USA -- low budget repatriation specific locations that aren't horrible

[slipperylobster]

Las Vegas has everything. Plus, you can win your expenses in the casino's with smart money management. If it's too hot in the summer, you simply go up to Reno for a few months. Reno is also inexpensive but fewer food options.

Win in a casino using smart money management?

That certainly is a new one. You do mean gambling? Nothing manageable about it. (worked in a casino for quite a while..

The more you come back, the more you lose. So living there..you will soon find the gambling does not pay the bills.

If you budget what you can afford to lose...you could get by. Lots of amenities. Most cannot.

Edited December 6, 2015 by slipperylobster

[slipperylobster]

I would recommend western Oregon. Mild weather, a lot less rain than Washington state (Portland has about 100 less days of rain than Seattle). Portland is a nice (although pretty strange) city, unfortunately the close you live to it the higher your expenses will be.

And Medford has 1/2 the annual rainfall that Portland does.

JT, are you aware of Ashland, Oregon? It's amazing, and while googling, check out Lithia Park too. It's danged expensive but I don't think that nearby towns of Phoenix (Oregon) and Talent are. On the other side is Medford which has all of the shopping etc. you could ask for. It has my favorite American Thai restaurant.

Those are my old stomping grounds as a young adult after leaving home. I think it's the best place to live in the US, bar none.

Ashland is often called a mini San Francisco and is very gay friendly. If you could find affordable housing in Talent or Phoenix you'd have great weather but with four seasons, very good health care with two big hospitals in Medford and one in Ashland. There are several very good medical clinics with lots of good doctors.

Lithia Park is the most amazing thing I've ever seen attached to a smaller town. They have summer concerts in that park.

Ashland has a renowned outdoor Shakespearean theater and festival that brings people from all over the world.

Mount Ashland offers great snow skiing if you're into that.

Nearby is Jacksonville which is so western looking that a couple of big name western movies have been filmed there. It was a gold rush town on the Old Stage Road. It has a summer music festival in an outdoor park and they bring in a big variety of famous and good musicians for a few weeks in the summer. It's called Britt Music and Arts Festival.

You pretty much nailed what I was looking for... should I return. I had also narrowed down my choices to the same general area. High prices for rent..but sounds like a good choice.

[NeverSure]

Las Vegas has everything. Plus, you can win your expenses in the casino's with smart money management. If it's too hot in the summer, you simply go up to Reno for a few months. Reno is also inexpensive but fewer food options.

Win in a casino using smart money management?

That certainly is a new one. You do mean gambling? Nothing manageable about it. (worked in a casino for quite a while..

The more you come back, the more you lose. So living there..you will soon find the gambling does not pay the bills.

If you budget what you can afford to lose...you could get by. Lots of amenities. Most cannot.

I was taught that they didn't build those big casinos with people's winnings. Gambling is addictive.

[Jingthing]

Yes, I have visited both Ashland and Medford and have checked out the current situation there.

Of course Ashland is a great town but of course way too expensive.

Medford seems like a place I could afford to hang on and rent some dump or roommate situation for a while but I don't see the long term affordability there.

Jacksonville, OR real estate is expensive except for funky old mobile homes in parks.

Medford would be more than OK for me and I think very many retirees. Of course it doesn't have all that a big city has.

The thing that Vegas and Phoenix areas still have is the possibility that I could buy a nice modern two bedroom condo or townhouse for cash and have something to rent out that would likely raise in value, probably at least paying for my HOA, real estate taxes, utilities, and maintenance/upgrades. So I could get housing security plus all the amenities (and problems) of a big city.

In any case, yes I agree Medford is a great suggestion for many people and of course Ashland if you're rich.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[arunsakda]

Is making aaliyah not an option? I'm serious here.

[Jingthing]

Is making aaliyah not an option? I'm serious here.

No.

But living in the Phoenix desert would be like living in Sinai, innit?

