Relocating......where to go?

[DieselTech]

Hello all,

Well, I'm thinking of relocating, possibly south or west (I live in NY). I'm thinking NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, KY for south, or possibly CO or northern AZ for out west.

I am concerned about adapting to the summer heat in places like AZ and FL. I was born & raised in FL, so I know what it's like.

I want to make sure that wherever I move to allows me (and my family) to do the following things:
1. Ride ATV's/dirtbikes as much as possible - public riding areas would be great!
2. Race in MX/GNCC events (ATV & bike)
3. Participate in watersports activities (boating, skiing, jetski, swimming, etc.)
4. Camping/hiking
5. Good schools, low crime, good job and educational opportunities
6. Reasonable taxes and home costs

So, anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

South Carolina has all you want, PLUS you can own Class III firearms (machine guns) and carry a concealed handgun.



:cool:

[Hornbreaker]

What part of S.C. are you talking about. I myself am lookin around Klemson.

[DieselTech]

Yeah, what part of SC? Can you give me info about:

1. Taxes (property & income)
2. Housing costs (renting and buying - 2-3 br w/garage)
3. Jobs (Diesel Mechanic)
4. Educational opportunities (local colleges)
5. School districts - how are they (kids - ages 16, 14, 12)

Thanks!

Originally posted by DieselTech
Yeah, what part of SC? Can you give me info about:

1. Taxes (property & income)
2. Housing costs (renting and buying - 2-3 br w/garage)
3. Jobs (Diesel Mechanic)
4. Educational opportunities (local colleges)
5. School districts - how are they (kids - ages 16, 14, 12)

Thanks!

I'm in Upstate SC - near Spartanburg.

1. My property taxes run about 1% of my property value. SC income tax is high at 5-6% of taxable income.

2. 2,000 sq ft 3 br w/garage in a subdiv would be $150-200K depending on location

3. They say SC unemployment rate is high. As a hiring profesional myself, most everyone who I interview for avaialble jobs are unqualified to feed my dog. My assessment: 0% unemployemnt. If you are good at what you do, you can get a job here.

4. Local universities in Greenville - Furman, Clemson, Bob Jones University (religious) In Spartanburg - Wofford, USC Upstate, Converse (womens college)

5. School districts - SC ranks about last in the nation for secondary education. I don't have kids, so I can't confirm or deny, but my general orientation is that ALL public schools are the bigegst waste of tax dollars to ever have been perpetuated on mankind. I live in DIstrict six,a dn they have an entire brand new K - 12 facility, along with a 10,000 seat football stadium.

re: ride areas....

See my thread "Riding in the Carolinas and Georgia"

Some stuff here, ALOT of good stuff coming.

[DieselTech]

garandman,

thanks for the info. You say you are a hiring professional? Any chance you could assist me with finding a job? Or at least give me some info that could help me with that?

If I relocate, it will be at the end of this month. I planned to make a trip down south the 1st week of September to check things out, bringing all my stuff with me, ready to move. Of course, then I'm "flying blind", unless I come back here and postpone the move. Problem there is that my lease is up & I'd have to find another place to stay.

I've been a diesel mechanic for 16 years and I am certified (ASE and NY).

Any help would be much appreciated.

Originally posted by DieselTech
garandman,

thanks for the info. You say you are a hiring professional? Any chance you could assist me with finding a job? Or at least give me some info that could help me with that?

If I relocate, it will be at the end of this month. I planned to make a trip down south the 1st week of September to check things out, bringing all my stuff with me, ready to move. Of course, then I'm "flying blind", unless I come back here and postpone the move. Problem there is that my lease is up & I'd have to find another place to stay.

I've been a diesel mechanic for 16 years and I am certified (ASE and NY).

Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm a controller for an engineering firm, and have hired and fired people for quite some time.

Best place to check is Careerbuilder.com in the Greenville and SPartanburg area - unless you want to be more down by the coast.

I can get you names of some hiring firms in the area.

[ryann mx68]

check out some stuff in northern georgia.

low taxes, good jobs, plenty of work, low housing costs,

staying north of atlanta, very mountainous region, lots of lakes, etc.

plenty of places to ride, private and state

check out www.georgiaoffroad.com clicky the links for mx tracks and orv areas, this will give you a general idea of the amount of space here.

i know my ford dealer is looking for diesel techs= to keep the 6.0's running.

[DieselTech]

Ryann,

I stayed in Toccoa Falls for a summer when I was a kid - many moons ago. It was nice, had a great time. Can you be more specific about "good jobs, low taxes, low housing costs, plenty of jobs"?

Where ever I decide to move to must have an active MX community (esp. bikes), as one of my sons races Senior Mini. My youngest wants to race as well, and I hope to start myself next year after my leg is fully healed. I'd like to try GNCC XC or MX on my quad as well. So, these are important.

Also important is being able to get a good job that will allow me to be able to afford the same (or better) lifestyle that I can here. I make about $45k a year here, but I think the cost of living is expensive - the property taxes are high (easily $3k/yr or more), the state income tax is about 1/3 of the federal rate, gas just hit $3.10/gal for regular (87) unleaded, and housing seems expensive to me (but it could just be me- I pay $1,000/mo to rent a 3br/1ba ranch w/2 car garage & basement, which is a little high anyway, but they let me keep my dog). Thanks for the help & info.

[ryann mx68]

you can look at

www.ajcjobs.com

maybe get a idea of whats available and pay scales. some jobs are less than up north, some pay equal or more.

its weird, but it just depends on the job.

[ryann mx68]

diesel tech, sent you a pm.