What would you like folks to know about your neighborhood..

[Arne]

Dont know if the links will work... got this from a friend. We pay $350 per month in taxes for a great school system that sucks in more people with more kids who drive taxes up even more. EACH of the past 3 years the taxes have gone up 6.5-7.5% mainly for new schools and expansion of existing schools... while the farm land disappears..... check out below, where a friend is thinking of moving... I envy those of you who really like where you live.

Notice the first one has an estimated payment of around $112 per month.

---------------


http://tinyurl.com/f5bj7

2 bedroom, 1 bath, 3 acres,
$22,500

now, lets get brave and see what $100K will buy. (in
the Minot area there was 200 listings under $125k).
well, got carried away and went up to $139K, 1 acre,
get drunk fall off the deck, right into the lake, huh?
(Blue gill, perch, walleye, pike, largemouth bass)

http://tinyurl.com/lxe4z

[hammer & tongs]

Arne..and the rest;

I see by review, that I gave mostly the upside of my area..
To be fair, I should give some of the downside as well.

Taxes are heavy and growing..property is less expensive than most places in the nation...mainly because so many folks are leaving..

Taxes high, employment..low

Taxes & govt keep growing....jobs keep leaving (we are a "blue state")

The counties outside the big cities are "red counties"..but the cities out-vote us...making us a blue state overall.

Don't know how the politicians expect to keep going..they can't keep taxing the smaller & smaller population more and more.

So; unlike some of you folks...I am not getting run out by crowds...but the taxes are a large burden..

The crowds are being run out by taxes.

[vairman]

I live in Irving Tx. Home of the Dallas Coyboys.. And here you must be Bilingule to speek to your neighbors. Also there are some rules for driving in the Dallas/Ft Worth Area...
1--- Drive as Fast as you can
2--- Follow as closly as possable to the car in front of you.
3--- And If someone has a flat tire, everyone stops to watch them change it!!



Greg

[Ira]

I live in Irving Tx. Home of the Dallas Coyboys.. And here you must be Bilingule to speek to your neighbors. Also there are some rules for driving in the Dallas/Ft Worth Area...
1--- Drive as Fast as you can
2--- Follow as closly as possable to the car in front of you.
3--- And If someone has a flat tire, everyone stops to watch them change it!!

I don't see anything wrong with anything you mentioned--been doing it for years!

[Bigwoods]

We are a lot like Arne in Minot ND. NW Minnesota should be annexed by North Dakota. This part of the state is kinda ignorred by St. Paul. My kids went through 3 school consolodations. I have two schools and 4 gymnasiums within 5 miles of my house, but thay are closed and the kids are bussed 1 1/2 hours to a school 17 miles away. Schools can be purchase for a dollar if'n you want to deal with asbestos removal and taxes.

We have a large population decline since the flood of 1997. We do get a large influx of Hispanic folks in the summer looking for work and enjoying Minnesota liberal welfare sysyem.

That being said, we have wonderful weather in the summer and housing is very reasonable and crime is very low year round. The land is as flat as a pancake and the farmers grow wheat, sugar beets and potatos.

Fishing is a few hours away. It not a bad place, but after we enjoy our dream house for a while, we are moving to avoid the blizzards. [img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=10621[img][/img]

[Larry Messaros]

70 Mile House, B.C.

It's about 5 hours north of Vancouver. There's a store, pub, motel and post office.

It was named after one of the many road houses that weary travellers used for food and sleep and to water and rest the horses. We moved up here from Lillooet last year (which, ironically is considered as Mile 0!).

We are located in an area called the Cariboo (not Caribou!) where the skeeters will carry you off for a late nite snack. We don't live in igloos but the temperature in the winter will go down to -40 (F or C, take your pick, they are both cold!)

We shop in 100 Mile House, which, for us, is a 45 minute drive. We live on Green Lake which is about 20 minutes from 70 Mile House. It's really a 4 season paradise, but people are buying up the waterfrontage fast and furious and it's starting to get busier.

I've got a garage full of bats, and I have 1 of 5 bat houses made which I hope that they will start moving into soon. Around our house the skeeters are not as bad as some other areas because of the bats.

We have a group of wonderful full time residents who help each other out when in need. I just joined the local volunteer fire department which has 2 pumper trucks and a tank truck. We have all the water we can pump!

The things we worry about are the Bald Eagles trying to carry off one of our Shih Tzu's, if and when the deer start eating our veggie garden, and which direction the black bears will run.

It's a tough life, but somebody has to do it!!

