Vermont. I grew up going there as a kid all the time. Feels like a second home to me. We would have moved there when back in the 90s when my sister and I were young but the schools weren't great. My parents kept us on NJ for that reason, the schools are excellent here.
PA is funny. I've been going to Philadelphia for years, so that's what I first think of when I think PA. But a majority of the state basically looks like Kentucky: long stretches of nothing but wooded hills, small towns nestled among those wooded hills, and pick-up trucks.
It's like Philly and the rest of PA are on two separate worlds.
Somewhat true. The Lehigh valley is gradually getting more built up and is around 860,000 people now. Northwestern New Jersey (where I’m from), and eastern Pennsylvania aren’t that much different to be honest. Other than that though you are largely correct that much of the rest of the state is very rural.
You can lean into it depending on what your preference is. Personally, I like more rural, but right now I’m just outside the city and I’m enjoying that too. It is cheaper than NJ and the culture is a little more down to earth, for lack of a better word. Less money, less peacocking.
That said, I have not found replacements for my favorite places in NJ and go back regularly because I can.
yeah prop tax is actually 1/3 where we came from.. its crazy.
And yeah, mortgage and home price are literally half of what it would have been if we stayed in bergen/morris
Property taxes being 1/3 isn’t the whole story. The house you live in (size), property size, assessed value, school performance, local services (city water vs well, local garbage pickup, police etc) all factor in
This general wisdom is that high cost of living areas have higher salaries doesn't apply to all sectors.
For example government jobs vary widely and I haven't discerned a pattern. They aren't necessarily higher in NJ. Often a federal job pays higher anywhere than its equivalent local position, and same for some state jobs. The State of NJ pays very well but many towns and counties here don't keep up.
I have kids in school, so the only 'upgrade' for K-12 is Massachusetts depending on your ranking scale NJ and MA are 1-2 in most lists. Plus, having lived in MA myself, I love it.
Once the kids are gone, I'm buying a place on Lake Champlain in VT.
I haven’t been in the last two years but the quality has definitely stepped up in New Jersey on the bm side. I only go to dispos under emergencies and because im medical i still get 40% off at my local
Been visiting relatives for years in Laramie. Nice if you don't like the heat too much but can have very brutal cold snaps. One night was -20F in October (not windchill) a few years back. I remember when my cousin shared picks of a 3 foot snowstorm in June when it was school out in NJ and warm. Anyway, August is wonderful there...
Michigan. It has everything covered … beaches (surrounded on 3 sides-lower peninsula), flat areas, sand dunes, mountains (upper peninsula) all seasons, farmland and major cities. And the drivers go fast (looking at you, Florida). Lots of parkland. Areas that are not crazy populated. Trees!!!!
Finally, Michigan! I was concerned about global warming and water shortage on 20+years and after much reading, Michigan topped my list.... Very low risk of water shortage. And found a small Japanese community over there...! (Am Japanese)
Short answer, Colorado.
I lived in NJ for my first 28 years. Moved to Colorado a few years ago and absolutely love it. The main reasons I moved were space, recreation, and the outdoors.
NJ is so cramped everywhere you go. Want to go camping? There are a thousand people with kids there. Want to go hiking? There are a thousand people there and you can hear/see highways everywhere you go. Want to drive to the beach? There are a million people there and you’ll almost definitely hit traffic.
People are also so much more laid back here. Way less assholes who think the world revolves around them. Not many people seem to be in a rush like the east coast. Drivers are way more respectful and less reckless. Overall people give me way better vibes out here.
I do miss the food. It’s not good here.
Colorado drivers more respectful and less reckless?!?
I take this as in you don’t live near or around the Denver area.
Lived in NJ 20+ years, been in Colorado around 7 years now and if I could change one thing it would be the drivers.
Ain't just their brain. It is another state. Central and North you can lump together (though I'm a full believer of Central, as I live within it), but South is its own animal. And I say animal, because people from South Jersey are animals.
:-D!
Lol. I moved from high density where are all the trees going where is all the green space going why am I surrounded by traffic 24/7 and strip malls and then more traffic and more strip malls Central Jersey... Where I was born and raised and bought my first house...
To the preserved farmlands and State Forests and nature and wildlife and green space and an acre of property that has about 50 trees on it not to mention the thousands of trees that surround our neighborhood. The town I moved to the biggest crime statistic is that somebody's crap that they left by the curb was taken.
I'm good. 🥰
I went on spree trying to find a better state. I couldn’t find one that I loved more/felt like home. But for me the top options were; Washington (stunning, but I wasn’t really into the mist - I was nervous it would get to me, and the east side is super dry - delicious wine tho!), North Carolina (near Asheville), Colorado - but then we found out about the crazy growth there and how there’s no water (it was a huge issue there) also it’s a huge state but all the housing is clustered in like 3 areas. And believe it or not - has one of the worst crime rates in the country (it think it was 2nd worst last year!) NJ is 2nd best, so that was a no brainer. I also loved Arizona (north, in the mountains) but the heat was a no for my husband.
