Southerners - Help a bruh find a warmer place to live

[Dead Man]

Gents... I can't do this anymore.

I'm done with cold rain. DONE.

I love the culture here in Cascadia, love the riding when it's dry, love the geography, and even the climate has been not-that-bad in recent years, but it's been raining for 13 months now and I'm DONE. And I don't mean kinda done, little-too-far, maybe Bend would be OK... I mean I'm looking to put thousands of miles between this crap and my bike. That kinda done.

Here's what the perfect place would look like:

~As warm as possible
~Enlightened, forward-thinking culture
~Good riding with countryside access, some hills would be nice, decently wide roads/shoulders, cars that care..? Hoping to go basically car-free once settled, so I'll be riding a lot
~Sailing - Preferably within an hour or two of either Atlantic or Gulf coasts, but I'd settle for big lakes and/or fat rivers
~Prefer smaller towns (100k ish) over big cities, and here's where you guys really come in - I can google "liberal towns in the south" all day long, but that mostly produces the bigger cities I already kinda know about..

Cost of living and employment markets are irrelevant. I have pretty much no material standard for living, and I can work from pretty much anywhere.

Lastly, while I know parts o SoCal tick every box..... yea.. meh. I don't want to live anywhere west of Texas.

Places I'm looking at are Austin- easily topping the list- disorderedly followed by Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans, Miami-Dade, and I suspect I'd really love to live in Savannah - which is my favorite place that I have actually been to in the south, but I haven't been there in almost two decades, so who knows how things are now..? Any Savannah Paceliners??

And again, what I'm really interested in is those smaller towns in between that you just don't hear much about. San Marcos, TX sounds like a little paradise, and I'm headed there for a visit soon... I'd love to get a list of these type places to go explore.

So ya.. if you live in the south, are a roadie, are lower-left ideologically, and love your town........ whereyat?

Your bruh humbly thanks any participants in advance.

[fa63]

Have a friend who lives in Birmingham. He likes it for both road riding and MTB. Also, good food.

You might also want to check some of the smaller towns a little outside of Atlanta: Woodstock and Canton come to mind. They are both very close (<30 min) to Lake Allatoona, where my buddy goes sailing all the time. Great road and MTB riding around the area as well; can do rolling hills or big mountains just to the north. They are also more progressive than one would imagine (Canton residents just elected an openly gay mayor), though it is not going to be Austin...

There is also Asheville, NC.

Savannah, Miami, New Orleans are just too hot and humid for too many days of the year... Plus they are flat which makes riding boring (I am originally from Tampa, FL; currently live in Atlanta).

Good luck!

[sailorboy]

Now that's what I call a professional-grade rant. Well-done OP!

My advice: New England. You are already used to progressive politics. You will have a tough time replicating that in the South in any meaningful way imho.

Seasons are getting more tolerable up here, and in 15-20 years sadly the effects of climate change will make the riding season longer (at least). For winter take up XC skiing. It worked for all the hard men and women of interior NE that I knew in the 80's/90's.

[FlashUNC]

Chattanooga.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

Gents... I can't do this anymore.

I'm done with cold rain. DONE.

I love the culture here in Cascadia, love the riding when it's dry, love the geography, and even the climate has been not-that-bad in recent years, but it's been raining for 13 months now and I'm DONE. And I don't mean kinda done, little-too-far, maybe Bend would be OK... I mean I'm looking to put thousands of miles between this crap and my bike. That kinda done.

Here's what the perfect place would look like:

~As warm as possible
~Enlightened, forward-thinking culture
~Good riding with countryside access, some hills would be nice, decently wide roads/shoulders, cars that care..? Hoping to go basically car-free once settled, so I'll be riding a lot
~Sailing - Preferably within an hour or two of either Atlantic or Gulf coasts, but I'd settle for big lakes and/or fat rivers
~Prefer smaller towns (100k ish) over big cities, and here's where you guys really come in - I can google "liberal towns in the south" all day long, but that mostly produces the bigger cities I already kinda know about..

Cost of living and employment markets are irrelevant. I have pretty much no material standard for living, and I can work from pretty much anywhere.

Lastly, while I know parts o SoCal tick every box..... yea.. meh. I don't want to live anywhere west of Texas.

Places I'm looking at are Austin- easily topping the list- disorderedly followed by Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans, Miami-Dade, and I suspect I'd really love to live in Savannah - which is my favorite place that I have actually been to in the south, but I haven't been there in almost two decades, so who knows how things are now..? Any Savannah Paceliners??

