Considering move from SW to NE US
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I have friends with a farm in upstate NY that don't get enough days of sun during the summer to grow tomatoes. That seasonal affective disorder is real. When your whole life has been getting 250-350 days of sun a year, your first winter north of Chicago gets weird. You wonder how people live in the dark, like outdoor mole people.
And Lord have mercy, some of them think salt is spicy. You'll one day have Mexican food so bland you might think you're eating a Play-doh model of an enchilada. The restaurants play to the market. But the beer is good, the seafood is good.
Otherwise, find a town or city that matches your personality and enjoy.
NGL, I prefer my beer and good in the same pint, so I'll stick to the PacNW on that.
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Before you leave the SW, take a cooking class from some abuela. You'll be glad to share some real food one in a while just to have some yourself.
East of the Mississippi and north of OK, people think all tacos are hard shell, stale-ass Taco Bell abominations. I just can't even sometimes.
Beware the chancla!
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Plan a winter trip up here and decide how you REALLY feel about snow before you commit to anything.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Truth. I was raised in the deep snow, and when first seeing Bane's iconic line delivered on-screen, I snickered at his puny claim in comparison.
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Well something I have experience in! Nothing prepared me for my first winter. Yes there is snow and it’s cold. The dark is what got me. I would leave for work before the sun came up and it was already setting as I was coming home. It was so deeply unsettling that first winter, like there was no warmth left in the world.
It is a lovely area. It feels so much older because they tend to preserve the historic homes and just driving around through the small rural towns is super cute. Fall is the best season in the NE. The colors are gorgeous! Apple cider donuts are the best donuts, most local orchards make them fresh too.
It’s pretty rural outside of NYC, Maine is especially so. You’ll most likely need a car, even if you’re in a town. The towns are walkable, but they’re small towns so the selection is limited. Getting hooked up with local events can be a challenge as word of mouth is the most common form of promotion. Get in good with your local coworkers or other local groups and they’ll help you find the cool ski deals and niche concerts.
On the whole car thing. Snow ands salt are really hard on cars. The inspection in NE is much more intensive than the SW which only checks emissions. Good tires are worth the investment, but the best method is just don’t drive while it’s snowing. Keep an eye out for black ice, the melting and refreezing is no joke. The people are nice though, had a kind man help pull me out of a snow bank when I made that mistake. If you’re ever unsure just go slow.
Well something I have experience in! Nothing...
C'mon... too easy.
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Live in Chicago and I second this. Everyone always talks about how cold and bitter it is here, but that's much easier to prepare for than the 120F with 90% humidity we sometimes get. Yuk!
wrote last edited by [email protected]You know you're in the Midwest when the mosquitoes treat you like an equal. Prey, sure, but with a neighborly "we're all stuck here, bud" sorta vibe. All 666 trillion of them.
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No real network there, though I do have a friend who lives in NJ and a little family in MN. I work remote and may get a pay adjustment for moving to a higher COL area, but I also make more than I technically need to for where I am, so it may balance. The COL calculator I checked recommended a 4.5% raise.
wrote last edited by [email protected]You know I gotta ask.. how little are they?
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If you've never dealt with snow then northwest NY, NE in general will be interesting come winter that's for sure. It's not terribly uncommon for northwestern NY to see 12" of snow. Closer to the shore there are hurricanes to be concerned about for a month or two around now actually, but over my almost 40 years there have only been maybe 2 or 3 that were really troubling. It's usually just a lot of rain and really high winds.
I'm not sure how Austin gets, but the heat is disgusting for about 3ish months out here (NY) so you wouldn't really be escaping much except maybe the hot season is shorter. It's almost never dry heat though so we can have 90° days that are like 109° heat index because of humidity.
The only thing I can say with absolutely certainty is avoid Long Island like the plague unless you really love overpopulated areas full of assholes and disgustingly, almost comically, overpriced housing. The bagels are amazing though lol
FWIW, I grew up in a similar area and have countless memories of insane "unusually high" snowfall —including, but not limited to: sledding from the garage roof edge down to the street, and rocketing between neighbors' homes across the way; building 2-3 story snow forts (buckets, etc. for igloo-style brick molds) on the cul-de-sac from the plow's traditional one-and-done efficiency; leaving the bus stop because I couldn't feel my toes, fingers, nose; competing with schoolmates on who could make the coolest icicles from wet hair in the open air; etc.