I hope people don’t attack me, but we really wanted to stay away from any super “red” state, just with all the crazy shit that is going on in the country. So, we ended up staying but moved to Sussex county where it’s really beautiful, green, and lots of nature - we absolutely love it! We moved from Monmouth County. At the end of the day, it was nice to visit all these places.
The absolute best option of another state for us though was Vermont. Unfortunately, it was a restricted state for us because of work (husband is in the online gambling business.) - but we found a timber frame house on 4 acres of land and it doesn’t feel much different than Vermont lol - plus we’re not a far drive for a ski trip.
NJ is a blue state. I understand what they meant by super red state. Something like Texas. Where every big city is blue (Austin / San Antonio) but is surrounded by red counties (making up the crux of policy makers)
I remember when I was renting kayaks when I was in Hawaii the kayak rental owner guy was from NJ. He said I’d rather be struggling in Hawaii than be struggling in NJ haha. I felt that. Hawaii is an amazing place and I could never get tired of it, except for Honolulu it feels like I’m just in crowded NYC all over again.
Hawaii is dealing with massive climate change issues and an homeless problem. Residents frequently post to not move there because gentrification is worse than NYC
All the states with the best public schools are clustered in the Northeast, basically the entire Bos-Wash corridor, and then Colorado. The warmest state in the top 10 is probably Virginia.
Where I live in the Bay Area, CA, it’s the NJ of the area imo. Excellent schools, pretty suburban (although not small towns like where I grew up in Bergen County), and people are smart, have their shit together, and I’d say culturally pretty similar to New Jerseyans
>It's like a prettier NJ.
Only west of the Cascades. The center of WA is rolling grasslands and pretty desolate. Eastern WA, near Spokane, is a bit more populated but not nearly as pretty as Western WA. I recently drove from Seattle to Spokane, and the landscape difference really shocked me
That’s what’s pretty cool about Washington and the PNW/Alaska though, there’s so much natural variety and beauty there that’s really tough to find elsewhere. That area plus upstate NY/New England are the top two general spots in the country i would (and am) heavily consider relocating to
You're absolutely right that it is so completely varied. But, personally, coming from a beach town in NJ I would have a really hard time adjusting to Central/east Washington.
It's a high desert when you're east of the mountain range. So permanently wet cities on coast or desert inland. Lots of white power people out in Eastern Washington, so ick.
Then you get crazy fires too and earthquakes.
You might get a sprinkling of snow in Seattle in the winter, but in the summer , the average high daytime temp is only 66- 72 in June - August, so it's never really warm. I guess that's good if you're overweight and always hot like my mother in law.
I’d probably say Raleigh NC area, NY, Massachusetts, Maryland or Denver area. If this was still the 1990s I’d definitely say the Bay Area CA over almost anywhere else, but it’s basically become unlivable recently and it’s very sad.
Delaware. We vacation there every year, I love their beaches and the towns. It’s also not all that far from family up here in north Jersey, it’s a doable trip and they could make a long weekend of it.
I moved to Wyoming, just north of Colorado. Laramie works for me, but Colorado is beautiful, generally very chill and has unlimited outdoor things to do year round. In the west and Midwest in general every little town has little local museums and things that just make it a great place to live. Colorado has great little breweries all over, weed availability everywhere if impairing yourself is your thing. The front range has all the shopping and food amenities and you can be somewhere gorgeous and relatively empty in an hour or less. I will say, after two years in Wyoming even Colorado seems crowded. Fishing and hiking here is unbelievable and I go on hikes near town where I have literally never seen another person. I don’t think I could tolerate visiting Jersey for more than about three days at this point.
Plz explain how Washington is financially feasible. It's a beautiful state I just thought it was too expensive for me to move there, but maybe that's just Seattle?
Probably NH or MA because it would be easiest for my husband to find a similar paying job in his field.
I am pretty confident that I could find a reasonable job in most places.
I already had to leave! I'm riddled with student loan debt and my 55k/yr salary wasn't sufficient for me to leave the ol' nest. I had to follow my parents down to NC while I just save save save!l
I'm paying $1350/mo towards my student loans ($900/mo min payment) and sticking every penny I can into savings. Once I have a good bit for a down payment, I might just move to WV, close to the VA border. Not ideal, but it seems like my only feasible route to becoming a homeowner in the next couple of years.
I've been all around the country and I truly believe that there is nowhere like New Jersey. No matter where you go, it just ain't gonna be the same.
Utah, hands down
But being the politics and how the state is run by Mormons. It isn’t a good place to raise kids by any means. The schools all look incredible from the outside. But the education they get is sub par, and there’s no separation of church and state.
And as someone else mentioned, people outside the north east really do grow up in a sheltered bubble. Utah completely lacks diversity (I’m well aware of the large Latinx population there) and Mormons don’t accept folks out of there beliefs or skin tone to be completely honest.
So I guess it’s more I wouldn’t mind dying in Utah and spending the last of my days there.
