I've lived in a small town in California my entire life - away from the political influence (more or less) of the big cities. However, over the years, I've noticed that areas of CA that were once deeply conservative are transitioning and becoming more liberal; a reality I never thought would take place, but it slowly is. It goes without saying that the quality and cost of living in CA is changing, and it's not for the better as we all understand. I don't want that as my future.
A new, quality paying career as a Graphic Designer has been difficult to find, and the job I have now can no longer sustain me. I'm single, so friends and family have suggested for me to widen my search outside of CA, which is what I've been doing as of recently. Since my circumstances are changing, I'm forced to examine my options and I want to consider what others have done and experienced, but I want to be smart about this. The last thing I want to do is walk into another developing mess of a state like CA. Is it a better idea to move out or tough it out and hope that things in the state change? If not, given the context of my circumstances, what kind of options and paths have others here taken?
At this rate, I'm gravitating toward mid-western states like Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, or others, but I won't not consider other states. I like the deep red states like Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, but I haven't a clue what Graphic Design jobs out there are typically like - if they're even available at the pay rate that I would need to survive comfortably - Texas probably has better prospects, but I just don't know. I do know that I don't want to walk into another developing CA, and my prospects here are becoming increasingly dim as time moves on. The reality of tornadoes in these aforementioned places concerns me as well, and it's also worth mentioning that I want to stay clear of hurricanes and extreme snow. I'm much more tolerable of cold weather than I am of hot weather, but anything below zero or near it is probably far beyond my threshold of tolerance. What have others here done or recommend? What are your stories? What advice would you provide for me?
come to Alabama.
2nd this. Deep South is really the only place of refuge, anymore, and is still viewed with disdain by those that consume MSM and Hollywood propaganda.
I would have thought that graphics design would be a good option as a “remote” job so you could live practically anywhere but the job would be somewhere else.
Colorado is wonderful, just stay away from ski areas or Denver/Boulder...also stay away from Springs and vast nothingareas like south of mt blanca or west of grand lake
westcliffe area is very nice
I wish I could agree, but the Denver/Boulder liberal a$$holes are ruining the entire state.
I would not advise Utah. The conservative organizations have collapsed here. Couldn't even put up a decent conservative for the Salt Lake mayoral race. We're stuck with Mitt Romney as Senator, Mike Lee appears to skate around the edges of corruption, Gov Herbert asking POTUS to send more refugees when we don't even take care of the homeless people walking around.
Three cities have banned plastic bags. Too many here wanting to turn the state into California.
My husband and I faced the same problem when we were planning our escape from California in 2011. At the time Utah seemed like a good choice because we admired how LDS seemed so community oriented.
But now I think a lot of them are SJWs cloaked in religion. Remember the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. I can't help but wonder what her parents were thinking "being kind" employing a homeless stranger to do chores but exposing their children to danger. Seen this a few times - for a few people, "being kind" has gotten family members actually murdered.
"...LDS seemed so community oriented." [emphasis added] You've described the problem in a nutshell and didn't realize it.
Organized religion is not rightist, it's centrist at best, and leftist at its most toxic worst (ex: the Jim Jones cult). And, the stronger its organization, the more leftist it is. The hard-left pushed propaganda about organized religion being rightwing, but it's not true. Why would they do that? Because organized religion wasn't leftist enough! They were trying to break a 'soft-leftist' institution by pressuring it at its doctrinal fracture points: LGBTXYZ and abortion. Again, why? Because, organized religion demands a communitarian cohesiveness of its membership which competes with hard-leftist collectivism; and, its scripture-based ideology and adherence to Mosaic Law puts it at odds with the state worship and mob law that's at the heart of hard-leftism.
And the left's lie has gotten plenty of people like yourself into trouble, since you believed that moving to a state with a strong religious culture would benefit you as a rightist. However, since these denominations are already centrist, they are forever susceptible to the temptations of increasing social welfare in an attempt to 'be their brother's keeper' in the widest arena possible; and then, progressing inevitably to the government action necessary to achieve it, since only the government has the scope, power and resources to achieve this end on behalf of the organized religions that fall prey to this fantasy.
I live in East Texas, and there's a deep-seated tension between the hardscrabble, gun-owning, individualism of the ideological right and the 'Big 3' social conscience denominations: Methodo-Baptism, Catholicism and Mormonism. The former typically keep their charitable activities strictly local and subtle and thus keep the indeological right in the pews. But the Catholic and Mormon churches just can't seem to resist upscaling their social welfare notions and, as a result, they're viewed with distrust in the case of the former and hostility in the case of the latter.
Black Rifle Coffee Company needs a Graphic Designer in Salt Lake City. https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Scroll to bottom and click Careers
California is in an energy recession. As long as they refuse to fund and plan oil and natural gas pipelines from Texas shale fields, they will lag behind the growth the rest of the country will have. State EPA won't permit tapping the shale fields California does have. California is the only state that imports oil from outside North America. Worse, it's from the Middle East. This guy explains California's problem much better than I can. The whole video is eye-opening for big picture https://youtu.be/du7jG1aDkdM
Thank you everyone for your comments. It means a lot to me *thumbs up
The problem is leftists spread their cancer like malignant tumors. After they've turned California into a shit hole, they flee to other states and bring their liberal bullshit with them. I'm leaving CA within the next month and headed to Nevada. I chose NV because I already have some family there and I'll get the added benefit of no state income tax. Unfortunately, from what I can see, NV has moved from Red to Purple, at best, leaning towards Blue.
I'd look closely at Idaho. In fact, If NV doesn't work out as I planned, I'll likely head to ID. I have family in ID too. I can't speak to the job situation in ID but I like the people there and it's still a Red state. My travel in ID is primarily limited to Boise and the surrounding areaa but I found the land beautiful.
Good luck on your search!
I lived in California for 1994-2018 and it pretty much always seemed to be getting worse. Maybe someday things will swing to the positive, but I really don't see any signs of it.
Make a list of low cost of living areas you wouldn't mind living and narrow it down from there. You'll find something.
10y in SF and i can definitely tell it's much shittier literally and figuratively.
Honestly it's hard not to make the connection to race sometimes.
Stay far away from hipster bullshit leftist blue antifa cities: