If you as an adult moved from a non-Southern state to a Southern state,

[raccoon]

what was your reason for doing so?

Retired and wanted to live in a warmer climate, or wanted to be near family members?

Lost your job and found a new job in a Southern state?

Married someone who lived in a Southern state and moved to be with him/her?

Other?

Reason I ask is, I hear a lot of Northeastern accents in my area (SC). I got to wondering about this the other day. I suspect a lot of people lost their jobs due to corporations moving overseas, or moving to lower-paying so-called "right to work" states.

And me? I was born here. As a whippersnapper, I was dying to get out and go somewhere else. Not any more. I'm OK where I am, and hope all you are too.

[cwydro]

1. I grew up in Charlotte.

Nowadays when I find someone else who did, I'm amazed lol.

Many, many of my co-workers are from the NE.

They all love it here. And my fellow southerners love it here too.

[Katashi_itto]

2. Job related. Here in New Orleans it's awesome, the rest of the state sucks.

[Telcontar]

3. Met a nurse from Alabama while in Kansas for training

Moved from Portland OR to Montgomery, AL.

Rural life does NOT suit me. Plenty of great BBQ, but the only other ethnic food available is Mexican, Thai and Korean. Love them all, but I miss Indian food.

Music drives me insane, I do not care for Country.

But, we have three kids, so all is right in the world.

What IS funny is in Portland I was considered conservative, here I'm a liberal.

[yallerdawg]

51. That's funny!

Montgomery Alabama is rural life. I do agree.

Try India Palace out near the Costco in East Montgomery. Great lunch buffet.

[B Calm]

4. I know when dad retired in 1976 he moved to Tucson, AZ because of

his arthritis and the dry climate.

[newfie11]

5. First to be near family that had relocated to VA

Then to NC for job.
However I grew up moving about every 3 months all over America so I'm pretty used to different locals.
As an adult I've also moved to different states. I truly love this as I enjoy the differences. There are much fewer difference now than there used to be as the population is more transit.

At this point in my life I would love to move out of country.

[livetohike]

6. Found my first full time teaching job in SC (Berkeley County) in 1978.

We only stayed two years as my husband had a job opportunity in Houston. We fell in love with the swamps and natural beauty. Thought we would retire there, but are here in PA helping to care for our elderly moms.

[Lochloosa]

7. One reason. GRITS!

Oh yeah. I'm a Floridian.

[840high]

56. I hear you!!!!

[PotatoChip]

8. Do you notice these accents more in the winter months?

Particularly among older/retired people?

If so, you are likely coming across self-described 'Snowbirds'. Many retired people from the northeast spend their winters in southern states. If they can afford to do so, that is.

But they almost always come back to their primary home up here once it warms up.

[raccoon]

16. No, and no. nt

[PotatoChip]

18. For whatever reason, they must not like SC then.

Weird, because they seem to enjoy wintering in all the other southern states. Florida in particular... not sure why.

My town currently has roughly 1/3 of the population it has during the summer months.

[madville]

9. I hate the cold

Plus it's so cheap to live down here, I have a 1300 sq ft house on 1 acre, house payment is $440, annual property taxes are $670, homeowners insurance is $550 a year, and my power bill averages about $80 a month.

5 to 10 acres of land is selling for $20,000-40,000 around here right now, people can set up quite a spread pretty cheap.

[whathehell]

11. Me too, although I dislike extreme heat just as much. Still, it sounds

like you've got a very good deal there. What state are you in, if I might ask?

[madville]

13. North Florida

It's very rural, there are only 18,000 people in the county I live in.

[whathehell]

20. Oh wow..

Is it very conservative?

[madville]

23. Very conservative

There are 78 churches in this small county, demographics are 55% white, 40% black and 4% Hispanic. It's a red county but not too bad, I think Romney got 60% of the vote in 2012. I just love rural life, that usually means being in a conservative area but it's worth it to me.