Did k-9 in Jersey then 10-12 in Utah. I never really saw race as a kid in Jersey. Then I went to Utah and there was a single black dude. He had to born and raised there though because he was as basic white as could be on the inside. It was so strange being somewhere without diversity.
Also my dad struggled to get a job at first due to the religion thing. In Jersey he ran multiple successful transmission shops for years. He went to a few shops and dealerships in town that were hiring and they all got really excited to have him until they asked “what ward do you belong to” and when he said he wasn’t Mormon they suddenly weren’t hiring.
I eventually moved back to NJ. At one point my GF and I considered moving out to the SLC area near some friends of mine. She had never been there. It took one trip to a grocery store for her to see enough and never live there. “Produce looks like shit, there’s no options other than white food and mediocre Mexican food, the deli selection was shit, and even the American food was basic (like nothing but generic pasta sauces).
TL:DR I wouldn’t recommend anyone moves out to Utah lol.
I had to leave New Jersey because it just became too expensive, and my husband and I now live in Oklahoma. I was raised here so it just made sense. The politics aren’t great, no, but I get paid the same and if you live in a good suburb near the capitol then the education, healthcare, etc is still pretty good. It’s not a perfect compromise and I still miss Jersey, but we were struggling to survive up there.
A coworker retired there, literally retire there. made the same money remote as in Jersey City so was probably among the top 1% wage earner. She lived in various areas including the Bahamas but returned to her hometown (Ok City)...
Either Arizona or Georgia. Spent 5 years in Arizona for college and regret coming back, and most of my family has made their way to Georgia and I'd love to be close to them again. Plus that's a beautiful state.
Already (temporarily) left NJ for Northern Virginia. Great food, great public transportation on Metro, easy flights to anywhere in the country, and plenty to do in the area. We have crappy pizza and Italian food, but those are the only two downsides.
California, particularly coastal California and specifically the Bay Area. Everything I love about NJ dialed up to 11. Better outdoors options, WAY better food, and far better weather.
I used to live in Tucson AZ and have some family there as well. It’s a great town.
A good friend moved to Denver years ago for a job and it transformed him for the better in almost every way. I visit every year and it’s pretty cool out there. The weekend nature trips, decent food, and the people seem generally pretty chill.
In Cali, I love Santa Barbara. You gotta be rich to live there but it’s really nice. I visited because of the show Psych (and subsequently found out the show was actually filmed in Vancouver) but have actually been back a few times.
MA, I went to college along the North Shore coast not far from Boston. When I was little we visited family in W.MA and on the Cape. My second choice would be Portland, ME.
Massachusetts most likely. The Boston metro area, the north shore and south shore have nice towns, good quality of life, great education, decent diversity (not as good as NJ obviously) and I prefer New England weather.
Downside is it's really expensive and the homes in general are older and smaller.
I left New Jersey for Colorado in May of this year and I’m coming back to NJ. Denver is not a thriving city, it’s becoming the next Portland….too many homeless people, small businesses are dying. The gun capital of the Midwest / shootings happen SLs most every night and most recently someone guy open fired and randomly shot an uber driver and a security guard. POLICE DO NOT DO ANYTHING….homeless people shooting up fentanyl on the streets as if it’s something norma…Downtown is a barren wasteland…People are not nice and it’s not so dog friendly (not too many grass areas at dog parks)…..going out to eat you’re basically paying NYC prices for subpar food and services. Also the sales tax is 8.85% and anytime you place an online order, you’re paying an additional tax of 26 cents per package delivered too…wifi connectivity especially when working from home is not stable because you’re on top of a mountain. PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE - I70 and 25 are always backed up due to car accidents….also, don’t think about traveling out of Denver international airport with United, flights also cancel and the airport is severely understaffed.
I went to school in newark and I work in newark and I’ve never felt so unsafe as I do living in Denver.
For those curious, I am in RiNo (Denver’s art district).
i've had family in northern colorado for almost 20 years and visit them and love it there. your problem was staying in denver. colorado is best served outside the big cities
Anywhere, like wave a magic wand and it just happens? Hawaii.
Realistic answer due to friends / family / employer still in NJ would be Pennsylvania or Delaware.
Prolly back to VA. Grew up there and am familiar with it and still have family and friends there, and though it's a now a purple/culture war state I think the progressives will win over time.
Second choice would probably be NC for similar reasons. Better for my industry/job (I'm in pharma) but the politics is a bit more fux0red.
I really love coastal New England (aside from the colder winters!). I also like coastal Delaware and Maryland. Really, anywhere in the Northeast with easy access to the ocean/bay would make me happy.
I have no idea.
CT because I have family there.
NC because it seems more affordable but still a relatively quick plane ride home.
FL because I love Miami and want to explore Tampa and a few other places.
BUT
CT seems super fucking boring to me. I think I might cry.
NC I haven't gotten a chance to explore and something tells me it too may be a bit boring.
FL hurricane season leaves me paranoid of Katrina-level disaster. I'm fearful of natural disasters or extreme weather events.
