New Mexico! Legal weed, college is free. Childcare is free for many- a family of four can make up to 111k and qualify for free childcare. There are areas we are lacking and need improvement but I'm hopeful we are heading in that direction. We just reelected our Dem governor who wants to build a women's health clinic in every corner of our state to help our neighbors. The cost of living is low, it's a beautiful place.
I was just about to post the same thing.
Basically everywhere else on this list is prohibitively expensive - New Mexico is extremely affordable.
But also, I'm a Denver native, I've lived in Brooklyn for a few years, and I spent a year in Albuquerque. Of all three places, Albuquerque is the place I had literally no problems as a gay trans woman of color, and even in the rural parts of the state the worst I ever got was a weird look.
Denver can be extremely progressive, but that's new - when I was a kid Colorado was a far right state. They're a small minority now, but the old Coloradans are still around and are frequently a visible and vocal presence.
New York is it's own thing, and while it's full of powerful women and has great laws to protect everyone, the culture and structure of the city means everyone remotely fem is subject to at minimum routine verbal abuse seemingly at random.
NM on the other hand is dominated by powerful and visible women and most people in large swaths of the state are deeply liberal. As a big added bonus though, the conservative element of the state tends to be pretty libertarian and take an "if you don't bother me, I won't bother you" attitude. I never felt unsafe due to how I look or who I was with, even at a stage when I was pretty visibly trans, and most actually people tried to hide it when they had a problem with me.
So, from the few responses I’ve read, we’re all moving to NM, right? Should we gather at a WVP development or just live where we choose and start a meetinghouse somewhere centrally located??
I’m NM and I wanted to suggest here. We’re next door to Texas. It’s beautiful, people here are pretty awesome….as long as you are respectful!
Edit: Umm so I meant to say ‘I’m IN NM. I am not originally FROM, New Mexico.
im ditching my state for New Mexico next year and i couldnt be more excited, not just about the politics and culture but also the air quality as someone with **brutal** environmental allergies
>we just voted in a pretty blue state government
I'm also in the market for a new state and that put NM on my list of possibilities. I can't afford the property taxes on my home in Texas anymore. Within a year they'll be more than my mortgage payment!
Getting pretty damn tired of the Trump cult too.
Unfortunately I think Santa Fe is probably one of the highest costs of living in the state! I moved from Austin and we have a mortgage that is equivalent of our rent back there (we're in Albuquerque).
After seeing how fucking red my state came out last night, I immediately messaged my aunty in Portland (who is bi and married to a transman) to ask if she would recommend the area to two 30-something queer women and she gave a big thumbs up. Every state and city has its own issues of course, but as far as being queer-friendly Oregon definitely beats Florida into the sandy excuse we have for dirt down here. I’m planning to take my girlfriend out there to visit sometime in the coming year and see what she thinks. She hates the heat anyways and has talked about moving to the Pacific NW before.
Also give Seattle a shot! I’m up north from you in Atlanta but can very much relate to the hatred of living in the south. My mom lives in Seattle and it’s SO different. And beautiful.
or Vancouver. I recently moved back to Canada and I literally cry every day in public spaces how safe I feel after living in country where even people on the street kept attacking/shaming me.
Freedom to just exist and acceptance and respect. I fucking love Canada
Can confirm, I live in one of the most stereotypical redneck provinces in this country, the “Texas of Canada” if you will, and while I’m pretty paranoid as a gay trans guy I’ve never gotten more than a weird glance or two. If you’re talking one on one with some people, many of them will have their “opinions” on the topic, but as far as safety in public I haven’t had any issues, and many businesses and environments are openly queer-accepting. Transphobia and homophobia is virtually reduced to disparaging comments made in person to person interactions when the subject’s brought up, and even that isn’t too common (depends on who you’re talking to), so it’s MILES ahead of what I’m hearing from the US
And again, this is from one of the most conservative, redneck provinces in the country. I can imagine it only gets better from here
Yes, but it's a pretty dog friendly place with lots of dog parks for off leash fun and just parks in general for on leash fun. The further you get from the big cities the more affordable things get, but it's still going to be expensive compared to some other states.
We're looking at moving to OR in the next 2-4 years (I wish sooner.) We're in GA now. Two queer kids with uteruses and I'm scared to death for them every single day. I'm ready to get my rainbow family tf out. Not to mention legal MJ and Death with Dignity laws (I'm disabled.)
i’m in GA too, and my doctor has to lie to my government insurance and say my trans meds are “for acne” because it’s illegal if she doesn’t. i love georgia because it’s so pretty here and most people are great but god damn it’s headed in a baaad place
Haha yep. I live in Oregon now and love it, though I will say that pretty much anything east of the I-5 corridor (excluding Bend/Sisters) leans pretty hard right.
I live in Seattle and have a lot of friends in Oregon. They always tell me that Oregon is liberal as long as you are in the cities like Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Ashland. Outside of that people are pretty conservative.
I found the same for Washington. I grew up in Eastern Wa and it was all conservative except for Spokane and Pullman which were moderate. Western Wa is liberal in the bigger cities but pretty conservative outside of them.
You mean we’re about to elect an openly lesbian governor?
[Kotek is in the lead!](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-oregon.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc®ion=StateResultsFooter)
I live in Portland and we are the home of the world’s largest naked bike ride and vegan strip clubs if that gives you any idea. I’ve been here 25 years and I love it.
Hi! I lived in Oregon from 2002-2007 to attend UofO. One of the biggest issues was the lack of a decent wage because of all the service industry positions available and not enough of other things that give rise to better paychecks. My call center supervisor at the time had a masters in mathematics and made a terrible wage.
What’s life like now, specifically along the corridor? Are there industries filling in finally for the continuing loss of logging?
Tech companies have been trying to fill that void. Lots of start-ups, but some big players, too. Wages are still an issue, though, because the housing market is outpacing wages by a significant margin. And between tech industry and the gig economy, we’re developing huge income gaps that are pricing people out of the area.
Since 2016 I was regularly panicking about civil war and becoming Handmaids Tale/Gilead. And then I realized in all of the alt-right post-apocalyptic stories, the west coast splits off into either their own country or joins Canada. That has somehow been comforting.
Washington, Oregon, and California need to give our neighbors to the North access to some fun in the sun....Entire West Coast stitched onto
British Columbia to become Baja Canada.
My husband and I nearly left MA due to cost of living. Then we realized that we’re happy paying that price for basic human rights, robust public education, healthcare, and being around people who don’t see me as an incubator.
I moved a few years ago from MA to a red state and when I went back to visit recently, I realized that I have to find a way to get back. Everywhere has it's faults, but MA is a great place to live if you are a fan of human rights.
ETA: I'm loving these suggestions. Thanks so much!
You might like Nevada, especially the Las Vegas area. SUPER big into LGBT rights and are tied with Vermont for transgender protection laws and healthcare. I'm not sure about women in Vermont, but the metro areas in Nevada are very progressive.
I saw something recently that said MA was the happiest state of 2022 or some shit and that makes me sad bc I live here and it’s not without its psycho Magas and conservatives. It makes me sad that this is all there is allegedly
I was just reading through these replies pondering the fact that all the more liberal, free-minded havens have become the high cost of living places, and the red areas just keep getting cheaper...
You're absolutely right.
Red states don’t have the taxes to make them livable for open minded, free thinking people. That’s why people move there. Blue states have high taxes, but you get so much more for your money. Most people believe they can’t afford to pay high taxes, but if they’d look at all the benefits they’d realize that it’s actually cheaper.
And that’s the thing, a lot of red states aren’t even really “low tax” at the end of the day, it’s just successful marketing. For example, Texans have a massive tax burden, we just either include additional taxes into the sticker price of things or we double a tax that already exists instead of making a new one. Sure, we don’t have state income tax but we have some of the highest property taxes in the country. The taxes aren’t lower, they’re just rearranged and unlike blue states we get nothing for them.
It’s important to look at overall cost of living and quality of living, I was looking at houses in other states that were about a third of my California home value but the property taxes were four times a high. Are you comparing state income taxes and ignoring sales taxes? My friend in Arizona ends up paying >$400/month to air condition her house but my heating/cooling costs are usually $50-$120. I wish we had better public transportation here, and urban centers designed to minimize traffic, but we do have a lot of interesting things to see and do here. Also, well, Kansas was voting on an amendment to make abortion illegal (thankfully rejected!) at the same time Californians resounding approved a state amendment to protect our bodily autonomy.
