You've definitely convinced me never to go to Alaska. I've had roommates who had lived there, however, although they made it sound less bad than you did.

It is sad when young people want to leave the state when they turn 18, but I felt that way about Texas as well, although for different reasons. I waited until I was 23 to leave Texas permanently, but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. When I visited friends in Salt Lake City, pretty much everyone I met who was under 21 told me that they planned to leave Utah when they turned 21, and their reasons were similar to the ones I had for leaving Texas.

By the end of May, we will be leaving Los Angeles (where I have lived for the past 35 years - the longest I have lived anywhere) and will be moving to the Palm Springs area - specifically Cathedral City, which borders Palm Springs to the east - most people do not know where Cathedral City is, but it is actually larger than Palm Springs. I have no desire to leave California, and I would not be leaving Los Angeles if my brother had not gotten laid off from his job and now wants to work remotely in Cathedral City.

California is such a huge and diverse state that I cannot imagine not being able to find a place here that would make me happy. I lived in San Francisco for 12 years (in my 20s and early 30s) and loved that during that period of my life, but I was never able to make enough money there, and so I left and went back to university to get a design degree, which was another great choice that I made.

I used to think that I wanted to live in Santa Cruz back in the 1970s, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten bored there very quickly, despite how beautiful it is and how nice the people were.

All my life, I have wanted a house with a pool, and the Palm Springs area is the perfect place for that, and I won't be that far from Los Angeles (or San Diego). I used to surf when I first moved to L.A. and spent a lot of time at the beach, where I used to live, but 15 years ago, I moved 3 miles from the beach and have not spent much time there since.

Climate is ideal near the beach in L.A., but I do not mind heat in the desert, as long as I have a pool.

Farmers' markets in L.A. are just as busy in the winter as in the summer, and there are lots of winter vegetables and fruits grown here. I'm able to grow many orchids and bromeliads in my backyard in L.A. I'm not big on huge outdoor spaces, but there are plenty of national parks in CA, such as Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, etc. plus the beautiful beaches, where one can surf.

Tennessee

Pros- every season, with winter being noticeably smaller. When it snows, it's beautiful to look at, and gone by the next day.

Pros-cost of living is reasonable

Cons-politics for the majority of the state (but not in a larger cities) suck

Cons-education sucks if you're not in the right stream. ENCORE and magnet schools are great!

It's still a great place 😉

@Lars Alaska is a difficult state to live in so you have to really, really LOVE the pros and not mind the cons. I think if someone comes during mid summer on vacation or went on a guided hunting trip, it can be quite seducing. We have a mountain cabin getaway where we can go caribou hunting, guaranteed to get one at least every year. There are hundreds of miles of blueberries covering the slopes. However it's an all day ATV trip into the mountains from the road and a two hour drive from the city to get to the beginning of the trail. My husband originally from out of state, was astonished we never went anywhere growing up (as we were hiking a beautiful state park and in awe). I replied that cost of gas and several hours of driving kind of took the excitement out of it.

I was lucky enough to grow up on property next to state land, so berry picking, hiking and trapping rabbits, while dog mushing endless trails in winter was our upbringing. We also had a large acerage hill property. So I loved it. But having visited the states and learning a lot about other places, I can clearly see the cons now. There are certainly more opportunities here in Alaska but we are strongly considering snowbirding in the future and only living up here during the summers through till the mild part of winter. I think my biggest pet peeves is the junk yard style Alaskan yard haha. I was in awe of the beautifully landscaped yards in certain states. Plus the amazing tree canopies!

Colorado:

Pro: Big cities with office buildings employing college educated graduates. Lots of colleges to choose from.

Pro: High tech companies everywhere. Lots of employment opportunities.

Pro: Skiing, Snowmobiling. Indoor swimming pools. Fishing in the lakes. Water skiing in the Summer. Beautiful display gardens. Bronze sculptures & artwork on display in parks & medians.

Con: Homeless camps on the downtown streets. Nothing too big. Soup kitchens nearby.

Pro: Property taxes are NOT too high. Yards are well kept. City has violations & fines for unkept properties.

Pro: Properties for sale in ALL price ranges. There are new builds going up in the high $400K range or million dollar homes. Loans & insurance is readily available.

Pro: Lots of homes with basements. A quarter acre lot with a 2 story home is common. 3/2/2

Pro: Food is an average price. Groceries can be delivered or ordered online for parking lot pick up. There are a few hunters. It's declining. Not a major food source.

Pro: Lots of restaurants. Chains & privately owned suppliers. Lots of variety.

