I am hopeful that people who have enough sense to flee the blue states, like myself, will understand and appreciate what makes their sanctuary a sanctuary. It’s not easy physically, emotionally or economically pulling up roots. To my fellow migrants, remember the price you paid and why you paid it.
We recently moved from a blue state to a red state. Our welcome included a tornado that destroyed our new home and pretty everything we own. We are looking at this as a test of our resolve and how much we really want what our new state has to offer. We are rebuilding here.
Sorry to hear about your weather disaster. The Louisiana town where I grew up has been demolished by hurricanes four time in my lifetime. I do mean demolished. People rebuild and go on.
That’s and unfortunate example of an even greater sacrifice. Commit to maintaining what drove you there in the first place. It doesn’t sound like any of you were hurt thank God. You are a wonderful example to so many people, I wish you luck, strength and Godspeed
Thank you, Doctor. Watching how the vast majority of people here are continuing to hold fast to normality while Omicron panic is taking over my former state of residence reinforces our decision.
EXACTLY. I watched my state where 4 generations of my family are from turn into a cesspool because people brought their same fears and insanity with them. Liberty starts from within. It's not a place.
Well said. Fighting back against communist doctrine, covid fear, and anti-white propaganda can become a purpose in and of itself. It can warm the heart and bolster the spirit. Yuletide!!
My extremely left relative moved to Florida with his leftist adult spawn. They all vote FAR left. They are basically European-style socialists. Not sure why they even live here in the U.S.
I think about this a lot living in Montana. But I've talked to a few of the new arrivals. They seem to fully understand what happened where they came from, so I have hope.
My husband mentioned he'd like to think of moving to Montana. The one person I know of from there is all about "masks, masks, masks, masks." Am I right in assuming she is an exception? Has Montana been relatively sane?
We had a Democrat governor who had presidential aspirations and we had a county health officer who wanted to play Napoleon, so we started out crazy, but the Republicans swept the state last November and we actually have a law that precludes vaccine mandates for customers and employees, curtails emergency powers, and waived liability for businesses that don't require masks.
On the local level, I would guess it depends on where you go. Montana has a few blue areas and the rest of the state is red, so if you were to go to Helena, Bozeman, or Missoula area, you might see a lot of "mask-y" people and some of the businesses may require them. I honestly haven't been that way for about two years. I live in Billings, a working city and more purplish-red area. The only "crazy" people I've noticed here is the "art" community. The community theaters both require masking, though as far as I know the big event center doesn't. The co-op book store requires a mask if you're in there for their game nights, etc., but not to shop. And the ABT, where all the professional shows stop, "strongly recommends" masks. I haven't been there to see what people actually do.
As for the rest of life outside the doctors' offices and hospitals, we are pretty much normal in Billings. I haven't seen a business that requires masks since January, and at most of the local businesses and even many of the chains, the employees don't wear them. You head to the more rural areas, and I don't think they ever were masking. They thought it was a joke. I don't think they ever convinced people who spend all day working on a farm with every manner of parasite and bacterium, getting covered in bodily fluids, that a mask was anything more than performative art. As for the people themselves, you'll see some here and there wearing masks, but most of us don't. So, yes, I would guess we are as "normal" as it gets.
But the person you met would be an exception. Our Costco here in Billings in January had a sign that basically read "masks required for the unvaccinated." It was amazing how, in a county with (at that point) less than 25% vaxxed, nearly everyone in Costco seemed to have had the jab. ;-) And there always were stores, like the local ranch stores, where people would go because you could walk around un-muzzled and no one yelled.
I love my home state of Texas, but for gawd's sake, you people from California and New York - go home! You don't seemed to have learned one darn thing.
We came to look at moving there from the beautiful Pacific NW. Too many lib transplants there and too little natural beauty to risk that move, unfortunately. We are very conservative. I want out of this place ruled by a leftist tyrant. But I want to land somewhere where I think my neighbors have similar values. That wasn't the vibe I got in the greater Austin area. I was heart broken. I looked forward to making myself a Texan. You've got to get your neighbors awake what involved in all layers of politics to keep your state Red. It's the complacency of conservatives and the audacity of the left that has created such a problem. Undoing this mess takes a lot of work. But this great country is worth the fight. Stay strong dear Texan!!
You are right. I did know that before coming but didn't calculate that to work in one area, where I wouldn't live but had a great job offer, and live in another would require a very long commute. Not a traveling at 65 mph commute, but crawling at 25 mph. Couldn't do it. I live in a small NW town that is sadly being invaded by Californian and Seattle demolition Democrats. But I don't suffer in traffic lol. I'll fight to make my place wonderful again, or try the move again. Merry Christmas!
Stay out of the metroplexes in Texas. Austin, DFW, Houston — illiberal cities. West Texas (but not too far west), the panhandle, and rural areas are the conservative spots.
You would only need to get about 40 minutes outside of the major metropolitan areas. Southeast of Dallas is nice, west of Fort Worth where I am is nice. Come look around one more time!
Our natural beauty is definitely there. It may not look like the PNW, but then it doesn't have to. Most of us don't WANT it to.
If you want out, you need to earn it. Austin is the absolute WORST example of Texas you will ever find. Look around at other locations. Or don't - we're getting pretty full.
There are other places outside Austin. My mom's side is from the the piney woods area. It is lovely. Or the hilly areas SW of Austin? Lovely. Plus the people outside of Austin (and some in) are terrific people. And sassy.
I went to HS in UT, 2 yrs of college there, then many years later, law school. The Mo/Not Mo divide is too much for me. Self righteous LDS, and Not Mo feeling the need to constantly demonstrate their lack of affiliation. It gets tiresome. Especially being an ExMo.
It's a lot different now at least in the South. Meaning there are a lot more not mormons than even 10 years ago. That said I think it is a lot harder for people who have left the LDS. It might be easier outside Utah and Idaho for sure. That said - in Florida the LDS are the largest private landholders. No weirdness for anyone who left them there. Unless you live outside of W Melbourne I guess. So FL! Great state!
So every summer I drive from SoCA to western CO to see family. I go up the 15 and cross over Utah into CO. I regularly overnight in Cedar City UT. As it is the halfway point to where I go in CO. I really like Cedar City, and it seems to have grown over the years. But I remember one day having a conversation with a young woman at a health food store in CC. She said if you’re not a Mormon, Utah is a hard place to live and connect with people. Employers favor Mormons over NonMo. So I’m wondering if this is true? When you refer to southern Utah are you referring to St.George? I know a lot of people from CA have retired and moved to St. George. I like St. George, but it is a bit warm there in the summer! I prefer the higher elevation of Cedar City. But I have no idea what it would be like to live there as an older single woman who is a NonMo?
Hey, Yak! ‘Couv here. We are planning our exit but due to a commercial lease, we are two years away. We also plan to come to TX and will bring our conservative mindset with us. There is no acceptance for us here. Sure, we could move to Lewis County but we would still have Jaybird for gov. Better to go where there is strength in conservative numbers. Perhaps with the more of us, inroads can be made at the TX state capital as well. Not that we want to live there. Hoping to find employment in the less humid parts of TX.
I get little whiffs of freedom when I have legal business in Cowlitz and Lewis counties. Very few masks. If you wear one, you will be stared down! Clark County, sad to say, is turning into North Portland.
Portland itself is a wasteland. We used to eat dinner there often, had annual subscriptions to theater, symphony, dance. Used to love concerts at Revolution Hall. All that ended in 2017. The Trump hate is strong there and it has infected even the arts. City is full of virtue signaling Karens, homeless camps, criminals, and drug users, plus! Antifa. What few cops there are won’t arrest because the DA won’t prosecute. A literal hellhole.
Agree. The left has destroyedy business of 31 years. One person told me I deserved to be destroyed because I am white. And then another liberal tried to explain how that comment wasnt racist because all whites are racist. Huh? My wife is half asian half black, how racist could I be exactly?
My nephew, whose mother is from Argentina and has indigenous heritage, was told he was racist when doing an internship at Boeing in Seattle. “What does that even mean?” He said to me. When he was offered jobs in two divisions in Everett at graduation he said, “Not Seattle. Only Phoenix.” They gave it to him.
Hi MeriBear! In the 'Couv as well, or rather the 'Shoug. (that's Vancouver, WA and Washougal for the rest of you.😉) Moving to Cowlitz County soon. As many have noted, within all states, the urban areas are blue, and the rural areas are red.
True dat, Shoug! I have a state legal defense contract in Cowlitz. We have been doing Zoom Court since mid 2020. I only go up about once a month now. It beats the pants off Clark but I still want to leave WA. I’d go to FL (brother there) but no bar reciprocity :-(
See there’s always another side of the story. Let’s face it even Republican governors, as we are seeing it, can prove to be problematic with the mask/vaxx mandates as well as the lockdowns! Listen to the BS tactics like ‘numbers of cases are rising’ and people go ape s**t crazy! Run for the mandates and The Boosters! 😜
I have been to Arkansas & Oklahoma. Though I liked Arkansas it did not resonate with me. I always ask myself when I visit places “could I live here” Does this community offer the things I want in my life…what are the people like, the weather , the cost of living” etc. etc. Though it was beautiful I did not get a great hit Inside. I grew up out West and I still like the openness and space of The West. I didn’t really check out OK only flew into Tulsa to go over to Fayetteville/NE Arkansas. For me moving across country is a big deal both financially & emotionally, and not to be done without s lot of thought and planning!
I think Mid to east TN you may like. It’s very green in TN with lots of trees and hills and mountains. And get outside of cities like Memphis & Nashville metro area and possibly Knoxville (all which are fairly blue) and you have conservative values. (No I don’t live there but am in a FB group called Californians moving to Tennessee, and I’ve learned a lot about TN.) I have been to Memphis and hope to get back to see the rest of the State.
Yes, thank you. We have strongly considered TN but work isn't as easy to find there, so far. I appreciate your information. I do need to take a trip there too and see it for myself. It's too hard to know looking at maps and looking at voting patterns for various areas. Thank you!
Oh I tell people never move to a place that you haven’t physically been to! And you need to go in all seasons! To see if you like it. But having moved to NM in the late 90’s for two years from SoCAL there’s another layer of life that I never really checked out when I visited there. (And I went there for two weeks at a stretch in all seasons, prior to moving to Santa Fe.) That is the social aspect of life. How easy is it to be embraced by the community? Is the community a cliqué ish one? (Santa Fe is very much so). How is the economic status division? (In Santa Fe lots of very wealthy trust fund people who do not mingle with the common folk.) I went as a single woman who worked in a shop, and it was very hard to be accepted into any group. I didn’t have money, was not married, was not gay, etc. Etc. Though it was beautiful and I loved living there, my community connections were nonexistent and I felt so lonely there, so I came back to CA where I had a network of family and friends! If I choose to leave CA again I will definitely look at any place with a totally different set of eyes and criteria.