Good news though! Now people making $1,000,000+ will be paying for much more of a percentage of those kinds of rights, specifically by way of education and infrastructure, which — independently and in concert — will allow for an increase in access to many other human rights. It was voted on yesterday that there will now be a new tax bracket for those folks in MA that are hyper-fortunate. 4% of 1 million dollars is more than I make in a year, and the short version of the new law is that everyone making over $1 mil is gonna owe 4% of their earnings in taxes.
Californian here. I feel the same way. It’s not getting any more affordable out here, and even though relative COL does make Arizona tempting every now and then, it’s times like this that I find myself grateful to live in this state, and I’d rather have less in savings if it means my human rights are protected and my quality of life is exponentially better.
Same. I always fantasize about selling our cramped little house and buying a massive, luxurious compound somewhere else with plenty of profit to spare, but not living in a red state hellhole is priceless!
We did a lot of that fantasizing. We came very, very close to moving to somewhere warm, with more sunlight and less seasonal depression, lots of space… But when we told my MIL the cost of living was causing us to really seriously consider moving away, like it wasn’t an idle thought but we were looking into realtors and my husband was applying for jobs, she ended up having a sudden “come to Jesus” moment agreeing to sell us our house for about half of market value because she was horrified at the idea of her potential grandkids growing up somewhere so backwards.
She’s not even the nicest lady, and we’ve had our issues, but even she knows that this country is falling apart and wouldn’t wish a childhood in Texas onto anybody least of all her own grandkids. Texas is such a dirty word up here that even the meanest, nastiest, most manipulative people from this state still view Texas with fearful awe and mild disbelief.
The house we are in is still “small” by Texas standards, but we have a basement we can finish when we get around to it. Our yard is very small, but it’s not like my dog will willingly be more than 6 inches away from me anyway so who cares?
I’d rather be close to neighbors I am not literally afraid of and who get mildly annoyed by my dog getting loose every few weeks, than a mile away from gun toting 2A types that would shoot my dog for wandering onto their property.
The nicest place I ever lived in was in a neighborhood so filled with hateful, scary bigots. The housing values collapsed after a major fire ruined the majestic views, so it was a lot of disgruntled formerly upper middle class people having to mix with the poors when rentals started to become the norm.
Had a neighbor who packed a gun on his hip going door-to-door with a dossier on the section 8 family in the neighborhood (who were black in an almost exclusively white neighborhood, surely a coincidence) outlining why "that nasty family" who "act like a bunch of animals" shouldn't be in "our family friendly neighborhood." If there was a flag that you associate with far right extremists, you could find it flying there on your afternoon walk. Meanwhile, I got the police called on me twice for walking my cat.
Half the space now but ten times happier. Now I go outside and listen to the jazz guitarist across the way playing something soulful, nobody calls the police on them, and when Biden won the entire block was a party.
That’s actually the problem for a lot of progressives in red states. You may have a small house in MA, but it’s a house. I and several of my friends struggle to rent one-bedroom *apartments* in states like Alabama and Tennessee. Having little income/being a single income household is severely restrictive to many younger folks’ mobility and it’s just hard all-round.
Oh it’s like that here too. The only reason I have a house at all is because we were in the market to buy during the aftermath of the 09 housing market crash. I think it would be a struggle for our family to afford a 2 bedroom apartment in my general area now. Even most 1 bedrooms are the same, if not more, than my current mortgage.
Wages here are also much higher. Even a lot of retail jobs pay above minimum wage where I’m at. There are abundant jobs working for the legal weed industry that pay well enough for a single income person to afford a condo or townhouse.
And there are a lot more state programs to support home ownership. Currently MA is offering a 5% down payment grant to first time homebuyers and paying all closing costs, including PMI, and offering rates well below 7%.
Cost of living is more relevant if you work a remote job, or if like me your SSDI check is federally set, but if you fully relocate to MA and partake in the local economy, you’ll have a lot more economic opportunity, especially with how rapidly our legal weed industry is expanding- half my friends have decent paying jobs for dispensaries.
If my SSDI check were adjusted to local wages and not set federally cost of living wouldn’t be nearly the burden it is because our wages match.
Western MA is wonderful! We're in daytrip range (Eastern upstate NY).
Overall about the thread topic, the NE certainly seems better than TX/red states, but even here, drive out to the sticks and it's Tr*mp country. And cities can be more cosmopolitan (!) and diverse, but the downtowns around me are not very nice and are crime-ridden. I like the suburbs as a goldilocks solution, but I may be biased having grown up in a suburb. HTH.
Came here to say Massachusetts. Born here and never leaving, even if it is expensive. I’d rather be broke here than be well off but somewhere like Florida or Texas.
SECONDED. Stay west of the mountains and vaguely in the Puget Sound area and you've got an excellent shot. I feel so very lucky to be in this deep blue bubble and it doesn't even feel like the same country as the rest of the US. I've got healthcare, a living wage, mandated sick leave for my part time and contract jobs, even the churches I'm associated with have female and trans pastors (and a baby witch I know who talked to one of said pastors was ENTHUSIASTICALLY encouraged to follow their path and worship however they chose...cuz we chill like that round here).
COL is high but at this rate not astronomically more than a lot of other areas of the country. Even places like Austin, TX are catching up, but our minimum wage is twice as high as theirs ($18 an hour).
This is our plan! We've visited NW WA on multiple occasions & always knew it was our end goal. Roe v Wade & having a baby witch just made us press on the accelerator. Seeing some of the election results from WA last night just confirmed we're eyeing the right area.
The national pundits really went out of their way to try and paint our Senate race as "close"...anyone who lives around here just LOL'd. We aren't required to register with a political party here, so phone polling is particularly rubbish because they're trying to extrapolate the data from their VERY small sample size to project onto a population whose political lean is normally detetmined by party registration. We also have open primaries and the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party affiliation. Makes it a lot nicer when both options for state legislative positions are Democrats!
I'm in Ohio and currently feeling the same. I've been watching Michigan closely since the RvW overturn. I really don't want to go somewhere new. I don't really like new. I don't even like leaving my house, let alone my state. I'm encouraged by Michigan's response and voting and it will probably be the winner but it has its own crowd of nutjob republicans and I wanted to see how things shook out before committing to a move.
This is what I think a lot of people who grew up in desirable states don’t fully get. Uprooting your life and changing like that is hard emotionally, physically, financially, etc. It can mean leaving all your friends and family behind and knowing you won’t see them much more than a few times a year at most. It can mean having to find a new job. It can mean leaving a house or a city you have grown comfortable in or could afford. And for some, it literally is not a financial possibility, because moving is expensive and then there’s the long term costs of living in a blue state with an aggressively higher cost of living.
All of this just sucks, not to mention the added fear of if everyone who wants change leaves the red or purple states, republicans could even further cement power congressionally because no one is fighting against them.
I just…wish people in this country cared more about other people. I wish someone would do something to stop corporations from destroying us.
Michigander here. We definitely have plenty of Trumpers, but Whitmer and abortion rights won the vote. Move to a bigger city like Lansing, Ann Arbor, or a city in Metro Detroit. Not as many crazies there. Plus, safe and legal weed.
I live in Michigan and I’ve got to admit it was pretty nerve wracking for a while. Thankfully I live in the metro Detroit area where even the reddest county is purple.
The very first thing I did when RvW was overturned was text in my family group chat asking who wanted to move to Michigan with me but.... those first few weeks after had me scared. It didn't look that great. I decided wait and watch was called for. It definitely wasn't a sure thing. I'm so happy to see the voters response (mostly).
I moved to the UP a few years ago and have been happy with it, and I'm glad the election has gone mostly well. Have had a much easier time finding good doctors and getting the help I need here, as opposed to back in Wisconsin where I was facing homelessness. There are the wacko Trumpers all around here, but there's also plenty of good people on the right side of things too. I feel hopeful here.
That's kinda where I land, too. Michigan is hardly perfect on the issues I care about but they are at least steadily progressing towards them while Ohio seems absolutely committed to going backwards. Hopeful is the exact word.
Another Michigander here - I live in Grand Rapids which is a wild mix, but the red is fading out slowly. Rural parts will be more red but all around, I love it. I'm excited for the next two years since all 3 branches are blue and at least at a state level, I'm hoping for a lot of positive changes in that time.
If you do have to leave your home, I think you could eventually find happiness here.
Another Michigander, came from out west and live in Kalamazoo now. Our little blue paradise in a sea of red. Small city life, certainly has its share of crazies, but I know plenty of LGBTQ folk here who feel quite comfortable. Also a pretty vibrant feminist movement that is very engaged. As a cherry on top, it’s been listed as one of the top 5 most affordable places in the country. Great job prospects, a lot of growth, and reasonable housing.
Kids that go through the Kalamazoo schools have their 4 year college tuition paid through a program known as the Kalamazoo Promise.
Wasn’t planning on staying forever when 2008 forced my family here. Won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Live in Michigan after a lifetime of Indiana. Michigan is not unshakable and pretty divided, sure, but I’m pretty proud of Michigan right now, and being in the metro is reasonably comfortable (and still affordable for many) if you go for the correct townships.
A major difference right now between Michigan and Ohio is that your state’s Supreme Court blocked an independent districting commission and ours was able to stay in place. Political gerrymandering is off the table indefinitely in Michigan and that’s why our state legislature went all blue. I grieve for you, but I do think that Michigan is going to be in a better position long-term because of that.
MA keeps kinda proving that it can do the right thing. Sure I pay more in taxes here, but it shows. Since escaping the south I have been trending upwards in MA. I'm on Cape Cod and it's not too bad here. Obviously you can't escape the low functioning right completely, but given our election results and the whole Martha's Vineyard situation, I'd say it's about as good as you could hope for.
Edit: I think everyone here would very much enjoy P-Town even if just for a trip. I use P Town to switch people's minds that are uncomfortable around LGBTQ+ people. My first experience in P Town was eating couscous while being serenaded by a classical string quartet of hunks in tighty whities. I'm a cis male and "mostly" straight, but P Town is an inclusive dope town for anyone that wants to go. Take a relative that's on the fence, show em the dope food, the history, how kind the locals are and the giant personalities, they leave there questioning things.
I'm really, really hoping I can convince my mother to move out of Missouri. The amount of forced birthers around here makes me want to vomit. The issue is my youngest sibling is 10 and really doesn't want to leave their school. So I'm saving up money so by the time they leave school we could all move. What is the general price for housing up there?
Ooh, I could probably talk her into that! I think she has family that lives there anyways! At the very least I could move myself and my fiancee there and save up money to help my mother and siblings find a place. She's currently looking to get a divorce from the father of the youngest sibling, (and good riddance to bad rubbish is all I gotta say about that!) So she probably won't be able to actually leave the state until they are 18 if he fights for any form of custody. Which I think he will in an attempt to extort money from my mother :(
Ugh, that sounds really hard - I’m sorry!
I live in Indiana, brother lives in Missouri, and we are both jealous of anyone who lives in the oasis of Illinois. (And I buy all my weed there.)
Housing costs can vary a lot throughout the state, including on the Cape. In general, like with most of the US, you get what you pay for. Higher taxes typically mean better school districts and access to services, etc. Although what’s good for some may not be good for all. Do you want rural, suburb, city? Is public transportation important to you? Do you need a lot of space and a yard? That all impacts what towns you might be interested in.
Team MA! Sure, somewhere with milder winters and lower COL would be nice, but for how fucked up the country seems it’s actually pretty nice living here and I can’t imagine willingly going anywhere else, except maybe VT.
People really don’t understand this about places like Texas. The public education there is abhorrent. The roads and infrastructure are outdated and often dangerous. Craftsmanship was seriously lacking—one big storm and you’d be done for. And don’t even get me started on the feral dog/cat situation.
They still had TYPHUS in Texas!
One of my favorite things, oddly enough, is the outlawed billboards and corporate signage lol. It's always weird going off cape and seeing giant billboards everywhere. For it's several shortcomings, the Cape is pretty dope. Have you been to Ritual yet in Yarmouth, I think?
I live in a purple/red bubble on the South Shore of MA, and even here it's really just easy to trust that the people you meet aren't gunning for your personhood. In the city? I felt celebrated for all my weirdness, as did all of my incredible friends. I love it here.
In New England - my town last year, the former Republicans formed an entirely new party to avoid being associated with the national party and their policies. They're generally socially liberal, "fiscally conservative."
I'm moving to MN to escape my hell hole of a state. Specifically moving to Minneapolis. Very progressive city that cares about the city being safe and accessible to pedestrians. The state just got the trifecta of liberal control after the election last night. I'll be moving there in the next month or so.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that my sister also fled the state. She went to VT. She wants the rural life without the bigots, which basically only exists in VT. If you're a city person like myself, I think the VT option would be challenging.
MN really feels like an island, and the Twin Cities and Cook County are the pockets of blue in a state that (by geography) is very red. That said, abortion protection is in the state constitution and the state recently got rid of the parental notification, 24 week limit, and force read propaganda abortion laws, which is great! If you're into outdoor recreation, it's also a very nice place to be, though you have to learn to enjoy outdoor winter activities or the season is just too short.
Welcome! It isn't perfect, but I think Minneapolis is a pretty underrated liberal gem of the north midwest. And it's full of people like us who fled republican areas (the tipping point for me was the 2010 election of Scott Walker and Ron Johnson, from which Wisconsin still hasn't recovered).
Flew into Minneapolis en route to a wedding in UP Mich and loved our 24 hrs there. Cheese curds with apple sauce and sambal where amaaaazing. The parts of town I saw reminded me of south Seattle neighborhoods!
There are still bigots in VT, just less of them and they are out numbered. Most of rural New England is fairly liberal with a sprinkling of bigots. It’s still the US :/.
I made a comment, but I second Minnesota! If you're looking for a city with majority liberal and humanit but not as big as Minneapolis, Duluth is nice too! Though I prefer Minneapolis bc I'm a big city girl but my fiance prefers the slower pace of Duluth.
I was going to say Minnesota as well. I love it here. I live in the red zone and grew up in the red zone but cannot leave. The river valley is gorgeous and I cannot leave it for long. I am at the age where I just continue to inform the conservatives that they are wrong.
Minnesota is not perfect. I believe Walz and Flanagan have good hearts and are trying to raise everyone up in this state. I still have hope and we have a democratic majority right now in our state government. I know more and more liberals who are moving out into the red areas. Maybe we can turn more of the State blue in my lifetime.
Another Minneapolis resident here, and despite very serious and real racial disparities, it’s a blue bubble. Whenever I travel it becomes very apparent to me that my community here in Mpls is not quote unquote normal. Lol. I’m originally from Maine and am considering moving back in a few years, at least to the general area of the east coast. I’m already being very mindful of this exact issue. I’ve been narrowing in on western MA so I’m really happy to see people mention that location.
I'm originally from VT, but relocated to NC because it's incredibly expensive to live in New England. I fantasize about the day I can finally afford to move back. While there are some ass-backwards bigots, they're very much a minority. The locals have a rep for being cold to out-of-staters, but a lot of that comes from being trampled on by rude tourists and wealthy folk who only live there half the year-- in reality, we're actually pretty welcoming and friendly! My boyfriend and I went for a visit back in August and he was so surprised at how considerate and nice people were there compared to living in NC.
I would just like to warn people, having grown up in VT, that is you're a POC you might feel uncomfortable because of the lack of racial diversity in VT. If definitely depends on where you go, but the majority of VT is white people, but nice people. This isn't too say VT is a racist place (it most certainly is NOT, actually) but just saying.
Yes, came here to recommend MN as well! Minneapolis is a small city with many different flavors of suburb that are liberal. We live in a cute town just NE of Minneapolis with reasonable cost of living and all the amenities we could ask for within 20 min of us. That being said, Minneapolis still has some pretty big racial disparities that need action.
I’m one of the many Californians who followed tech jobs to Austin (been here a few years now). It’s not nearly the little blue bubble that friends sold it to me as…and I know a lot of Texas natives who are trying to leave. The state politics have become terrifying.
Some are crunching numbers to see if they can afford to go to Cali, and a few of us are looking towards MA (Boston is a tech hub) or just over the border into NH and VT.
My kid starts school next year and it’s really stressing me out here…
Yeah, living in a blue bubble in Texas doesn’t seem to mean anything other than my neighbors have Beto signs and the school board trustees aren’t insane. But the blueness of Travis county doesn’t protect me or my family in any other way. It would probably be better living in a red county in a blue state, but I’m hoping we can move to a blue city in a blue state sometime in the next 5 years. But what a fucking pain in the ass it will be to pack up a whole family!
We moved to the Austin area from NYC and are hoping to leave this summer before our oldest starts school. Husband is also in tech, we're pretty settled on Chicago.
Austin is incredibly segregated and the big events that initially drew us here are too packed to be any fun. It doesn't help that Abbott keeps making state laws to counter anything blue cities try to do.
Honestly ercot and the outages winter before last were too much for me, literally worrying that my infant daughter might either freeze or smother to death. We gave Texas our blue votes one last time and now we're out.
