my best half, if I were considering moving for whatever reason, once I was down to the last 2 or 3 suspects I'd check for good food for when neither of us wants to fool with cooking. Twenty years from now you may be less enamored of cooking etc. and more interested in just sitting down and being served a great meal. Ask me how I know what is 20 years in your 45 year old future. Anyway, not sure why you are so against the idea of a fantastic restaurant but whatever. I'm sticking with my opinion it is another of many factors to weigh in.
 
And yet enjoying extremely good food can make many problems seem less severe. I feel like exceptional food raises the bar higher than many things. And mentioned not as the reason, just a factor in evaluating.
Fair enough. I guess I'm just not much of a lasagna guy. More on the pizza/mexican food spectrum.
 
We are probably going to stay here in IA. Weather here is good for about 9 months of the year. Taxes are not bad at all, and people are generally friendly. Outside of the major cities, crime is low, but Iowa City, Des Moines, and Cedar Rapids are really bad, though not as bad as East and West Coast counterparts.

2 major Interstates go through IA making it easier to get anywhere, and are really well maintained. IA also has some absolutely fantastic State parks if you like the outdoors, and great museums and historical sites if you like to be inside more.

It’s a very purple state politically. That makes it ride the line and not go one way or the other. Our current Governor has done a very good job to date.

As much as we would like to move to AR, VA, WV, or NC, we will probably just retire here.
I’d argue that certain parts of Des Moines can be bad but it’s not “really bad” when compared to cities of their size and crime rates.

The Des Moines metro has exploded and there are a lot of nice places to live and work. Its ranks pretty high as a place to live for young professionals. Taxes are in the process of being lowered too.

Besides a few weeks in the winter and summer, weather is pretty good. Lots of things to do in the bigger cities and if you’re a sports fan, we have 2 good P5 teams for our state, and many good universities.
 
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I’d argue that certain parts of Des Moines can be bad but it’s not “really bad” when compared to cities of their size and crime rates.

The Des Moines metro has exploded and there are a lot of nice places to live and work. Its ranks pretty high as a place to live for young professionals. Taxes are in the process of being lowered too.

Besides a few weeks in the winter and summer, weather is pretty good. Lots of things to do in the bigger cities and if you’re a sports fan, we have 2 good P5 teams for our state, and many good universities.

I've only been there a couple times, but Des Moines seems nice/safe enough. My only complaint is that it seemed like it just freshly built out of Legos. Maybe due to the metro explosion you mentioned, but a lot of boxy stores and strip malls. I wasn't expecting a ton of mom and pop places or anything, but at least a couple eateries that weren't chains. Quite possible I wasn't there long enough to explore it though, was only there for a couple days for work trips.
 
I've only been there a couple times, but Des Moines seems nice/safe enough. My only complaint is that it seemed like it just freshly built out of Legos. Maybe due to the metro explosion you mentioned, but a lot of boxy stores and strip malls. I wasn't expecting a ton of mom and pop places or anything, but at least a couple eateries that weren't chains. Quite possible I wasn't there long enough to explore it though, was only there for a couple days for work trips.
Yeah you gotta get off the interstate a bit to find the good local areas. All the places immediate to the interstate are box stores/restaurants, but down town and east village area is nice along with other areas sprinkled throughout.
 
In your shoes, I’d consider Lubbock, Texas and the surrounding areas. If you live outside the city, some of the towns have dirt cheap home prices. Texas Tech is right there, so there’s going to be some jobs and things to do for fun. There’s no state income tax, very pro 2A. State sales tax is a bit high at 8.25%, high winds, temperature extremes are the downsides.
 
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Yeah you gotta get off the interstate a bit to find the good local areas. All the places immediate to the interstate are box stores/restaurants, but down town and east village area is nice along with other areas sprinkled throughout.
Good to know. I'll try to check those places out next time I'm in the area.
 
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