It sounds beautiful but I am sure it is very humid in the summers. My husband could hack it, having grown up in NJ. I grew up out west and only lived in NJ for a few years. Every summer, I felt like I was being smothered with a warm , wet washrag. We love LC but NM is a disaster. Maybe EP, TX.
Yeah, I've thought about that too. But wages are low and influx is making housing very expensive. I did get my license to practice there too. It's probably the best option. Closer to family. I just worry about what all those Californians are going do to ID too. I love Coerd'Alene area. Boise is good but a bit liberal. Haven't been too many other places. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look again after 2022 elections 🙃
yeah Idaho is getting expensive, we're in Spokane and have thought about moving across the border, as I can keep my same job, but we love our neighborhood and house, and Spokane really isn't bad as far as covid goes. Masks in schools is the only real pain in the ass, but thankfully our private school doesn't require them.
Ditto here in Utah. They flee to Utah to escape their own madness and then want to import it to Utah. People here (and by people I mean my husband) are now openly mocking people in CA plated cars who get out of their car at the grocery with their masks on. Brutally I might add. He isn't the only one. There need to be more.
Funny... here in Florida, most of us Covid refugees are hardcore anti-maskers. To hell with those accursed muzzles, the dimwits who wear them, and the tyrants who mandate them!
I was just in FL. Let me tell you - N Florida... I was flat shock at the Let's Go Brandon MASSIVE banners - some spread across the entirety of their home. ALL OVER. Utahans are not so boisterous. I saw a few masks (more and more as we went South), but I think people in other parts of the US (and Canada) would be shocked at the old style normalcy and boisterous FU'ers! Love!
i was in pompano beach two weeks ago and saw a guy driving his golf cart down the street with a BIG let's go brandon flag flying behind it. and driving home from NC after thanksgiving a business had a very large electronic billboard with let's go brandon screaming from it.
There certainly are people like you. There is still somewhat of a yankee live and let live attitude here. The county I live on (Orange) is one of the top 10 in the USA for gun ownership density. There are plenty of conservatives of different stripes. Homeschooling is on the rise, for sure. Just stay away from the burlington area and surrounding yuppie towns, ski area places like stowe, waterbury, woodstock, etc. Orange county is nice, Northeast kingdom is the least developed area.
Theres a lot of hippies, but theres a difference between suburban hippies and the earthy hippie types that just want to be left alone to cut their own forewood, raise some animals, build their own place, etc. Those folks actually get along real well with native vermonters and add a lot to the community. Simple living.
I dont know that info of the top of my head. Its pretty purple, if you left out Burlington and Montpelier it would probably go back to red. VT didnt elect a single democrat for over a hundred years until the hippy wave, then the yuppies in the 80s and 90s. Theres still a lot of oldschool republican types that get drowned out. During covid people from the cities were buying properties unseen, over asking price, cash. Everything was bought up and the realtors didnt have anything to do!
It cracks me up that Massachusetts is thrown in the “red” state column just because it has a governor that says he is a member of the Republican Party. MA doesn’t have a conservative government. To be fair, though, it doesn’t have a liberal government either. It’s some bizarre mix of authoritarian, technocratic, corruption. Think Salem witch trials.
Same with Maryland which has a nominally Republican Gov. but Democrat everything else. Similarly in NC, where things are turning blue, the Republican legislature is still trying to hold the line through litigation, if nothing else. The graph is misleading to the West (which contains the only semi-sane Dem. administration in Colorado) and Midwest when those numbers are completely due to California and Chicago (I won't even mar the good name of the rest of the state of Illinois).
I'll echo the sentiment of others here: if you move to a red state and vote for your old party, you are beyond help. And so maybe is this country.
To follow up, I realize I was just describing the current Democratic Party. MA having a republican governor is a relief valve for those who can’t take the pure Democratic control of the North East corridor and who can’t get across the border to New Hampshire.
There really needs to be active billboard campaigns in the Southeastern US that read, “Don’t New York my Florida!” Or, “Don’t California my Texas!” Or, “Alabama - Came for the freedom, stayed for the football.”
We moved from CA to UT two years ago, prior to Covid. Let's call it a premonition. As Gato said, it's been night-and-day to live here vs. in a Blue state during the pandemic. But sometimes we wonder if UT is conservative enough. The governor is clearly in bed with Big Tech and reminds me too much of Newsom—definitely a political operator with national ambitions. And we're concerned about the # of Californians moving to UT that don't share UT's politics around Covid and individual liberty. But the legislature has been solid. For example, UT just passed a law allowing personal belief exemptions against the Federal vaccine mandate.
Here's an article evaluating and ranking various states in the U.S. according to medical freedom, the right to homeschool, etc. You can probably guess which states are in the top 10, but there were a few surprises for me (mostly states that didn't make that cut). https://meganredshaw.substack.com/p/best-states-to-live-in-move-to
The governor was a done deal - as in selected. Mr. Switters is right about him. He is a globalist and on a personal note his voice drives me nuts. I think if some of the moneyed LDS ppl were not restraining him, he would go full lib. IMO - or I suspect it. Salt Lake (and the LDS church) control things in UT. Period.
I think if you do not see a good way to have sway in state gov, you might try your hand at going to or running for city council. At least in UT, but that probably holds true elsewhere.
The last people out of the Karen cities won’t have to turn off the lights. They can wait for the wind to die down or a cloudy day when their “sustainable” energy won’t be running.
