Wondering — Best Place to Live for 4 Season Weather

[Richard Hart]

Point taken. On whatever the two major systems are for climate zone, local I score "a one and a two" ala The Lawrence Welk show my grandparents used to watch as dependably as they went to church.

I want to retire to a place where I can grow and can vegetables. If I can grow tomato I can grow carrot and potato and fruit trees, and lots more, broccoli, lettuce, kale, chard, and so on. I want to retire to a place where I can harvest plentiful protein without working too hard at it. Shooting a moose is easy, field dressing a moose is not. Those Asian carp 'infesting' the Mississippi and Ohio river drainages are loaded with Omega 3 and they are fairly low in heavy metals as they primarily eat algae. I am not an expert on freshwater asian carp and they have a lot of bones, but they look manageable. I will claim to have reasonable facility with Alaskan salmon, but the only veg that grow up here well with the salmon are cabbage and potato. Salmon, cabbage and potato with a bit of moose and caribou does not score as a well balanced diet. You want some lichen or seal fat with that? Asian carp with all the veg that can grow near tomato, with a bit of white tail deer thrown in, does score as a well balanced diet. I will have to buy olive oil.

As my dad near Tampa FL says, 'there is an alligator in every river.' In southern IN the alligator is tornadoes, but I have enough vinegar left to put a wheelchair ramp in my house from the main floor down into the basement. I work with a fair number of folks up here on fixed incomes with nutrition status that is, mmm, not enviable. The three main problems I see on a fixed income are protein, nutrient rich veg, and the heating bill. Shelf stable carbs are cheap, but living on those opens the door to a host of expensive medical problems. I am going to die of something, I don't plan for it to be poor nutrition. Triple digit speeds in a hot car moments before 'the crash' is in my top three along with 'massive coronary', but casting off this mortal coil because of poor nutrition looks like a lousy exit strategy. I want to go be with Jesus when the time is right, but I am not looking to linger as a helpless old fogey with a medical condition.

What I see, going back to 1800 or so, is the dollar has less buying power year after year and decade after decade. If I can get the mortgage paid off and count on the retirement accounts to cover the property tax and utility bills, I have a fighting chance to die of something other than starvation if I can accumulate my own food with my retirement free time.

That's us.. what I get for no college education. Mortgage won't be 5%paid off when I croak. The heating bill thing was preventable. Not gonna end well. If I ever become a burden, it's off to Mexicoto catch Nembutal airlines.

[Bill Bukovec]

We moved from Minnesota to northeast (Johnson County) Tennessee. We get some snow, but most of it melts in a few days. Fall is beautiful as the leaves start changing colors at the higher elevations and work their way down. Our elevation is 2500 feet, so our summers are a little cooler than lower elevations.
Tennessee has no state income tax. Our property taxes went from $4,100 (in Minnesota) to $1,200.
We have 5 acres with plenty of white oak, poplar and pine for lumber.

[Aiden Pettengill]

Lol same here. We always say if you don't like the weather wait five minutes.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Point taken. On whatever the two major systems are for climate zone, local I score "a one and a two" ala The Lawrence Welk show my grandparents used to watch as dependably as they went to church.

I want to retire to a place where I can grow and can vegetables. If I can grow tomato I can grow carrot and potato and fruit trees, and lots more, broccoli, lettuce, kale, chard, and so on. I want to retire to a place where I can harvest plentiful protein without working too hard at it. Shooting a moose is easy, field dressing a moose is not. Those Asian carp 'infesting' the Mississippi and Ohio river drainages are loaded with Omega 3 and they are fairly low in heavy metals as they primarily eat algae. I am not an expert on freshwater asian carp and they have a lot of bones, but they look manageable. I will claim to have reasonable facility with Alaskan salmon, but the only veg that grow up here well with the salmon are cabbage and potato. Salmon, cabbage and potato with a bit of moose and caribou does not score as a well balanced diet. You want some lichen or seal fat with that? Asian carp with all the veg that can grow near tomato, with a bit of white tail deer thrown in, does score as a well balanced diet. I will have to buy olive oil.

As my dad near Tampa FL says, 'there is an alligator in every river.' In southern IN the alligator is tornadoes, but I have enough vinegar left to put a wheelchair ramp in my house from the main floor down into the basement. I work with a fair number of folks up here on fixed incomes with nutrition status that is, mmm, not enviable. The three main problems I see on a fixed income are protein, nutrient rich veg, and the heating bill. Shelf stable carbs are cheap, but living on those opens the door to a host of expensive medical problems. I am going to die of something, I don't plan for it to be poor nutrition. Triple digit speeds in a hot car moments before 'the crash' is in my top three along with 'massive coronary', but casting off this mortal coil because of poor nutrition looks like a lousy exit strategy. I want to go be with Jesus when the time is right, but I am not looking to linger as a helpless old fogey with a medical condition.

What I see, going back to 1800 or so, is the dollar has less buying power year after year and decade after decade. If I can get the mortgage paid off and count on the retirement accounts to cover the property tax and utility bills, I have a fighting chance to die of something other than starvation if I can accumulate my own food with my retirement free time.

