Thinking of moving to Illinois (Chicago, Rockford: section 8, 2013, rent)

[pythonis]

Oh and BTW, we are probably going to rent a home at first. That way we can easily move if we don't like there.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by pythonis

At the moment we live in Clarksville TN and it is just not us. It's boring, no nightlife, people do nothing but smoke pot, come home, and smoke more pot. They all love true crime stuff but like kids watching scary movies they see evil everywhere and are in a constant state of hypervigilance. It's become a town of giant pickup trucks with flags attached to the sides like you see in Texas. Rolling coal has started to become a thing here although it is uncommon. Roads are becoming increasingly bad, there are practically no sidewalks, and the sales tax is insane (9.75%).
We just want to live in a nice town that has a good neighborly feel to it, where there's a decent amount of businesses, but it isn't overrun by fear mongered gun toting introverts. We are childfree and like being in non-family atmospheres. Nothing wrong with kids but here in Clarksville it's almost mandatory that you have kids to live here and it's all overprotective/helicopter parents.
We want a town where we can have both a work and personal life, where we can choose to either go out to a business for food/drink/entertainment, or we can invite people over/be invited over without some overly inflated sense of stranger danger like we have here in Clarksville.

Your ask is difficult. At that budget it's hard to find a place with a decent amount of population, and have it not be downtrodden. And have it not be with rural attitudes, which you seem to not enjoy.

One place that MIGHT work is suburban Cincinnati, which is a fairly cheap city. Just over the border into Kentucky are a couple of nicer towns, older, mixed politically as we saw both parties represented with yard signs when walking around. This was right across the Ohio river in the older sections of Covington and Newport. I have no clue what the prices are there, though. But overall, I'd think Cincinnati is bluer than red if you can stay reasonably close to the city or in the city.

Another might be to move to college town in a cheap state. Something like Ames, IA might work. You'd have liberal college influences there, but Iowa overall has a cheap COL (though Ames is likely higher cost). I'd check in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio at any town that has a decent sized college/university.

You're likely going to have to be north of where you are - I don't think you'll find what you are looking for in the SE USA or in places like Oklahoma/Texas. And anything west of there is in a housing/price bubble that won't meet your budget.

[pythonis]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Your ask is difficult. At that budget it's hard to find a place with a decent amount of population, and have it not be downtrodden. And have it not be with rural attitudes, which you seem to not enjoy.

One place that MIGHT work is suburban Cincinnati, which is a fairly cheap city. Just over the border into Kentucky are a couple of nicer towns, older, mixed politically as we saw both parties represented with yard signs when walking around. This was right across the Ohio river in the older sections of Covington and Newport. I have no clue what the prices are there, though. But overall, I'd think Cincinnati is bluer than red if you can stay reasonably close to the city or in the city.

Another might be to move to college town in a cheap state. Something like Ames, IA might work. You'd have liberal college influences there, but Iowa overall has a cheap COL (though Ames is likely higher cost). I'd check in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio at any town that has a decent sized college/university.

You're likely going to have to be north of where you are - I don't think you'll find what you are looking for in the SE USA or in places like Oklahoma/Texas. And anything west of there is in a housing/price bubble that won't meet your budget.

We've thought about Kentucky (Louisville or Lexington), out West is a no, and we'd really like out of the Bible belt. We would be willing to pay a bit more if we were able to make a bit more. Small town like Clarksville doesn't really make a person rich by doing gig work, but a bigger place might.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by pythonis

We've thought about Kentucky (Louisville or Lexington), out West is a no, and we'd really like out of the Bible belt. We would be willing to pay a bit more if we were able to make a bit more. Small town like Clarksville doesn't really make a person rich by doing gig work, but a bigger place might.

You might check out Sioux Falls, SD. A fast growing (over 200,000) city with a quite young and vibrant feel. The COL here is lower than almost anywhere you've been or that has been mentioned.

Housing is reasonable compared to other growing areas although it has shot up in price the last 5 years.

NO state income tax. You can license your car for around $ 100 AND insurance rates here are among the lowest in the country.

It is an EXTREMELY safe town compared to other cities of equal size. Gang problems are almost non-existent.

Anywhere else in SD I don't believe you would be happy in as it is quite rural. Yet, cowboys are different than hillbillies.

