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

[Jingthing]

This is really bizarre. Until a few days ago I had never heard of Delmar Loop or University City Missouri in my entire life. Just now saw a news report showing it on Fox News because of the violent protests there. Seems like some kind of cosmic message but not sure what that message is.

 

 

[Jingthing]

BTW if you were not joking before I really do not mind. I think everyone is racist as far as being aware of differences. It's what you do with that information that often becomes problematic when it unfairly hurts people. People acting like they don't see color is kind of a joke.

 

 

[Kim1950]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

My ideal is an interesting mix of ethnicities and enough Asians to support authentic restaurants.

Your challenge is to find such an ideal place on a 'Thai Expat Income'. Are you imagining a place in the US like the post Vietnam War where Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao and refugees with ethnic Chinese backgrounds, even Thai's settled in extreme low income 'hoods', lived the American Dream and now have 'places' available on low income. They have renovated these refugee or immigrants areas. Their children have college professions and careers. They are living the 'Dream'. Not cheap.

[Jingthing]

47 minutes ago, Kim1950 said:

Your challenge is to find such an ideal place on a 'Thai Expat Income'. Are you imagining a place in the US like the post Vietnam War where Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao and refugees with ethnic Chinese backgrounds, even Thai's settled in extreme low income 'hoods', lived the American Dream and now have 'places' available on low income. They have renovated these refugee or immigrants areas. Their children have college professions and careers. They are living the 'Dream'. Not cheap.

 

 

I don't expect to realize any kind of ideal. I thought I've already made that abundantly clear ad nauseum. It's all about trade-offs. BIG ones. 

 

But there are extremes. I wouldn't seek to live in a uni-racial locality of any race, including of course white people. That is reasonably realistic. Yes, I want enough Asians around to support authentic Asian restaurants. That is also reasonably realistic. It could be 2 percent of a large city, but less than 1 percent in a small city, not so good. 

 

I'm not interested in sharing every detail of my personal finances and different resources and potential resources on this thread, but I also think I've been very clear that I expect my cost of living to be considerably higher in the USA, even in crappy places, and the quality of life lower.

 

Which begs the question, why go back? Which isn't really what this thread is about. People DO go back all the time for all kinds of reasons, positive and negative ones, and there is a fair chance I will too.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Jingthing

[mogandave]

Ha ha.  Joking or not, it's moronic to act like race/ethnicity isn't a huge fact of life in the USA. On my Latino Barrio experiences I had blondie friends there and they all got mugged multiple times. I never was. Purely anecdotal that's the ticket.

 

Anyway like I said before I like to have plenty of Latinos around but I prefer areas that aren't strongly dominated by any ethnicity. Other people like different dynamics. It is part of the choice of where you live if you have any choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, and I never had a problem with a baht-bus driver, so there ya go,

 

I went to grammar school in a Mexican ghetto (carmelas varrio) and worked for two years in a black ghetto (Compton) and I never got "mugged".

 

It's all about attitude

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, mogandave said:

 

 

Yes, and I never had a problem with a baht-bus driver, so there ya go,

 

I went to grammar school in a Mexican ghetto (carmelas varrio) and worked for two years in a black ghetto (Compton) and I never got "mugged".

 

It's all about attitude

My attitude is WALK FAST. 

[Jingthing]

This is a really interesting article about why there are so many vacant housing units and/or rentals of badly maintained units in some big cities. Including some mentioned on this thread.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how it directly relates to to this topic, but I still think that it does, at least as informational background --

 

Quote

 

Gone Baby Gone

In the wake of the housing crisis, a new breed of real estate investor is destroying America's cities.

 

 

 

https://newrepublic.com/article/144528/gone-baby-gone-wake-housing-crisis-new-breed-real-estate-investor-destroying-america-cities

Edited September 20, 2017 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I looked briefly into the research triangle area of North Carolina. Raleigh - Durham - Chapel Hill. It seems like a nice place but my impression is that it sounds kind of boring. Also housing costs higher than suburban Atlanta which is a lot of things but not boring. So as they're both southern "metro" areas I'm comparing them. Research Triangle sounds great for professional academics and people working in tech though (also helps to be SPORTS obsessed). 

[amvet]

On 9/20/2017 at 8:57 PM, Jingthing said:

I looked briefly into the research triangle area of North Carolina. Raleigh - Durham - Chapel Hill. It seems like a nice place but my impression is that it sounds kind of boring. Also housing costs higher than suburban Atlanta which is a lot of things but not boring. So as they're both southern "metro" areas I'm comparing them. Research Triangle sounds great for professional academics and people working in tech though (also helps to be SPORTS obsessed). 

That area made it to my final three before I moved to Thailand. 

[Jingthing]

19 minutes ago, amvet said:

That area made it to my final three before I moved to Thailand. 

Yes, I do see the appeal.

[Jingthing]

On 9/16/2017 at 10:28 PM, swissie said:

Yes JT, the plans of men and mice.

- No Farang setteling in Thailand made plans to end up in "Dire-Straits". All it takes are a couple of "bad decisions" and a couple of "bad aquaintances".