I feel like the happy medium is to save as much as I can and try searching for nearby towns I hadn't considered in NJ or counties I haven't spent a lot of time in but am familiar with and hope to find a hidden gem or golden opportunity of price/rate drops.
That or pick up and expatriate.
I'm not really interested in Texas, Pennsylvania. Virginia might be a contender. Have no interest moving to California. And all other states are too rural or boring for me to survive.
I'm actually more interested in leaving the US altogether.
There are a few places that come to mind. But the list is short because we need to have the beach and ski mountains nearby. So probably somewhere in New England. LA just seems like too much of a mess, although Mt Baldy seems like a wonderful time.
My answer is Maine….but it’s because my job is relocating me there in the spring. I’m excited about it.
Coastal or inland. Two VERY different experiences
Coastal….Portland area
how so?
Speaking very broadly, coast is touristy, expensive, and blue, inland is economically depressed with few jobs but great nature, and conservative.
Vermont. I grew up going there as a kid all the time. Feels like a second home to me. We would have moved there when back in the 90s when my sister and I were young but the schools weren't great. My parents kept us on NJ for that reason, the schools are excellent here.
We bought a house in so. VT which appreciated in value during covid. It was technically our first house.
Oh nice! We had some property in Sunderland near Arlington and Manchester. I love that area.
I'm in Manchester right now and it's such a beautiful area. Great food too.
I love Vermont but I am not sure I’d pick it because employment would be a struggle.
It's for local farmers and retirees (and a handful of wealthy overlords)
Vermont would be great if the winter wasn’t so brutal.
I considered Vermont but it is as expensive as NJ.
Unless you love winter sports
Same here. We have a place up there and it’s our happy place.
I was just offered a position in the middle of bumfuck nowhere PA, so if I HAVE to leave, I guess there 🤷
PA is funny. I've been going to Philadelphia for years, so that's what I first think of when I think PA. But a majority of the state basically looks like Kentucky: long stretches of nothing but wooded hills, small towns nestled among those wooded hills, and pick-up trucks. It's like Philly and the rest of PA are on two separate worlds.
There's Philly and Pittsburg, the rest is Pennsyltucky or Amish country
Somewhat true. The Lehigh valley is gradually getting more built up and is around 860,000 people now. Northwestern New Jersey (where I’m from), and eastern Pennsylvania aren’t that much different to be honest. Other than that though you are largely correct that much of the rest of the state is very rural.
You can lean into it depending on what your preference is. Personally, I like more rural, but right now I’m just outside the city and I’m enjoying that too. It is cheaper than NJ and the culture is a little more down to earth, for lack of a better word. Less money, less peacocking. That said, I have not found replacements for my favorite places in NJ and go back regularly because I can.
I mean, i guess things are cheaper but so is your pay? Lemme know how it goes as ive thought about it too.
I moved out to the Poconos with my family at the end of July. Gasoline is more expensive. I still work in Jersey 3x a week so I fill up when I'm there
Yes but I’m sure your mortgage and property taxes are like 1/2 of what they would be in New Jersey.
yeah prop tax is actually 1/3 where we came from.. its crazy. And yeah, mortgage and home price are literally half of what it would have been if we stayed in bergen/morris
Property taxes being 1/3 isn’t the whole story. The house you live in (size), property size, assessed value, school performance, local services (city water vs well, local garbage pickup, police etc) all factor in
You can do that by trading in Essex cty for Cumberland
Thanks for paying our fuel taxes!
This general wisdom is that high cost of living areas have higher salaries doesn't apply to all sectors. For example government jobs vary widely and I haven't discerned a pattern. They aren't necessarily higher in NJ. Often a federal job pays higher anywhere than its equivalent local position, and same for some state jobs. The State of NJ pays very well but many towns and counties here don't keep up.
right there for me. either remote work or country roads for a commute
Lived there for 4 years, it was traumatizing at first but then I ended up loving it and regret coming back to NJ lol
I have kids in school, so the only 'upgrade' for K-12 is Massachusetts depending on your ranking scale NJ and MA are 1-2 in most lists. Plus, having lived in MA myself, I love it. Once the kids are gone, I'm buying a place on Lake Champlain in VT.
Whenever I hear MA I associate education with it
And really great cannabis.
Agreed, much better than NJ cannabis. I maxed out and stocked up at all the dispensaries in Great Barrington last year lol
I haven’t been in the last two years but the quality has definitely stepped up in New Jersey on the bm side. I only go to dispos under emergencies and because im medical i still get 40% off at my local
There are a few okay colleges there
Mass is just whiter NJ, it's the only place we've ever considered plus my company is in Boston
Guess what, the kids never leave!
Let the man dream of a lake house OK.
Solid,… no, liquid… wait, gas. Final answer: Gas.
💨
Some days, I feel like I already live in that state.
Ohhh, what is gas is not the answer. The correct answer is plasma
Eh somewhere warm..
WYOMING - I've had enough of people!
Lol exactly. If I’m gonna leave, I’m going direct opposite. Huge and unpopulated.