It's also a relatively short drive by interstate to the Twin Cities (230 miles) and Omaha (175 miles) if you need the occasional fix of being in a very large city.

Illinois is a MUCH more expensive state.

[Kmanshouse]

Places like Sioux Falls, Des Moines, and others like that are honestly going to be the last remaining nice places to live. The issue I have there is weather. And I think that's honestly why they've stayed safe, etc. Population stays relatively in check and is for hearty folks who generally aren't lazy and looking for shortcuts (or living there 'cause it's pretty).

Sometimes the better the weather is, the more apt a place is to be rife with problems.

[phatkhat]

We are in our 70s, and live in Arkansas. When we moved here 20 years ago, it was pretty blue, but that changed when Obama was elected. Now it's bright red, and totally under Republican control. We are most likely going to have Sarah Huckabee-Sanders as our next governor, and it's past time to go. We live remote, and the neighbors have an arsenal which they practice with on weekends. Scary. We aren't gun averse, and have a couple ourselves, but they are something else. Then there are the Bible thumpers... don't get me started.

50 years ago, I lived in Champaign, but not so keen to go there now. I guess I don't want to destroy my memories of trips to Allerton Park and gathering on the quad to sing protest songs. Those were the days. It's too expensive now, anyway. Lived in Rockford in the early 80s, but because of my crappy job it was a bad experience. The town wasn't bad, but seemed pretty redneck, at least back then.

We are looking in northwest Illinois. It seems the quad cities are blue, and there is some affordable housing, though we are looking to buy, not rent. Also more diverse, and there seems to be some effort to form neighborhood associations.

As to Wisconsin, they seem to have too many Rs in their lineup. Ron Johnson for starters. And how long did Scott Walker hang on? At least in Illinois the lege is blue - completely opposite of here in Arkansas. And they have written Women's health into law and legalized pot.

The search continues. Vermont or Maine would be our real choice, but it's a trip that would be too much for our elderly cats, I'm afraid. Good luck, OP! Know you are not alone in fleeing Southern insanity.

[blickcd]

Cincinnati was mentioned, and I live in that area. IMO it would be a better choice than Illinois. A brother-in-law was an Uber driver for a year or two, his wife has a modest job, and they were able to get by on that income in an an older subdivision on the NW side.

I agree the political climate is mixed.

My personal preference would be to live in a somewhat rural area near Cincinnati like Clermont or Brown counties, where you could commute in for plenty of gig work, but where you would get more for your money and potentially have more space for animals.

Might help us if you specify on the animals. I know of several people in Hamilton County (where Cincinnati is) that raise chickens. In Clermont County, I know people with chickens, goats, horses, etc.

[Mathguy]

Pythonis, I think that it's VERY important to point out to you that both liberal and conservative comes in a much wider range of flavors than people like to cast as reality.

Even in highly R or D areas it's still 40% of the lesser which is a lot.

Secondly, there are a lot of R's that don't like Trump etc. and a lot of D's that don't want to abolish police forces entirely.
I personally think you'll find Illinois rural repubs to be far less polarized than southern repubs kinda like comparing CA democrats to the ones you find in the Chicago burbs is a completely different animal.

Clearly you need a place with gig work, but don't want a huge city and a lower cost area so frankly the big University towns make the most sense.

[personone]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Pythonis, I think that it's VERY important to point out to you that both liberal and conservative comes in a much wider range of flavors than people like to cast as reality.

Even in highly R or D areas it's still 40% of the lesser which is a lot.

Secondly, there are a lot of R's that don't like Trump etc. and a lot of D's that don't want to abolish police forces entirely.
I personally think you'll find Illinois rural repubs to be far less polarized than southern repubs kinda like comparing CA democrats to the ones you find in the Chicago burbs is a completely different animal.

Clearly you need a place with gig work, but don't want a huge city and a lower cost area so frankly the big University towns make the most sense.

This is an astute observation, and can be broadly generalized to the Great Lakes region as a whole (in addition to parts of the Northeast, particularly New England). You tend to find a more old school “Democrat-Republican” divide rather than a newer school “Liberal-Conservative” divide. Meaning, it is a lot less polarized at the extremes like you will see in many other regions of the country. You won’t find as many neighborhoods or towns where you are completely ostracized for being in a certain political party.

[Avondalist]

I think it's better to live in a place that is politically balanced because then neither party can get lazy and both have to compete with competent governance.