 

PS: Look at Casa Grande, Arizona. Located halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. Mid sized  fast growing town with all the comforts you are looking for ( even some modest "Cultural-Events").  A few miles out of town = rents still affordable. Desert climate, so "swamp-coolers" work very well. (Low electricitiy cost). 

Phoenix or Tucson are only a little over an hour away.

- A very "liberal-minded" population. (Live and let live).

= I can't see you setteling somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by some Hillbillies, just because the rents are low.

Cheers.

That's an interesting suggestion that I wasn't aware of before.

I did some research and my general impression is that the housing isn't nearly cheap enough to offset the lack of decent Chinese restaurants (and presumably even good Asian markets to cook myself). 

I think living in such a place I would want to drive to Phoenix or Tucson very often and that wouldn't be cheap or convenient.

More likely I would mostly be stuck there. 

So bottom line, if Arizona, the Tucson or Phoenix areas seem a much better fit. 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Jingthing

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's an interesting U.S. News and World Report article on the climate change related impacts on coastal southern states such as Texas and others. These areas are those that some budget minded expats might be considering. But the future climate and natural disaster outlook there seems bleak.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-09-22/what-harvey-revealed-about-climate-change-in-the-south

 

Quote

 

Port Arthur [TX], like the South as a whole, is both uniquely located to feel climate change's effects and uniquely vulnerable to its dangers, experts say. From Florida and the Gulf Coast to Kentucky and Southern Appalachia, the rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather that come with climate change threatens to disrupt local economies and endanger working class communities.

 

"The southern U.S. is basically ground zero for climate change," says Dr. Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University and the so-called "father of environmental justice."

There's the South's geography, for one. Surrounded on one side by rising seas and susceptible to the heat waves and droughts of the lower latitudes, it's suffered more billion-dollar weather and climate disasters than any other U.S. region going back to 1980. Texas alone has seen 94 of such events in that time frame, nearly 25 more than any other state.

 

"In Texas you get everything. You get ice storms and blizzards and tornadoes and flash flooding and haboobs and of course hurricanes," says Katharine Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech University who contributed to the 2014 National Climate Assessment.

Continued...

 

 

And I had been thinking of somewhere in Texas as a possible future landing spot...  

[I mean, before the latest massive hurricane Harvey there -- not just until after reading this article.]

 

Quote

 

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in in the southern US at the end of August, killing more than 80 people and causing severe flooding, which displaced tens of thousands.

It is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in US history, surpassing the record set by Katrina in 2005.

Harvey is likely to wind up costing the economy around $190 billion (£140 billion), according to forecasting firm AccuWeather.

 

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/hurricane-harvey-flooding-earth-sink-texas-houston-water-weight-crust-natural-disaster-a7958601.html

Edited September 23, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Jingthing]

Richness of food culture is a factor for some of us.

This list is interesting and humorous if not very surprising.

 

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/every-state-ranked-by-its-food-drink

 

I did take note of this mention about North Carolina:

Quote

... a Charlotte food scene that's consistently underrated.

 

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Richness of food culture is a factor for some of us.

This list is interesting and humorous if not very surprising.

 

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/every-state-ranked-by-its-food-drink

 

I did take note of this mention about North Carolina:

 

 

 

 

predictable for the top 4 spots...Tennessee at #5??? right on, 50 years ago I remember a lot of good fast food places around Nashville, Nick Varallo's out on the highway with good italian and bbq, but mostly a hangout fer delinquents, Bob's Big Boy and of course my grandma's southern cooking...she'd bustle into the kitchen and rattle some pots and pans and 10 minutes later a feast to die for...grandad spittin' tobacco juice into a coffee can and snappin' the green beans...

 

Oregon at #6??? amazing...I lived in Springfield mid 70s and the best thing I remember was the jerked deer meat during hunting season at the little shop where we'd stop to get cold beer on the way home from the logging show up Fall Creek...Eugene - Springfield at the time had the highest number of pizza places per capita than any other conurbation in the US...the rest was pretty miserable, at least fer a California boy missing his mexican food...

 

 

[SpokaneAl]

 
predictable for the top 4 spots...Tennessee at #5??? right on, 50 years ago I remember a lot of good fast food places around Nashville, Nick Varallo's out on the highway with good italian and bbq, but mostly a hangout fer delinquents, Bob's Big Boy and of course my grandma's southern cooking...she'd bustle into the kitchen and rattle some pots and pans and 10 minutes later a feast to die for...grandad spittin' tobacco juice into a coffee can and snappin' the green beans...
 
Oregon at #6??? amazing...I lived in Springfield mid 70s and the best thing I remember was the jerked deer meat during hunting season at the little shop where we'd stop to get cold beer on the way home from the logging show up Fall Creek...Eugene - Springfield at the time had the highest number of pizza places per capita than any other conurbation in the US...the rest was pretty miserable, at least fer a California boy missing his mexican food...
 
 

50 year old memories of Tennessee and almost that long ago recalling Oregon. I would hope both locations improved or at least changed considerably since that time.


