People Here Shocked About Us Moving

ClassicRockr

ClassicRockr

Well-known Member
Most of the people here in Jacksonville, FL, whom we have talked to, are shocked not only over our move away from here and Florida, but also where we may move to. Of course, many people, in every state/city, that love where they are living and can really wonder "why?" anyone would want to leave. Jacksonville and Florida people are exactly like that.

People here get shocked when told that we are seriously considering moving back to Colorado or possibly into southeastern Wyoming. We moved from So. Calif., where we met and married, to 28 miles south of Denver where we lived for 5 1/2 years. Neither of us were born/raised in So Calif.. I'm an ex-farm-boy from northeastern Indiana and she was born/raised in southeastern Michigan. I wound up in Calif. due to the Navy and stayed and she followed her family there. So, we both know what "Old Man Winter" is like.

Sort of weird, but many folks here don't even know where Colorado or Wyoming is. Most people from those areas don't move here.

Our lifestyle was so much better in Colorado and boating is much, much easier there. Freshwater lakes are much better on power boats than saltwater.

So, what would you think if folks where you live were completely shocked that you wanted to move from their idea of "Utopia"?
 

I think you have a good idea going there, four seasons instead of one. The winters give you something to look forward to in spring.

People are shocked when I tell them I want to move to a little town 50 miles away, and are even more shocked when I tell them I want to move to Northern Ontario where it feels like it is winter 8 months a year. But both places have their appeal, scenery, smaller town living, and a lower cost of living.

Good luck with your move....can I come to your downsizing sale?
 
Mizzkitt said:
I think you have a good idea going there, four seasons instead of one. The winters give you something to look forward to in spring.

People are shocked when I tell them I want to move to a little town 50 miles away, and are even more shocked when I tell them I want to move to Northern Ontario where it feels like it is winter 8 months a year. But both places have their appeal, scenery, smaller town living, and a lower cost of living.

Good luck with your move....can I come to your downsizing sale?
Click to expand...

I do know there are those, young and old/older that prefer living in a large population/large city rather than a small one. That sure isn't us though. In our local area there is 891,000 people and the entire metro area is 1.5 million. Where we are looking at, and are making plans on visiting this summer, there is about 80,000, On a Relocation Forum I'm on, the people of that city think 80,000 people is a lot, but compared to here, basically 80,000 is nothing. They do have a winter, and it can sometimes be a nasty one, as we found out living in central Colorado/The Front Range, but just like the old saying goes........"gotta take the good with the bad sometimes". There are many things we miss about Colorado, that we sure don't have here. Actually, since moving here in 2009, we haven't even seen mountains and only been to one rodeo. A couple of weeks ago, my wife tried on her Wrangler straw cowboy hat, looked in the mirror and was amazed at how much she has missed wearing it at times. Still looks great in it. So, oh yes, we will be ready for our Colorado/Wyoming trip this summer!!

As far as a "downsizing sale", if the apartment complex decides not to have their two yearly garage sales, one in Spring and other in October, a lot of things will go to the Goodwill and/or just given away.
 

I would not give it a second thought about what the others think because Colorado has some beautiful areas that are lots of fun. The points you make about the freshwater lakes and boating makes a lot of sense and Colorado is fairly safe from natural disasters unlike Florida's hurricanes, sinkholes, fires, crime, etc

I've never even been but I would consider moving to Cambria CA based on recommendations from daughters, one of which lives there (my other daughter just visited). She tells me its a charming small town, lots of retirees, beautiful scenery, located on cliffs overlooking the Pacific, access to a beach, wineries and hot springs nearby, wildflowers in the spring, seaglass beachcombing, beautifully festive at Christmastime, and more.

Oh, did I mention that any Cambria property under a million will be a fixer-upper :rolleyes: Oh, and then there is NKorea's issue, occasional earthquake and tsunami warnings, mudslides, and fires:eek:nthego:. But Cambria hasn't been affected by any of that...yet.
 