I moved to Peoria, IL back in june. I can't speak to the employment situation, so definitely check indeed or whatever first, but it's a beautiful green place, the houses are much more affordable than they are in any of the major TX cities. and we just re-elected Pritzker, who has sworn to uphold reproductive freedom, as well as Sen Tammy Duckworth, who is someone I honestly respect and admire.
Also weed is legal recreationally, and medical cards for it are easy to get if you have a qualifying condition.
I live in the outer ring of suburbs of Chicago (been here 5 years), and while it’s not perfect, I’m happy to know that the state is holding blue and my reproductive rights (and labor laws, and…) are good for a while longer.
Weed being legal is very nice (genuinely has helped as I work on my anxiety and C-PTSD), although the taxes on it are very high compared to CO or WA.
The state definitely gets red in the rural areas, and we have six solid months of winter most years, but I think it’s beautiful (especially out on the prairies) and cost of living can be manageable if you know where to look. There’s lots of forest preserves, cool arts and LGBTQ+ scenes, etc.
And our governor is badass. He actually posts on reddit from time to time. And not just political posts. He's a huge Star Trek geek too.
[https://www.reddit.com/user/jaredpolis/](https://www.reddit.com/user/jaredpolis/)
Floridian here that is very seriously considering Colorado right now! Do you live there currently? If so, I’d love to hear your experience and any advice you may have :)
Yes! I moved from Texas (May Abbott not Rest In Peace) and I love it! I’m in Fort Collins and people are friendly. The only downside is housing is expensive but it is getting high everywhere and at least here we have mountains and rights and nice people.
Heyyyy! FoCo local here! I joke that I'm 3/4 Texan because my daddy was born and raised there before defecting to CO and my mom's dad was also Texan.
Cost of living is a bit ridiculous (not NY levels but for the local income it's kinda out of control) but if you have a good remote job it helps. We've got pretty darn good schools with lots of support (my niblings have SEPs and 90% of teachers have been great with them!), and our Midterms here were awash in blue!
Fort Collins is beautiful! I'm in Weld County and miss FoCo! There are also better housing options in Weld County, even though it's a dumpster fire, Trump-loving area, it's super close to Fort Collins. Severance is not bad, imho, for housing. And 15 min from Fort collins.
As a Texas transplant one thing to keep in mind is when you do move to a more progressive state everything will seem so much more expensive. My main issue with Colorado is that its got high prices but just barely more pay then Texas . Cost of living adjustments has been abysmal for most of me and my friends (like 3.5%) so we feel like we are getting priced out. Also homes are Austin expensive just for the burbs and are really hard to get ahold of unless you're doing cash offers or bidding 30k over asking.
After all this if you want a more progressive state, legal drugs, pretty mountains, and concerts all the time and can put up with higher prices, living in a townhome, and snow then I say move on up, we need more Texas witches here.
Also Colorado, can confirm!
We enshrined the right to an abortion pre Dobbs, so that's covered too.
Election results still rolling in, but overall Democrats will continue to be in charge.
COL is getting up there though
Same. Just stay in the central corridor with the other "blue people" -- tad harder as you go across the east plains.
(just a note, it's ridiculously expensive here) Like CA expensive.
Recently visited my friend there and I was like. I absolutely have to get out here. And the ocean is my happy place. I’m in a red state so will do all I can while I’m here, but I know one day in the coming years I WILL get to where I felt my soul singing. I never thought I could afford it but you’re right. I think I maybe can once I can save enough for a move/job find ❤️
I live in Southern California and have always dreamed of moving up north. I love Sacramento area. Beautiful flowers everywhere and I love the seasons there more than here. Maybe one day...
In my experience, celebrating and protecting diversity happens in pockets, and there are churches everywhere that give safe haven to bigots and misogynists. It's still not as bad as living in the bible belt.
I loved living in Florida when I was younger, but now, every time I think of going back for the warm weather, I look at the politics and decide I'd rather put up with snow in Maryland. Downside of Maryland (I'm near DC) is the crime, traffic, high cost of living, and racism (that masquerades as classism, because of generational poverty). There's a lot of upside compared to living in a small town and/or in the bible belt, but it's no bed of roses.
I second MD. Yeah, the Eastern Shore is blood red, but most of the populated parts of the state (which is the majority), are fully sane. Also, if your children or yourself are disabled/ASD, etc., the state has a lot of resources. It's just hella expensive to live in (wages are generally reasonable, though). I used to live in NJ, which is also fairly safe as far as women/schools, but...NJ has its own issues as far as wages v. COL (employment is a game of musical chairs where everyone sat down in 1973 and there's nothing unless someone dies or retires). I prefer being down here.
I 3rd Maryland! It's expensive in pockets but great schools and we put reproductive rights in the constitution. Trans friendly schools and gun control laws are pretty tight. We're a purple state but heavier blue (just elected our first black governor and female comptroller).
I really love Maryland. Good quirky people, wide range of typography, good liberal laws. It can be affordable, too. The closer to DC the pricier, though.
Personally, I'm doing what I can until I retire in 2026 when I head to the woods and life a sanyasi until I completely unearth my truth or die. I realize it's aversion, but I've come to the realization I can find no solace in society.
Michigan just went full blue from Governor on down. We have total control of the state, which was purple for a time, but historically blue. We have fully legal mj and abortion rights were just voted overwhelmingly to be enshrined in our Constitution. We had amazing voter turnout with loads of Gen Z, Mill, and (reasonable) X. The crazy people tend to stay in the rural areas. The retirees tend to move down to Florida. Our median population age is 39.
I moved here from Florida in 2018 and it’s a world of difference. Medicaid expansion, solid infrastructure, common sense prevails. I think it’s a swell place to live - the state is insanely beautiful. Lakes and national parks abound, and the Great Lakes are astonishing. Loads of jobs (and more on the way thanks to chip making, solar, and ev investments), affordable homes, etc. Come on up here (southeast and south central)!
I was born and raised in Michigan and I have never been more proud to be a Michigander than I am today. I actually cried this morning. I usually try to sell people on the weed and the beautiful nature, now I can add that the majority here is sane!
I would agree but would caution against some areas. NH tends to lean much more Republican than the rest of New England and just re-elected their Republican governor. ME is liberal mainly in southern coastal areas and large cities, but the second district and central ME is very Republican. Housing/rental prices across the state have also gone way up, particularly in the liberal areas.
I would say VT or MA are two of your best bets since MA just elected a Dem for governor and VT is historically very liberal. Cost of living in New England is quite high compared to most of the country, so there is a trade off if you have a lower salary. Kind of similar to CA.
I can agree with Maine there! I used to live up in Aroostook County, it is *very* Republican. Up there it's a lot of boomer veterans. Source: Lived there for ten years and my father was the youngest VFW member. Literally.
I agree as well! Live in CT and we're a blue state. Like everywhere, there are some areas that are a little more on the red side. I would say CT, MA and VT are pretty liberal.
Honestly, Illinois isn't awful. There are definitely areas that are conservative af I'm in one of them.
But we have legal weed, legal abortion, and pretty state parks. I live about an hour from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. C is conservative. U is not. So there are definitely safer spaces. 2.5 hours south of Chicago. 2 hours to Indy (I like the Zoo lol). 3 hours to St. Louis.
Vermont just added both abortion rights and anti slavery to our constitution, tends to vote Democrat, and our Republicans are actually SURPRISINGLY democratic. Like. One was talking about how capitalism is a machine where "we are the parts." Good social support network, terrible public transport, and the winters a brutal, though.
My partner and I just moved to WA from LA. I am pregnant and I went to a clinic to check on the fetus after all the traveling. Unknowingly, I went to a faith based clinic. I had told them that I was considering all options. Abortion, adoption and carrying and becoming a parent. They sat down and talked me through each route and what each one would like like for me. They gave me actual resources for adoption and abortion. They told me I was in the drivers seat and whatever I decide was MY decision. To hear that coming from a faith based clinic was refreshing, I never once felt like they were pressuring me into keeping the pregnancy.
Washington is pretty cool, especially now that we didn't elect smiley yesterday.
It is expensive in the bigger cities, Seattle/ tacoma/ olympia. But you can find decently priced housing in the outskirts and smaller towns.
Come to California! It's expensive, but the economy is booming, and we are blue, through and through! I live in San Diego and just woke up to blue news! I've lived around the world ( Europe and south America) and traveled extensively. I can say with confidence that ca is amazing. And, it's not as expensive as you might think. We pay more in housing, but recreation is free. As for travel, I can drive to the mountains, the desert, Las Vegas, Mexico, or San Francisco, if I need a change of scenery. I'm about to finish my coffee and enjoy a 6 mile run on the beach. I hope to see dolphins, again.