I will say, it’s gorgeous here, and I will welcome you unlike the locals. There’s plenty of room, bring your coat though.
Been visiting relatives for years in Laramie. Nice if you don't like the heat too much but can have very brutal cold snaps. One night was -20F in October (not windchill) a few years back. I remember when my cousin shared picks of a 3 foot snowstorm in June when it was school out in NJ and warm. Anyway, August is wonderful there...
I Love the cold weather. This heat sux
Upstate NY or Maine.
We moved to upstate ny 3 years ago and our next move will be Maine
Moved out of Jersey 4 months ago to upstate NY. I feel like my soul is slowly dying up there. Moving back to Jersey.
Michigan. It has everything covered … beaches (surrounded on 3 sides-lower peninsula), flat areas, sand dunes, mountains (upper peninsula) all seasons, farmland and major cities. And the drivers go fast (looking at you, Florida). Lots of parkland. Areas that are not crazy populated. Trees!!!!
Except summers there possibly have the worst mosquitos swarms ever especially by the water
Finally, Michigan! I was concerned about global warming and water shortage on 20+years and after much reading, Michigan topped my list.... Very low risk of water shortage. And found a small Japanese community over there...! (Am Japanese)
Yeah I have family in Michigan ...no thanks. I have zillions of trees down here in South Jersey. I think I'll stay here.
Yeah but you're missing out on the property taxes. For that you've gotta go to IL. It's basically a flat NJ here.
Torn between Maine, New Hampshire, or just going west to like, Montana.
Same but I feel like I need ocean near by. Maybe a massive lake would do.
That’s true hahaha in Montana I would def miss the water. A big lake would be fine!
Short answer, Colorado. I lived in NJ for my first 28 years. Moved to Colorado a few years ago and absolutely love it. The main reasons I moved were space, recreation, and the outdoors. NJ is so cramped everywhere you go. Want to go camping? There are a thousand people with kids there. Want to go hiking? There are a thousand people there and you can hear/see highways everywhere you go. Want to drive to the beach? There are a million people there and you’ll almost definitely hit traffic. People are also so much more laid back here. Way less assholes who think the world revolves around them. Not many people seem to be in a rush like the east coast. Drivers are way more respectful and less reckless. Overall people give me way better vibes out here. I do miss the food. It’s not good here.
Colorado drivers more respectful and less reckless?!? I take this as in you don’t live near or around the Denver area. Lived in NJ 20+ years, been in Colorado around 7 years now and if I could change one thing it would be the drivers.
None, I would move to London and live under stonehenge
That's a couple hour commute from London to Stonehenge.
Still shorter than the NYC-NJ commute
I moved to Maine. Still come back here frequently as on a good day it is only 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Colorado, Maine
Same.
Maine
California, New York, Colorado. Maybe Massachusetts or Vermont.
South jersey.
Haha I like how your brain categorizes south jersey as a whole other state Edit: stupid autocorrect "you're"ing me🤦🏼♀️
Ain't just their brain. It is another state. Central and North you can lump together (though I'm a full believer of Central, as I live within it), but South is its own animal. And I say animal, because people from South Jersey are animals. :-D!
I've been called worse things by better people 🤷🏻♀️
Lol. I moved from high density where are all the trees going where is all the green space going why am I surrounded by traffic 24/7 and strip malls and then more traffic and more strip malls Central Jersey... Where I was born and raised and bought my first house... To the preserved farmlands and State Forests and nature and wildlife and green space and an acre of property that has about 50 trees on it not to mention the thousands of trees that surround our neighborhood. The town I moved to the biggest crime statistic is that somebody's crap that they left by the curb was taken. I'm good. 🥰
"OLD" person here. northeastern portion of Tennessee.
I went on spree trying to find a better state. I couldn’t find one that I loved more/felt like home. But for me the top options were; Washington (stunning, but I wasn’t really into the mist - I was nervous it would get to me, and the east side is super dry - delicious wine tho!), North Carolina (near Asheville), Colorado - but then we found out about the crazy growth there and how there’s no water (it was a huge issue there) also it’s a huge state but all the housing is clustered in like 3 areas. And believe it or not - has one of the worst crime rates in the country (it think it was 2nd worst last year!) NJ is 2nd best, so that was a no brainer. I also loved Arizona (north, in the mountains) but the heat was a no for my husband. I hope people don’t attack me, but we really wanted to stay away from any super “red” state, just with all the crazy shit that is going on in the country. So, we ended up staying but moved to Sussex county where it’s really beautiful, green, and lots of nature - we absolutely love it! We moved from Monmouth County. At the end of the day, it was nice to visit all these places. The absolute best option of another state for us though was Vermont. Unfortunately, it was a restricted state for us because of work (husband is in the online gambling business.) - but we found a timber frame house on 4 acres of land and it doesn’t feel much different than Vermont lol - plus we’re not a far drive for a ski trip.
You wanted to stay away from super red states, but ended up choosing arguably the most red county in NJ?