I got a text the middle of last week from a buddy saying he just planted potatoes and onions and was going to do a first plow in the morning. He plants everything you can imagine, has pear trees fig trees u name it, hunts turkey and dear when not tilling and tending to his wife and garden. N.E. Georgia

[Jack Frederick]

Have lived in NY,TX,MI,WA,CO,ND,NE,CA,MA&CA. Always thought we would end up back in WA, but that didn’t work out. If I was making the choice today I would rule out about anyplace in the west, due to the heat, but mostly the dryness and fire danger, which is now year round. To me, Jim is in about the sweet spot in E PA. That spot extends variously all the way down the Shenandoah Valley into NC. Western VA is wonderful country. You are within a short trip to the ocean and within easy range of some big cities. Good balance there.

[Malcolm McLeod]

FWIW in Fairbanks our average 24/7/365 year round temperature is +32 degrees F. The four seasons are this winter, last winter, next winter and construction. ...

A woman in Kenai informed me that you had 9mo of winter followed by 3mo of really *crappy* weather.

Come to Indiana! We often have all four seasons in a single day!

Try Amarillo.
They'll see your single day, and raise you 6hrs.
(My father, while in USAF, saw weather report for Amarillo AFB reporting "blowing mud". I laughed until I had to clean it off my windshield.)

I'm with you there...if I were forced to move to Texas, Austin it would be for sure for a lot of reasons.

Go west young man. Or at least west of US 281. Life is better in San Saba, Llano, Fredericksburg, Kerrville (all Hill Country).

[Jim Becker]

There's very little chance I'll ever move to Texas Malcolm. But I visited a whole bunch of times which I was traveling for business as well as a couple of times when I was a kid on family travel.

[Malcolm McLeod]

There's very little chance I'll ever move to Texas…

I figured. ”Forced” was a dead giveaway

[John Goodin]

We moved from Minnesota to northeast (Johnson County) Tennessee. We get some snow, but most of it melts in a few days. Fall is beautiful as the leaves start changing colors at the higher elevations and work their way down. Our elevation is 2500 feet, so our summers are a little cooler than lower elevations.
Tennessee has no state income tax. Our property taxes went from $4,100 (in Minnesota) to $1,200.
We have 5 acres with plenty of white oak, poplar and pine for lumber.

Texas doesn’t have a state income tax but they get you on the property tax. Last year we paid 11,000 dollars on the homestead and just under 7,000 for the 1650 square foot rental property.

[Lee DeRaud]

Texas doesn’t have a state income tax but they get you on the property tax. Last year we paid 11,000 dollars on the homestead and just under 7,000 for the 1650 square foot rental property.

Yup, had that discussion several times with my folks: their prop taxes just about equaled my combined state income and prop taxes, on similar-sized homes.

[Michael Drew]

What's the humidity like during the summer months in the Tennessee area and surrounding states? I have been hearing it can get pretty rough. I have memories of visiting a friend in Kansas City during the summer, and I had sweat dripping off me. Reminded me of trekking through the jungles in Panama.

[Scott Winners]

What's the humidity like during the summer months in the Tennessee area and surrounding states? I have been hearing it can get pretty rough. I have memories of visiting a friend in Kansas City during the summer, and I had sweat dripping off me. Reminded me of trekking through the jungles in Panama.

It just depends on your tolerance. I grew up in Kentucky, poor, with no central AC. I thought waking up sticky and going to bed stinky was normal. Until I got to Alaska. I feel normal here. My metabolism belongs in Fairbanks, my joints belong in Mexico City. Try visiting in August, cheap as chips compared to moving twice.

With respect for all and malice towards none, summertime in the lower 48 is a fearsome monster to a lot of us up here. There is a pretty fair chunk of the population up here in Fairbanks thinking about moving to Barrow when he have an entire week of +80dF with 80% RH. And I know perfectly well, for an enormous chunk of all y'all down south, a week at +80 and +80 is mild. I don't miss it at all.

For me, -20 dF with RH around 10% for most of the year, but a summertime long enough and warm enough to grow tomato and all the other veg that growing season indicates would be perfect.

I cannot argue with the friend in Kenai who stated Fairbanks has 9 months of winter and three months of crappy weather every year. That is pretty close to reality.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

What's the humidity like during the summer months in the Tennessee area and surrounding states? I have been hearing it can get pretty rough. I have memories of visiting a friend in Kansas City during the summer, and I had sweat dripping off me. Reminded me of trekking through the jungles in Panama.

The last few dayze around here the humidity has been around 25%. for me that's too low, I get little red bumps all over my belly from being so dry....but the chicks dig it

[Thomas Wilson]

What's the humidity like during the summer months in the Tennessee area and surrounding states? I have been hearing it can get pretty rough. I have memories of visiting a friend in Kansas City during the summer, and I had sweat dripping off me. Reminded me of trekking through the jungles in Panama.

Hot and humid is a standard weather forecast for entire month of July. We take our rubber ducky inner tube down to the lake with a tall glass of sweet, iced tea. The water temperature in the cove gets up to mid 80’s.

My locale in East Tennessee gets 50 inches of rain per year. In something of a statistical anomaly for the area, July has the the second highest monthly rainfall for the year. We have lots of afternoon thundershowers.

[Jim Becker]

I feel normal here. My metabolism belongs in Fairbanks, my joints belong in Mexico City.

That is a wonderful analogy that so many of us can appreciate. LOL