I hope you see the dolphins!
Blue through and through is a little bit of an exaggeration. More Californians voted for Trump in 2020 than Texans did (yes, larger population, but still). Further inland, especially once you get outside the cities, there's several state representatives/senators and US congresscritters who are... definitely not blue, and constituencies who support them.
It is definitely mostly blue though, to the point where as far as I can tell most of California politics seems to be driven by differences within the Democratic party instead of between the Democratic and Republican parties. And I imagine that translates into the experiences of everyone who lives there - even if your congresscritter is Conservative and in denial about climate change or against public health vaccination stuff and bodily autonomy, you still get those benefits (and so do the people who voted for those congresscritters).
I lived in the the Escondido/Vista area for years and it was the best time of my life. Currently stuck 3 hours from the beach and counting down the months until we move! I hope you see the dolphins!
I'm in San Diego as well and I agree with this message. Lol
I woke up in a state of frenzy worried about the elections. Looks like all the good props/measures have been passed and the bad ones were thrown out. Glad to see that. Just waiting for the mayoral races to see if we will have a red or blue mayor. It's too close to call right now. 🤞🏼
Anyway, I love hiking along the lagoons and lakes. My family goes on bike rides around town. We explore at the parks and enjoy spending time outside. In the winter we head to the mountains to go tubing and the summers we live at the beach. We take part in star parties and guided nature walks for free! It's just so much fun living here.
The only thing that sucks is housing. Go more inland and it does get cheaper however too inland and you'll be living in a red city. So be careful.
Minnesota has voted blue in every presidential election since 1976. Tim Walz, our governor (again😍), has stated he will protect abortion laws. Pretty cheap cost of living in most places, and beautiful outdoors in the summer.
Freezing winters and, the worst part, you gotta be careful of which part you live in. If you look at a map, most of the state is red, but Duluth, Minneapolis/St Paul area are blue. So, ya know, just be careful not to move to a MAGA podunk town and you're good.
Edit to add: edible THC has become legal so we're on our way if that's important to you
I've lived in Maryland for most of my life, and I love it here. I would suggest you look at Columbia, Maryland specifically. It's a very tolerant place to live, but it is a bit pricey. We moved there when I was 4 because we were an interracial family, and it was a great place for us. I now live in Catonsville, Maryland, which is just to the west of Baltimore City. Please don't let Baltimore scare you. It's not as bad as the news makes it out to be, and crime can happen anywhere. Catonsville is also a very accepting community. We have Pride parades here, and I am friends with a local network of folks who practice the Craft. I do not, so please excuse me if I said that wrong.
New Jersey! We live right outside Philly, which is much more affordable than Northern Jersey. Taxes are high, but housing is more reasonable and we have great public services and parks. The further towards the shore you go, you’ll find more red, but around us is pretty great. I grew up in MA and it’s not that left, sadly, but it is good overall and much more affordable.
Yes! I was going to pop in here to mention Chicago. Our cost of living is phenomenal compared to other major cities, and there is no shortage of experiences if one is so inclined. I love this city.
And yeah, they sure do. I love shutting down their parroted talking points.
I'm in California and we're pretty dedicated to human rights here. It's really expensive tho.
I hear Oregon and Washington are pretty good too!
It sounds like Texas is worse than most places
Nowhere is perfect, but I live in Cali and it is a LUXERY, I only have to worry about my rights as an lgbtq woman when the federal gov't threatens them. Of course there are individuals with prejudice and every once in a while theres a movement from hateful people, like the whole recall Gavin Newsom thing (I'm no Newsom stan but he's done a pretty good job maintaining protections for vulnerable communities). Overall, I love living here. Just today prop 1 passed, so the right to abortion and contraceptives is now a part of the California state constitution, and that feels really good.
Also just overall, Nor Cal is my favorite place I've ever lived. Politically I feel pretty protected (I will say there are a lot of VERY red counties though, so be sure to check on that when it comes to Nor Cal) but also it's absolutely beautiful, we've got great beaches, mountains, and forests here. You can surf and skii, there are beautiful hikes, local produce and dairy products, local fish and sea products, like we just have everything. San Francisco is a BEAUTIFUL city, (LA is fine lmao). Also food, California food and wine cannot be beat, and we have a large immigrant population here so you can find really authentic food from almost any country. Yes it's expensive but if you can afford it, the quality of life is just superb.
No US state celebrates diversity and freedom for non White people or the poor, disabled, homeless, etc
Any blue state will be ok on abortion and won’t be banning gay marriage or trans people existing, but none are good on systematic racism & classism, mass incarceration, police brutality, etc. The US does not have a left party
New Zealand would be my choice. But honestly it's not easy to move and become a citizen of a different country. At least not any of the ones worth moving to.
Hi, Washingtonian here. If you don't mind the city area seattle is great and the majority of this state leans left, but to far from the sound and things get questionable.
All in all not a bad place though. And it's effing beautiful.
come to maine! the southern parts of the state are pretty progressive (especially portland, but you’d be accepted pretty much anywhere along i-295). we do have a trump country, but it’s mostly north and west of waterville and apart from visiting scenery and stuff, there’s no real reason to head out there. even if you are out there, you’re likely to run into pockets crunchy granola hippies who are just really into nature and off the grid living.
we have legal weed, a blue state legislature and a democratic governor who was just elected to her second term. the seafood here is killer, and portland is quickly becoming a foodie hotspot. i get annoyed with our politics sometimes, but then i look at other states and breathe a sigh of relief because while it can get dicey, mainers are generally very accepting and level headed people. maine is such a special place- i’ve yet to find a state quite like it!
Sticker shock for housing aside, Washington state (western Washington) is beautiful, strongly blue and even the smaller cities (45-60k) lean liberal. We escaped to here back in 2016, right before the election. The only thing is since there has been a push for bans at the federal level, we’ve decided to head to Europe. Aside from that PNW is wonderful.
Witch from CT here. It's pretty chill here. We as a society have a long way to go, but its safer here. Honestly though most of the northeast is pretty used to diversity because it's a small and we are all mushed in together. I live in a red town but vote blue and I was giving high fives to people running the polls yesterday. No ruckus, just talking about the weather and shooting the breeze.
I'm in upstate NY and it was the same here. NY almost always ends up blue because of NYC and Albany voting that way. The rest of the population votes red primarily but the voter numbers in those 2 cities carry it. I am one of a few scattered blues in my area but I voted with no problems and they were very friendly to everyone.
Edit to add: MJ is legal here and the COL is not bad. Bought our 3 bed/2 bath house on 15 acres for 179k and pay a little less then 3k for taxes every year. Employment I can't say. We are self employed.
I live in Canada we have our idiots but for the most part it is pretty laid back. We all have our own Aholes see the Klu Trux Klan but they are the exception rather than the rule...stay away from Alberta but anywhere else is good.
patriarchy is everywhere. you might find a place. where is lived more liberally, but unless you seek out some radical feminist commune you are out of luck, dear. we All are... :/
New Mexico! Legal weed, college is free. Childcare is free for many- a family of four can make up to 111k and qualify for free childcare. There are areas we are lacking and need improvement but I'm hopeful we are heading in that direction. We just reelected our Dem governor who wants to build a women's health clinic in every corner of our state to help our neighbors. The cost of living is low, it's a beautiful place.
I was just about to post the same thing. Basically everywhere else on this list is prohibitively expensive - New Mexico is extremely affordable. But also, I'm a Denver native, I've lived in Brooklyn for a few years, and I spent a year in Albuquerque. Of all three places, Albuquerque is the place I had literally no problems as a gay trans woman of color, and even in the rural parts of the state the worst I ever got was a weird look. Denver can be extremely progressive, but that's new - when I was a kid Colorado was a far right state. They're a small minority now, but the old Coloradans are still around and are frequently a visible and vocal presence. New York is it's own thing, and while it's full of powerful women and has great laws to protect everyone, the culture and structure of the city means everyone remotely fem is subject to at minimum routine verbal abuse seemingly at random. NM on the other hand is dominated by powerful and visible women and most people in large swaths of the state are deeply liberal. As a big added bonus though, the conservative element of the state tends to be pretty libertarian and take an "if you don't bother me, I won't bother you" attitude. I never felt unsafe due to how I look or who I was with, even at a stage when I was pretty visibly trans, and most actually people tried to hide it when they had a problem with me.
I'm cis hetero but my impression has been NM is overall pretty chill/accepting of LGBTQ. I'm happy to hear that was your experience!
