I live in Utah now, and I'm looking for a place to move to that is not too expensive, but that makes it easy to begin a new lifestyle. LA and New York seem too expensive. I like Las Vegas, but is there anywhere else?

Portland, OR

Comparable cost of living, amazing outdoor recreation and spectacular culture.

Yes. Spear is right. PDX is a great town. Or just up the road is Seattle. Bear in mind Seattle is more expensive than Portland, but I like it.

The PNW is nice because we are largely secular.

Northwest or Colorado, SW or east coast, depending on climate and many other preferences. Beautiful places, too, and different thinking atmospheres. Anywhere?

I'm in upstate NY. The COLA isn't bad. We have high taxes, but good schools, etc., and moderate housing prices. We're within a few hours' drive of NYC, Boston and Montreal. The Adirondack State Park is bigger than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon and the Great Smokies National Parks combined. We are also one of the least religious places in the country. Mormons are very few and far between.

"Best place" is really hard to define without some sense of what your priorities are in terms of recreation, etc. Texas has relatively low cost of living and you can decide what kind of climate you like. Rural Texas is going to be Fundamentalist Christian (mainly Baptist), but the cities, particularly Austin, more liberal.

jerry64 Wrote:
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> "Best place" is really hard to define without some
> sense of what your priorities are...

Yeah, once you get away from Mormons, then what do you want for your life? Getting away is the easy part. You could end up in a Mo-free zone but miserable anyway because the place isn't right for you.

"LA and New York seem too expensive. I like Las Vegas, but is there anywhere else?"

No, there are no other places anywhere in the United States to live except for LA, New York, or Las Vegas. Guess you're stuck with one of those.

Colorado.......gorgeous like Utah but NOT TBM, unlike Utah...
I love it.

Depends on what you want...the sky is the limit now!

If you're young and single, figure out if you want a big city, rural area or anything in between.

If you have kids, look for good public schools.

If you have a spouse, they'll have opinions, too, of course. And decide if you want to stay in fairly close proximity to family or if you prefer to be far, far away.

And if you can, button up your church experience by resigning before you move, so the church doesn't come after you in your new home. You will move and be much more free!

Smaller city, close to Lake Tahoe and hiking, skiing, etc. I moved from Salt Lake City, and it's blessedly Mormon free for the most part. I've only seen mishies trolling twice since I moved here two years ago, and not once here at my apartment complex. I resigned my membership in January that year, and made the move to Reno 4 months later. The weather is very similar to the SLC area.

Except milder and no inversions which make winter drag on and on.

East coast....they would not know a Mormon in most towns....only some in cities do. If you like the four seasons...PA. If you don't, VA and others along the coast. If you like the cold...Maine.

"If you like the four seasons...PA."

My son-in-law has been drilling for gas in PA all winter, and he's been complaining about freezing his *ss off. And he's from Cincinnati! Problem with PA's four seasons is the one that lasts too damn long.

"If you don't, VA and others along the coast."

Are those the only choices? Are there not any other places between Mormonland and "along the coast" to live? According to my map, there are about 2000 miles between Utah and the east coast, with hundreds of mid-to-large-size cities scattered throughout, and tens of millions of employment opportunities to check into.

"If you like the cold...Maine."

Why just Maine, and not every other state of a similar climate?

I've lived in east Tennessee for 30 years. There has been a steady stream of northerners moving here the whole time, among them the owner of this website. Hardly a day goes by that I don't run into somebody who's moved here from Ohio, Michigan, New England, or other northern areas. My wife and I recently browsed a local small town. We went into three businesses---a restaurant, a gift shop, and a B&B. All three businesses were run by transplanted Yankees.

Also, hundreds of thousands of Floridians have moved to the mid-south to escape the heat and high taxes. They're called "halfbacks." They were born in the north, moved to Florida, and are now moving halfway back north. And there are lots of transplanted western Mormons and Ex-Mormons living here too. For instance, one of my long-time local friends is GBH's grand-nephew.

My advice to the OP is to search the magical internet. Look for a place that has job openings in your field. Check out the local economy, schools, crime stats, housing costs, climate, recreational outlets, etc. Then pick the one that fits you best.

Cape Verde Islands. Cheap. Beautiful. You'll need to bone up on your Portuguese.

I love the outdoors and the mountains of the west, so moving from Utah to Colorado made sense to me. Since living here, I haven't looked back. People are friendly, plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy, and the cities feel "real" (I don't know how else to describe them).

No one understands why I make fry sauce, though, but that's OK ;o)

Ex - Mo / Ex Northern Utah / and here I am . Hot , but I always hated cold .

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 03:26AM by steve benson.

How's your brother liking eastern KY? Has he started wearing overalls, drinkin' 'shine, and watching "Justified"? :-)

North Dakota hit the #1 spot for happiest state this week. Lots of jobs, few Mormons, good schools.

OR, WA, & BC, Canada are hard to beat. Very few Mo's and lotsa trees.

Kolob? No wait...Missouri...oh, hell no.....

Missouri. KC area. Very low cost of living. Low morbot ratio. Great schools in the burbs. Lots of jobs.

Are you completely cuckoo?

Missouri is where the Second Coming is happening....soon.
It's a gonna be flooded with Momo's.

Scotland is nice ;-)

Isn't that a suburb of England - or soon will be! ;-)

Denver seems like Utah without all the Mormons. You are close enough you can go back but far enough you cannot just drop by.

Seattle is also great and Portland, but you have to see where job opportunities are. Arizona is too Mormon and New Mexico does seem to have a lot of opportunities. California is expensive but you might get a job to compensate for that.

For me,

Clean water
Clean air
Good dirt
Lots of trees
No neighbors within sight

That'll do.

Go to the Book of Mormon lands, they'll never be able to find you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 10:56AM by Stumbling.

Honestly, anywhere except Utah. Unfortunately, I'm stuck here for the time being-- but hope to get out in the next 2-3 years. Good luck!

Utah = Spirit Prison, who knew....