Egon
Epic Contributor
Is not the urban population much greater than the rural?
Egon
Egon
Where to live - suggestions please
- Thread starter ejb
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OverlyRun
Silver Member
Virginia
EJB: I am a New Englander transplanted to Washington DC. Spent many, many summers when I was young climbing most of theWhite Mountains and Green Mountains and canoeing most of the rivers (Lyman Falls Dam was a hoot, RonL!) So when it came time that we had resources and time for a weekend place I had a clear view if what constituted the country.
We drew a circle 2 1/2 hours in radius around Washington and looked at lots of places and found that prices got within our reach here in Rockingham County, Va...at the outer edge of my circle. Why 2 1/2 hrs? Lots of people have beach houses that they manage to get to alot and the beach is that far). Dulles airport = 2 hours.
We looked in Shenedoah County, Hardy County West. Va, and as far south as Charlottesville before finding 164 acres with a view, and no highway noise.
Mountains, streams, hemlocks, mountain laurel....but not so many maples as you're used to. And snow is not reliable (cross country skiis have only come out twice in four years).
Cell phone service stops about 20 miles closer in, and cute inns, fancy restauraunts are not part of the scenery out here. Diesel for tractor is close at hand though, at the general store. John Deere, New Holland and Kubota dealers within 45 minutes. Not sure about Power Track.
Nancy Sullivan in Woodstock, Va. is a great realtor. She had the best inventory of nice homes with acreage in our view.
540-459-4663.
Picture is attached to show you the view behind the house so that if you do end up down here you will know that I cannot see a single structure from my porch...and welcome as you are, I do love my view!
Good luck with your search....it's been so long since I lived through a cold winter in NE that I cannot imagine volunteering to leave....but to each his own.
Send an e-mail if you end up looking down here.
Chas
EJB: I am a New Englander transplanted to Washington DC. Spent many, many summers when I was young climbing most of theWhite Mountains and Green Mountains and canoeing most of the rivers (Lyman Falls Dam was a hoot, RonL!) So when it came time that we had resources and time for a weekend place I had a clear view if what constituted the country.
We drew a circle 2 1/2 hours in radius around Washington and looked at lots of places and found that prices got within our reach here in Rockingham County, Va...at the outer edge of my circle. Why 2 1/2 hrs? Lots of people have beach houses that they manage to get to alot and the beach is that far). Dulles airport = 2 hours.
We looked in Shenedoah County, Hardy County West. Va, and as far south as Charlottesville before finding 164 acres with a view, and no highway noise.
Mountains, streams, hemlocks, mountain laurel....but not so many maples as you're used to. And snow is not reliable (cross country skiis have only come out twice in four years).
Cell phone service stops about 20 miles closer in, and cute inns, fancy restauraunts are not part of the scenery out here. Diesel for tractor is close at hand though, at the general store. John Deere, New Holland and Kubota dealers within 45 minutes. Not sure about Power Track.
Nancy Sullivan in Woodstock, Va. is a great realtor. She had the best inventory of nice homes with acreage in our view.
540-459-4663.
Picture is attached to show you the view behind the house so that if you do end up down here you will know that I cannot see a single structure from my porch...and welcome as you are, I do love my view!
Good luck with your search....it's been so long since I lived through a cold winter in NE that I cannot imagine volunteering to leave....but to each his own.
Send an e-mail if you end up looking down here.
Chas
Attachments
I aqree the city folk also pay the taxes increases, but most of the time, they are the ones that are directly benefiting from the tax increease...its one thing to pay increased taxes and get something for it, its another thing to pay the taxes to fund the half of the state you do not live in.
Problem is not unique to CA or NY or MA, but right or wrong it factors into my equation.
I am sure there are stunningly beautiful parts of CA and that one could do a whole lot worse. No offense intended.
Problem is not unique to CA or NY or MA, but right or wrong it factors into my equation.
I am sure there are stunningly beautiful parts of CA and that one could do a whole lot worse. No offense intended.
Re: Virginia
VA sounds beautiful...I am sure that this summer we will make a trip down just to check things out. I LOVE my property and if somehow I could magically move it someplace warmer I'd be one happy guy. It would be a very hard decisiton to leave, but I am trying to think really hard about where I want to be for the next 40+ years..and winters in NE are becoming less and less desireable /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
VA sounds beautiful...I am sure that this summer we will make a trip down just to check things out. I LOVE my property and if somehow I could magically move it someplace warmer I'd be one happy guy. It would be a very hard decisiton to leave, but I am trying to think really hard about where I want to be for the next 40+ years..and winters in NE are becoming less and less desireable /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Re: Virginia
Don't forget that northern VA is developing really fast. Not only will it spread out into the countryside, but you are already seeing the same problems regarding which part of the state calls the shots. Northern VA may not have a large city to lay claim to, but it certainly acts like it does due to the proximity of DC.