It's not just covid, it's productive America vs. dependent America. I suspect the democratic base is now almost entirely made up of government dependent workers and industries (this includes big tech btw). Universities, teachers, tech firms who serve the security state, healthcare (aka senior care) … these do very well in blue states, counties, and cities because they dine at the table of central bank fiat (oh did I forget wall street?). Then there is the side that makes things and actually builds productive capital. Big blue states are run by people who cannot imagine doing anything productive, they are enthralled with government regulation and control, thus, they l.o.v.e covid policy. Productive people and businesses cannot produce in covidian lands and so are moving.
I live in Florida. Born here in fact, and I am quite alarmed by this big migration here. Traffic is already bad. and we have a water supply problem that's only going to get worse if all these people move here. Housing prices are soaring, rentals are hard to find. Please, stay where you are and work to fix your state government.
Northern Californian here. Unfortunately there just aren’t enough of us left here to make a difference. We tried damn hard in the recall and we all saw what happened there. Makes you feel any better all the people I know that left here for red states are conservative. The lefties are quite happy with what’s going on around here 🤦🏻♂️
Yes the lefties seem to be ok with how they have to live now up there.
I went to college in Santa Cruz, worked in SF and lived in Marin in my early career. I
left the Bay Area in the early 80’s to move back to SoCA (where I am from). I visit there at least once a year to see my aunt who lives in SF and friends who live in Santa Cruz & Sonoma County. The past two years have not been at all great. This year’s trip I cut short 2 days, cause I had to get the hell outta there and get back to the free thinking, relatively free vibe of San Diego, where I live. I belong to three community activists groups, who are standing up against our local Board of Supervisors, SD City Council, local School Boards, the mandates, lockdowns and mask wearing! I wouldn’t live up there now even if you paid me a lot of money!
Ditto. Native Florida cracker here, and had to move across the state line to AL not too long ago. Desperately wanted to stay in FL but couldn't find a rental near the new job for love or money. It was still a minor miracle we found anything across the line in AL! I'm scared that with the whole country moving to Florida, I'll never be able to afford to move back :(
We get it. On the plus side, DeSantis has proven that vote fraud is not an un-solvable problem. We used to have a bad situation where Miami-Dade area would cheat like crazy in every election, often enough to sway the race for governor. That's been cleaned up. Some election officials went to jail. And now Dade's election-rigging apparatus is sufficiently handcuffed that they can probably only cheat in their local races. I wish CA the best in doing likewise!
No easy way to Florida from Scotland. Row to Greenland and then to Canada and get someone to smuggle the whole family on down from there? What an adventure. Either that or occupy a Hebridean Island and fortify.
Many people talk about or hint at an armed uprising of some sort. Which is easier, moving and shoring up free states or taking up arms against fellow Americans? Move and shore up red states. Defund pandemania. Hit politicrats where it hurts by moving your tax dollars out of their reach.
Problem is - people who are moving are bringing their desire for "blue state" benefits to the red states and thereby diluting or changing the demographics. They don't make the connection... hence the "Don't New York my Texas" sentiments.
Trust me, most of us do NOT want to bring Progressive bullcrap to our new homes. Several other Covid refugees I know here in Miami Beach are interested in working to remove Rat-Mayor Gelber, who was a wannabe Covid tyrant before national hero Governor DeSantis smacked him down. In comparison with freedom from the global Covid regime all other issues pale to insignificance.
All the more reason why right leaning people need to abandon failed Democrat experiments and shore up red states. You think we have any likelihood of changing things in blue states?
And let us hope the folks fleeing have the good sense to not screw up where they have landed.
I am hopeful that people who have enough sense to flee the blue states, like myself, will understand and appreciate what makes their sanctuary a sanctuary. It’s not easy physically, emotionally or economically pulling up roots. To my fellow migrants, remember the price you paid and why you paid it.
We recently moved from a blue state to a red state. Our welcome included a tornado that destroyed our new home and pretty everything we own. We are looking at this as a test of our resolve and how much we really want what our new state has to offer. We are rebuilding here.
So sorry to hear this. 😢
A minor setback.
Is there any solace to a nature- made disaster vs a man made one? At least Lori Lightfoot didn’t have anything to do with it.
A tornado can be rationalized. Lori Lightfoot, et al., cannot.
I have a feeling you made the right choice!
Sorry to hear about your weather disaster. The Louisiana town where I grew up has been demolished by hurricanes four time in my lifetime. I do mean demolished. People rebuild and go on.
Courage
We have no choice.
Welcome to tornado alley. Sorry you had such a crappy initial reception, but we're still happy to have you. <3
We're happy to be here.
That’s and unfortunate example of an even greater sacrifice. Commit to maintaining what drove you there in the first place. It doesn’t sound like any of you were hurt thank God. You are a wonderful example to so many people, I wish you luck, strength and Godspeed
Thank you, Doctor. Watching how the vast majority of people here are continuing to hold fast to normality while Omicron panic is taking over my former state of residence reinforces our decision.
Typo: “pretty much …”
EXACTLY. I watched my state where 4 generations of my family are from turn into a cesspool because people brought their same fears and insanity with them. Liberty starts from within. It's not a place.
Well said. Fighting back against communist doctrine, covid fear, and anti-white propaganda can become a purpose in and of itself. It can warm the heart and bolster the spirit. Yuletide!!
“Liberty starts from within. It’s not a place.”…. Powerful sentiment !