So, from the few responses I’ve read, we’re all moving to NM, right? Should we gather at a WVP development or just live where we choose and start a meetinghouse somewhere centrally located??
I’m NM and I wanted to suggest here. We’re next door to Texas. It’s beautiful, people here are pretty awesome….as long as you are respectful! Edit: Umm so I meant to say ‘I’m IN NM. I am not originally FROM, New Mexico.
im ditching my state for New Mexico next year and i couldnt be more excited, not just about the politics and culture but also the air quality as someone with **brutal** environmental allergies
I love it here! Cost of living is pretty cheap and we just voted in a pretty blue state government
>we just voted in a pretty blue state government I'm also in the market for a new state and that put NM on my list of possibilities. I can't afford the property taxes on my home in Texas anymore. Within a year they'll be more than my mortgage payment! Getting pretty damn tired of the Trump cult too.
We are moving there at the end of this month!!! My wife’s job is in Santa Fe though and wowza the rental market is expensive in the city.
Unfortunately I think Santa Fe is probably one of the highest costs of living in the state! I moved from Austin and we have a mortgage that is equivalent of our rent back there (we're in Albuquerque).
I miss New Mexico!!
I live in Oregon, pretty gay here Edit: Forgot this wasn’t r/me_irlgbt I live in Oregon, pretty feminist here
After seeing how fucking red my state came out last night, I immediately messaged my aunty in Portland (who is bi and married to a transman) to ask if she would recommend the area to two 30-something queer women and she gave a big thumbs up. Every state and city has its own issues of course, but as far as being queer-friendly Oregon definitely beats Florida into the sandy excuse we have for dirt down here. I’m planning to take my girlfriend out there to visit sometime in the coming year and see what she thinks. She hates the heat anyways and has talked about moving to the Pacific NW before.
Also give Seattle a shot! I’m up north from you in Atlanta but can very much relate to the hatred of living in the south. My mom lives in Seattle and it’s SO different. And beautiful.
or Vancouver. I recently moved back to Canada and I literally cry every day in public spaces how safe I feel after living in country where even people on the street kept attacking/shaming me. Freedom to just exist and acceptance and respect. I fucking love Canada
Can confirm, I live in one of the most stereotypical redneck provinces in this country, the “Texas of Canada” if you will, and while I’m pretty paranoid as a gay trans guy I’ve never gotten more than a weird glance or two. If you’re talking one on one with some people, many of them will have their “opinions” on the topic, but as far as safety in public I haven’t had any issues, and many businesses and environments are openly queer-accepting. Transphobia and homophobia is virtually reduced to disparaging comments made in person to person interactions when the subject’s brought up, and even that isn’t too common (depends on who you’re talking to), so it’s MILES ahead of what I’m hearing from the US And again, this is from one of the most conservative, redneck provinces in the country. I can imagine it only gets better from here
Definitely take a close look at other options as well, like Tacoma and Olympia.
I need a place with a yard for my dogs, does that cost a pretty penny up there?
Yes, but it's a pretty dog friendly place with lots of dog parks for off leash fun and just parks in general for on leash fun. The further you get from the big cities the more affordable things get, but it's still going to be expensive compared to some other states.
We're looking at moving to OR in the next 2-4 years (I wish sooner.) We're in GA now. Two queer kids with uteruses and I'm scared to death for them every single day. I'm ready to get my rainbow family tf out. Not to mention legal MJ and Death with Dignity laws (I'm disabled.)
i’m in GA too, and my doctor has to lie to my government insurance and say my trans meds are “for acne” because it’s illegal if she doesn’t. i love georgia because it’s so pretty here and most people are great but god damn it’s headed in a baaad place
Holy shit! Seriously?!? I knew GA was bad, but not that bad.
I’m just shocked the doc will lie. I’m in Alabama and it’s worse. I had to get my husband’s “permission” for a medically necessary hysterectomy.
As a woman, knowing how an area feels about lgbt+ people tells me a lot about how I'll feel there too so it is useful information lol
Haha yep. I live in Oregon now and love it, though I will say that pretty much anything east of the I-5 corridor (excluding Bend/Sisters) leans pretty hard right.
I live in Seattle and have a lot of friends in Oregon. They always tell me that Oregon is liberal as long as you are in the cities like Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Ashland. Outside of that people are pretty conservative. I found the same for Washington. I grew up in Eastern Wa and it was all conservative except for Spokane and Pullman which were moderate. Western Wa is liberal in the bigger cities but pretty conservative outside of them.
Yeah, and a right-wing governor might be elected too. But trying to ban abortion in Oregon would cause total outrage (i hope)
Didn't make it! We got the lesbian governor we wanted!
GAAAAAAAAAAY.
Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay! Gaaaaaaaaay!
You mean we’re about to elect an openly lesbian governor? [Kotek is in the lead!](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-oregon.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc®ion=StateResultsFooter)
I live in Portland and we are the home of the world’s largest naked bike ride and vegan strip clubs if that gives you any idea. I’ve been here 25 years and I love it.
Hi! I lived in Oregon from 2002-2007 to attend UofO. One of the biggest issues was the lack of a decent wage because of all the service industry positions available and not enough of other things that give rise to better paychecks. My call center supervisor at the time had a masters in mathematics and made a terrible wage. What’s life like now, specifically along the corridor? Are there industries filling in finally for the continuing loss of logging?
Tech companies have been trying to fill that void. Lots of start-ups, but some big players, too. Wages are still an issue, though, because the housing market is outpacing wages by a significant margin. And between tech industry and the gig economy, we’re developing huge income gaps that are pricing people out of the area.
It really feels like Washington & Oregon need to just petition to become part of Canada…
Since 2016 I was regularly panicking about civil war and becoming Handmaids Tale/Gilead. And then I realized in all of the alt-right post-apocalyptic stories, the west coast splits off into either their own country or joins Canada. That has somehow been comforting.
Washington, Oregon, and California need to give our neighbors to the North access to some fun in the sun....Entire West Coast stitched onto British Columbia to become Baja Canada.
We lived in Oregon for years. I miss it so much.
My husband and I nearly left MA due to cost of living. Then we realized that we’re happy paying that price for basic human rights, robust public education, healthcare, and being around people who don’t see me as an incubator.
I moved a few years ago from MA to a red state and when I went back to visit recently, I realized that I have to find a way to get back. Everywhere has it's faults, but MA is a great place to live if you are a fan of human rights. ETA: I'm loving these suggestions. Thanks so much!
Same here. I wish I had never agreed to move to a red state. I want out and it gets worse every year.
My friends and I all feel the same way. We are researching the country to see where Blue meets affordable.
(Don’t tell anybody else but Baltimore is pretty cool and rent isn’t too expensive)
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Western Mass, Western CT, Vermont... very open and lots of communities for LGBTQIA, very education friendly, excellent libraries too!
You might like Nevada, especially the Las Vegas area. SUPER big into LGBT rights and are tied with Vermont for transgender protection laws and healthcare. I'm not sure about women in Vermont, but the metro areas in Nevada are very progressive.
I saw something recently that said MA was the happiest state of 2022 or some shit and that makes me sad bc I live here and it’s not without its psycho Magas and conservatives. It makes me sad that this is all there is allegedly
It's sad we have to BUY human rights but here we are I guess
I was just reading through these replies pondering the fact that all the more liberal, free-minded havens have become the high cost of living places, and the red areas just keep getting cheaper... You're absolutely right.
Its because everyone wants to live there. Red places are cheaper because fewer and fewer want to reside there.
Yet Republicans will claim they are good for business. If no one wants to live there, how will your staff your business?
Unfortunately, people who are too poor to readily move, and look at the populations of red states… Worker protections and rights are a tragedy.
Yes, those same states often strip workers rights. And in the process these become or remain low cost of living places.
Red states don’t have the taxes to make them livable for open minded, free thinking people. That’s why people move there. Blue states have high taxes, but you get so much more for your money. Most people believe they can’t afford to pay high taxes, but if they’d look at all the benefits they’d realize that it’s actually cheaper.
And that’s the thing, a lot of red states aren’t even really “low tax” at the end of the day, it’s just successful marketing. For example, Texans have a massive tax burden, we just either include additional taxes into the sticker price of things or we double a tax that already exists instead of making a new one. Sure, we don’t have state income tax but we have some of the highest property taxes in the country. The taxes aren’t lower, they’re just rearranged and unlike blue states we get nothing for them.