Pro: Costco. Walmart. Or privately owned Deli's. Privately owned Carnecias.

Pro: Beautiful mountain views. Red Rock formations. Natural lakes. Lots of local artists, farmers markets in the Summer. Bicycle trails & bicycle lanes. Motorcycle clubs. Olympic training center.

Pro: Easy access to doctors & dentists.

Pro: People generally look clean shaven & well kept. Men in suits is a common sight. Women are fashion conscious. In small ski towns like Aspen, the fashion hype is BIG!

Pro: Tons of indoor gyms. Yoga. Pilates. Spa's. Rock climbing walls. Water aerobics. Meet-up groups for everything! Cinemas are abundant. Lots of parks & open space.

Pro: If you want to see an elk or bear, you generally have to go out of your way into a "wilderness" area where they are protected. ie: Estes Park

Pro: We have 4 seasons. Winter temps are generally 35F-55F day time, 22F nights. Summers can be 80F-100F day, 55F nights. We have lots of nice sunny warm days in the Winter. Snow melts before the next storm hits, generally speaking. We have a rainy season.

Pro: The Colorado gender ratio is equal, men to women. People can be overly friendly. They seem to think it's expected of them.

@rob333 (zone 7b) Speaking of politics, do you think that a person's environment dictates their politics? The impact certain policies have on them and their lives and families? Without fail, rural areas are red, big cities are very blue. It appears that rural vs urban environments simply have different needs so they have different politics. In my mind, the higher the population density the "bigger the government" absolutely needs to be, just practically speaking. Smaller population in spread out areas, it's overstepping where there is no need.

Or perhaps there is something about people with a specific type of personality and political leaning that causes them to be attracted to urban or rural living?

What's your theory?

@nicole_

That's Interesting about the fines for unkempt yards in the city. The cities here apparently don't? I see horrible yards with junk in them in city limits. The idea of being fined for a messy yard would outrage freedom loving Alaskans and I guess we can get away with being junky because we have more space while in a crowded town or city it would become a hazard. However I yearn for beauty and it's unpleasant looking around and seeing eyesore after eyesore. People should be clean just for its own sake but apparently it's not a priority for many of us up here.

The clean shaven men IS something I like about Alaska though as well as the no expectations for makeup. I like bearded men, you can keep a beard clean and it would be miserable to paint my face just to leave the house. A woman from Russia was raving about how she had to spend an hour doing her face up just to go shopping in Russia, as it was the societal norm. Here everyone can go out barefaced and natural. She loved Alaska for that.

I also wish we had more social clubs, well maintained biking trails, rock gyms, that sort of thing. Apparently there is much more of that in Anchorage Alaska but it's also the rape capital of the US so there is that downside.

Am example I'm thinking of is years ago there was a fight between the city residents and the rural people over creating a burough to bring in more tax dollars, due to bankruptcy because of corruption and mismanagement of city funds. The city residents were thinking of , hey more people to pay taxes means less taxes for us. The rural people were thinking of themselves as well, they knew they'd get no added services due to the amount of territory to cover, most had large acres of tax free land and knew they'd never be able to afford to pay taxes on them, therefore losing land they had full ownership of.

Because of that example and a few others I always thought it was based on environment and needs. People tend to think about how something will impact themselves more than others.

@Tera Hunter....women and men, "need" to wear an SPF...or the sun will burn you here. :0) No one is required to wear makeup, dye their hair or have a mani-pedi. Pony tails, sun glasses and tinted sun screen for women are currently "high fashion"....and take no time at all. I'm currently not eating animal meat on a regular basis. I'm cooking with Tofu & Surimi. Whole Foods & Sprouts are VERY popular here. People are health conscious, they work out, watch their hdl, ldl & A1c numbers. Electric cars are pretty much everywhere too. We are not a rural community. Evolved life styles exist here. We're not looking to merely survive.

Tera you were spot on about visiting Alaska mid summer! We were there end of June five years ago and my 20 something daughter saw all the empty land and was sure she could live there happily forever. I found it telling that all our guides spent October to May in Florida!!

I've lived in several states and discovered long ago they are all pretty much the same once you are settled and know your way around, except for the climate. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION as they say.

Nicole_ that's a big difference with Alaska, I feel like we are mostly trying to survive. No one has time or money to spend on getting a lawn going in our terrible soil or pay landscapers. Things like beauty are not a priority. Things that are easy to do or easy to access are difficult up here. Even our food has to be shipped up as we don't have a lot of food production in our state. Food is often not fully ripe, or is rotted. I bought bread from the store the other day and found mold on it. Brother bought "fresh" raspberries from the store and all the ones on the bottom were completely rotten. Supplies for building are more expensive and doubled in price since COVID as supplies to Alaska were shut down or slowed down.

