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Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

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Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#441

Post by mixmastamyk »

pontifier wrote: post #428
a2tech wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a process problem. The correct order to do things is: pull permit to fix plumbing, that permit will allow you to connect to the city water for testing purposes once you've proven the system will hold pressure (initial inspection), then when you're connected to the water an additional inspection will be done to verify working plumbing, if thats the only outstanding issue you can apply for a certificate of occu…

The city will not issue the permits to do the work. FULL STOP. I literally already have a city water connection and it's costing me a hundred bucks a month just to sit there unused because I can't get the permits to fix the plumbing... So what would you do in that situation?

Lawyer up, and get some private security preferably armed with tasers at a minimum.

You got a great bargain, now these expenses are the price of doing business.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#442

Post by braingenious »

honkdaddy wrote: post #438
braingenious wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could anyone asking questions about somebodythat bought a town be framed as being anything but political? I’m sorry that you didn’t like my factual summary of events, but I provided direct references that were very easy to click on and read more about and I’m glad that you availed yourself to those resources.

Can you please be more clear with what you're trying to say then? You obviously feel very strongly about pontifier and his past, given the amount of time you spent digging into his background, what is the point you are actually trying to make here? Be as direct as possible, please :)

I asked if the OP was the same person that was posting on Twitter, as what was posted there was a different tone from what was posted on HN. He answered in the affirmative.

I did not spend much time “digging into his background”, I clicked a link and read a few posts.

Why do you care? Be as direct as possible, please :)

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#443

Post by ryanwaggoner »

dncornholio wrote: post #212

Probably not the answer you want, but the EU is literally filled with towns like this. Cycling and public transport can get you and your kids anywhere.

This is ultimately the conclusion I've come to: if you want walkability, good transit, good weather, and a couple other things, you basically have zero options in the US, and dozens of options in Europe. It's sad, but the US is built around a car-centric lifestyle that just isn't for me.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#444

Post by avisser »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #287
rswerve wrote: post #4

College towns. Pick some states, and go visit towns with colleges in them. They'll have restaurants and groceries, and those faculty kids have to go to school somewhere. Internet should be passable, too. They won't be the cheapest small town option, but houses should come in well below a million bucks. The one town you mention, Lancaster, PA, is a model of the type.

Agree. Still in love with Lawrence, KS (University of Kansas). If you can deal with the weather. :-( College towns often have plenty of live music coming through with regularity, art, people with more open minds? (I don't mean to start a debate with the last point, just my preference perhaps.) Lawrence works too because you're 30 or 45 minutes from a big city (Kansas City) so you can get your REI or IKEA on if you ne…

Athens, GA was an amazing town to live in. Amazing live music scene. Great food. And big enough to have neighborhoods for the undergrads that you could avoid.

Living ~1hr from ATL was also a luxury - you fly direct everywhere on Delta.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#445

Post by avisser »

ogou wrote: post #392

I spent a month driving around the country last year. Be warned that entire counties have been decimated by meth and fentanyl. Low income doesn't always translate to violent crime and theft, but meth absolutely does. When looking at crime maps, always filter by overdose response and not posession arrests. https://money.cnn.com/interactive/news/meth-lab-map/ Absolutely stay away from Tulsa, OK. Greenville, SC is very…

I've read in multiple places how most meth in the USA today is Mexican cartel meth. The bans on pseudoephedrine have succeeded in stopping home-brew meth.

So not sure how valid that map is anymore.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#446

Post by ryandrake »

nus07 wrote: post #421
JeremyNT wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "friendly people" but also "hateful racist trumpers"? Well which is it? Another native Carolinian chiming in here (from NC, but similar). These people are friendly if you "pass" as one of them. Be white, wear a trucker cap, don't dress up too fancy, use a southern accent (or at least, don't talk too pretty), don't be gay, don't say a damn thing about politics or religion. Don't drive a Prius or something. You're go…

You do have similar folks in rural Oregon or rural Idaho too . Have you been to Klamath Falls, OR ? If you do have to compare you would probably make a direct comparison to say Athens, GA or Research Triangle, NC . IMO this country already has a huge divide between rural and urban populations no matter which state you are in. Educated college towns are the hidden gems for anyone looking to escape 1m dollar Bay Area h…

OP's rules of thumb are pretty broadly applicable in a great many rural, small-town regions of the USA. If you're politically progressive, you can still pass as a local and blend in if you adopt a few mannerisms and if you're willing to ignore/dodge a lot of questionable conversation material. The only thing you can't really fake is your skin color.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#447

Post by pontifier »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #441
pontifier wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The city will not issue the permits to do the work. FULL STOP. I literally already have a city water connection and it's costing me a hundred bucks a month just to sit there unused because I can't get the permits to fix the plumbing... So what would you do in that situation?

Lawyer up, and get some private security preferably armed with tasers at a minimum. You got a great bargain, now these expenses are the price of doing business.

Lawsuit has already been filed.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#448

Post by francisofascii »

mitchellst wrote: post #357

One note on small towns: most of the people there aren't transplants, so you get their culture with them. American cities have a reasonably standardized culture, courtesy of hundreds of daily direct flights to each other. Small towns are still highly regional. Not saying there's no difference between Seattle and Miami. But most people on HN could find a social group in both. Not so for Muleshoe, Texas. If you're from…

> most of the people there aren't transplants

While I don't entirely disagree, and this is just my observations, if you pick the neighborhood/town with the best schools within the larger metro area, you tend to get a decent amount of transplants living there. It is the average/below average towns that have the people who have always lived there.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#449

Post by gee_totes »

rlawson wrote: post #288

Let me give you the scoop on the Carolina's. I'm a developer living in the upstate of SC. I am an agnostic liberal which makes me a rarity but I was born here so I can go under the radar thanks to my deep melodious southern accent. Pros - Great climate 10 out of 12 months - Friendly people - Lots of outdoor activities - Beautiful beaches (Fripp Island and Kiawah especially) - Low cost housing (altho going up rapidly)…

You fool! I'm moved to Cola from Seattle three years ago and absolutely love it. I see more and more people moving to South Carolina every day. We need to shut the door behind us before too many people come here!

In Seattle there was an attitude called K.B.O. which stands for Keep the Bastards Out. It mostly means when talking to outsiders, you should complain about the rain so they don't get any ideas about moving there.

We need to develop a KBO for the Carolinas. Greenville has an absolutely disgusting downtown, with an ugly gross river going through it and a rickety pedestrian bridge that is bound to kill someone. The tech industry is absolutely drying up and I'm getting ready to become a hog farmer.

Big /s

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#450

Post by philsnow »

wrp wrote: post #200
pugworthy wrote: post #40

Corvallis OR. Housing costs are higher, but probably not the $1M you mention unless you really want to go overboard. Walk to the store, city bus is free, great place to raise kids, bike paths and trails, and you're out of town into the woods or farm fields in 15 minutes of driving. 1 hour to the coast, or 1 hour to the mountains. University as well as HP, NuScale, and other smaller companies. People that come here ca…

If I wanted a small town with the facilities of a good university, Corvallis would be my first choice in Oregon. Eugene has I think not aged as well over the past 30 years and the central area has experienced rising property crime and homelessness. If you don't care about a university, the eastern part of the state has sunnier weather.

> the eastern part of [Oregon] has sunnier weather

Pendleton has an annual round-up that's been running for 100-odd years. Not a reason to live there necessarily, but just in case anybody's in the area and hadn't heard of it.

Pendleton also has cheap housing, fiber internet, and a decent craft brewery http://prodigalsonbrewery.com/ .

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