Edited December 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[arunsakda]

I think AZ basically sucks. I suggested Aaliyah for my own mother a few years ago when she appeared to be strapped for cash with no income possibilities beyond SS. It is not the Sinai either. I think they give poor newcomers West Bank concrete boxes built on stolen land.

Edited December 6, 2015 by arunsakda

[Jingthing]

I think AZ basically sucks. I suggested Aaliyah for my own mother a few years ago when she appeared to be strapped for cash with no income possibilities beyond SS.

Yeah, basically, if it's affordable it's gonna have some major sucky factors. It's about choosing which sucky factors. This thread is only about USA options. If I'm staying abroad, it would make sense to stay in Thailand.

[losworld]

Like many things else American, the quality of health care depends a great deal on where one lives. We certainly have never waited weeks for any kind of appointment up in my neck of the woods. Most times we see a doctor with a couple of days unless it is urgent and then get seen very quickly.

Funny thing is that in Canada as mentioned I can get into see a doctor in hours in any major center. In the U.S. and we are talking Santa Monica or Newport Beach it takes days or weeks to see a GP. The GP is the first line of defense in correcting the problem before it becomes more serious. The US health care system is not effective for average Americans. I wish Americans would wake up and see how their media and the corps dumb them down and feed them misinformation to pad their wallets.

"It is rare that a simple matter of patient choice causes an international flap.

But that's what happened when 60-year-old Danny Williams of St. John's, Newfoundland, decided to go to the U.S. for heart surgery.

That's because Williams isn't just any old Newfoundlander -- he's the premier of Canada's easternmost province, the head of its government.

The disclosure Tuesday that Williams was in an undisclosed location in the U.S., having an undisclosed procedure that he couldn't get in Newfoundland, brought catcalls from both sides of the border."

LINK

What's the point here? You can get heart surgery in any major Canadian city and most provinces. So a guy from Prairieville North Dakota won't go to larger centers for surgery? If a guy has the money he can go anywhere in the world and get surgery. Its only uniformed dummies that think the fat insurance based American system superior to every other country that has evolved from it.

[Heng]

Las Vegas has everything. Plus, you can win your expenses in the casino's with smart money management. If it's too hot in the summer, you simply go up to Reno for a few months. Reno is also inexpensive but fewer food options.

Win in a casino using smart money management?

That certainly is a new one. You do mean gambling? Nothing manageable about it. (worked in a casino for quite a while..

The more you come back, the more you lose. So living there..you will soon find the gambling does not pay the bills.

If you budget what you can afford to lose...you could get by. Lots of amenities. Most cannot.

In Vegas (and Pattaya hopefully one day), secured lending is the only sure game in town.

[Jingthing]

I have zero interest in gambling and more problematically hanging around people who are interested in gambling or even in the industry.

I've been to casinos and I don't even feel like using the slots.

That's a big point against Vegas for me but I know there is more than that in Vegas, but that is the focus there.

Speaking of which, I have read some recent predictions that there will be very major new development on the strip that is more about entertainment, events, sports, and retail as opposed to casinos and also a prediction that the FREE PARKING on the strip will go away, at least when major events are on. Yes, they're trying to get some major sports team right there on the strip. Of course that may take years, but that's the trend.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[SpokaneAl]

I have zero interest in gambling and more problematically hanging around people who are interested in gambling or even in the industry.

I've been to casinos and I don't even feel like using the slots.

That's a big point against Vegas for me but I know there is more than that in Vegas, but that is the focus there.

Speaking of which, I have read some recent predictions that there will be very major new development on the strip that is more about entertainment, events, sports, and retail as opposed to casinos and also a prediction that the FREE PARKING on the strip will go away, at least when major events are on. Yes, they're trying to get some major sports team right there on the strip. Of course that may take years, but that's the trend.

The heavy stench of cigarette smoke is enough to keep me from having any desire to visit casinos.

[Jingthing]

Buffets can be fun. And shows. I think it's a good sign that they are diversifying and also revitalizaing downtown.

[nithisa78]

Good link. NM, NV or AZ.