I think I'm feeling more pessimistic about our state now since I've just gone through winter, currently in it's muddy melting season.

I'm sure once the midnight sun hits, we will be outdoors having cookouts, hiking, mountain climbing, fishing and biking till I'll be feeling warm and fuzzy about Alaska again haha

I do love the endless beautiful wilderness when we have the time to access it. Not the mosquitos.

I was sitting on a porch in the states late at night, midsummer, it was balmy, dark, moths bumping the porch light, crickets chirping. No mosquitoes!!! It was that moment I started thinking about moving 😅

Alaska is one of three states I haven't been to, along with North Dakota and Maine. When I was in the Air Force, Alaska was on my dream sheet. Someday soon will make it to the last three states, all in the warmer months!

I've lived here in Kentucky the longest, 23, non-consecutive years. The ex and I moved to Northern Nevada for around a year before moving back here.

The pros of living in Kentucky: it's beautiful, especially in the Spring and Summer. Most people are very friendly, kind and helpful. Most people will allow you to merge into traffic or stop in heavy traffic allowing you pull out into the roadway. There are a lot of lakes, parks and nature trails.

Some of the cons: it's humid as heck in the Summer. There are tons of mosquitoes. More people are moving in and all the farmland is being developed. Traffic is getting worse because of this. Fruits and vegetables aren't the best. Can't remember when I had a good orange, probably when I lived in Arizona, 32 years ago. Buy a bag of onions that look okay on the outside, but as soon as you get home and cut one open it's rotting inside.

Have YOU ever watched/streamed the show called "Buying Alaska"?

I haven't watched many Alaska shows. I know/knew one of the directors, he said it's all fake/staged.

I have seen some beautiful homes in key places in Alaska, very wealthy areas, beautiful yards. Definitely not the norm.

I sometimes check out other nice homes in these areas to get inspiration.

Another Alaska trend: lots of people come here and love it during summers but they go through their first winter and can't handle it. Apparently there is a social attitude towards new residents - see if they last more than one year before getting too closely aquatinted. Even the hubby and in laws from out of state are miserable during our winters. Oh if only we could add a bit more sunshine and increase the winter temps to zero it would be perfect. At least then we can ski all winter!

Apparently a real estate agent was working with a states couple who wanted to buy a piece of land. They told him: "Just want to check, we won't have any neighbors with dogs outside barking or sheds made out of tarps, will we?" He said, "it's Alaska, of course you will!"

This really depends on the area but if you have a limited budget for buying, yes that's what they were looking at 😂

illinois

corrupt government. i think we've had at least 3, maybe 4, governors end up at the gray bar motel.

our roads are terrible, at least downstate. the potholes will swallow you up.

we're close enough down here that our cities are being invaded by st. louis gangs from one direction and hannibal gangs from the other.

the weather sucks year 'round. cold/damp in the winter, blistering hot in the summer. no happy medium.

the mosquitoes show up on radar and the ticks are building condos everywhere.

the only good thing for me is that i live so far out in the boonies i should have my own zip code. the private lane to the 20 acre farm ends at my house so there's never traffic and the only visitors i have are either invited or hopelessly lost.

Texas

Even George Strait hangs his hat in Tennessee.....

Texas. Government is corrupt (attorney general under indictment) and doesn't give a hoot about anything or anyone unless they get money or power out of it. Trash all over, although Texans profess to "love the land". Education is almost non-existent. Schools seem to exist to support football teams. And "Tejas, the friendly state" is a bunch of hooey.

However, there is no personal income tax, although the property taxes are the highest in the nation.

This a really good thread, I just don't have the energy right now to do my two, which are New York and Florida.

My brother lived in Alaska for over 30 years. Moved about five years ago to North Carolina.

I agree with all your observations.

My SIL used to exclaim they were low-light people.

Everything in Alaska is far! Because of that my brother never thought anything of taking a side trip 3/4 hours away. He once visiting me in NY and stopped at avcousins who was out of the way. How could I not stop by being this close? Four hours out of the way!

During their last years there, they started to get out for the winter and vacation in Hawaii.

You need to have a lot of hobbies there to get you through the dark days.