[madjack]

Larry, I am sure glad you're up there taking care of all that heavy work for the rest of us...I know it's gotta be tough....
madjack

[hammer & tongs]

Thanks Greg, Larry, Mad and all who wrote before...I think this is a VERY interesting thread...great to get a glimpse into the lives of our fellow TDers..

We are a diverse gang..

My new TD is being designed with it being often used as a "hunting shack"...
Are`there others here who are into the hunting sports ?...if so, what's your game ?

Although I do hunt big game...my heart is into varmints and squirrels.
I like the precision of a rifle and do no shotgun hunting..

Sounds like Larry for one, lives in a hunter's paradise...

[bledsoe3]

you can hardly find a house for under $120,000,

Here in Porland it would have to be a complete wreck to get a house for that price. I just sold a 7500 sq. ft. lot on the outskirts of town for $110,000. The house prices have been increasing double digits anually for a while now. Taxes are 9% on your income and property taxes are crazy. Our poupulation has steadily increased and we now have more than 2,000,000 people in our metro area.

On the good side, we're less than two hours from the beach and less than that from the mountains. We have year round skiing and it stays green here all summer. We also have one of the largest concentrations of micro-breweries anywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland%2C_Oregon#Demographics

[madjack]

Jim, the flip side of that coin is around here..a brand new 18/2000sqft house will sell for 80/150 grand (depending on location and amenities), land can still be bought for under 10grand an acre...sometime well under(or above) depending on location...of course a "good" job around here pays 7/8bucks an hour and is not seasonal.....

Louisiana is called the "Sportsmans Paradise"...snow skiing and rock crawling are about the only outdoor activities you have to go off for and as far as hunting goes...bear, elk and moose are about all we don't have...I have by and large quit hunting because of various changes around here but still go hunting squirrel...I like to use my .22 Ruger target pistol...makes it a real challenge...
madjack

[Ira]

We also have one of the largest concentrations of micro-breweries anywhere.

Watch out:

I'm moving there next Tuesday.

[PresTx82]

I live in El Paso, Texas. Most of Texas doesn't claim us as being in Texas. I have lived all over the world compliments of the United States government, but this is the first time living in a desert. I don't mind it and actually like it here. Living is cheap compared to other areas. The housing prices are sky rocketing like the rest of the US and this city is growing very, very fast. We have the Invasion from Mexico to deal with, but most of them continue North. Taxes here are higher than when I lived on Long Island due to the social programs, schools and hospitals we pay for due to the illegal immigrants on the public dole,

In spite of it all, I love it here and I'm near several National Forests in New Mexico to "get away" from it all like I'm doing tomorrow evening after work. Look at this sunset from my back yard that is the same 200 days out of the year.



The skies are clear at night and you can actually see stars and meteorites if you look. Before I came down here from the East Coast, I thought that we had polluted the atmosphere so bad that we couldn't see the stars anymore like I remember when I was a kid. I was wrong of course.

[bledsoe3]

We also have one of the largest concentrations of micro-breweries anywhere.

Watch out:

I'm moving there next Tuesday.

Ira, You can park the crab in my drive way until you find a place.

[Miriam C.]

This is a picture of Shoal creek just outside of Joplin MO. It is the only natural waterfall in the state. There is also a dam of sorts just behind it. This is what keeps us from having a major lake and being a huge tourist trap.

The water in Shoal creek is spring fed and is chrystal clear unless it rains a lot. There is also a park with a running spring that is safe for drinking. There are 2 small campgrounds not too far from the falls.

We live just outside Joplin in a small village called Duquesne.
(pron. du cain) Our taxes are way low here because the village is still on suburban septic tanks. (not good after a heavy rain) Taxes on An average $70,000 home is about $400.00 a year. Can't beat it.

Schools are now air conditioned now and teacher are underpaid but mostly dedicated to real teaching.

You can still get a small 3br house for under $100,000. Wages are relatively low if you don't work for a factory or in the medical field. Joplin has 2 regional hospitals that are rated in the top 100 nationally.

We have a few strip malls and a real mall. Acadamy Sports moved in last year and the town is full of resturants, the primary source of entertainment. There are 2 theaters, one fancy and expensive the other, has Tuesday matinees for .50 cents. Guess what the kids do on Tuesdays.

Come visit
Miriam

[oklahomajewel]

This thread is giving me some great ideas of where to move someday. Or at least that's what I'm thinking today, looking toward our 102 degree days we're going to get this week.... and it's still just July !!!

Needless to say, I don't like the heat!!

Julie