So the work I do is 100% remote now. I moved to Southern California because of an industry that has in part moved to remote work. My only requirements are a temperate climate, nature access and hopefully a blue-ish state. Is there a place out there that makes sense financially? I’m hoping to buy a house less then 500k. I don’t need access to large cities as I honestly don’t do anything. The only requirement I can think of is access to solid internet as I stream full screen video for what I do.
I’m currently looking at Michigan and Virginia as options.
NM has what you’re looking for; cost of living is very low, you can kind of pick the climate you want. We’re also blue as a twitter check-mark. We’re not super-diverse though; mostly white and Mexican descent depending on where you hang your hat.
Seriously consider Scranton, PA. I live here and most houses go for well under your budget. You get all the seasons, are surrounded by state forest, and multi gigabit internet is available (thru Comcast unfortunately but other ISP’s are moving in soon). Also it’s in a county that remained blue during PA’s 2016 turn to red.
Would you say there’s any downsides to PA? Scranton seems like it may fall on the colder side yearly but not too bad
The Scranton Strangler qualifies as a downside…
I mean yes…but Scranton has made one of those safest cities in the US lists…I think like top 100
north of Sacramento and south of Seattle… for that price you’ll have to be inland a few miles.
south of Seattle
Dear god please no. I’ve been here in “South of Seattle” for a good portion of my life, and due to the influx of remote workers, I’m being priced out. Restaurants are shutting down because the workers can’t afford to live in the city anymore.
I know that’s not the fault of the remote workers, it’s the fault of a capitalist system that refuses to budge on pay for work that just a few years ago was deemed “essential” and these people were expected to brave a deadly pandemic to keep things running but are now back to being treated as disposable and replaceable. They’re pretty over it, and many of them are giving up on cities like this because of it.
Would you say that’s a bit cold year round? What are the summers like?
South of Seattle (South King or North Pierce counties, or even further south, closer to Olympia) gets occasional snow in the winter, and occasional 100+ degree days in the summer. Summer is gorgeous FTMP, with temps around 75-80 most days. Oct-Mar can be rough if you’re prone to seasonal depression, from the lack of sunshine. Plan to vacation somewhere sunny for a week some time in January or February, and you’ll do better.
I will say this specific area is pretty rural and red, vs the city centers closer to Seattle and Tacoma.
Michigan gets frigid winters, doesn’t it?
Michigan definitely gets cold if you’re north. Places like Holland, MI seem a bit warmer
Shitload of snow too though, but that is all of Michigan
I don’t mind a bit of snow, especially considering I don’t commute or go anywhere
Lol it can be a lot some times but if you’re working from home you kinda get to choose to go out in it so not nearly as painful. Michigan is awesome.
I will say this specific area is pretty rural and red
That’s really farther South or East, really. Olympia is largely “progressive” (of the rich, slightly out of touch, white liberal variety) and that attitude extends to the city suburbs. The only area where that might not be as true is Lacey, which has way more of the JBLM population living there.
Speaking of which, because of JBLM and basically daily accidents on I-5, going anywhere North from the Olympia area is a fucking crapshoot. An accident can shut down I-5 for hours and because of the nature of the area, there’s not a lot of side-roads to offload traffic onto, I-5 is really the main thoroughfare. It’s not as bad going south because there’s less traffic going south, so fewer accidents. But if you want to visit a friend on Tacoma, or catch a flight out of SeaTac, or see a show in Seattle… you pretty much have to add a guesstimated 2-3 hours of travel time depending on how far north you’re going based on how long traffic could be backed up if there’s a severe accident.
The frequency of accidents honestly keeps me off of I-5 because holy fucking shit. I don’t want one of those accidents to involve me. A lot of them are real bad.
Yeah, I was thinking of areas like Enumclaw, Bonney Lake, and Puyallup. You can definitely get a (smaller) house for under 500k in those areas, but I’m not sure if it quite fits OP’s political preference.
but I’m not sure if it quite fits OP’s political preference.
I’m not even sure you could peg a political line on this area other than “meth.” Also, for whatever reason, I always think of them as far southeast of Tacoma.
Although, it can be argued if you want the political climate of those areas to change, people with different politics need to move there.