Edited December 6, 2015 by nithisa78

[OMGImInPattaya]

East Palo Alto is cheap...not sure how down the Nortenos are with the gay thing though.

[Jingthing]

An interesting comparison of Las Vegas vs. Phoenix:

http://vegasinc.com/business/2011/may/30/thou-shalt-not-covet-thy-neighbor/

Yes, Phoenix envy is out there. The question is: Is Phoenix worthy of our envy?

Phoenix envy ...

Get it?

[bangmai]

I've owned 3 homes in Phoenix...was usually pretty easy to find a job. It's just too hot...I like Nogales, AZ...85621. If you live in town, you don't need a car. There are vans going to Tucson every 30 minutes...it's 60 miles. People think it gets hotter as you go south, but elevation is more important. Evap works great in Nogales. 5 billion Kg of produce comes through the port every year...food is pretty cheap. Duty free liquor and cigs...just walk into mexico and turn around. A few great very old bars in Nogales, Sonora...buckets of Pacificos, etc..street tacos of international standards. There are cops everywhere....of course Mexico is dangerous, but it may have taken a turn for the better, and the bars are within 200m of the port. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/17/every-county-in-america-ranked-by-natural-beauty/

[bangmai]

I've owned 3 homes in Phoenix...was usually pretty easy to find a job. It's just too hot...I like Nogales, AZ...85621. If you live in town, you don't need a car. There are vans going to Tucson every 30 minutes...it's 60 miles. People think it gets hotter as you go south, but elevation is more important. Evap works great in Nogales. 5 billion Kg of produce comes through the port every year...food is pretty cheap. Duty free liquor and cigs...just walk into mexico and turn around. A few great very old bars in Nogales, Sonora...buckets of Pacificos, etc..street tacos of international standards. There are cops everywhere....of course Mexico is dangerous, but it may have taken a turn for the better, and the bars are within 200m of the port. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/17/every-county-in-america-ranked-by-natural-beauty/

Santa Cruz County Courthouse...1904.

[Kilowatt]

Ck.out the Vegas low water supply

[bangmai]

I bought a condo in Summerlin, LV in 2009 from Credit Suisse for 35K...sold it 9 months later for 55K. A good rental property for the Canadians, who bought it, 575 per month....I kind of hate Vegas, though, too many New Yawkers, and too many Michiganers (even worse). 20 years ago, it was great, but they got crushed by the crisis. I used to love Reno/Tahoe, but I think Reno has a lot of issues, now. I'll take Phoenix over Vegas any day of the week. It's very poor for lower budget gambler's, too. Once it became a family destination, and they started calculating how much they were going to make off you before you got off the plane, it was nearly over, then the GFC came with a vengeance. The old days were "get them drunk and feed them, then they will give it back gambling"...now it's tack on a 20 Dollar fee per night and call it a resort fee....no 2 Dollar BKJ, more like 10 and no single deck. Even hard to find good breakfast deals. I lived in Laughlin for 14 months, and that was way better, but it is unbelievably hot down there, and they too are suffering from the contracted economy.

[Jingthing]

Ck.out the Vegas low water supply

Phoenix too.

Yeah, it's craziness!

It's cheaper for a reason.

Phoenix, Arizona is one of America's fastest growing metropolitan regions. It is also its least sustainable one, sprawling over a thousand square miles, with a population of four and a half million, minimal rainfall, scorching heat, and an insatiable appetite for unrestrained growth and unrestricted property rights.

http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Fire-Lessons-Worlds-Sustainable/dp/0199828261

Lessons From Phoenix, The Most Unsustainable City In The U.S.

Forget Portland and San Francisco: If we really want to understand the city of the future, we should look to the Arizona desert, where if they don’t figure things out, there won’t be a city anymore.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679449/lessons-from-phoenix-the-most-unsustainable-city-in-the-us

But there's a certain coolness to live in a future GHOST CITY!