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[Jingthing]

19 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

 

predictable for the top 4 spots...Tennessee at #5??? right on, 50 years ago I remember a lot of good fast food places around Nashville, Nick Varallo's out on the highway with good italian and bbq, but mostly a hangout fer delinquents, Bob's Big Boy and of course my grandma's southern cooking...she'd bustle into the kitchen and rattle some pots and pans and 10 minutes later a feast to die for...grandad spittin' tobacco juice into a coffee can and snappin' the green beans...

 

Oregon at #6??? amazing...I lived in Springfield mid 70s and the best thing I remember was the jerked deer meat during hunting season at the little shop where we'd stop to get cold beer on the way home from the logging show up Fall Creek...Eugene - Springfield at the time had the highest number of pizza places per capita than any other conurbation in the US...the rest was pretty miserable, at least fer a California boy missing his mexican food...

 

 

Speaking of Oregon.

From the same link ...

 

Quote

... it's safe to say that Ohio's shaping up to become a fatter, weirdly accented answer to Oregon in the Great Lakes region.

 

[SpokaneAl]

 

. . . With much rougher, colder, winters.


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[SpokaneAl]

Then there is this . . . https://editorial.moneywise.com/a/ch-fbkb/20-inexpensive-places-to-retire-in-the-us/p-1

 

 

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[tutsiwarrior]

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Speaking of Oregon.

From the same link ...

 

 

 

yeah...I can just see the bumper stickers; 'Don't Californicate Ohio'...

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, tutsiwarrior said:

 

yeah...I can just see the bumper stickers; 'Don't Californicate Ohio'...

Or maybe Don't Oregonanarape Ohio ... 

[mogandave]

I aways liked Ohio


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[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, mogandave said:

I aways liked Ohio


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Where specifically?

[tutsiwarrior]

Kurtz: Where are you from, Willard?

Willard: I'm from Ohio, sir.

Kurtz: Were you born there?

Willard: Yes, sir.

Kurtz: Whereabouts?

Willard: Toledo, sir.

Kurtz: How far are you from the river?

Willard: The Ohio River, sir?

Kurtz: Uh-huh.

Willard: About 200 miles.

Kurtz: I went down that river once when I was a kid. There's a place in that river - I can't remember - must have been a gardenia plantation at one time. It's all wild and overgrown now, but about five miles, you'd think that heaven just fell on the earth in the form of gardenias. Have you considered any real freedoms? Freedoms from the opinions of others. Even the opinions of yourself.

 

 

brrrr, cold as ice...believe I'd prefer loggin' up outta Oakridge above the high pass in March; 'hey, the logs are still frozen to the ground...' 'they got some powder (ed: dynamite, 30% nitro) up on the landing...quitcher screamin' and go an' go up and get some...'

 

tough bastids...never been to California...

 

 

Edited November 14, 2017 by tutsiwarrior

[mogandave]

Where specifically?

Berea, been a while though.

[Jingthing]

Back on this.

 

Greenville, SC came on my radar recently.

A smaller growing city with lots of arts, cultural, and food amenities relative to it's size. 

Anyone know it? 

 

I'm getting the idea it's developing into a "little Atlanta". Well, I like Atlanta but as an older person maybe a smaller city would be a little more of a better fit. 

 

To note -- on the medical care access issue before age 65, I think we will know more after the Midterm elections this November, as the republican party still hopes to completely abolish the ACA but obviously won't be able to if they suffer setbacks then. 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

A little flavor of Greenville, SC.

Yeah I can definitely see the similarities to Atlanta and suburbs.

Of course if I moved there it wouldn't be very near to that cute downtown!

This couple with their adorable dog is kind of cute but calling Greenville the New York City of the south ... that was silly. (That's Atlanta.)

 

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

About the general question of living near "big water" or not.

Well, isn't this really a case of knowing thyself?

I've lived with good access to oceans, bays, or great lakes most of my life.

In my 20's and 30's I really enjoyed hanging at beaches, but that's definitely faded.

I think at this point it's more about the psychological ambiance of being in a coastal area. Obviously views as well but such views are cost prohibitive in the U.S.

So is the cost of a general coastal ambiance really worth it? Specifically coastal Florida, there are extra costs in insurance, electricity, and flood/storm risks. Tampa / St. Pete / Bradenton / Sarasota, etc. have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but realistically if you lived there away from those beaches, how often would you actually visit them (if ever)? Back to knowing thyself.

 

I'm thinking now maybe save some money from that and can always fly down to Puerto Vallarta or the Dominican Republican, etc. for a real beach binge if needed. It's much more special when it's rare, isn't it? 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Jingthing

[mogandave]

Greenville is (or at least was) a nice little town. 

 

Spent a lot more time in Anderson, which is nice as well.

[mogandave]

Oh, and SC beaches are nice

[Jingthing]

Oh, and SC beaches are nice

I know lots of people like Myrtle Beach. My impression is that it would be considerably more expensive there. But it is a popular retirement city I think especially with golfers.

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