Whatever the area in question is "known" for being challenging on, just keep in mind that 2nd-5th* place entries are very very close behind.
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Well something I have experience in! Nothing...
C'mon... too easy.
Naw, where I really messed up was I had thought that the temperature/comfort level had any relation to the amount of sun. Ask me about my first 18degree day in JANUARY
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Naw, where I really messed up was I had thought that the temperature/comfort level had any relation to the amount of sun. Ask me about my first 18degree day in JANUARY
18 degrees in January? Must have been a sunny day!
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There is good Latino food in the midwest and northeast now. Just look for smaller restaurants, or food trucks.
For sure, but when you go to visit lifelong Midwesterners, that's the absolute last place they'll take you.
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Beware the chancla!
You never know, this might be why OP is moving!
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So I grew up in Arizona as well as Bay Area, CA
(my parents were divorced). Moved to Austin, Texas in 2000 and NM a couple years ago. I've never lived in the Northeast, never even been further than NYC in that direction, though I loved Brooklyn.I've been thinking lately, partly because I've always hated the heat and partly because I'm sure global warming won't be kind to the area, that I'd like to check out the Northeast, maybe upstate NY or around there. Maybe Maine. Maybe even Canada if things get particularly a way here. In any case, besides taking time to actually visit the area which I plan to do next fall for about a month, hopefully, I'd love to get any opinions about living in that region. Likes? Dislikes? Favorite areas to consider? Suggestions? Anyone make the kind of geographic change I've described? Thanks!
People are meaner on the East Coast, but they're also more capable.
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So I grew up in Arizona as well as Bay Area, CA
(my parents were divorced). Moved to Austin, Texas in 2000 and NM a couple years ago. I've never lived in the Northeast, never even been further than NYC in that direction, though I loved Brooklyn.I've been thinking lately, partly because I've always hated the heat and partly because I'm sure global warming won't be kind to the area, that I'd like to check out the Northeast, maybe upstate NY or around there. Maybe Maine. Maybe even Canada if things get particularly a way here. In any case, besides taking time to actually visit the area which I plan to do next fall for about a month, hopefully, I'd love to get any opinions about living in that region. Likes? Dislikes? Favorite areas to consider? Suggestions? Anyone make the kind of geographic change I've described? Thanks!
Never lived there but I've visited CT. Went to a movie with my wife. The first Narnia film, so it was like 3 hours long? It was nice when we went in. It was nice when we left. However, during the film there was a blizzard, seemed like it dropped snow a foot deep! That being said, the city had cleared all the roads. They know how to deal with the snow. Of course when you get to side streets it's a bit dicey, but the main roads? Like to our hotel? Clear as you like. The roads are twisty and windy up there, and people drive crazy — well, they drive appropriate to the state of the roads, to be fair — and I never felt unsafe despite being unaccustomed to driving in snow.
Beautiful area. Summers get hot, winters get cold. You gotta plan for each. But it's nice and not too humid.
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Truth. I was raised in the deep snow, and when first seeing Bane's iconic line delivered on-screen, I snickered at his puny claim in comparison.
Which line?
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For sure, but when you go to visit lifelong Midwesterners, that's the absolute last place they'll take you.
I think a lot of times that's just lack of familiarity bc the better restaurants are newer.
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Which line?
“Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!”.
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Which line?
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it...."
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You never know, this might be why OP is moving!
Kinky. 🤪
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Naw, where I really messed up was I had thought that the temperature/comfort level had any relation to the amount of sun. Ask me about my first 18degree day in JANUARY
Northern hemisphere, I assume, but yeah. I feel ya. It's only gonna get worse/weirder, NGL.
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Never lived there but I've visited CT. Went to a movie with my wife. The first Narnia film, so it was like 3 hours long? It was nice when we went in. It was nice when we left. However, during the film there was a blizzard, seemed like it dropped snow a foot deep! That being said, the city had cleared all the roads. They know how to deal with the snow. Of course when you get to side streets it's a bit dicey, but the main roads? Like to our hotel? Clear as you like. The roads are twisty and windy up there, and people drive crazy — well, they drive appropriate to the state of the roads, to be fair — and I never felt unsafe despite being unaccustomed to driving in snow.
Beautiful area. Summers get hot, winters get cold. You gotta plan for each. But it's nice and not too humid.
You’re saying CT isn’t humid?