[whathehell]

33. I understand..

It wouldn't work for me, but everyone is different.

[get the red out]

10. I've always lived in Kentucky

But I live in Lexington, and the University of Kentucky brings in a lot of people with various northern/other accents (to me, even people in California have an accent).

I grew up in the mountains and after one semester at UK a cousin told me I sounded like I was from "Up Ughia" (Ohio).

[Sheldon Cooper]

12. As I sit in PA, where the outside temp is now 1 f*cking degree,

I contemplate moving south when I retire so I no longer have to deal with this bullshit.

[dawg]

28. Well it's 13 f*cking degrees here in Georgia.

[Sheldon Cooper]

30. Damn! There's no escape from this nightmare!!

[SomethingFishy]

36. 50 in Colorado today...

Of course we dipped as low as 10 below last week.

[840high]

57. My heat not working - repair

not till tomorrow. Brrrr.

[Nay]

62. It was 10 degrees here in Richmond today. You'll have cold snaps like

this if you move south. And the summers are humid and boiling hot. Spring and fall are great, though.

[roody]

14. I wanted warmer weather.

[hobbit709]

15. As was explained to me: There's Austin and there's the rest of TX.

[Zorra]

17. I moved from the NW to a rural area in the SW for warmer temps.

I was getting older and just got tired of the cold.

[B2G]

19. Born and raised in the midwest

and moved to the Carolinas for my work.

I love it here. Great climate, great people...an easy drive to either the mountains or the beach.

[BlueJazz]

21. My parents moved to Florida from Australia but keep in mind, Florida wasn't such a red state then.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

24. I don't fit your description, living in Ohio, but,

all else being equal, if I could move to a real 'blue state' without having to worry about the things that currently tie me down, I would, and I would suggest it to anyone who is struggling and mobile. It would be a lot less stressful to live in a state whose legislature and governor didn't constantly want to degrade or take away public services while raising regressive taxes so that they could give tax breaks to corporations and the uber-wealthy of the state.

[shenmue]

25. My brother died

and my parents wanted to retire.

[Myrina]

26. Grew up in WI, moved to IN ...

.... so not 'completely' south ... but did so after college graduation in 2007 - in hopes of a bigger job market, a little bit nicer weather and a more diverse culture for my café au late daughter to grow up in.

Probably the biggest mistake I've ever made. Job ... yeah, got a good one. Weather ... IN is like Central WI most times, anymore. Daughter ... experienced "reverse racism"/bullying/taunting from inner city girls at her schools, barely made it thru HS and dropped out of college.

Can't wait 'til I can retire and move further south, like a beach cabana in Mexico or Costa Rica.

[gwheezie]

27. Weather and cost of living

I had to stand on the roof of my car one winter. I moved south before the next winter. I have a 22 acre hobby farm. I could have found similar in northern ny state but I'd freeze my ass off. My county has less people in it than during the revolution. We have no town or elevator in the county. When they put in the one traffic light vehicle related deaths went up until we got used to it.
I lived in Kansas for 8 years. Worst weather in the world. I live on the penninsula in Virginia between the bay and tidal rivers. It is less conservative than when I moved here but Cuccinelli running for governor cured a few people. We have a bunch of angry tea bags running loose here but they are less popular as time goes on.

[mahina]

34. why

did you have to stand on the roof of your car?

[gwheezie]

35. Sorry

Half the sentence deleted itself. I had to stand on the roof of the car to start digging it out of the snow.
Just when I think I might retire and move back up north I talk to my daughter up there and she tells me how deep the snow is
I like where I live in Virginia because we have 4 seasons and it still snows once or twice a winter. It was 25 today but it will be back in the 40's Friday. I also like that winter is shorter but there's still winter

[mahina]

48. Oh, got you.

Last edited Thu Jan 8, 2015, 11:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Yikes!

I find it hard to locate the courage to get out from under the covers in the morning when it's 59 degrees...