Ninapearl, I live in the same state, and you are right on all counts, except the weather: we live in the northeast corner and like our weather. The lake has a moderating effect. ”Cooler by the lake” is a real thing! and it’s usually warmer by the lake in winter. We are a mile from it, and even going a few miles west is quite different. As DH and I talk about where to live when he retires, and he would love to leave IL because of the taxes, we remember that the lake makes things awfully nice. (now, if we were on the other side of the lake, it wouldn’t be the same. All that much more lake-effect snow!)

@ bpath i never get up to northern illinois but i can imagine you do have much better weather than we do. i'm near springfield. our last couple of winters have been extremely mild as far as snow. i think i only shoveled the deck once. we did get a few spells of below zero temps with bitter cold windchills but it didn't last long. we seem to get a LOT of days when it's in the 40s and rainy which makes even my eyebrows ache!! i've come to dread summers down here. the last few have been unbearably hot and the humidity is oppressive.

Tera, re junkyard front yards, my brother used to say that his neighbors did everything as the money came in. Alaskans seem to like a lot of storage units. They would start building, then stop and wait for more money. This also made the front yard junky.

My family did the junk in the yard too, fit right in. The reasons: they knew the cost of hauling away our broke down vehicles would be a lot for them at the time. Everything could "come to use/be used later" since things were so expensive they didn't want to throw much away!

Years later my mom figured out a trick to get rid of broke down vehicles in our yard for free! Post them on craigslist for free. All kinds of mechanics and hobbiests came and hauled them away at no expense 😅. Also the trash dump was an hour away so if your truck was not working or you had no truck, the effort to drag junk to the dump was a lot.

I have always been more of the, I'd rather have nothing than have junk type. It messes up my head and I can't think straight with too much clutter, like a low grade constant cortisol spike-though I understand why some Alaskans have the junk yards.

Had an ex once who was a hobby mechanic, his yard looked like a junk yard because he had so many vehicles for parts swapping and scavenging.

Building while the money comes in is a thing. That can make a yard look under construction for a long time. We did that a few years ago, cleared a piece of land and started building one of our homes. It took probably two years with one man work. It's halfway finished. We started building right as COVID hit and holy crud, a sheet of plywood doubled in price overnight. It was terrible. My brother and in law were also building at the same time and really cut their progress short.

We slowly worked on it from then as money came in, but at a stall right now as other priorities are looming.

We were considering a move for a good job to Montana. Beautiful state, but prices were crazy. For something comparable in the hills to our house here, cost more than our house. The nice houses in our range all had pickup truck caps sitting in the front yards on the lawn, etc. In the end, we decided we like living by the lake. We are fortunate that we do not live a few blocks away, where one house has consistently 6 to 8 vehicles ranging from snowmobiles and jet skis and their trailers to big work pickup trucks parked in the driveway, only one or two of which ever move, and are replaced by some other vehicle.

I think if you ask most Alaskans, probably what they'd say are the pros that make them stay are these:

#1: Loving how much unoccupied land there, compared to living in a cramped city with no yard and your neighbors house feet away from yours, it is a big relief to have plenty of space.

#2: Freedom!!! Fewer regulations, fewer taxes, fewer laws

#3: Wildness and casual culture, leftover from being the last frontier.

#4: It's a big outdoor lover state. Hunters, fishers, snow machine lovers, mountain lovers and anyone who likes untamed and wild wilderness. The rainbow ridge mountains took my breath away, as did Healy mountains and driving to Valdez, Seward and Homer. There is a beautiful lake right next to a mountain in Healy that's great for wading, fishing and picnicking. It's gorgeous.

#5: Land opportunity. My husband and I were able to nab a 180 acres of land for agriculture development at a low price. It's raw land but it's an opportunity to create a farm, which he says where he is from, you would have to buy a farm which could be a million dollars. Even the farms for sale in Alaska are a million dollars. If you have the money and jump on it as soon as the state opens up new parcels for sale, you can accumulate alot of land, with no taxes. Tax free land is a huge motivator for Alaskans who enjoy living rural.

There are probably other pros but these are the main ones I've heard from others.

My husband and I have fun going back and forth on pros and cons of Alaska and his home state.

I wondered why most of the houses looked unfinished and makes me appreciate the state of Virginia I live in. I complain about Virginia weather all the time. This weekend will be glorious here, in the 70's and sunny. Thanks for a different perspective

Quote: Is Alaska cheap to move to?

The cost of living in Alaska is 30% higher than the national average. Housing is 17% higher than the national average, while utilities are 49% higher. When it comes to basic necessities such as food and clothing, groceries are around 30% higher than in the rest of the country, while clothing costs 30% higher.