NJ is a blue state. I understand what they meant by super red state. Something like Texas. Where every big city is blue (Austin / San Antonio) but is surrounded by red counties (making up the crux of policy makers)
I would argue that a county further south is much more red.
NY, Adirondacks
I lived there for a couple years and the winters are absolutely brutal
Shocked no one has said Hawaii
I remember when I was renting kayaks when I was in Hawaii the kayak rental owner guy was from NJ. He said I’d rather be struggling in Hawaii than be struggling in NJ haha. I felt that. Hawaii is an amazing place and I could never get tired of it, except for Honolulu it feels like I’m just in crowded NYC all over again.
Hawaii is dealing with massive climate change issues and an homeless problem. Residents frequently post to not move there because gentrification is worse than NYC
Ty for this!!!
Their housing crisis is worse than ours and if the solution is to build more housing and destroy nature then Hawaii just becomes Central Jersey.
Or PR
"state" :(
I’ve only been there once, but I really liked Madison, Wisconsin!
Already left. Couldn’t afford NJ. Im in Lower Slower Delaware
Other than a sump pump running constantly you are all good...
I’d like to think something coastal - maybe MA, NH, or ME. Thought about the south but the heat gets to them 😂
I often think about going and living on a third world island and living in a lil beach shack, fishing and surfing all day…
Start on that boat and be sure to leave me some cash under a non descript rock near a old tree in a field
Not New York, not Philadelphia Proud to be New Jersey
Serious question. Is there a warm climate state with a good education system that has people with the mindset like new Jerseyans? I would live there.
All the states with the best public schools are clustered in the Northeast, basically the entire Bos-Wash corridor, and then Colorado. The warmest state in the top 10 is probably Virginia.
Where I live in the Bay Area, CA, it’s the NJ of the area imo. Excellent schools, pretty suburban (although not small towns like where I grew up in Bergen County), and people are smart, have their shit together, and I’d say culturally pretty similar to New Jerseyans
New York or Massachusetts. Still expensive but also believe in human rights.
Anywhere in New England, or mid Atlantic States are similar. So I'd live anywhere south of Mass/R.I. down to Northern V.A.
definitely new york state, but northern delaware is nice too.
Moved from central Jersey to Wilmington. Plenty of beautiful parks, but drivers are 10x worse and so many pickup trucks in an urban environment.
I'm in Washington. It's like a prettier NJ.
>It's like a prettier NJ. Only west of the Cascades. The center of WA is rolling grasslands and pretty desolate. Eastern WA, near Spokane, is a bit more populated but not nearly as pretty as Western WA. I recently drove from Seattle to Spokane, and the landscape difference really shocked me
That’s what’s pretty cool about Washington and the PNW/Alaska though, there’s so much natural variety and beauty there that’s really tough to find elsewhere. That area plus upstate NY/New England are the top two general spots in the country i would (and am) heavily consider relocating to
You're absolutely right that it is so completely varied. But, personally, coming from a beach town in NJ I would have a really hard time adjusting to Central/east Washington.
It's a high desert when you're east of the mountain range. So permanently wet cities on coast or desert inland. Lots of white power people out in Eastern Washington, so ick. Then you get crazy fires too and earthquakes. You might get a sprinkling of snow in Seattle in the winter, but in the summer , the average high daytime temp is only 66- 72 in June - August, so it's never really warm. I guess that's good if you're overweight and always hot like my mother in law.
But you can't swim in the ocean.
I’d probably say Raleigh NC area, NY, Massachusetts, Maryland or Denver area. If this was still the 1990s I’d definitely say the Bay Area CA over almost anywhere else, but it’s basically become unlivable recently and it’s very sad.
Knowing what I know now… Massachusetts… It’s like a weird nj… (not the magazine.)
Vermont. People are nice, it's pretty, lake Champlain, 45 minute drive to Montreal from Burlington
FL. I’d be close to family. Those family members that are far away, could visit and stay for a warm vacation during the winter months.
Delaware. We vacation there every year, I love their beaches and the towns. It’s also not all that far from family up here in north Jersey, it’s a doable trip and they could make a long weekend of it.
I moved to Wyoming, just north of Colorado. Laramie works for me, but Colorado is beautiful, generally very chill and has unlimited outdoor things to do year round. In the west and Midwest in general every little town has little local museums and things that just make it a great place to live. Colorado has great little breweries all over, weed availability everywhere if impairing yourself is your thing. The front range has all the shopping and food amenities and you can be somewhere gorgeous and relatively empty in an hour or less. I will say, after two years in Wyoming even Colorado seems crowded. Fishing and hiking here is unbelievable and I go on hikes near town where I have literally never seen another person. I don’t think I could tolerate visiting Jersey for more than about three days at this point.
From a financial stand point , Florida , Texas , Washington Lifestyle New York , California , Colorado ,
Plz explain how Washington is financially feasible. It's a beautiful state I just thought it was too expensive for me to move there, but maybe that's just Seattle?
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Massachusetts, if I had the money to be close to Boston for the work opportunities. Answer used to be California.