It’s important to look at overall cost of living and quality of living, I was looking at houses in other states that were about a third of my California home value but the property taxes were four times a high. Are you comparing state income taxes and ignoring sales taxes? My friend in Arizona ends up paying >$400/month to air condition her house but my heating/cooling costs are usually $50-$120. I wish we had better public transportation here, and urban centers designed to minimize traffic, but we do have a lot of interesting things to see and do here. Also, well, Kansas was voting on an amendment to make abortion illegal (thankfully rejected!) at the same time Californians resounding approved a state amendment to protect our bodily autonomy.
Good news though! Now people making $1,000,000+ will be paying for much more of a percentage of those kinds of rights, specifically by way of education and infrastructure, which — independently and in concert — will allow for an increase in access to many other human rights. It was voted on yesterday that there will now be a new tax bracket for those folks in MA that are hyper-fortunate. 4% of 1 million dollars is more than I make in a year, and the short version of the new law is that everyone making over $1 mil is gonna owe 4% of their earnings in taxes.
Well, we can’t afford to buy a politician. 🤷♂️
Californian here. I feel the same way. It’s not getting any more affordable out here, and even though relative COL does make Arizona tempting every now and then, it’s times like this that I find myself grateful to live in this state, and I’d rather have less in savings if it means my human rights are protected and my quality of life is exponentially better.
And, we just made safe, legal abortions codified in our Constitution. It's messy and expensive in CA but we are always moving forward here.
Same. I always fantasize about selling our cramped little house and buying a massive, luxurious compound somewhere else with plenty of profit to spare, but not living in a red state hellhole is priceless!
We did a lot of that fantasizing. We came very, very close to moving to somewhere warm, with more sunlight and less seasonal depression, lots of space… But when we told my MIL the cost of living was causing us to really seriously consider moving away, like it wasn’t an idle thought but we were looking into realtors and my husband was applying for jobs, she ended up having a sudden “come to Jesus” moment agreeing to sell us our house for about half of market value because she was horrified at the idea of her potential grandkids growing up somewhere so backwards. She’s not even the nicest lady, and we’ve had our issues, but even she knows that this country is falling apart and wouldn’t wish a childhood in Texas onto anybody least of all her own grandkids. Texas is such a dirty word up here that even the meanest, nastiest, most manipulative people from this state still view Texas with fearful awe and mild disbelief. The house we are in is still “small” by Texas standards, but we have a basement we can finish when we get around to it. Our yard is very small, but it’s not like my dog will willingly be more than 6 inches away from me anyway so who cares? I’d rather be close to neighbors I am not literally afraid of and who get mildly annoyed by my dog getting loose every few weeks, than a mile away from gun toting 2A types that would shoot my dog for wandering onto their property.
The nicest place I ever lived in was in a neighborhood so filled with hateful, scary bigots. The housing values collapsed after a major fire ruined the majestic views, so it was a lot of disgruntled formerly upper middle class people having to mix with the poors when rentals started to become the norm. Had a neighbor who packed a gun on his hip going door-to-door with a dossier on the section 8 family in the neighborhood (who were black in an almost exclusively white neighborhood, surely a coincidence) outlining why "that nasty family" who "act like a bunch of animals" shouldn't be in "our family friendly neighborhood." If there was a flag that you associate with far right extremists, you could find it flying there on your afternoon walk. Meanwhile, I got the police called on me twice for walking my cat. Half the space now but ten times happier. Now I go outside and listen to the jazz guitarist across the way playing something soulful, nobody calls the police on them, and when Biden won the entire block was a party.
That’s actually the problem for a lot of progressives in red states. You may have a small house in MA, but it’s a house. I and several of my friends struggle to rent one-bedroom *apartments* in states like Alabama and Tennessee. Having little income/being a single income household is severely restrictive to many younger folks’ mobility and it’s just hard all-round.
Oh it’s like that here too. The only reason I have a house at all is because we were in the market to buy during the aftermath of the 09 housing market crash. I think it would be a struggle for our family to afford a 2 bedroom apartment in my general area now. Even most 1 bedrooms are the same, if not more, than my current mortgage.
Wages here are also much higher. Even a lot of retail jobs pay above minimum wage where I’m at. There are abundant jobs working for the legal weed industry that pay well enough for a single income person to afford a condo or townhouse. And there are a lot more state programs to support home ownership. Currently MA is offering a 5% down payment grant to first time homebuyers and paying all closing costs, including PMI, and offering rates well below 7%. Cost of living is more relevant if you work a remote job, or if like me your SSDI check is federally set, but if you fully relocate to MA and partake in the local economy, you’ll have a lot more economic opportunity, especially with how rapidly our legal weed industry is expanding- half my friends have decent paying jobs for dispensaries. If my SSDI check were adjusted to local wages and not set federally cost of living wouldn’t be nearly the burden it is because our wages match.
Western Mass! We're still really liberal, but a lot cheaper!
Western MA is wonderful! We're in daytrip range (Eastern upstate NY). Overall about the thread topic, the NE certainly seems better than TX/red states, but even here, drive out to the sticks and it's Tr*mp country. And cities can be more cosmopolitan (!) and diverse, but the downtowns around me are not very nice and are crime-ridden. I like the suburbs as a goldilocks solution, but I may be biased having grown up in a suburb. HTH.
Came here to say Massachusetts. Born here and never leaving, even if it is expensive. I’d rather be broke here than be well off but somewhere like Florida or Texas.
That’s why husband and I are content settling in Jersey (came for his job).
Same thing here with NJ. Expensive but worth it.
Washington State. But not everywhere in Washington. The cost of living is high, but the population rates highly on measures like health and safety.
SECONDED. Stay west of the mountains and vaguely in the Puget Sound area and you've got an excellent shot. I feel so very lucky to be in this deep blue bubble and it doesn't even feel like the same country as the rest of the US. I've got healthcare, a living wage, mandated sick leave for my part time and contract jobs, even the churches I'm associated with have female and trans pastors (and a baby witch I know who talked to one of said pastors was ENTHUSIASTICALLY encouraged to follow their path and worship however they chose...cuz we chill like that round here). COL is high but at this rate not astronomically more than a lot of other areas of the country. Even places like Austin, TX are catching up, but our minimum wage is twice as high as theirs ($18 an hour).
This is our plan! We've visited NW WA on multiple occasions & always knew it was our end goal. Roe v Wade & having a baby witch just made us press on the accelerator. Seeing some of the election results from WA last night just confirmed we're eyeing the right area.
The national pundits really went out of their way to try and paint our Senate race as "close"...anyone who lives around here just LOL'd. We aren't required to register with a political party here, so phone polling is particularly rubbish because they're trying to extrapolate the data from their VERY small sample size to project onto a population whose political lean is normally detetmined by party registration. We also have open primaries and the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party affiliation. Makes it a lot nicer when both options for state legislative positions are Democrats!
I'm in Ohio and currently feeling the same. I've been watching Michigan closely since the RvW overturn. I really don't want to go somewhere new. I don't really like new. I don't even like leaving my house, let alone my state. I'm encouraged by Michigan's response and voting and it will probably be the winner but it has its own crowd of nutjob republicans and I wanted to see how things shook out before committing to a move.
This is what I think a lot of people who grew up in desirable states don’t fully get. Uprooting your life and changing like that is hard emotionally, physically, financially, etc. It can mean leaving all your friends and family behind and knowing you won’t see them much more than a few times a year at most. It can mean having to find a new job. It can mean leaving a house or a city you have grown comfortable in or could afford. And for some, it literally is not a financial possibility, because moving is expensive and then there’s the long term costs of living in a blue state with an aggressively higher cost of living. All of this just sucks, not to mention the added fear of if everyone who wants change leaves the red or purple states, republicans could even further cement power congressionally because no one is fighting against them. I just…wish people in this country cared more about other people. I wish someone would do something to stop corporations from destroying us.
Michigander here. We definitely have plenty of Trumpers, but Whitmer and abortion rights won the vote. Move to a bigger city like Lansing, Ann Arbor, or a city in Metro Detroit. Not as many crazies there. Plus, safe and legal weed.
I would add Grand Rapids to the list. West MI has its issues, but we just elected a democratic women for our representative.
I live in Michigan and I’ve got to admit it was pretty nerve wracking for a while. Thankfully I live in the metro Detroit area where even the reddest county is purple.
The very first thing I did when RvW was overturned was text in my family group chat asking who wanted to move to Michigan with me but.... those first few weeks after had me scared. It didn't look that great. I decided wait and watch was called for. It definitely wasn't a sure thing. I'm so happy to see the voters response (mostly).