@Lily316 sounds like you have a good middle ground!

@Nicole_ Yes, it's expensive, I'm assuming because of having to ship everything up.

Virginia .>>>

Pro - I like it here

Con - The secret is getting out...

It really only takes one. We love our subdivision. 30 homes all 2+acre lots. There's a variety of architecture from a geodesic dome home to an earth home. Sadly when the original owners downsize their buyers haven't been fitting in so well. One current owner has so much debris/old van/unfinished landscaping when the neighbors sold his mess cost them about 10k.

Massachusetts

Pros: Excellent schoolls, medical care, Lots of cultural opportunities; Access to ocean, beaches, and mountains. Exxcept for an occasional blizzard or hurricane; weather is fine; change of seasons makes life interesting. Taxes are not as high as they are made out to be and you get a lot of bang for your buck. My kind of liberal politics.

Cons: High cost of living.

I think it depends on where in the state. I live in the heart of New York City, which I thoroughly adore. As with true love, I am willing to overlook its many faults. But I spent the COVID year in a house that my husband bought prior to our marriage, also in NY, two hours north of here, in the middle of 40 acres of woods. Same state but totally another world.

Walking is one of my favorite activities and my body doesn't feel good unless I walk at least three or four miles a day. But there was no place to go up there except those woods. Been there, done that, got the ticks. We were there for 53 1/2 weeks -- about 50 weeks longer than I would have wanted in a lifetime.

On the other hand, pretty much everyone I met while there had lived in that hamlet for their entire life, barely traveled, had no interest in visiting NYC and couldn't conceive of living here. Different strokes for different folks.

I grew up on a very large (about 800 acres) farm in central Texas, and I hated being so isolated. From the time I was a small child, I wanted to live in a city, and that's where I've lived ever since I graduated from high school.

First I moved to Houston for university and loved it, and I also liked living on campus and being close to libraries, museums, and art galleries. I also liked shopping for clothes (and shoes) in Houston, but I had to control myself there. I especially loved the theater scene in Houston, as there were many progressive and experimental play being put on while was there, many of them by the Rice Players, which was another reason I liked living on campus.

I do not like living alone, and I don't especially like being alone. Crowds do not bother me at all, unless they are comprised of sports fans, which I am not.

When I was growing up, I wanted to live in NYC - like people I saw on TV, but then people on TV started moving to L.A., and so then I wanted to live here. However, after university, I moved to San Francisco and loved that, even though it was difficult finding enough work to keep me occupied. I loved meeting the tourists who visited SF, but eventually I decided to leave because I was sick of the cold weather there. I generally went to Mexico for most of January and February and Vancouver for most of August (SF is very cold in August), and I wanted to live in a place where I didn't have to leave so often because of the weather, and that's how I ended up in Los Angeles, where I've lived for the longest, as I said above.

I like NYC, but I could never spend a winter there - it is even colder than San Francisco, which is the coldest place I have lived. I do love the people there, however. I do like places with good public transportation - subways, streetcars, etc., as I hate driving and parking.

Very interesting topic!

Skipping down to comment - there's a lot of info up there, and it will take me a bit of time to read it all.

I'll just say my state can be very pretty, but things have certainly declined in a lot of ways over the decades I've lived here ( 6+ ).

Our cost of living was somewhat less than other states, but that now seems to be made up for in large part due to an insurance fiasco from the severe storms that are becoming more frequent and deadly. Rising - some might say inflated - home values mean rising property taxes as well.

And politics are a real downer here, even tho we're fortunate to live in one of the more progressive areas of the state.

Overdevelopment has taken its toll on the beautiful natural environment that attracts people in the first place. Pollution is a big concern, as well as other woes that accompany dense populations in a number of areas.

The summers are now unbearably hot, I dread it more every year.

I'd leave if it was feasible, but where would we go? It seems like every other place has its own drawbacks and climate/weather concerns nowadays.

Not sure if it's really pros and cons of whole states. But some things I've noticed living in a couple states. Living in Wisconsin, I took rocks for granted and didn't realize it. Living in Michigan in the sandy loam outside the kettle moraine lands it's easier to dig, but can be harder to build. Staying up late enough to watch the sun set over the lake is usually easier than getting up early enough to watch it rise over the lake. Lived in Illinois, but can't really count the state here. I was in Chicagoland, and that's not reflective of a lot of the rest of the state. Only thing I really miss is the food. Extra extra don't miss driving around.