My extremely left relative moved to Florida with his leftist adult spawn. They all vote FAR left. They are basically European-style socialists. Not sure why they even live here in the U.S.
Probably out of spite and in hopes that the tower of right-wing conservatism will fall. Despicable.
I think about this a lot living in Montana. But I've talked to a few of the new arrivals. They seem to fully understand what happened where they came from, so I have hope.
My husband mentioned he'd like to think of moving to Montana. The one person I know of from there is all about "masks, masks, masks, masks." Am I right in assuming she is an exception? Has Montana been relatively sane?
We had a Democrat governor who had presidential aspirations and we had a county health officer who wanted to play Napoleon, so we started out crazy, but the Republicans swept the state last November and we actually have a law that precludes vaccine mandates for customers and employees, curtails emergency powers, and waived liability for businesses that don't require masks.
On the local level, I would guess it depends on where you go. Montana has a few blue areas and the rest of the state is red, so if you were to go to Helena, Bozeman, or Missoula area, you might see a lot of "mask-y" people and some of the businesses may require them. I honestly haven't been that way for about two years. I live in Billings, a working city and more purplish-red area. The only "crazy" people I've noticed here is the "art" community. The community theaters both require masking, though as far as I know the big event center doesn't. The co-op book store requires a mask if you're in there for their game nights, etc., but not to shop. And the ABT, where all the professional shows stop, "strongly recommends" masks. I haven't been there to see what people actually do.
As for the rest of life outside the doctors' offices and hospitals, we are pretty much normal in Billings. I haven't seen a business that requires masks since January, and at most of the local businesses and even many of the chains, the employees don't wear them. You head to the more rural areas, and I don't think they ever were masking. They thought it was a joke. I don't think they ever convinced people who spend all day working on a farm with every manner of parasite and bacterium, getting covered in bodily fluids, that a mask was anything more than performative art. As for the people themselves, you'll see some here and there wearing masks, but most of us don't. So, yes, I would guess we are as "normal" as it gets.
But the person you met would be an exception. Our Costco here in Billings in January had a sign that basically read "masks required for the unvaccinated." It was amazing how, in a county with (at that point) less than 25% vaxxed, nearly everyone in Costco seemed to have had the jab. ;-) And there always were stores, like the local ranch stores, where people would go because you could walk around un-muzzled and no one yelled.
Thank you for taking the time to give a such a thorough response. I very much appreciate it. Merry Christmas!
Humans and good sense? Mixes like paleo and veganism.
Wow - THE Robb Wolf is here. Impressive.
Oh yeah! Robb I love those LMNT packets.
YES!
Ha, what’s the over / under on that.
I love my home state of Texas, but for gawd's sake, you people from California and New York - go home! You don't seemed to have learned one darn thing.
We came to look at moving there from the beautiful Pacific NW. Too many lib transplants there and too little natural beauty to risk that move, unfortunately. We are very conservative. I want out of this place ruled by a leftist tyrant. But I want to land somewhere where I think my neighbors have similar values. That wasn't the vibe I got in the greater Austin area. I was heart broken. I looked forward to making myself a Texan. You've got to get your neighbors awake what involved in all layers of politics to keep your state Red. It's the complacency of conservatives and the audacity of the left that has created such a problem. Undoing this mess takes a lot of work. But this great country is worth the fight. Stay strong dear Texan!!
Please don't confuse Texas with the insanity of Austin and its suburbs. Austin is a California city surrounded by Texas
You are right. I did know that before coming but didn't calculate that to work in one area, where I wouldn't live but had a great job offer, and live in another would require a very long commute. Not a traveling at 65 mph commute, but crawling at 25 mph. Couldn't do it. I live in a small NW town that is sadly being invaded by Californian and Seattle demolition Democrats. But I don't suffer in traffic lol. I'll fight to make my place wonderful again, or try the move again. Merry Christmas!
Perfect! And so true.
Stay out of the metroplexes in Texas. Austin, DFW, Houston — illiberal cities. West Texas (but not too far west), the panhandle, and rural areas are the conservative spots.
And yes, the natural beauty is DIFFERENT. But it's still beautiful!
You would only need to get about 40 minutes outside of the major metropolitan areas. Southeast of Dallas is nice, west of Fort Worth where I am is nice. Come look around one more time!
Our natural beauty is definitely there. It may not look like the PNW, but then it doesn't have to. Most of us don't WANT it to.
If you want out, you need to earn it. Austin is the absolute WORST example of Texas you will ever find. Look around at other locations. Or don't - we're getting pretty full.
There are other places outside Austin. My mom's side is from the the piney woods area. It is lovely. Or the hilly areas SW of Austin? Lovely. Plus the people outside of Austin (and some in) are terrific people. And sassy.
Also we could use you in Utah. The South part is just about as magnificent as it comes. Not too much green tho.
I went to HS in UT, 2 yrs of college there, then many years later, law school. The Mo/Not Mo divide is too much for me. Self righteous LDS, and Not Mo feeling the need to constantly demonstrate their lack of affiliation. It gets tiresome. Especially being an ExMo.
It's a lot different now at least in the South. Meaning there are a lot more not mormons than even 10 years ago. That said I think it is a lot harder for people who have left the LDS. It might be easier outside Utah and Idaho for sure. That said - in Florida the LDS are the largest private landholders. No weirdness for anyone who left them there. Unless you live outside of W Melbourne I guess. So FL! Great state!