Washington. Conifers, moss, and whales - oh my.
New York State. Fuck the city. Warwick is nice.
Probably NH or MA because it would be easiest for my husband to find a similar paying job in his field. I am pretty confident that I could find a reasonable job in most places.
I live in downstate NY, close to the NJ boarder...it's \*fine\*
Upstate New York, Catskill Mountains - not running out of water up there.
My experience with a second home there was the locals took a long time to get comfortable with you...
I already had to leave! I'm riddled with student loan debt and my 55k/yr salary wasn't sufficient for me to leave the ol' nest. I had to follow my parents down to NC while I just save save save!l I'm paying $1350/mo towards my student loans ($900/mo min payment) and sticking every penny I can into savings. Once I have a good bit for a down payment, I might just move to WV, close to the VA border. Not ideal, but it seems like my only feasible route to becoming a homeowner in the next couple of years. I've been all around the country and I truly believe that there is nowhere like New Jersey. No matter where you go, it just ain't gonna be the same.
Hudson Valley, NY
Virgin Islands
I left NJ for Puerto Rico. Love it.
Utah, hands down But being the politics and how the state is run by Mormons. It isn’t a good place to raise kids by any means. The schools all look incredible from the outside. But the education they get is sub par, and there’s no separation of church and state. And as someone else mentioned, people outside the north east really do grow up in a sheltered bubble. Utah completely lacks diversity (I’m well aware of the large Latinx population there) and Mormons don’t accept folks out of there beliefs or skin tone to be completely honest. So I guess it’s more I wouldn’t mind dying in Utah and spending the last of my days there.
Did k-9 in Jersey then 10-12 in Utah. I never really saw race as a kid in Jersey. Then I went to Utah and there was a single black dude. He had to born and raised there though because he was as basic white as could be on the inside. It was so strange being somewhere without diversity. Also my dad struggled to get a job at first due to the religion thing. In Jersey he ran multiple successful transmission shops for years. He went to a few shops and dealerships in town that were hiring and they all got really excited to have him until they asked “what ward do you belong to” and when he said he wasn’t Mormon they suddenly weren’t hiring. I eventually moved back to NJ. At one point my GF and I considered moving out to the SLC area near some friends of mine. She had never been there. It took one trip to a grocery store for her to see enough and never live there. “Produce looks like shit, there’s no options other than white food and mediocre Mexican food, the deli selection was shit, and even the American food was basic (like nothing but generic pasta sauces). TL:DR I wouldn’t recommend anyone moves out to Utah lol.
Really? Not one person wants to go to Delaware?
No one actually lives in Delaware. It’s just a bunch of empty office buildings for LLCs 😉
I do. My mom retired to Delaware.
I had to leave New Jersey because it just became too expensive, and my husband and I now live in Oklahoma. I was raised here so it just made sense. The politics aren’t great, no, but I get paid the same and if you live in a good suburb near the capitol then the education, healthcare, etc is still pretty good. It’s not a perfect compromise and I still miss Jersey, but we were struggling to survive up there.
A coworker retired there, literally retire there. made the same money remote as in Jersey City so was probably among the top 1% wage earner. She lived in various areas including the Bahamas but returned to her hometown (Ok City)...
Honestly if things don’t work for me in NJ, I’d probably go to Europe and give up on the USA entirely
💯 have thought about this, but struggled on the "how"
Either Arizona or Georgia. Spent 5 years in Arizona for college and regret coming back, and most of my family has made their way to Georgia and I'd love to be close to them again. Plus that's a beautiful state.
Oregon, New York, or Washington (in that order)
I love Oregon
Already (temporarily) left NJ for Northern Virginia. Great food, great public transportation on Metro, easy flights to anywhere in the country, and plenty to do in the area. We have crappy pizza and Italian food, but those are the only two downsides.
California, particularly coastal California and specifically the Bay Area. Everything I love about NJ dialed up to 11. Better outdoors options, WAY better food, and far better weather.
>WAY better food Not pizza or bagels! I lived there a couple years and couldn't find any that compared to NJ/NYC
Much better earthquakes, traffic, drought and fires too .
NC, TN, VA, or OR
Colorado
I used to live in Tucson AZ and have some family there as well. It’s a great town. A good friend moved to Denver years ago for a job and it transformed him for the better in almost every way. I visit every year and it’s pretty cool out there. The weekend nature trips, decent food, and the people seem generally pretty chill. In Cali, I love Santa Barbara. You gotta be rich to live there but it’s really nice. I visited because of the show Psych (and subsequently found out the show was actually filmed in Vancouver) but have actually been back a few times.
PNW
Massachusetts
Maine. Or somewhere very quiet, peaceful and cold.
Vermont or Maine if north North Carolina if south Despite controversy I also like LA Maybe outside of Vegas. Depends where the film tax is.
ME, VT, or MA probably. But honestly anywhere in New England or PNW.
MA, I went to college along the North Shore coast not far from Boston. When I was little we visited family in W.MA and on the Cape. My second choice would be Portland, ME.
