Moving states

I strongly suggest taking an extended vacation to where you think your going to move. And stay as close to possible to where your looking to move. Don't just see the sites and say this is great. Drive in traffic during rush hour. Go check out the grocery stores. Do live there stuff, not tourist stuff. The longer the better. 2 weeks is better than nothing (do a month if you can).

Rent for a year. Not just because the entire area. If you find your commuting the wrong way every day, you might decide to live in a different part of town.

Yep. Great advice
 
I’ll preface this with this isn’t a “do it now now!” thing, this is a 4-5 year plan that is just barely in its infancy. My wife will be finishing her Vet Tech classes first and foremost.

Now that I’m not beholden to what I thought was my “forever” job that I’d retire from in 30+ years (take your mandatory 12 hour shifts and shove them), we are considering moving. Moving FAR. Like Indiana to Texas far.

We’re thinking some rural part of Texas. Modest house (ideally under 1,300~2,000sq ft) but 5 acre minimum. We both come from a town of <5,000, so we’ll be avoiding neighborhoods/suburbs/cities… tried it once for 4 years, not for us. We also raise chickens and would like to get cows and/or goats.

I guess what I’m getting at is what do I need to know? Obviously we need to look into schools for the kids, crime rate/safety, job prospects for both of us (her vet tech, me machining or HVACR). I can only google stuff so much and sift through so many AI generated articles before I go mad…. So what say the BITOG collective?

Oh yeah… the only real requirement I have is no emissions inspections 😏
I would look at Bloomington Indiana.
Be warned. The climate here sucks. 3 weeks of Spring between April and May, then scorching heat and suffocating humidity well into October. Epic ice storms and infrastructure issues between December and March. You'll constantly be preparing for hail, high winds, tornados and flash flooding. If I had it to do all over again, I would have done some serious climate research before I moved.
What part of TX?
 
We moved from CA to northern Indiana. We couldn't be happier. 6 miles out in the country from a small town +/- 6000 with a decent hospital and most of whatever we need. 3 auto parts stores, 2 farm and stuff joints, lumberyard, and a dedicated hardware store. Wal Mart with groceries (usually avoided by us) and a Kroger. It is a half hour or so to Warsaw or Plymouth for big city amenities like Harbor Freight, Tractor Supply, or Rural King. A few more minutes to Logansport or Wabash. I'm retired from a career but there are tons of machining jobs in the bio med industry in Warsaw. There are auto industry supply plants nearby in Kokomo and Subaru is in Lafayette. Life is really great here.
 
We moved from CA to northern Indiana. We couldn't be happier. 6 miles out in the country from a small town +/- 6000 with a decent hospital and most of whatever we need. 3 auto parts stores, 2 farm and stuff joints, lumberyard, and a dedicated hardware store. Wal Mart with groceries (usually avoided by us) and a Kroger. It is a half hour or so to Warsaw or Plymouth for big city amenities like Harbor Freight, Tractor Supply, or Rural King. A few more minutes to Logansport or Wabash. I'm retired from a career but there are tons of machining jobs in the bio med industry in Warsaw. There are auto industry supply plants nearby in Kokomo and Subaru is in Lafayette. Life is really great here.
Honestly, it’s not terrible here at all, and if things don’t work out for whatever reason we will NOT be bummed by any means.
 
I've been down in Texas about 13 years now. Came from Buffalo NY. Went to Austin and got a crash course in IT, then went to San Antonio and became a network engineer. Now we live in the unincorporated area of San Antonio, but the suburbs are growing closer and closer every year.

There are massive ranches all over the place, bring your wallet. There are wild pigs reproducing like crazy in the rural areas. Bring your gun. Insurance companies in the area are raising deductibles across the board on wind/hail peril. We are now entering a four year drought so there have been more red flag fire advisories.

It was 104 degrees yesterday, in the middle of May.

It takes me about 30 minutes to go 6 miles into the area with shopping, so we have most things delivered.

It was a massive culture shock going from the northeast to Austin, then an even larger culture shock moving to San Antonio. BBQ is better in Austin, San Antonio is better Mexican food.

Most of the people buying houses on my street are from California, or service members from one of the Airforce bases.

Working remote 3 days a week has saved my sanity, as its about 70 minutes to get downtown each way.

It's not all roses but we make good money and travel where ever we want.
 
I have to wonder when people say to consider the heat and humidity in places like FL, TX, GA, SC , etc. it's as if they have never been outside in Baltimore in July, or something.
 
Northern suburb of Dallas.
Oh great. My company is forcing me to transfer to Plano or take a severance. I haven't decided because of some family health issues but I have to make a decision in a few weeks. Any suggestions on places to live around west Plano?I'm not familiar with the commute.
 
Oh great. My company is forcing me to transfer to Plano or take a severance. I haven't decided because of some family health issues but I have to make a decision in a few weeks. Any suggestions on places to live around west Plano?I'm not familiar with the commute.

You can’t stay at your current location and look for another job than move to Texas ?
 
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