The Retire and Relocate Thread™

lizard said:
Thanks. Zillowing now.

Edit: This is what I’m looking for; .39 acres, nice architecture, $315K


https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2325-E-3rd-St-Chattanooga-TN-37404/55218604_zpid/
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i’ve bitched previously about my mom moving to florida. she moves around a lot, and moved there from tennessee (vonore). gorgeous place. love the state. still think she was an total idiot for leaving there. visited her a lot when she lived there, but not in her new place. confuses the shit out of me why she would make that trade.

nice house BTW.
 
Oh dear. You haven't seen/ experienced the good parts of FL, it seems. If you're into water sports, I can't think of another state that tops FL.

CA ranks high in shitholes. literally. Sad to write that as a 4th generation Californian son.
 
Holeshot said:
Oh dear. You haven't seen/ experienced the good parts of FL, it seems. If you're into water sports, I can't think of another state that tops FL.

CA ranks high in shitholes. literally. Sad to write that as a 4th generation Californian son.
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have been all over florida previously. there isn’t one square inch i have any desire to revisit. WRT water sports - there’s a shit ton of great water on this planet. florida doesn’t have a lock on that. they don’t even come anywhere near close to the best. what they specialize in is mass density, and paving shit over. no thanks.

WRT california being a shithole - a local sheriff deputy put it very succinctly after a big snow storm caused a minor exodus: it’s good that they’re bugging out. if they can’t take it, they had no business being here in the first place.

native son or not - somewhere appeals to you more? quit shit talking us and go. if you’re happy, we’re happy.
 
lizard said:
Thanks. Zillowing now.

Edit: This is what I’m looking for; .39 acres, nice architecture, $315K


https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2325-E-3rd-St-Chattanooga-TN-37404/55218604_zpid/
Click to expand...

That area is hit or miss. You're not too far from the rougher spots of town but you're also closer to the ridge cut which is more desirable. That house gives me flip vibes too, but it has some nice features for sure. Personally, I'd recommend looking at North Chattanooga, Northshore, Belvoir, Missionary Ridge, St. Elmo and perhaps East Brainerd. That's of course assuming you're looking to stay closer to downtown. If not, Hixson and Lakesite are great areas.

littlebeast said:
have been all over florida previously. there isn’t one square inch i have any desire to revisit. WRT water sports - there’s a shit ton of great water on this planet. florida doesn’t have a lock on that. they don’t even come anywhere near close to the best. what they specialize in is mass density, and paving shit over. no thanks.
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The only thing Florida has a lock on is swampland. Hard pass.
 
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littlebeast said:
a local sheriff deputy put it very succinctly after a big snow storm caused a minor exodus: it’s good that they’re bugging out. if they can’t take it, they had no business being here in the first place.
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That's kinda true. If the "big snowstorm" was the winter of '22/'23, it was a fairly record setting year. Not totally unprecedented, but far outside of most people's memories. The weather cycles are long and anyone who had been in the mountains for 10 years or less at that point hadn't seen the extremes.

Our place has been there for 35 years and had never suffered storm damage. That winter, the chimney got ripped off the house. We don't live there full time. Had we been present, we would have likely seen the situation developing and been able to prevent the failure, although in the end, it's probably for the best that the thing came down, as I could then rebuild it so this wouldn't happen again. At this point, that chimney isn't coming down unless something flattens the house.

Going forward, I think people are going to see conditions nobody they know has seen before. Being able to handle it is more than a matter of preparedness, it can also just be the point at which someone has had enough.
 
It helps a lot to build up to it. If that were our first year in the mountains with that storm, we'd have probably moved right away. Otherwise, if we've got wood/food, it's all meh.
 
Yeah, though depending on location, it might not have been. A section of 395 got taken out by an avalanche that year and an adjacent town required resupply by helicopter for a few weeks because they were completely isolated otherwise.
 
Most people stock up before a storm, but three weeks is stretching it. I might be sucking on the mustard bottle by then.
 
tzrider said:
Our place has been there for 35 years and had never suffered storm damage. That winter, the chimney got ripped off the house. We don't live there full time. Had we been present, we would have likely seen the situation developing and been able to prevent the failure, although in the end, it's probably for the best that the thing came down, as I could then rebuild it so this wouldn't happen again. At this point, that chimney isn't coming down unless something flattens the house.
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As you're probably aware, tornadoes are a thing here in the southeast. Not nearly as bad as the plains states, but they still occur in the spring and fall severe weather seasons. We had a pretty decent thunderstorm hit here a couple weeks ago. No tornado, but having been through an EF5 in Oklahoma City in 1999, I was immediately concerned by what I saw in the pre-dawn hours. I grabbed Jack and rushed to the basement (Kelly was at work) and just rode it out based on the sounds I could hear since we were in the dark. When I came out after everything died down, I was amazed to see no damage to our home, out building nor the property in general. Some of our neighbors were outside too and said that this neighborhood has done pretty well due to how well homes were constructed 40+ years ago when our neighborhood was constructed. That said, that feeling that your home has weathered much through the years, including severe storms, doesn't mean you're safe...just as you pointed out, Andy.

I came across this video recently where a man and his wife were in their home when a tornado directly hit their house and destroyed it, along with much of the rest of their little town. The amazing thing is, the man was quoted by the news as saying since their house was over 100 years old, he assumed it was strong since it was still standing after over a century of storms passing through. Amazingly, he recorded the whole thing with his cellphone and it never stopped even as the tornado plowed through and destroyed his home. He had a chimney fall on him, but survived. Unfortunately, his wife did not and neither did her friend next door who's home you can see in the video too. It's amazingly raw, scary and sad all at the same time...


youtu.be/ks30EUiEP3Q

Ultimately, we're all fallible. Never assume you're safe and take any stormy weather seriously, no matter how long you've lived somewhere or how old or purportedly "well built" your home is.
 