So every summer I drive from SoCA to western CO to see family. I go up the 15 and cross over Utah into CO. I regularly overnight in Cedar City UT. As it is the halfway point to where I go in CO. I really like Cedar City, and it seems to have grown over the years. But I remember one day having a conversation with a young woman at a health food store in CC. She said if you’re not a Mormon, Utah is a hard place to live and connect with people. Employers favor Mormons over NonMo. So I’m wondering if this is true? When you refer to southern Utah are you referring to St.George? I know a lot of people from CA have retired and moved to St. George. I like St. George, but it is a bit warm there in the summer! I prefer the higher elevation of Cedar City. But I have no idea what it would be like to live there as an older single woman who is a NonMo?
Hey, Yak! ‘Couv here. We are planning our exit but due to a commercial lease, we are two years away. We also plan to come to TX and will bring our conservative mindset with us. There is no acceptance for us here. Sure, we could move to Lewis County but we would still have Jaybird for gov. Better to go where there is strength in conservative numbers. Perhaps with the more of us, inroads can be made at the TX state capital as well. Not that we want to live there. Hoping to find employment in the less humid parts of TX.
Good luck!!! Freedom is awesome. Enjoyed it so much when we were there in TX.
I get little whiffs of freedom when I have legal business in Cowlitz and Lewis counties. Very few masks. If you wear one, you will be stared down! Clark County, sad to say, is turning into North Portland.
Portland itself is a wasteland. We used to eat dinner there often, had annual subscriptions to theater, symphony, dance. Used to love concerts at Revolution Hall. All that ended in 2017. The Trump hate is strong there and it has infected even the arts. City is full of virtue signaling Karens, homeless camps, criminals, and drug users, plus! Antifa. What few cops there are won’t arrest because the DA won’t prosecute. A literal hellhole.
Agree. The left has destroyedy business of 31 years. One person told me I deserved to be destroyed because I am white. And then another liberal tried to explain how that comment wasnt racist because all whites are racist. Huh? My wife is half asian half black, how racist could I be exactly?
My nephew, whose mother is from Argentina and has indigenous heritage, was told he was racist when doing an internship at Boeing in Seattle. “What does that even mean?” He said to me. When he was offered jobs in two divisions in Everett at graduation he said, “Not Seattle. Only Phoenix.” They gave it to him.
Always more than you think. It's a sliding scale.
People on the left are clinically insane.
That is so sad.
Hi MeriBear! In the 'Couv as well, or rather the 'Shoug. (that's Vancouver, WA and Washougal for the rest of you.😉) Moving to Cowlitz County soon. As many have noted, within all states, the urban areas are blue, and the rural areas are red.
True dat, Shoug! I have a state legal defense contract in Cowlitz. We have been doing Zoom Court since mid 2020. I only go up about once a month now. It beats the pants off Clark but I still want to leave WA. I’d go to FL (brother there) but no bar reciprocity :-(
look at off the radar places like Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas. zero glamor but huge freedom
Asa Hutchinson (Gov. of Arkansas). Anti freedom: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/arkansas-gov-asa-hutchinson-seeks-reverse-mask-ban/story?id=79289906
See there’s always another side of the story. Let’s face it even Republican governors, as we are seeing it, can prove to be problematic with the mask/vaxx mandates as well as the lockdowns! Listen to the BS tactics like ‘numbers of cases are rising’ and people go ape s**t crazy! Run for the mandates and The Boosters! 😜
I have been to Arkansas & Oklahoma. Though I liked Arkansas it did not resonate with me. I always ask myself when I visit places “could I live here” Does this community offer the things I want in my life…what are the people like, the weather , the cost of living” etc. etc. Though it was beautiful I did not get a great hit Inside. I grew up out West and I still like the openness and space of The West. I didn’t really check out OK only flew into Tulsa to go over to Fayetteville/NE Arkansas. For me moving across country is a big deal both financially & emotionally, and not to be done without s lot of thought and planning!
Oklahoma is flat. F. L. A. T.
I think Mid to east TN you may like. It’s very green in TN with lots of trees and hills and mountains. And get outside of cities like Memphis & Nashville metro area and possibly Knoxville (all which are fairly blue) and you have conservative values. (No I don’t live there but am in a FB group called Californians moving to Tennessee, and I’ve learned a lot about TN.) I have been to Memphis and hope to get back to see the rest of the State.
Yes, thank you. We have strongly considered TN but work isn't as easy to find there, so far. I appreciate your information. I do need to take a trip there too and see it for myself. It's too hard to know looking at maps and looking at voting patterns for various areas. Thank you!
Oh I tell people never move to a place that you haven’t physically been to! And you need to go in all seasons! To see if you like it. But having moved to NM in the late 90’s for two years from SoCAL there’s another layer of life that I never really checked out when I visited there. (And I went there for two weeks at a stretch in all seasons, prior to moving to Santa Fe.) That is the social aspect of life. How easy is it to be embraced by the community? Is the community a cliqué ish one? (Santa Fe is very much so). How is the economic status division? (In Santa Fe lots of very wealthy trust fund people who do not mingle with the common folk.) I went as a single woman who worked in a shop, and it was very hard to be accepted into any group. I didn’t have money, was not married, was not gay, etc. Etc. Though it was beautiful and I loved living there, my community connections were nonexistent and I felt so lonely there, so I came back to CA where I had a network of family and friends! If I choose to leave CA again I will definitely look at any place with a totally different set of eyes and criteria.