And again, what I'm really interested in is those smaller towns in between that you just don't hear much about. San Marcos, TX sounds like a little paradise, and I'm headed there for a visit soon... I'd love to get a list of these type places to go explore.

So ya.. if you live in the south, are a roadie, are lower-left ideologically, and love your town........ whereyat?

Your bruh humbly thanks any participants in advance.

Asheville, NC. Middlebury (or Burlington) VT. Two cities I might consider living in.
And I still owe you beers in the Oakland Hills....

[zennmotion]

Charlottesville VA. Although the vampires do occasionally visit from out of town to burn tiki torches, the rest of time it's a great place to live and the riding is phenomenal.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by sailorboy

Now that's what I call a professional-grade rant. Well-done OP!

My advice: New England. You are already used to progressive politics. You will have a tough time replicating that in the South in any meaningful way imho.

Seasons are getting more tolerable up here, and in 15-20 years sadly the effects of climate change will make the riding season longer (at least). For winter take up XC skiing. It worked for all the hard men and women of interior NE that I knew in the 80's/90's.

Yeah, that was pretty good. But CunegoFan is still the King. Man, his **** is entertaining.

[fa63]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Chattanooga.

+1; totally slipped my mind in my first response. I love living in Atlanta, but wife and I have briefly considered moving there a couple times due to the quality of life there (outdoors, food, etc.) without the hassles of the big city. We did notice that it has gotten quite pricey there in the past few years, but I imagine it is still relatively affordable to someone moving from the West Coast.

[dsimon]

I was Born an raised on Tybee Island so yea I know a little about Savannah. But I would say Asheville NC, you get a true 4 season and the diversity. food culture and some southern charm still around

[Ken Robb]

While winter in the deep south is nice I would have a tough time enjoying summers there and the coastal areas are humid too. Huntsville, AL. is hot in the summer and it gets a little snow/ice occasionally in the winter but the average might suit you. My daughter lives in Guntersville, AL. which is a nice small, Southern town on a lake that is part of the Tennessee River waterway but you don't sound like a small town would suit you. OTOH it's 45 minutes from Huntsville which is pretty cosmopolitan due to NASA and Army Missile Command presence attracting people from all over the world to jobs there.

[Dead Man]

My main problem with really small towns is that there's no night life. I definitely like to get out in the evenings, and when everything closes at 9pm and there's nothing resembling a "club" within reasonable Uber distance, I'd probs start to go a little stirry.

Man, you guys are really giving me what I wanted though - google-earthing and wikipediaing with fury. Thanks for responses so far!

[simonov]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

My main problem with really small towns is that there's no night life. I definitely like to get out in the evenings, and when everything closes at 9pm and there's nothing resembling a "club" within reasonable Uber distance, I'd probs start to go a little stirry.

Man, you guys are really giving me what I wanted though - google-earthing and wikipediaing with fury. Thanks for responses so far!

If you're willing to give up rolling terrain or going car free, South Florida gives you about 363 riding days a year and more boat culture than you can shake a stick at. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are big cities, but they're diverse enough (both culturally and from neighborhood to neighborhood) that you could possibly find a place that feels rights. And you'd never have to worry about nightlife options.

[steveoz]

Well I'll tell you what area I've got my eyes firmly set on - Citrus County - namely Inverness/ Floral City area. It's got juust enough civilization, a good biking community, inexpensive (so far...) and a little more north in Fla as to be able to get a little cool weather. I live in the S Fla area - just cross Miami/Dade off the list, trust me....

[vqdriver]

go to hawaii

[Ralph]

I drive over to Inverness regularly to ride the trail thru town. Have lunch there. Have thought briefly of moving over that way. Until recently anyway.

At a recent county commission meeting, they voted to stop the library's subscription to the New York Times. One of many newspapers they subscribe to.....they would not even pay for a digital version. They voted, and the majority said on record....."we want to support Donald Trump". They said the Times is fake news. And over the objection of residents at meeting....the vote stood.

Not meaning to bring this subject into your quest.....but is something you will run into in small towns in the south. BTW.....There are plenty of progressive not so large cities in the warm SE. Asheville (as mentioned....but gets cold there), Gainesville, Fl, and many other progressive towns. Where I live in Central Florida has everything you ask about except mountains. We do have some 12-15% hills though.

Unbelievable....this day and time....read here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ted-fake-news/