However, I think that whole area is experiencing a huge influx of remote workers as well, as it is. Rents have been rising all over.
North of Sacramento? Not cold at all, and there are lots of great places to get out in nature. I can’t speak to Seattle much, it will get colder than Sacramento but the nature is probably even better. Summer near Sac can be very warm and get over 100, but that’s becoming more common more places
I’ll check it out, thanks!
Eureka is quite nice.
CA north of SAC is definitely not “blue-ish” in the slightest. Towns like Yreka are basically de-industrialized, the locals blame “environmentalists” for that, and now Siskiyou County goes like 70% Trump.
Also, Redding is an absolute shithole.
It sounds like you want to move to Oregon or Washington. They have way better climates than Michigan.
Oregon is blue, but mostly in the cities where home prices and cost of living are both high. Moving away from the cities give better affordability, but it turns red quickly. So pick your poison.
That’s true anywhere in the country though. Not a lot of blue rednecks.
You can do ok for 500k here in Rhode Island. No mountain wilderness, but the beaches and islands are gorgeous, and there’s lots of nature to the western part of the state.
Thanks will check it out!
I can’t recommend Kentucky enough. It ain’t blue, but it meets your other criteria. House prices are very reasonable. We live just outside Fort Knox and when the Army is done with my wife we’re moving back
Wha… what exactly are they doing to her??
I laughed.
They’re working her too hard and paint her too little. In seven years she’ll be at 30 years and it will be time to be done.
What do you like about it so much? I’ve never lived in a place I wanted to live in. All my choices have been because of family or career. I really just don’t want be be too hot (Southern California here) or have to carry inflated prices because I live near ‘all this cool shit’ that I couldn’t care less about.
It’s beautiful.
From where we live a bunch of interesting places are within an easy drive. Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati are all three hours or less away.
The people are mostly kind and mostly polite.
The cost of living is relatively low.
The pace of life feels slower.
I second Kentucky. Wife is from there, and we are looking to move back there somewhere around Lexington or Louisville because it is extremely affordable and still a nice city.
For fully remote anywhere in the midwest is good as long as you don’t need the big city nightlife. You can buy a starter house in the rich parts of KC for 500k, or a nice house in the middle-class areas.
KC isn’t really blue-ish state wise. Missouri is full on MAGA and Kansas has a dem governor but is full on MAGA otherwise. And Kansas will have a republican governor in 2027 when governor Kelly’s term is up.
Illinois is a great option. Can easily find a house for less than 500k in most of the state. The state has really rebounded since Pritzker became governor.
Definitely don’t need access to anything much. Very much an introvert who avoids people
Western MD, upstate NY, somewhere in Illinois that’s not Chicago, western Oregon that’s not Portland…just off the top of my head. Those are all decent places in terms of long-term climate change issues, as well. Basically, pick a blue state, go to a red rural part. Blue state laws, red state prices. I’d be careful long-term considering Michigan and Virginia safely blue, as well.
Thanks!
How “temperate” are we talking here? Michigan will for sure have actual winter. Is temperate comparable to SoCal, or just not absolutely miserable winters?
Come to Manitoba lmao
Rural western Virginia has fiber internet to your home in a lot of places.
For example: https://www.alleghanyhighlandsbroadband.com/
thanks! Internet is a big requirement unfortunately. My work has me streaming 3 monitors, one with full screen video so even some latency is a problem
Ashland, OR.
If you love the outdoors, I recommend Montana and the Wyoming/Idaho border (Teton counties).
I would agree from an outdoors perspective but there’s no part of those states that really fit “blueish”. I keep hoping as a neighborhood state, but Wyoming continues to disappoint as does Montana.
Yeah, I was thinking the Teton counties because they are blue, but the state governments are indeed a fascist clown show.
Central New Jersey.
You should think about Minneapolis. The winters are gnarly, but very few climate change related problems on the horizon, reasonable cost of living, one of the most bike friendly cities in the U.S.
Connecticut is always good. An hour to the shore, close to Boston and NYC. Bradley is a great airport and there are lots of remote jobs if yours doesn’t work out long term. Plus the best pizza in the world.
Italy has angrily entered the chat.