Colorado and Wyoming are beautiful places to live...I grew up in Colorado, and still miss living there. Yes, there are some cold days in the Winter, but when it snows, the sun comes out the next day, and nice weather quickly returns, and you don't have to put up with the hot sticky humid weather in the Summer. Housing in the Denver area is becoming quite expensive, but prices are still reasonable an hours drive away.

If the predictions of climate change are anywhere near accurate, most of Florida will be underwater within the next century....so any long term investments in property in that State would be money down the drain.
 
Sort of funny, but just before leaving for Jacksonville, a couple of neighbors at our apartment complex wondered why we'd want to move to anywhere in Florida. They said, "don't you know alligators eat people there and soon or later a hurricane is going to wipe out Florida?" Well, we've only seen one gator since moving here in Jan. 2009 and that was a small "teen age" size one laying by a retention pond near a boat ramp. I took a few pics of him/her? and it really seems to love the attention.

As far as tropical storms and/or hurricanes.........been thru a couple of tropical storms, one with a lot of wind and other with a lot of rain. In 2016, Mathews was some 50 miles off of the Jacksonville Beach coast. The coastal areas really got slammed by that one, but only a lot of wind in our area. We aren't in an Evacuation Area, being that we aren't in a "low lying" area. But, last year when Irma hit, plenty of damage was done around Jacksonville. Our electricity was off for some 50 hours and that was absolutely nuts. The beach areas got hit again.

Basically, we moved here due to all the water we seen for boating. IOW, the St John's River. However, we didn't know that the part of that river we use is "brackish" water (mix of saline and fresh water). We call the water "root beer" looking. The boating navigational thing here can be crazy. Nothing like this in Colorado or Wyoming lakes.

We really thought we wouldn't miss our old "Western/cowboy/rodeo" stuff as much as we do. And, my wife really, really misses seeing deer and elk.
 
RadishRose said:
I wouldn't care what anyone thought about a move I wanted to make.
Click to expand...

Well, guess some folks care about what others think, while some don't. However, we have talked to a few, very few, that totally understand why we'd want to move. It's just that I sort of get a kick out of seeing the reaction from people when I tell them we will be moving and where to. "Snow.........you've got to be kidding me" we hear.
 
Don M. said:
Colorado and Wyoming are beautiful places to live...I grew up in Colorado, and still miss living there. Yes, there are some cold days in the Winter, but when it snows, the sun comes out the next day, and nice weather quickly returns, and you don't have to put up with the hot sticky humid weather in the Summer. Housing in the Denver area is becoming quite expensive, but prices are still reasonable an hours drive away.

If the predictions of climate change are anywhere near accurate, most of Florida will be underwater within the next century....so any long term investments in property in that State would be money down the drain.
Click to expand...

Yes, Colorado is beautiful, but very populated in the Denver metro area. Where we are interested in is Loveland area. Because of the amount of jobs in Denver metro, that area draws in a LOT of young folks.

I had wondered about the marijuana situation, being that "recreational marijuana" is legal in Colorado, and some folks living in Loveland told me (on the Relocation Forum) that it definitely is not a big deal in that area. "If you're not looking for pot, you wouldn't even believe it's even here", I was told.

We won't be looking at buying a home, only renting an apartment.
 
ClassicRockr said:
Yes, Colorado is beautiful, but very populated in the Denver metro area. Where we are interested in is Loveland area. Because of the amount of jobs in Denver metro, that area draws in a LOT of young folks. I had wondered about the marijuana situation, being that "recreational marijuana" is legal in Colorado, and some folks living in Loveland told me (on the Relocation Forum) that it definitely is not a big deal in that area. "If you're not looking for pot, you wouldn't even believe it's even here", I was told. We won't be looking at buying a home, only renting an apartment.
Click to expand...

