Where should I move???? (leaving liberal-fornia)

[turnburglar]

Everyone mentioning the MT, UT, ID, WY, CO can you recommend specific areas for me to look at the real estate markets?

The insane thing of living in America in 2019, is that traditoinally solid red states are on the verge of swinging (TX, AZ, FL, MT) or have already switched to solid blue because of the cities being filled with liberals fleeing high taxes and real estate prices. I am aware that CO and OR have gone mad with blue, but isnt that primarily located in the cities? I am trying to move into the small towns or complete rural country side. I really wouldnt mind driving an hour or two, once a month to stock up at a costco in the city. In AZ I was looking at half too 10 acre properties. obvisouly I would like 500 acres to shoot on or whatever but cost becomes an issue with that. Ideally I'd like the pines and also like being near streams or lakes.

[CoryCop25]

Stay away from Boise and the Sun Valley/Ketchum area in Idaho. That is of course if you want to avoid the California types.

[flenna]

Middle or East Tennesse. We got four seasons, mountains, lots of trees and water. The cost of living is very low, lots of jobs and housing and property are very affordable. And yes, we like guns and God here.

[Peshawar]

I'm stuck in CA for the time-being as well. I bought a house near Reno to which I will attempt to escape eventually. The locals I talk to there have lamented that Californians moving to the area are quickly destroying the political landscape and turning the state blue. And quickly. Really sinks my heart when I think about it. By the time I move there (couple years probably), it'll be CA-lite. Ugh... I hope not.

[MountainRaven]

Montana is kind of two states in one. And while we're purple, our Democrats tend to be more conservative, more pro-gun, more libertarian than Republicans from, say, New York. A lot of the state's Democratic party has ties to the state's old miners unions, so Democratic Montanans tend to come from farms, ranches, and mining families. Hence Montana's purple-ishness.

You have, broadly speaking, Western Montana and Eastern Montana.

Western Montana has grizzly bears, mountains, forests, higher population density, more liberals (old school blue collar liberals, Caliradian yuppies, tree huggers, hippies, &c.), milder summers and winters.
Eastern Montana has rattlesnakes, is fairly flat, fairly open, you can measure the distance between houses in miles (outside of Great Falls and Billings), has harsher winters, and hotter and more humid summers.

[C-grunt]

Two more places to look in Az would be Williams and Payson area. Both are up in the mountains and forrests. They do get some snow in the winter but nothing like what the northern states get. Williams is around 6k feet elevation and Payson is around 5k feet.

[SomeOtherGuy]

***I am aware that CO and OR have gone mad with blue, but isnt that primarily located in the cities? I am trying to move into the small towns or complete rural country side. I really wouldnt mind driving an hour or two, once a month to stock up at a costco in the city.

The leftists and most idiots are in the cities, but the cities dominate population and state politics, so all the @#$# state laws are written by those people. You would probably really like the people in rural CA, OR, WA and maybe CO, but the laws aren't written by those people.

It's not just guns either - building permits, taxes, business licenses, water rights, whether you can own a wood stove, etc.

Everyone mentioning the MT, UT, ID, WY, CO can you recommend specific areas for me to look at the real estate markets?

ID - Coeur d'Alene area and north from there. Sandpoint is beautiful. Not sure about the job options.

CO - in the mountains or on the western slope. Grand Junction is the biggest city. Just avoid the front range.

WY - Cheyenne isn't much but it's the most civilized city in WY and close to CO cities for serious shopping or medical care, etc. Laramie is small and provincial, go west from there and it's lots worse. Jackson is Hollywood yuppieville. I don't know Casper or Gillette at all.

UT - it seems like the farther you get from SLC proper, either north or south, the better things are, but I'm still not impressed.

MT - I like Missoula as a town, but it's probably the most liberal town in MT. Whitefish is an interesting small town but you're looking at some real winter there.

If you want to play Russian roulette with state politics, the Blue Mountains area of Oregon is nice and remote, and Spokane WA is OK especially if you stay out of the city itself. Of course for Spokane you could just commute 10 minutes farther and be in Idaho.

[soulezoo]

Everyone mentioning the MT, UT, ID, WY, CO can you recommend specific areas for me to look at the real estate markets?

The insane thing of living in America in 2019, is that traditoinally solid red states are on the verge of swinging (TX, AZ, FL, MT) or have already switched to solid blue because of the cities being filled with liberals fleeing high taxes and real estate prices. I am aware that CO and OR have gone mad with blue, but isnt that primarily located in the cities? I am trying to move into the small towns or complete rural country side. I really wouldnt mind driving an hour or two, once a month to stock up at a costco in the city. In AZ I was looking at half too 10 acre properties. obvisouly I would like 500 acres to shoot on or whatever but cost becomes an issue with that. Ideally I'd like the pines and also like being near streams or lakes.

My place is 15 minutes outside of Laramie up against the snowy range mountains. Laramie has most of the city comforts (it is a college town) but just 5 minutes in any direction from town and you would swear you are in the middle of nowhere. Elk, antelope and wild horses are common in my area. Mule deer as well. While I am not trying to convince you to go there, it does have its advantages worth exploring. The wind frankly is the biggest drawback. Otherwise, 2000 yard range nearby, world class hunting and fishing. A ski and snowmobile resort is 20 minutes away from me. I have a 1000 yard range out the back....

Edited to add.... 45 minutes east gets you to Cheyenne. 45 minutes south gets you to Ft. Collins CO. 2 hours south is Denver. Really though, Ft Collins has everything a city needs down to Costco and Sam's Club. Laramie also has the only class 3 dealer in the state. Old German guy has a PhD in engineering and loves guns... and the fatherland. Great machinist too. His name is Dieter if you get there. You can have suppressors there!

[Buckaroo]

Western South Dakota, Rapid City area, only place I've lived that I'd move back to....
If I didn't need to work Wyoming would be my first choice.

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[BrigandTwoFour]

I lived in Great Falls, MT for a while. I loved the state, but not that city. Bozemen was great, though. Be prepared for lots of driving to really get anywhere outside of where you live, and some pretty harsh winters to get used to (especially if you're accustomed to CA weather). Missoula was a nice town as well, and a bit closer to Glacier National Park if that's important to you.

I spent a lot of time in Cheyanne Wyoming as well, and it seemed great. It's close to the border of Colorado, so you can quickly jump over to Ft. Collins for a bit of a "college town" life, or go a bit further and be in Denver (90 miles). If you don't mind a bit more remote life, Jackson seemed like a good place.

If you're looking to go more East Coast, keep in mind that VA is not going to be reliable in the future. That's kind of disappointing to me, since I also escaped CA for freedom, and now VA is looking unsteady. That said, right over the border to West Virginia would probably be safe. Harper's Ferry is a nice little area, and fairly close to a very nice shooting facility (PNTC).