It sounds beautiful but I am sure it is very humid in the summers. My husband could hack it, having grown up in NJ. I grew up out west and only lived in NJ for a few years. Every summer, I felt like I was being smothered with a warm , wet washrag. We love LC but NM is a disaster. Maybe EP, TX.
Idaho is the answer you're looking for
Yeah, I've thought about that too. But wages are low and influx is making housing very expensive. I did get my license to practice there too. It's probably the best option. Closer to family. I just worry about what all those Californians are going do to ID too. I love Coerd'Alene area. Boise is good but a bit liberal. Haven't been too many other places. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look again after 2022 elections 🙃
yeah Idaho is getting expensive, we're in Spokane and have thought about moving across the border, as I can keep my same job, but we love our neighborhood and house, and Spokane really isn't bad as far as covid goes. Masks in schools is the only real pain in the ass, but thankfully our private school doesn't require them.
Ditto here in Utah. They flee to Utah to escape their own madness and then want to import it to Utah. People here (and by people I mean my husband) are now openly mocking people in CA plated cars who get out of their car at the grocery with their masks on. Brutally I might add. He isn't the only one. There need to be more.
I believe the term for what your husband does is called "public service." (And I don't mean that sarcastically.)
He sez you're welcome. He said he is upping his game to close out the year well.
Give him a hearty "Go forth and conquer and Merry Christmas" from me. (Merry Christmas to you too.)
He says thank you and back at ya. I do too!
Funny... here in Florida, most of us Covid refugees are hardcore anti-maskers. To hell with those accursed muzzles, the dimwits who wear them, and the tyrants who mandate them!
I was just in FL. Let me tell you - N Florida... I was flat shock at the Let's Go Brandon MASSIVE banners - some spread across the entirety of their home. ALL OVER. Utahans are not so boisterous. I saw a few masks (more and more as we went South), but I think people in other parts of the US (and Canada) would be shocked at the old style normalcy and boisterous FU'ers! Love!
Even in socially "liberal" Miami Beach I've seen "Fuck Biden" posters in more than one apartment window.
i was in pompano beach two weeks ago and saw a guy driving his golf cart down the street with a BIG let's go brandon flag flying behind it. and driving home from NC after thanksgiving a business had a very large electronic billboard with let's go brandon screaming from it.
“Upstate” New Yorker here, new here + chiming in. We’re focusing on TN in Spring/Summer…hoping the lack of masks will balance out our NY plates.
It's probably not too tough to get new plates =)
Californians ruin everything
How many conservatives would it take to turn CA red?
A huge portion of CA is already red. But not the cities. And the cities seem to dictate how things go.
Oh..I like your thinking.. Let's turn the tables and take back the beautiful areas!!
Can we get some conervative folks to move to Vermont? Same problem here.
Considering moving to VT for family reasons. We homeschool, are pretty paleo conservative. Are there ppl like us there? Seems like leftie heaven.
There certainly are people like you. There is still somewhat of a yankee live and let live attitude here. The county I live on (Orange) is one of the top 10 in the USA for gun ownership density. There are plenty of conservatives of different stripes. Homeschooling is on the rise, for sure. Just stay away from the burlington area and surrounding yuppie towns, ski area places like stowe, waterbury, woodstock, etc. Orange county is nice, Northeast kingdom is the least developed area.
Theres a lot of hippies, but theres a difference between suburban hippies and the earthy hippie types that just want to be left alone to cut their own forewood, raise some animals, build their own place, etc. Those folks actually get along real well with native vermonters and add a lot to the community. Simple living.
How many conservatives would it take to turn VT red ?
I dont know that info of the top of my head. Its pretty purple, if you left out Burlington and Montpelier it would probably go back to red. VT didnt elect a single democrat for over a hundred years until the hippy wave, then the yuppies in the 80s and 90s. Theres still a lot of oldschool republican types that get drowned out. During covid people from the cities were buying properties unseen, over asking price, cash. Everything was bought up and the realtors didnt have anything to do!
Texas needs a wall between itself and other states. Or maybe something less ugly, like a sci-fi force shield.
It's called Texit. https://tnm.me/texit/
It cracks me up that Massachusetts is thrown in the “red” state column just because it has a governor that says he is a member of the Republican Party. MA doesn’t have a conservative government. To be fair, though, it doesn’t have a liberal government either. It’s some bizarre mix of authoritarian, technocratic, corruption. Think Salem witch trials.
Same with Maryland which has a nominally Republican Gov. but Democrat everything else. Similarly in NC, where things are turning blue, the Republican legislature is still trying to hold the line through litigation, if nothing else. The graph is misleading to the West (which contains the only semi-sane Dem. administration in Colorado) and Midwest when those numbers are completely due to California and Chicago (I won't even mar the good name of the rest of the state of Illinois).
I'll echo the sentiment of others here: if you move to a red state and vote for your old party, you are beyond help. And so maybe is this country.
To follow up, I realize I was just describing the current Democratic Party. MA having a republican governor is a relief valve for those who can’t take the pure Democratic control of the North East corridor and who can’t get across the border to New Hampshire.
There really needs to be active billboard campaigns in the Southeastern US that read, “Don’t New York my Florida!” Or, “Don’t California my Texas!” Or, “Alabama - Came for the freedom, stayed for the football.”
Where do I send the crowd-funding check?
I love that idea!! Start a fund to buy those bill boards! You'd probably have enough money in 1 hour!!
We could raise through a DAO using NFTs.
