Volt61

Have you perhaps come across a ready-reckoner type document (or online source) that lists the various key aspects of living in each state (or each city) in a grid form?

Such things as income tax rates, property taxes, traffic, crime, landscape, demographics, political leanings, laws more strict or more liberal, business climate/friendly, income brackets, population, family vs. singleton focused, "personality" etc., and for things that are difficult to put into figures a color coded system showing excellent to poor.

I am having difficulty finding a state where I would like to move to and without doing a colossal amount of research and also going to each state (which is not time/cost effective), its a bit hard to say where I would like to move to.
There's often good things that I read about a lot of states, but then I read things that won't suit me at all so that makes me hesitate.

I realise that most people's location is usually governed by their jobs, but if I can filter down the choices of states to 2-3, I can start looking at them in more detail and then look for work in those areas.
I also plan to start a business too.

There are a number of states that I know I would never move to, for one reason or another (permanent-type reasons), so that helps.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Volt61

and I would add financial stability/outlook/liabilities, levels of city/county/state corruption, the outlook towards immigrants who wish to genuinely assimilate.

avanutria

Wow. No, not that I've heard of. Such a document would be great, but I suspect the project would be so huge that by the time all of the major cities had been covered the earlier ones would be out of date and need redoing...

Perhaps we can help you determine some likely states to look at if you tell us a bit about what you're looking for. My husband and I decided on Oregon based in part on the following: not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter, near enough to the coast (or a very large body of water) for weekend trips, and not on the east coast. Once you narrow down to a few areas it gets a lot easier to look at things in the depth that you describe above.

Sally Redux

A lot of the things you mention will vary greatly within a state and with stuff like demographics will vary by neighborhood.

It's unlikely you would get a 'singleton-focused' state for example.

edit: sorry looking at your question properly, you're wanting it broken down within the state.

I can't think of an easy way to compare that info. You'd have to have a rough idea of an area and then look up its stats to compare.

sir_eccles

In my opinion while you say you can't go visit each state, that is often the only way you will truly find out about a state. The wife and I thought Portland Oregon was going to be the place for us. From everything we read it sounded great. Then we went to visit.

lansbury

Only if you are a lefty tree hugging liberal, who rides a bicycle. The normal people live in Milwaukie.

sir_eccles

It was more the age group and maturity. Portland was way to mid-twenties hipster. We actually only tacked on a side trip to Seattle while we were there and found it to be what we thought Portland was going to be. Much more mature, it had been through its growing pains already with grunge etc. In the end though some friends reminded us that if we couldn't take the weather forget it (see current location).

meauxna

meh, you shouldn't believe the hype. Like all things, "It depends".
Example, what lansbury describes is not at all what you describe, but both are true.

PS: my bike tires are still flat. A definite case of the shoemaker's son having no shoes!

Volt61

Thank you.
Yes, I realise some things will change (and a few quite often), but there's stuff that doesn't really change much or at all and really, that's what I am after.

TBH its more of case of what I don't like/want/am not looking that I can specify and there's stuff that either doesn't matter to me or won't make enough of a difference.

Here's a list of don't wants
Not very hot or very cold for most of the year and no overcast skies/gloomy weather (like in the NE area) and definitely no snow for anything more than a few days a year.
No extreme or stormy weather, tornadoes et al
Not far from a large city/cities (max say 1-2 hours drive) that I can visit if I need/want.
No overly left or right political views or state policies.
No areas with very few trees around my home and in the neighborhood generally
Not very expensive housing so I can buy a decent home for say $150K or so and also have some land around it (not oodles).
No average to high crime
No overly trendy/hip places, with 20 somethings (or less) more or less dominating choices/facilities (I have no kids nor plan to have any)
Near a university town is OK as long as they don't create the previous point for my area
Not where internet infrastructure is not modern/up to date
No areas that have no natural features nearby like mountains, woods, forests, lakes, rivers, etc.
Nothing really remote (nearest neighbor to be 100-500 yards away, but not much further ideally)
No areas overrun with moms in SUVs and kids screaming - I like children but not when there's a gang of them

That's enough to start I think.

Nutmegger

Actually it is rarely gloomy and overcast in the northeast -- but the snow is over your limit!

Wouldn't that city-data site that people recommend help you? Though you would have to do your own comparisons, I guess.

avanutria

OK, we can work with that. Here are my opinions (which may vary from others) on states you should avoid based on what you don't want.

Not very hot or very cold for most of the year and no overcast skies/gloomy weather (like in the NE area) and definitely no snow for anything more than a few days a year.

This will be your most useful determining factor, I think. It cuts out the following: Too hot: Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missisippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina. Too cold: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, probably North Dakota, Montana. No overcast days: Oregon, Washington state.

Not far from a large city/cities (max say 1-2 hours drive) that I can visit if I need/want.

This will cut out *part* of nearly every state.

No overly left or right political views or state policies.

You'll need to decide for yourself what constitutes "overly".

No areas with very few trees around my home and in the neighborhood generally

Cuts out Nebraska - trust me, I've driven through it. Wyoming. Probably also Kansas and Oklahoma but natives may disagree, I've not been to those. May cut out Idaho, I forget how many trees they put in Boise.

Not very expensive housing so I can buy a decent home for say $150K or so and also have some land around it (not oodles).

Cuts out the rest of California. I don't know about the other states.

No average to high crime

I don't know. I'm guessing this cuts out Washington DC, though.

No overly trendy/hip places, with 20 somethings (or less) more or less dominating choices/facilities (I have no kids nor plan to have any)

This will cut out pretty much all cities I would imagine...maybe look for areas popular with middle aged and retired people?

Near a universities town is OK as long as they don't create the previous point for my area

I don't think you're going to find this if you also don't want to be around families and young people. Who's going to go to the university?

Not where internet infrastructure is not modern/up to date

You'll have to use this as one of your last determining factors as there's no way to predict facilities in various regions.

No areas that have no natural features nearby like mountains, woods, forests, lakes, rivers, etc.

Cuts out (in my having-driven-through-them opinion) Nevada, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa.

Nothing really remote (nearest neighbor to be 100-500 yards away but not much mores)

Probably cuts out South Dakota, but I haven't been there.

No areas overrun with moms in SUVs and kids screaming - I like children but not when there's a gang of them

Hm, stereotype much? You'll have to determine "overrun" for yourself.

This leaves you with the following potential states, and most of these I either have not been to or haven't been to in decades, so can't rule them out:

Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Colorado

Still on the list but may be too hot: Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri

Still on the list but got "possibly" somewhere above: Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma

sir_eccles

You've pretty much described the majority of middle America.

Volt61

Thank you very much for your help This will help.

Funny, as Kentucky made it on my list and hadn't been crossed out yet (and I do like horses and horse racing).
Virginia may also be an option.
The other states you mention are either in the South (not a fan of this area now) or in tornado alley (I should have mentioned strong/extreme weather in my list - now added).

meauxna

I think this site is similar to what you are requesting.

http://www.findyourspot.com/

avanutria

Yeah, no severe weather conditions was part of our requirements too. Lots of places are susceptible to flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards!