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If you could choose anywhere in the states to live where would it be?

lowendlinux

lowendlinux

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 24, 2014
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Germany
So I've lived in Germany working for the government for almost 12 years now and it's time for me to go back to the states. The Army is going to try to send me back to the closest place that I last lived which is Hawaii but I can choose a place closer to where I am now which is pretty much the entire US. If you had no family/work commitment where would you live? The only place I'll knock out ahead of time is Texas first because I didn't leave anything there worth going back for when I drove through there last, and second my higher HQ is there and I really don't have the tact to deal with that place even though in my current assignment I have more senior people. Really I just want to live in a place that has some woods/mountains or water and has a major airport in the state somewhere. My first inclination is Alaska but that's not a short flight from Germany. My second is Colorado because a unit there is also here so it shouldn't be hard to bounce back over here. My old boss is in Maryland and he'll square me away if I can make it without being placed before his guys retire. Maryland convenient because my family can catch a direct flight from Frankfurt to BWI but it's generally kinda meh.

So where in the states would you live if unencumbered?
 
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California has woods, water, and plenty of airports. But it's also one of the most expensive states to live in. Oregon and Washington could be decent options for you.

Me personally, I'd love to live in California, Florida, Colorado, or maybe Oregon or Washington.
 
i moved to Oregon from northern California one and a half years ago and i love it here. i'm not a big fan of driving in the snow but that's the only downside for me. it's just beautiful out here. i feel like i'm on vacation every day.
 
Born and raised in Oregon, but worked overseas my adult life, when I retired from Africa moved back to Oregon, love the state.
 
Micky Do said:
Why go back at all….? Why not stay in Europe?
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Civilian employees must rotate back to the states for two years every five if they are appropriated fund. I am pondering leaving civil service and trying to find a job on the economy but I've got a total of 16 years invested and am 40 and I don't know if I can make up for lost time in my last 25 years of working if I jump.
 
lowendlinux said:
Civilian employees must rotate back to the states for two years every five if they are appropriated fund. I am pondering leaving civil service and trying to find a job on the economy but I've got a total of 16 years invested and am 40 and I don't know if I can make up for lost time in my last 25 years of working if I jump.
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Stick with civil service and dump as much as you can afford into FERS and don't look back. I'm a retired GS-12 step 10 and glad I put the max I could into FERS. If you can get transferred to a state that has no income tax and can maintain your position, do it. ;)
 
chscag said:
Stick with civil service and dump as much as you can afford into FERS and don't look back. I'm a retired GS-12 step 10 and glad I put the max I could into FERS. If you can get transferred to a state that has no income tax and can maintain your position, do it. ;)
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I dump as much as possible into TSP and TSP is the reason I left NAF in the first place. I'm a GS 9 step 5 and if I go I'm going to hold until I can find an 11 slot somewhere as my career field isn't in demand and I can probably sit on PPP for a long time. Another reason I'm inclined to stay is once once my kid is in college we're free to go where we want and the USG can take us there. It's a big world out there and I'd like to see more of it but in the "right now" I'd rather not be separated from the family.
 
I live in California now and there's really nowhere else in this country that I'd want to live at this point (California is almost like a mini-country due to its geographic variance and size), but I also recognize that the ongoing drought and high cost of living are going to make it less of a practical place to live in the future (if current trends don't change). Given a second choice, then, I probably would choose a place like Colorado. I loved Denver when I was there and while I'd miss the ocean, the natural beauty of the mountainous landscape could make up for that.
 
lowendlinux said:
So where in the states would you live if unencumbered?
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Great question! None of us can truly answer that for you, but I can tell you what I've experienced. I've traveled through almost every state in the US ( still missing Alaska ). I've lived in Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota and Missouri. I've traveled to 30+ countries ( not impressing the Europeans, they do that on a weekend ).

My favorite places in the world:
1) Destin, FL ( where I live now )
Why? slow pace, beautiful beaches, tons of new beautiful bikini tourists each year, 5 surrounding military bases
2) Colorado Springs, CO ( mountains, snow, just beautiful weather )
3) Civitavecchia, Italy
4) Seoul, Korea
5) Portland, OR
6) Seattle, WA
 
I always thought retiring to Tucson would be ideal. But now that everyone in my family has wound up in FL, it looks like that's where we'll head in a few years. (I know I don't want to retire permanently in AL.) The family is in the Jax area, great BX and commissary nearby, and it's an area that has never seen a hurricane (knock wood). The weather there is temperate, although like everyone else, they've had some cold days this winter. But I've always claimed I've managed to stay here as long as I have because the weather is nice.
 
I think a lot of it is going to depend on what you like doing? Do you want a big city or do you want a slow paced, outdoor life type of city.

Do you want to stretch your money or do you want it to go this --> far or this -----> far! lol.
 
I'm not a city person at all I like people in doses. I have a friend who got placed a Ft. Hunter Ligget and civilian employees there can use on post housing I know that's also true at Ft. Hamilton and Schofield Barracks. I don't know what the rent is but I'd imagine it's lower than off post I do know that at Ft. Hamilton the two bedroom I was looking at was ~$900 per month which doesn't seem bad for NYC. I don't know if that policy is Army wide but I'm assuming it is so cost of living may not be as big of a factor. I think I want to head west but I'm still not sure but I need to have an idea of where I want to be by next Friday.
 
Everyone is typically going to answer with where they live now. I won't deviate from that.

I live near Albany, NY. While it's unremarkable on the face, there's really a lot to do in the area. The Adirondack Park (largest state park in the States, BTW) is great if you like hiking. NYC, Montreal and Boston are all ~3 hours away (driving but there is train service from Albany to those places) and Niagara Falls isn't much further. Lots of history in the area - Saratoga Battlefield was the site of a significant battle in the Revolutionary War - and I find the weather to be perfectly fine. The weather, that may be a deterrent but if you're dressed properly and have an appropriate vehicle it's no big deal, and we get all 4 seasons. No earthquakes, few tornadoes (and weak ones at that), no hurricanes.

Taxes can be a bit high, but I rent so I have no opinion on property taxes.
 
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hallux said:
Everyone is typically going to answer with where they live now. I won't deviate from that.

I live near Albany, NY. While it's unremarkable on the face, there's really a lot to do in the area. The Adirondack Park (largest state park in the States, BTW) is great if you like hiking. NYC, Montreal and Boston are all ~3 hours away (driving but there is train service from Albany to those places) and Niagara Falls isn't much further. Lots of history in the area - Saratoga Battlefield was the site of a significant battle in the Revolutionary War - and I find the weather to be perfectly fine. The weather, that may be a deterrent but if you're dressed properly and have an appropriate vehicle it's no big deal, and we get all 4 seasons. No earthquakes, few tornadoes (and weak ones at that), no hurricanes.

Taxes can be a bit high, but I rent so I have no opinion on property taxes.
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I was stationed at Ft. Drum and trust me I would go willingly almost jovially back to upstate NY it has everything I want except the winters. I like winter, I like snow, I like sleds, skies, and snow shoes, I like the toughness of it, but I don't like the ever present winter wind. Thanks for bringing up some very fond memories that include showing some Alaska soldiers what cold and snow really is :cool:
[doublepost=1455736385][/doublepost]I think my inherent problem I think is I dream of this:



but it's not practical for family even though I think my daughter would think it's as awesome as I do.
 
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Back where I was born and lived at different periods of time, in the Ouachita mountains of Arkansas. I go back and visit from time to time, but I just haven't actually gotten everything together to go and live there again. Miss it. :(
 
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