What's So Great About Your State?

[Cradle2crayons]

I don't love my state in general.

It's the part if the state specifically that I love and I will always live here.


In general, my area has AWESOME SCHOOLS.

homeschool is a dream here. No regulations.

Licensing for daycare is easier here than most places.

I'll never live anywhere else...even with the constant tornadoes and hurricanes,

[Lyss]

Ooooooo Lyss, I so wanna come visit you!!!!

I totally want to come visit you too! Great pictures!

[daycarediva]

Full disclosure: I have a 3/4 acre property in the suburb of a large city. My home is worth 229,000. It's a 2100sf 3b/2b ranch, built in 1970 & is being renovated room by room. We pay $8900/yr in property taxes & $2500 in school taxes. We do have great schools, but that varies WILDLY in NY. 45 minutes away from me/where I grew up is just awful. We specifically chose this school district because it's excellent & has an amazing autism program (6:1:1 applied behavioral social class) with each wing containing it's own psychologist, behavioral therapist, music therapist, special education teachers for gym, art, music and it's a lock down wing. Ds gets 12 hours/week of individual therapy & 5 of group). my district spares NO expense with special education. Dd & Ds are in regular ed, my school offers advanced placement classes. My Dd will graduate a year early WITH atleast 16 college credits paid for by the district.

We are considered middle in

[daycarediva]

Got cut off.

middle income. My brother has a masters degree & is head of finance at a
large broker in Georgia & we make about the same $$$ only his house is twice our size, twice as nice for half the price but they pay for private school because public ****s in GA.


daycare is famine locally. I am full by the skin of my teeth & other providers aren't so lucky. Average rates are $150, I charge more than that.

I live 5 minutes from a beautiful lake, 30 minutes from 4 others. Trails,fitnesd stuff out the wazoo & tons of stuff to do. Every year for the last 6 years we have taken a 'staycation', we don't drive farther than an hour & wre still haven't run out of things to do/see.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Lemme see....Florida....

Beaches
No Snow, ever
Beaches
Never cold, ever
Incredible, beautiful tropical paradise.
Drinks with little umbrellas in them.
I own more bathing suits than pants.

Hmmmmm. That's all I got. ::
Want some cons?

Blazing hot
100% humidity for weeks on end.
Mosquitos, roaches, fleas,.spiders
Rain. Lots and lots of rain. 4pm.every day.
Crazy people by the truckloads.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I forgot....Alligators! A million alligators. Yup.

[MyAngels]

I feel sad. My state is not only boring, but corrupt and nearly bankrupt, too. 2 of our last 3 governors are in the pokey. Time will tell with the current guy. Yup, Illinois is the place to be ::.

My town is nice, though, so there's that

[Mister Sir Husband]

I live in NY and will concur. We also get a great 4 seasons every year, it is B E A U T I F U L (I live near the finger lakes, right in the heart of wine country) BUT the taxes and regulations are ridiculous. I wouldn't recommend anyone move here, simply because of the taxes.

Yep... I agree.. I'm further south, a few miles from the Pennsylvania border. Love the area, but the taxes and regulations.. oof

[Sugar Magnolia]

Lyss, WOW WOW WOW! GORGEOUS!

[Play Care]

I live in a colonial built in 2004, we have almost two acres of property. We pay over $6,000 for school/property but this does NOT include trash removal, water, sewer, etc.
but we are also taxed on most of our purchases as well. I am less than an hour away from Albany.

[SilverSabre25]

Ohio. Central Oh. I've lived here pretty much all my life. I don't really want to leave. Our bugs aren't crazy and our weather isn't crazy (no volcanos, earthquakes, rare tornados/minor ones, no hurricanes, no insane snow, no tsunamis)

Daycare is essentially all unlicensed. It's supposedly possible in other counties but I'll believe it when I see it...and I'm not likely to ever move far from where I am now. But it's easy. And depending on where you are, daycare clients can be easy to find (or really really hard...).

Though MN is sounding really good.

But if you've lived here then you know a lot about OH. I still love it.

Just don't try to go anywhere in downtown Cbus during an OSU game. Though contrary to my In Law's belief, the *entire* city doesn't shut down for OSU related stuff. It's quite possible to live here and sort of forget football exists. Unless you're married to a football fan.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yep... I agree.. I'm further south, a few miles from the Pennsylvania border. Love the area, but the taxes and regulations.. oof

My mom's family is from Elmira, also from Williamsport, Pa. Ever heard of.Sinamahonig? (sp?) Tiny town my grandpa was from. Lovely area!

[Lyss]

We have no sales tax but property tax varies significantly even in the same neighborhoods. Sometimes it seems like there is no rhyme or reason behind them but I guess they have some sort of system My grandparents have a 1980sq ft 3/2.5 ranch house built in the 70s 1/4 acre lot in the nice area (not the "wealthy" area) and they pay 3850/yr for taxes. The neighbors have a slightly larger property (4/3 2400sq ft, corner lot, built same year & upgraded 4 years ago) and they pay 2500 in taxes :confused:

Schools really depend on where you live, most are pretty good no dropout factories in my area

Plus Goonies was filmed in Oregon! Who doesn't want to check out the Goonies house?

Lyss, WOW WOW WOW! GORGEOUS!

Thanks! We like getting out and enjoying it!

[Sunshine74]

I'm in NY state, but closer to the Vermont border than NYC (more rural than urban)

What I love: Having four seasons. The proximity to anywhere - want to spend the day in the mountains? on the lake? on the ocean? in one of the greatest cities in the world? (IMHO: all pretty accessible (unless one decides to head east on the LIE the Friday before Memorial Day weekend - WTH was I thinking?! But I digress...) Good public schools, lots of good college options, diversity, etc.

What I don't like: NYS has to be one of the more regulated states and our taxes are higher than many other states.

I live in NY and will concur. We also get a great 4 seasons every year, it is B E A U T I F U L (I live near the finger lakes, right in the heart of wine country) BUT the taxes and regulations are ridiculous. I wouldn't recommend anyone move here, simply because of the taxes.

I currently live in Western New York and I'm loving it. I love the big trees, the green grass (yes, green even in the winter under all the snow), the way the temps don't get too high, the nature everywhere, the amazing schools, the amount of things to do that cost little to nothing. I love how small the class sizes are and how much more is spent on special services and classes.

Yep, all this. I have lived in Western NY my whole life and never want to move. The taxes are high, but I've never lived anywhere else to really be notice the difference. I love that we are so close to Niagara Falls (one of my favorite places!) and to Canada. There is so much to do in the area and within a day's drive if you want to have a little getaway.

Though if I had to, I would choose MN. I have family there and love it!

[CedarCreek]

I have been seriously looking at real estate in Minnesota last night and today!! ::

Hubby loves what he is seeing and I think he would actually let us go if he could find a job that pays as well or better than what he is getting now. He is a produce manager at a grocery store and has been there for 11 years.

The only other thing he is scared of is the cold, of course! We would probably cry our first winter while we were getting used to it. ::