I've got relatives all over the Front Range...from Arvada to Loveland. Loveland is a great place to live. Insofar as MJ is concerned, that doesn't seem to be a problem. Most of those Dopers buy their stuff, then go home, and get high there, and wind up loopy on their couch. So far, that seems to be far less of a problem than dodging the drunks on the roads on a Friday or Saturday night.
 
I really think the folks here will be darn glad, actually VERY glad, to know that we've left, since I talk so much about what we don't like about Jacksonville and/or Florida and what we like about Colorado and Wyoming.

We tried to be Flordian's, but hasn't worked. Tried to be Southerners, but that didn't work either. But, we did try.
 
Smiling Jane said:
Maybe they're not so much shocked as wondering if you've taken leave of your senses.

I know some people on SF love winter. I'm not among those people.
Click to expand...

We don’t love winter, but the states that have things we really like are winter (4-season) states. Have to put up with the winter months to have the beautiful summer months.
 
ClassicRockr said:
We don’t love winter, but the states that have things we really like are winter (4-season) states. Have to put up with the winter months to have the beautiful summer months.
Click to expand...

I know that's the myth. I'm not sure it's true because I know too many places that have relatively mild winters and gorgeous summers. Places with deep winters and beautiful summers all seem to have too many insects to suit me.

Not a mosquito or deerfly fan.
 
When I moved from San Francisco to Napa some folks thought I was nuts and when I moved from Napa to Fresno some just could not understand it. And then from Fresno to Roseville, Ca. Same thing. Finally, when I announced that we would be spending six moths of each year living in New Zealand some folks were shocked. TO EACH HIS OWN!!
 
Lon said:
When I moved from San Francisco to Napa some folks thought I was nuts and when I moved from Napa to Fresno some just could not understand it. And then from Fresno to Roseville, Ca. Same thing. Finally, when I announced that we would be spending six moths of each year living in New Zealand some folks were shocked. TO EACH HIS OWN!!
Click to expand...

Oprah told Jimmy Kimball everyone should visit New Zealand. She fell in love with it.
 
Smiling Jane said:
I know that's the myth. I'm not sure it's true because I know too many places that have relatively mild winters and gorgeous summers. Places with deep winters and beautiful summers all seem to have too many insects to suit me.


Not a mosquito or deerfly fan.
Click to expand...

Well, we know what the winters are like in Colorado and Wyoming, but still love and miss those two states. We both love pro-rodeo, freshwater fishing/boating and big full-rack Bull Elk. Obviously not everyone is into those things, but we ARE! Heck, there are all kinds of insects here, plus the dreaded summer humidity, that isn’t in the Mountain States.

Winter is there, so we’d have to put up with it!
 
ClassicRockr said:
We don’t love winter, but the states that have things we really like are winter (4-season) states. Have to put up with the winter months to have the beautiful summer months.
Click to expand...

We get maybe 3 days of snow down here, cold (above 20 degrees) January and February, then are warmer weather returns. Summer does get hot but bareable!!

Smiling Jane said:
Oprah told Jimmy Kimball everyone should visit New Zealand. She fell in love with it.
Click to expand...

But she keeps coming back!!
 
So, what would you think if folks where you live were completely shocked that you wanted to move from their idea of "Utopia"?​
Click to expand...

If they're shocked, they're shocked. :shrug: Not their business. I'm not understanding why you even care or why it's an issue, OP.
 
applecruncher said:
If they're shocked, they're shocked. :shrug: Not their business. I'm not understanding why you even care or why it's an issue, OP.
Click to expand...

Just the type of person (personality) that sort likes “shocking” folks or seeing/hearing their reaction to things. Wife isn’t like that (thank God).
 
I kinda gotta agree Cody...you've told this story over and over again...and I don't know why you continue to care what anyone else thinks.. You need to put more energy into finding a place to move to tbh ..and just do it, and not give a Rats behind what anybody else thinks ...especially people you barely know !!
 


Back
Top