[n2doc]

29. Job

I would move back to my home state but no jobs in my particular line of work, at least for older folks.

[meaculpa2011]

31. Making the move very soon because of weather and...

cost of living.

Property taxes on our new home are $1,100 per year versus $14,000 in New York. Income taxes are one quarter, utilities are 40% less and insurance for car and home are less than half. Bottom line: As much as I love New York we'll be putting nearly $30,000 each year into our pockets after making the move.

All I need to earn a living are high-speed internet and access to an airport.

When I woke up this morning (from the sound of my teeth chattering) the outside temperature was 5 degrees.

BTW: Mercedes just announced that they're moving NAHQ from New Jersey to Atlanta.

[mnhtnbb]

42. The outside temp in Chapel Hill, NC this a.m. was 11 degrees. Don't throw away your mittens!

[former9thward]

32. Weather.

I had a fine job in Chicago but got tired after many years of the never ending winter.

[Kermitt Gribble]

37. Does Florida count as a southern state?

Weather, beaches and tech jobs. I was born and raised in rural PA.

[raccoon]

60. Yes. nt

[distantearlywarning]

38. Moved from Western PA to Central Florida

The main reason was that I graduated and got a good job down here in my field.

During my job search, I did preferentially (but not solely) target Florida and other southern states. Although I really loved living in Pittsburgh, the dark and cold climate was really getting to me after so many years. I wanted to be in a warmer, sunnier place. I also loved visiting Florida on vacation, and thought it would be fun to be near the beaches. I would have preferred Tampa or another town on the Gulf Coast, but ended up in Orlando, which has been fine (I'm not really much of a Disney fan, and this area is definitely the House of Mouse).

So far I like it a lot. The weather is all I expected and more. I bought a convertible for myself as a graduation present and I have a lot of fun hooning around in it.

It's not actually as politically conservative down here as I had feared, at least not in Orlando city proper. It's less liberal than Pittsburgh was, but much less conservative than everywhere in PA that isn't Pittsburgh or Philly (which the locals refer to as "Pennsyltucky&quot . The politicians here are completely whacked in the head, though, even the Democrats - they are WAY more pols out there in left/right field than the populace at large. The Democratic party in Florida does not seem to be very competent either (to wit: Charlie Crist). But as far as daily interactions with people out in the world - no big thing, people are basically normal and not right-wing wackjobs or anything. I don't know who votes all of the crazies into office here, because all the people I have met have been nice and basically sane.

[yuiyoshida]

39. Born in California...

Staying in California

[marlakay]

40. My daughter is moving to Texas

She was raised in CA but has lived all over due to her husband being in military. They are in CO now.

They want to retire in Texas because of cheaper housing, job he wants in San Antonio, and no income taxes.

And in the last 5 years have become republican and are into NASCAR.

[mnhtnbb]

41. Born in NY. Also lived in NJ, CA, MO, NE, and now NC

I thought, as a Yankee, I could never live in the south.

My husband and I left CA in 1988 because we didn't want to raise kids in Los Angeles.
I knew about Chapel Hill, NC before marrying him in 1985 because I was looking at a job at Duke
in Durham. Then I met him and decided a cross country move would not be good timing.

In 2000 we moved here from Lincoln, NE. I have loved Chapel Hill, but I'm seeing more
and more influence of money in the town that is bound to destroy its progressive,
cosmopolitan feel. And of course, the Repub takeover of NC has been devastating.

My husband has family in Georgia. My kids took advantage of the excellent public schools,
and one of them graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, went on to a Fulbright Scholarship experience in Berlin and now
is at Yale School of Drama in an MFA program. The other one has found tech jobs--with only a high school degree--and is very
happily employed due to the tech opportunities in the Research Triangle. There's a lot to be said for
the progressive pockets in the south, but I fear they are going to be swallowed up by the
moneyed interests before too long. I hope I'm wrong.