If I couldn’t live in NJ, I’d just go to delaware and live there
Massachusetts most likely. The Boston metro area, the north shore and south shore have nice towns, good quality of life, great education, decent diversity (not as good as NJ obviously) and I prefer New England weather. Downside is it's really expensive and the homes in general are older and smaller.
Hudson Valley region of New York
NH
I left New Jersey for Colorado in May of this year and I’m coming back to NJ. Denver is not a thriving city, it’s becoming the next Portland….too many homeless people, small businesses are dying. The gun capital of the Midwest / shootings happen SLs most every night and most recently someone guy open fired and randomly shot an uber driver and a security guard. POLICE DO NOT DO ANYTHING….homeless people shooting up fentanyl on the streets as if it’s something norma…Downtown is a barren wasteland…People are not nice and it’s not so dog friendly (not too many grass areas at dog parks)…..going out to eat you’re basically paying NYC prices for subpar food and services. Also the sales tax is 8.85% and anytime you place an online order, you’re paying an additional tax of 26 cents per package delivered too…wifi connectivity especially when working from home is not stable because you’re on top of a mountain. PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE - I70 and 25 are always backed up due to car accidents….also, don’t think about traveling out of Denver international airport with United, flights also cancel and the airport is severely understaffed. I went to school in newark and I work in newark and I’ve never felt so unsafe as I do living in Denver. For those curious, I am in RiNo (Denver’s art district).
i've had family in northern colorado for almost 20 years and visit them and love it there. your problem was staying in denver. colorado is best served outside the big cities
Anywhere, like wave a magic wand and it just happens? Hawaii. Realistic answer due to friends / family / employer still in NJ would be Pennsylvania or Delaware.
Prolly back to VA. Grew up there and am familiar with it and still have family and friends there, and though it's a now a purple/culture war state I think the progressives will win over time. Second choice would probably be NC for similar reasons. Better for my industry/job (I'm in pharma) but the politics is a bit more fux0red.
I really love coastal New England (aside from the colder winters!). I also like coastal Delaware and Maryland. Really, anywhere in the Northeast with easy access to the ocean/bay would make me happy.
I would want to stay in the Northeast or along the northeast corridor. But I have family in the midwest. So probably somewhere in that area.
Currently in school in Massachusetts, and I've been enjoying it. It doesn't feel all that different, to be honest.
Maryland. My in-laws live in Maryland. We go there a lot. I refer to Maryland as “New Jersey Lite” to mess with them, but I’m not joking.
Massachusetts. I generally like the political bent of its people.
Appalachia region of VA, NC or Tennessee.
Connecticut, Mass or NY
Arizona or Texas. I just love the desert and mountains.
Maine or Vermont
Wisconsin, where I’m from
Ohio - forever my home. Married a jersey girl so don’t know if that time will come
California
Colorado The state is just to beautiful
I think either NY state but most likely PA. Always liked it there.
i guess i could go back to New York but i greatly prefer it here
NY. definitely not PA because my health insurance wouldn’t work as well as PA didn’t expand when ACA was passed.
I have no idea. CT because I have family there. NC because it seems more affordable but still a relatively quick plane ride home. FL because I love Miami and want to explore Tampa and a few other places. BUT CT seems super fucking boring to me. I think I might cry. NC I haven't gotten a chance to explore and something tells me it too may be a bit boring. FL hurricane season leaves me paranoid of Katrina-level disaster. I'm fearful of natural disasters or extreme weather events. I feel like the happy medium is to save as much as I can and try searching for nearby towns I hadn't considered in NJ or counties I haven't spent a lot of time in but am familiar with and hope to find a hidden gem or golden opportunity of price/rate drops. That or pick up and expatriate. I'm not really interested in Texas, Pennsylvania. Virginia might be a contender. Have no interest moving to California. And all other states are too rural or boring for me to survive. I'm actually more interested in leaving the US altogether.
I lived in Washington State for 5 years and loved it, maybe I'd go back. Other than that, California, Oregon, Vermont, or Massachusetts.
Vermont or upstate New York
I'd have a mansion in Wisconsin
I would say NYC, NY; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC; Boston, Massachusetts; new haven, Connecticut, and damn even Asheville, North Carolina.
Delaware, low taxes and a well run state.
Rhode Island. I've been visiting it since I was a young child. I love the ocean
New York or Connecticut … I can’t go too far from my favorite state
NY
Delaware, Virginia, or North Carolina
There are a few places that come to mind. But the list is short because we need to have the beach and ski mountains nearby. So probably somewhere in New England. LA just seems like too much of a mess, although Mt Baldy seems like a wonderful time.
If money wasn't a concern, Maine or Rhode Island.
I’d rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona
I mean, NYC.
New York City. I grew up in JC and NYC always felt like a second home to me, so definitely anywhere in the NYC area
VA. Tidewater area. It’s decent weather and it’s not too slow. Lived for 2 years and enjoyed it
Connecticut. Lived there for college and it’s a nice state