comment: >
  
  If I could do over my 20's I would get the heck out of south Georgia. It can be beautiful when you have your own land, space to enjoy the scenery and privacy but if you're stuck in the towns with absolutely nothing around you except dollar stores it is terrible. I regret a lot of things and not being more adventurous is one of them.
context: I would honestly be interested in living there, but there’s just no way I can afford the cost of living there. >
  
  Salaries are higher though. 
  I have the best of both worlds, got a job in Boston but now work remote in a much more affordable area a little over an hour outside of Boston. 
  I don't miss that commute at all though, sometimes it was over 2 hours each way with rush hour traffic.
  I have no idea how people can afford to live closer to the city.  My house would easily cost 3-4x as much with way less land and privacy. >
  
  Where? Worcester? Westborough , Framingham? I hated all the driving in MA trying to get to good boyy box stores like Ikea, Costco, hmart, etc >
  
  Interesting that Washington, where I live, is the only blue state in the top 10 states for numeric growth in population. I wonder if they’re wfh folks who’ve been attracted by no state income tax. >
  
  Certainly interests me and my partner. >
  
  I can’t speak for NJ or PA, but can definitely understand the exodus from NY. 
  The taxes and general cost of living is just ridiculous and seemingly only getting worse. My general area’s property taxes are around the $12-14k mark, with $5-6k going to school taxes alone. Based on those numbers, you’d think the area would be somewhat amazing, but it’s really not. 
  That said, nothing would get me to move to states like Florida or Texas, or really most of the southern states. >
  
  As a former Salem Mass resident, the winters are bruuuutal. I didn’t last more than two years until I left for a warmer state. >
  
  Warm humid weather sucks. 
  I could deal with dry desert heat in the southwest but you couldn't pay me to move from New England to Florida or anywhere else in the southeast. >
  
  pretty sure this is going to start to reverse in coming years if it hasn't begun already. 
  there is a lot to be said for high property taxes if they provide good schools, roads etc. 
  A lot of what I see in the south (NC+GA) is zero infrastructure investment, over-inflated housing prices and resentment of school budgets....can't speak for Fla and Tx.