We moved from CA to UT two years ago, prior to Covid. Let's call it a premonition. As Gato said, it's been night-and-day to live here vs. in a Blue state during the pandemic. But sometimes we wonder if UT is conservative enough. The governor is clearly in bed with Big Tech and reminds me too much of Newsom—definitely a political operator with national ambitions. And we're concerned about the # of Californians moving to UT that don't share UT's politics around Covid and individual liberty. But the legislature has been solid. For example, UT just passed a law allowing personal belief exemptions against the Federal vaccine mandate.
Here's an article evaluating and ranking various states in the U.S. according to medical freedom, the right to homeschool, etc. You can probably guess which states are in the top 10, but there were a few surprises for me (mostly states that didn't make that cut). https://meganredshaw.substack.com/p/best-states-to-live-in-move-to
Don’t vote for big money candidates.
The governor was a done deal - as in selected. Mr. Switters is right about him. He is a globalist and on a personal note his voice drives me nuts. I think if some of the moneyed LDS ppl were not restraining him, he would go full lib. IMO - or I suspect it. Salt Lake (and the LDS church) control things in UT. Period.
I think if you do not see a good way to have sway in state gov, you might try your hand at going to or running for city council. At least in UT, but that probably holds true elsewhere.
Wow, it would sure be nice if free-thinking Canadians had a province to move to.
Yes, instead of insanity coast to coast.
Wanna buy an island?
Was in FL last week (from mostly free TN) and saw a lot of "don't New York my Florida" stickers!!
Couldn’t we all pool our money, buy Puerto Rico, elect el gato as island President, el gatito as vp and live happily ever after? I have a dream…
The last people out of the Karen cities won’t have to turn off the lights. They can wait for the wind to die down or a cloudy day when their “sustainable” energy won’t be running.
Don't California Texas!
It's not just covid, it's productive America vs. dependent America. I suspect the democratic base is now almost entirely made up of government dependent workers and industries (this includes big tech btw). Universities, teachers, tech firms who serve the security state, healthcare (aka senior care) … these do very well in blue states, counties, and cities because they dine at the table of central bank fiat (oh did I forget wall street?). Then there is the side that makes things and actually builds productive capital. Big blue states are run by people who cannot imagine doing anything productive, they are enthralled with government regulation and control, thus, they l.o.v.e covid policy. Productive people and businesses cannot produce in covidian lands and so are moving.
I live in Florida. Born here in fact, and I am quite alarmed by this big migration here. Traffic is already bad. and we have a water supply problem that's only going to get worse if all these people move here. Housing prices are soaring, rentals are hard to find. Please, stay where you are and work to fix your state government.
Northern Californian here. Unfortunately there just aren’t enough of us left here to make a difference. We tried damn hard in the recall and we all saw what happened there. Makes you feel any better all the people I know that left here for red states are conservative. The lefties are quite happy with what’s going on around here 🤦🏻♂️
Yes the lefties seem to be ok with how they have to live now up there.
I went to college in Santa Cruz, worked in SF and lived in Marin in my early career. I
left the Bay Area in the early 80’s to move back to SoCA (where I am from). I visit there at least once a year to see my aunt who lives in SF and friends who live in Santa Cruz & Sonoma County. The past two years have not been at all great. This year’s trip I cut short 2 days, cause I had to get the hell outta there and get back to the free thinking, relatively free vibe of San Diego, where I live. I belong to three community activists groups, who are standing up against our local Board of Supervisors, SD City Council, local School Boards, the mandates, lockdowns and mask wearing! I wouldn’t live up there now even if you paid me a lot of money!
Ditto. Native Florida cracker here, and had to move across the state line to AL not too long ago. Desperately wanted to stay in FL but couldn't find a rental near the new job for love or money. It was still a minor miracle we found anything across the line in AL! I'm scared that with the whole country moving to Florida, I'll never be able to afford to move back :(
Understand what you are saying, but realize the left coast has fake voting systems and thiusands of trained Marxists. We are fleeing fir our lifes.
We get it. On the plus side, DeSantis has proven that vote fraud is not an un-solvable problem. We used to have a bad situation where Miami-Dade area would cheat like crazy in every election, often enough to sway the race for governor. That's been cleaned up. Some election officials went to jail. And now Dade's election-rigging apparatus is sufficiently handcuffed that they can probably only cheat in their local races. I wish CA the best in doing likewise!
No easy way to Florida from Scotland. Row to Greenland and then to Canada and get someone to smuggle the whole family on down from there? What an adventure. Either that or occupy a Hebridean Island and fortify.
Florida the state where I was born and raised. God bless it!
Many people talk about or hint at an armed uprising of some sort. Which is easier, moving and shoring up free states or taking up arms against fellow Americans? Move and shore up red states. Defund pandemania. Hit politicrats where it hurts by moving your tax dollars out of their reach.
Problem is - people who are moving are bringing their desire for "blue state" benefits to the red states and thereby diluting or changing the demographics. They don't make the connection... hence the "Don't New York my Texas" sentiments.
Trust me, most of us do NOT want to bring Progressive bullcrap to our new homes. Several other Covid refugees I know here in Miami Beach are interested in working to remove Rat-Mayor Gelber, who was a wannabe Covid tyrant before national hero Governor DeSantis smacked him down. In comparison with freedom from the global Covid regime all other issues pale to insignificance.
All the more reason why right leaning people need to abandon failed Democrat experiments and shore up red states. You think we have any likelihood of changing things in blue states?
Two years ago, if you had asked if I would even consider moving out of my blue state, I would have said no way. Now it's a very different story.