Edited December 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[bangmai]

Plenty of people from Portland in Phoenix, much easier to find a job. Agriculture still uses half the water in Arizona......water rates are pretty low, too. My combined water/sewer/trash was about 50 usd per month, which is low by us standards. The trash portion was 27.

[Jingthing]

I bought a condo in Summerlin, LV in 2009 from Credit Suisse for 35K...sold it 9 months later for 55K. A good rental property for the Canadians, who bought it, 575 per month....I kind of hate Vegas, though, too many New Yawkers, and too many Michiganers (even worse). 20 years ago, it was great, but they got crushed by the crisis. I used to love Reno/Tahoe, but I think Reno has a lot of issues, now. I'll take Phoenix over Vegas any day of the week. It's very poor for lower budget gambler's, too. Once it became a family destination, and they started calculating how much they were going to make off you before you got off the plane, it was nearly over, then the GFC came with a vengeance. The old days were "get them drunk and feed them, then they will give it back gambling"...now it's tack on a 20 Dollar fee per night and call it a resort fee....no 2 Dollar BKJ, more like 10 and no single deck. Even hard to find good breakfast deals. I lived in Laughlin for 14 months, and that was way better, but it is unbelievably hot down there, and they too are suffering from the contracted economy.

Very interesting.

What do you think of Henderson?

[bangmai]

Henderson is similar to Summerlin, a bit more sterile than LV, but it's still LV...close to the airport. A decent 1 br is 600+ pm. Lots of Asians. Not a good place to be low income. Likely, a big Mormon influence in local matters.

[Jingthing]

Henderson is similar to Summerlin, a bit more sterile than LV, but it's still LV...close to the airport. A decent 1 br is 600+ pm. Lots of Asians. Not a good place to be low income. Likely, a big Mormon influence in local matters.

By U.S. standards, 600 for a decent 1 BR is quite low. Thanks for sharing your impression.

[bangmai]

Just remember, Sun City is #1 in number of dental implants, Sin City is #1 in breast implants, but Scottsdale is #2 in both!

[Jingthing]

Just remember, Sun City is #1 in number of dental implants, Sin City is #1 in breast implants, but Scottsdale is #2 in both!

That made me imagine masses of people with sunburns, vampire like, biting on over-sized unnaturally perfect shaped plastic breasts. I'm traumatized now.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[NeverSure]

Henderson is similar to Summerlin, a bit more sterile than LV, but it's still LV...close to the airport. A decent 1 br is 600+ pm. Lots of Asians. Not a good place to be low income. Likely, a big Mormon influence in local matters.

By U.S. standards, 600 for a decent 1 BR is quite low. Thanks for sharing your impression.

Rents are getting high. If a guy could put up with that double wide in a park, and get at least a 2 bath unit, he could rent out a bed and bath and have a roommate for not less than $500 per mo even in cheaper markets. That would pay the park rent and the utilities and allow a guy to live pretty cheaply.

JT, I wouldn't give up entirely on Medford too quickly. I think there's affordable housing. I would hate to live in the desert.

Housing in Medford.

Edited December 6, 2015 by NeverSure

[Jingthing]

Honestly, I don't think there's enough there for me as far as cultural stuff, including Ashland, and San Francisco and Portland are not close. I already looked on Zillow and I didn't like what I saw.

[Rob13]

New Mexico's cheap just stay out of Taos,Santa Fe and all the art places.....any rural state,Tennessee is cheap once you get out of the cities, sometimes hard to be the new kid on the block tho,most people have families going back generations once you get out in the counties, hard to break in to that kind of tight knit group but if you you're used to being a foriegner it wouldn't be so bad.

I've always heard Minnesota was good for being broke because of all the social programs;but then you got winter--for me;returning solo, with not much money i'd probably go with NM or West Texas.....what to do for money would be my biggest worry. With big gaps and not much for references and no ties to a community things could be hard. Desperate employers would be a good place to start...if you can get a CDL you could always find a job just about anywhere. Good Luck

Edited December 7, 2015 by Rob13