By the way, there are advantages to being within driving range of a major city. For one, if you or your family ever have any medical problems to speak of (especially if considering retirement) then you will want to be near one of the major medical centers for treatment.
Patrick (who is often in Northern VA on business!)
Don't forget that northern VA is developing really fast. Not only will it spread out into the countryside, but you are already seeing the same problems regarding which part of the state calls the shots. Northern VA may not have a large city to lay claim to, but it certainly acts like it does due to the proximity of DC.
By the way, there are advantages to being within driving range of a major city. For one, if you or your family ever have any medical problems to speak of (especially if considering retirement) then you will want to be near one of the major medical centers for treatment.
Patrick (who is often in Northern VA on business!)
kiphorn
Silver Member
Someone else mentioned central PA. 1 1/2 hrs to Baltimore, 2 hrs to DC and 2 hours to Philadelphia.
This house is listed in our local real estate magazine. 1790-1810 stone farm house. 5700 sf, looks like it might have two barns, in-ground pool and a pond.
$880,000 w/ 10 acres
$1,350,000 w/ 57 acres
$1,950,000 w/ 126 acres
For more info <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.morgancollins.com/listings/listings.cfm>Realtor</A>
Enter MLS# 2110449 in the MLS field
Kip
This house is listed in our local real estate magazine. 1790-1810 stone farm house. 5700 sf, looks like it might have two barns, in-ground pool and a pond.
$880,000 w/ 10 acres
$1,350,000 w/ 57 acres
$1,950,000 w/ 126 acres
For more info <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.morgancollins.com/listings/listings.cfm>Realtor</A>
Enter MLS# 2110449 in the MLS field
Kip
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crown
Platinum Member
Winchester VA is nice land is reasonable you are 75 miles to DC but the setting is rural, nice mountain scenery good local hospital great schools in the county(Frederick). My job takes me to counties of Culpepper, Warrenton, and Warren. Warren county and the town of Front Royal is also nice great valley views and the best priced land of rural NO VA. Send me a E-Mail with exactly what your looking for and price range and I'll be happy to forward you info.
Good luck,
Crown
Good luck,
Crown
If you like upstate NY but dislike the politics you might consider northern Pennsylvania along the southern tier of NY. Land prices are very reasonable. Taxes are reasonable. Winters are ... hmmm
So how about North Carolina? Inland. Up in the hills. They still have 4 distinct seasons (a must for me) but the winters don't plod on as they seem to in the Northeast.
So how about North Carolina? Inland. Up in the hills. They still have 4 distinct seasons (a must for me) but the winters don't plod on as they seem to in the Northeast.
GlueGuy
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Egon
re: Is not the urban population much greater than the rural?
By a large margin. I think the LA/San Diego/SF populations are over 20 million alone. That doesn't include a few smaller pop. centers like Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, or Fresno. That said, those ceneters are highly concentrated, and the rest of the state (and it's a really big state) is all rural.
EJB
No offense taken. I don't really think we need any more people here. It's funny the opinions that people from other parts of the country have about California. My sister is an excellent example. I've lived out here 32 years, and she hasn't come to visit once. At this point I've written her off.
But back to the taxes. It's true that CA has a relatively high income tax. However, other the other taxes that are applied state-wide, have local riders. For instance sales tax is higher in the metro areas than it is in the country. Also, unlike almost every other state in the country, they can't arbitrarily raise your property taxes (prop. 13). Your property tax is fixed at 1.18% of the purchase price, and they don't come around every year raising it to the "new assessed value". I believe that CA property taxes are about the lowest in the country.
I'm not going to harp on it, as you seem firmly entrenched toward the east coast. But I will say it one more time: weather. The weather out here is an 11 on a 10 scale.
re: Is not the urban population much greater than the rural?
By a large margin. I think the LA/San Diego/SF populations are over 20 million alone. That doesn't include a few smaller pop. centers like Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, or Fresno. That said, those ceneters are highly concentrated, and the rest of the state (and it's a really big state) is all rural.
EJB
No offense taken. I don't really think we need any more people here. It's funny the opinions that people from other parts of the country have about California. My sister is an excellent example. I've lived out here 32 years, and she hasn't come to visit once. At this point I've written her off.
But back to the taxes. It's true that CA has a relatively high income tax. However, other the other taxes that are applied state-wide, have local riders. For instance sales tax is higher in the metro areas than it is in the country. Also, unlike almost every other state in the country, they can't arbitrarily raise your property taxes (prop. 13). Your property tax is fixed at 1.18% of the purchase price, and they don't come around every year raising it to the "new assessed value". I believe that CA property taxes are about the lowest in the country.
I'm not going to harp on it, as you seem firmly entrenched toward the east coast. But I will say it one more time: weather. The weather out here is an 11 on a 10 scale.