[meow2u3]

43. Born and raised in NY. Moved to TX at age 20. Moved to PA in in 1999

My mom left my dad and took us all to Texas because her friend moved there, in the hopes of finding work. Back in 1980 (I know I'm giving my age away, but WTH), the unemployment rate in NY was horrid and my mom, who was a displaced homemaker, had no way of finding work in NY. In TX, at that same time, the labor market was tight and employers would take people off the street if need be.

Needless to say, I didn't have a choice about moving to TX; either I went there or I'd face certain death. I was a favorite target of gangs, which were running rampant.

Fast forward 19 years later: I moved back up north, only this time Pennsylvania, where I still live. Even though I got my higher education down South, I couldn't fit in there, so I went back (close to) home.

[gladium et scutum]

44. Uncle Sam's Navy

Stationed me in Norfolk, VA in the early 80s. Sorta grew use to the place and retired here. Originally from Washington State.

[virgdem]

54. Howdy neighbor...

Virginia Beach here. Welcome to DU!

[TBF]

45. From north originally and living

in TX now. Moved because we had the offer for a high-paying job in a lower cost of living location. More than anything I wanted warmth after living in Wisconsin.

If we could afford San Diego I'd be there in a heartbeat.

[Marrah_G]

46. I have a lot of family that moved to NC

They did so, I think, mostly because of the weather.

[hunter]

47. My California sister and her husband followed their careers.

His childhood home was in the south and the suits they worked for decided to leave the expensive states for places where the politicians and state regulators were easily bought. One such "opportunity" was nearer the family farm and his other extended family, so they left.

My sister quit that career for another and her husband is hanging on and hoping to retire to the family farm with some kind of adequate pension. I think he would be happy with that now, but he fled the south when he was young.

My parents simply fled all the nonsense of this civilization when they retired. They live in a house in a tropical rain forest, drinking and bathing in water that falls on their roof and buying food at the local farmers market. Major cities of earth could be burning tomorrow, but they don't live near any major cities. If this civilization collapses and I want to find them I'll have to learn how to sail first.

I'm a little afraid I won't be so lucky as my parents. I'll probably be living in a cardboard box with a plastic tarp over it when I "retire."

[saltpepperdoor]

49. you mean like Florida

Where the further south you go the more northern it gets

[tabbycat31]

50. For me it was work related

And all of the moves have been temporary.

AS far as climate goes, I'm not of the normal. Perhaps my secret identity is Elsa (Frozen) but I would MUCH rather have cold temperatures than hot ones. I HATE the summer and am loving this cold.

Southern summers made me miserable. I have a lifetime of body issues and let's just say that I don't like summer wardrobes (I haven't worn shorts since HS due to body issues).

[a la izquierda]

52. Grew up in NJ, a brief spell in CA...

Then grad school in OK. That was a shock.
Now I live in WV. Also a shock...

[aikoaiko]

53. Boiled peanuts !

City on coastal Georgia is good living

[840high]

55. Husband got residency

at Emory - so we moved to Georgia. I love living here.

[Man from Pickens]

58. A number of factors

Two of the more generally pertinent ones are cost of living and climate.

I never want to experience a northern winter again!

When I was older it was exciting and interesting to be in and close to big cities. Now it's just an unreasonably expensive pain in the ass. I like the slower pace of life and general higher level of politeness (even if "bless your heart" just means "kiss my ass", it's a lot nicer on the ears).

[Broken_Hero]

59. My reasons,

from AK and moved to SW MO a while back and the two main reasons was that my wife's job outlook was better than mine, and the cost of living was substantially lower than Alaska's. Also, I had more job opportunities being in the lower 48, and my wife's parents needed more help than my own did at the time. Fwiw, met my wife in college and she was from MO.

[greymattermom]

61. Atlanta perimeter area

I moved here to be close to family, and for the climate. I rarely hear a Southern accent in this area.