As a 4 gen son of Ca. I too feel the need to leave here. My family, is gone now, dispersed our pix and clippings to South County Historical, so California in the 1840's will still teach.
Bear Flag Revolution

I'm packing next week for Verde Valley,
20 years on the road, phone booth for a shower, but,
gathering NO moss.
or Luxury , , ,

Just looking for shade for wrenchin'
 
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littlebeast said:
have been all over florida previously. there isn’t one square inch i have any desire to revisit. WRT water sports - there’s a shit ton of great water on this planet. florida doesn’t have a lock on that. they don’t even come anywhere near close to the best. what they specialize in is mass density, and paving shit over. no thanks.

WRT california being a shithole - a local sheriff deputy put it very succinctly after a big snow storm caused a minor exodus: it’s good that they’re bugging out. if they can’t take it, they had no business being here in the first place.

native son or not - somewhere appeals to you more? quit shit talking us and go. if you’re happy, we’re happy.
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CA has some Great Lakes, but most can't be lived on/ own lake front property. It's a shame, but it's also the reason I love Clearlake and will always keep the place there. However, CA lakes are largely seasonal where FL's aren't. That being said: the 30 minute rain storms every day in the summer in FL are just weird...and the tannic acid water is hard to ge used to, sitting curled up in a ball waiting for the rope to get taught and hoping a gator doesn't chew your ass off. Still, 365 days of water sports is pretty nice.

It's not that "someplace else appeals to me more". It's that FL has better infrastructure than CA (and it shouldn't). It has more life and bustle the last 5 years or so and, it's an acceptable substitute for many. I live in 4 different states in any given year, all very different from one another and I still enjoy lots CA has to offer. But it's turned into a quite a different state in the last decade and I'd consider many parts of the state to be "shithole" status. While some of the best topography and views, CA's roads are unfit for good motorcycle rides these days. That's the most annoying to me...from the early 2000's where runs up through Napa and Sonoma were awesome to today where the holes, shit patch jobs and unmaintained seams, etc are a disaster. Even in a fast car, it's nowhere as good as it used to be.

I appreciate the sentiment of "if you don't like it; leave". I do, but always come back cause it's my native state and I still have to manage businesses/ assets here. I could easily consolidate to one of the others states I "live in", but CA has my heart...despite having turned into a drug addled, lill maintained, yelling and screaming and shitting (at the same time) crazy state, I keep hoping the state ill go through rehab successfully...as I type this excited to head to Clearlake this weekend.

So yeah...there's lots to do in FL where I see better business opportunities and a good water life. Eventually, FL's issues will bug me too. And bugs it has...

Cheers!
 
Florida has no good motorcycle roads. I challenge you to actually try to prove me wrong on that. The humidity is fucking oppressive and the "lakes" you're talking about are actually swamps. The whole fucking state can just go away...and is in the process of doing so anyway.

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Cold temps is why California water/lakes/rivers are nice. Florida has like a 10ft water table of hot water where bacteria thrives. Every increase in average temperature pushes Florida closer to serious water problems.
 
Agree FL has only three good motorcycle roads: Jennings, Homestead, and Daytona. But Deal's Gap ain't that far...still, no argument on the lack of any good roads. Yeah on the (summer) humidity. Winter is dry and darn near perfect weather.

Lakes? Do you guys have places in FL on lakes? No bacteria in CA? That's not what I remember from last summer's warnings of pets and people getting sick.
 
Holeshot said:
Lakes? Do you guys have places in FL on lakes? No bacteria in CA? That's not what I remember from last summer's warnings of pets and people getting sick.
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Oh you stop that binary nonsense. Bacteria is always a fight in tropical climates and shallow water tables have their own set of toxicity issues. That climate brings lots of plant matter and that creates problems as they decompose in slow moving waters. That's why lots of florida's waters are brown, from bacteria decomposing plants matter. No wonder you like clear lake *and* florida, they both share nasty waters. I love Maine and they have issues with it too, as does much of the south, but florida is the pinnacle of tropics in the contiguous US. That's just not the climate here. We have our own set of problems.
 
Holeshot said:
But Deal's Gap ain't that far...still, no argument on the lack of any good roads. Yeah on the (summer) humidity. Winter is dry and darn near perfect weather.
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Deal's Gap is nowhere near Florida. :laughing ...but it is in my backyard. :cool :ride

"Winter" in Florida is too goddamn warm...same as the rest of their "seasons". Florida's seasons are as follows: More Mild Summer, Mild Summer, Summer, Somewhat Cooler Summer.

tzrider said:
FL Motorsports Park. :twofinger
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I said roads. Tracks are not public roads.
 
byke said:
No wonder you like clear lake *and* florida, they both share nasty waters. I love Maine and they have issues with it too, as does much of the south, but florida is the pinnacle of tropics in the contiguous US. That's just not the climate here. We have our own set of problems.
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I love Clearlake cause I grew up (and was made) there...but also because Tahoe people come and never come back. That green water is kryptonite to Tahoeinians.

There was several stories of toxic water In CA the last few years during the hottest months. If you're hanging out in the bayous, I'd expect brain amoebas at some point too, but the decent sized lakes aren't like that. The amount of rain FL gets in the summer is significant and cleansing. Every day at like 4PM...and I'll agree with you guys that in the summer, the place is a humid hell hole. Then again PA's not much better in the summer.

I'll disagree with Jason on FL winters. There's just something cool about running a buoy course at 75 degrees in January.
 
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