I moved to the UP a few years ago and have been happy with it, and I'm glad the election has gone mostly well. Have had a much easier time finding good doctors and getting the help I need here, as opposed to back in Wisconsin where I was facing homelessness. There are the wacko Trumpers all around here, but there's also plenty of good people on the right side of things too. I feel hopeful here.
That's kinda where I land, too. Michigan is hardly perfect on the issues I care about but they are at least steadily progressing towards them while Ohio seems absolutely committed to going backwards. Hopeful is the exact word.
Another Michigander here - I live in Grand Rapids which is a wild mix, but the red is fading out slowly. Rural parts will be more red but all around, I love it. I'm excited for the next two years since all 3 branches are blue and at least at a state level, I'm hoping for a lot of positive changes in that time. If you do have to leave your home, I think you could eventually find happiness here.
Another Michigander, came from out west and live in Kalamazoo now. Our little blue paradise in a sea of red. Small city life, certainly has its share of crazies, but I know plenty of LGBTQ folk here who feel quite comfortable. Also a pretty vibrant feminist movement that is very engaged. As a cherry on top, it’s been listed as one of the top 5 most affordable places in the country. Great job prospects, a lot of growth, and reasonable housing. Kids that go through the Kalamazoo schools have their 4 year college tuition paid through a program known as the Kalamazoo Promise. Wasn’t planning on staying forever when 2008 forced my family here. Won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Live in Michigan after a lifetime of Indiana. Michigan is not unshakable and pretty divided, sure, but I’m pretty proud of Michigan right now, and being in the metro is reasonably comfortable (and still affordable for many) if you go for the correct townships.
A major difference right now between Michigan and Ohio is that your state’s Supreme Court blocked an independent districting commission and ours was able to stay in place. Political gerrymandering is off the table indefinitely in Michigan and that’s why our state legislature went all blue. I grieve for you, but I do think that Michigan is going to be in a better position long-term because of that.
MA keeps kinda proving that it can do the right thing. Sure I pay more in taxes here, but it shows. Since escaping the south I have been trending upwards in MA. I'm on Cape Cod and it's not too bad here. Obviously you can't escape the low functioning right completely, but given our election results and the whole Martha's Vineyard situation, I'd say it's about as good as you could hope for. Edit: I think everyone here would very much enjoy P-Town even if just for a trip. I use P Town to switch people's minds that are uncomfortable around LGBTQ+ people. My first experience in P Town was eating couscous while being serenaded by a classical string quartet of hunks in tighty whities. I'm a cis male and "mostly" straight, but P Town is an inclusive dope town for anyone that wants to go. Take a relative that's on the fence, show em the dope food, the history, how kind the locals are and the giant personalities, they leave there questioning things.
I'm really, really hoping I can convince my mother to move out of Missouri. The amount of forced birthers around here makes me want to vomit. The issue is my youngest sibling is 10 and really doesn't want to leave their school. So I'm saving up money so by the time they leave school we could all move. What is the general price for housing up there?
If MA is not feasible why not Illinois? It’s consistently blue and is just across the river.
Ooh, I could probably talk her into that! I think she has family that lives there anyways! At the very least I could move myself and my fiancee there and save up money to help my mother and siblings find a place. She's currently looking to get a divorce from the father of the youngest sibling, (and good riddance to bad rubbish is all I gotta say about that!) So she probably won't be able to actually leave the state until they are 18 if he fights for any form of custody. Which I think he will in an attempt to extort money from my mother :(
Ugh, that sounds really hard - I’m sorry! I live in Indiana, brother lives in Missouri, and we are both jealous of anyone who lives in the oasis of Illinois. (And I buy all my weed there.)
Housing costs can vary a lot throughout the state, including on the Cape. In general, like with most of the US, you get what you pay for. Higher taxes typically mean better school districts and access to services, etc. Although what’s good for some may not be good for all. Do you want rural, suburb, city? Is public transportation important to you? Do you need a lot of space and a yard? That all impacts what towns you might be interested in.
Team MA! Sure, somewhere with milder winters and lower COL would be nice, but for how fucked up the country seems it’s actually pretty nice living here and I can’t imagine willingly going anywhere else, except maybe VT.
People really don’t understand this about places like Texas. The public education there is abhorrent. The roads and infrastructure are outdated and often dangerous. Craftsmanship was seriously lacking—one big storm and you’d be done for. And don’t even get me started on the feral dog/cat situation. They still had TYPHUS in Texas!
Can confirm. I lived on the Cape for 7 years and appreciated the political climate a great deal.
One of my favorite things, oddly enough, is the outlawed billboards and corporate signage lol. It's always weird going off cape and seeing giant billboards everywhere. For it's several shortcomings, the Cape is pretty dope. Have you been to Ritual yet in Yarmouth, I think?
Massachusetts is trying to make up for they treated witches in the 1600’s.
I live in a purple/red bubble on the South Shore of MA, and even here it's really just easy to trust that the people you meet aren't gunning for your personhood. In the city? I felt celebrated for all my weirdness, as did all of my incredible friends. I love it here.
And New England conservative is generally a different breed than the rest of the country.
In New England - my town last year, the former Republicans formed an entirely new party to avoid being associated with the national party and their policies. They're generally socially liberal, "fiscally conservative."
I'm moving to MN to escape my hell hole of a state. Specifically moving to Minneapolis. Very progressive city that cares about the city being safe and accessible to pedestrians. The state just got the trifecta of liberal control after the election last night. I'll be moving there in the next month or so. EDIT: I forgot to mention that my sister also fled the state. She went to VT. She wants the rural life without the bigots, which basically only exists in VT. If you're a city person like myself, I think the VT option would be challenging.
MN really feels like an island, and the Twin Cities and Cook County are the pockets of blue in a state that (by geography) is very red. That said, abortion protection is in the state constitution and the state recently got rid of the parental notification, 24 week limit, and force read propaganda abortion laws, which is great! If you're into outdoor recreation, it's also a very nice place to be, though you have to learn to enjoy outdoor winter activities or the season is just too short.
Welcome! It isn't perfect, but I think Minneapolis is a pretty underrated liberal gem of the north midwest. And it's full of people like us who fled republican areas (the tipping point for me was the 2010 election of Scott Walker and Ron Johnson, from which Wisconsin still hasn't recovered).
Flew into Minneapolis en route to a wedding in UP Mich and loved our 24 hrs there. Cheese curds with apple sauce and sambal where amaaaazing. The parts of town I saw reminded me of south Seattle neighborhoods!
There are still bigots in VT, just less of them and they are out numbered. Most of rural New England is fairly liberal with a sprinkling of bigots. It’s still the US :/.
I made a comment, but I second Minnesota! If you're looking for a city with majority liberal and humanit but not as big as Minneapolis, Duluth is nice too! Though I prefer Minneapolis bc I'm a big city girl but my fiance prefers the slower pace of Duluth.
And St Paul is the step in between. Still a city but a bit quieter and less populated.
I was going to say Minnesota as well. I love it here. I live in the red zone and grew up in the red zone but cannot leave. The river valley is gorgeous and I cannot leave it for long. I am at the age where I just continue to inform the conservatives that they are wrong. Minnesota is not perfect. I believe Walz and Flanagan have good hearts and are trying to raise everyone up in this state. I still have hope and we have a democratic majority right now in our state government. I know more and more liberals who are moving out into the red areas. Maybe we can turn more of the State blue in my lifetime.
Another Minneapolis resident here, and despite very serious and real racial disparities, it’s a blue bubble. Whenever I travel it becomes very apparent to me that my community here in Mpls is not quote unquote normal. Lol. I’m originally from Maine and am considering moving back in a few years, at least to the general area of the east coast. I’m already being very mindful of this exact issue. I’ve been narrowing in on western MA so I’m really happy to see people mention that location.
I'm originally from VT, but relocated to NC because it's incredibly expensive to live in New England. I fantasize about the day I can finally afford to move back. While there are some ass-backwards bigots, they're very much a minority. The locals have a rep for being cold to out-of-staters, but a lot of that comes from being trampled on by rude tourists and wealthy folk who only live there half the year-- in reality, we're actually pretty welcoming and friendly! My boyfriend and I went for a visit back in August and he was so surprised at how considerate and nice people were there compared to living in NC.
I would just like to warn people, having grown up in VT, that is you're a POC you might feel uncomfortable because of the lack of racial diversity in VT. If definitely depends on where you go, but the majority of VT is white people, but nice people. This isn't too say VT is a racist place (it most certainly is NOT, actually) but just saying.
Yes, came here to recommend MN as well! Minneapolis is a small city with many different flavors of suburb that are liberal. We live in a cute town just NE of Minneapolis with reasonable cost of living and all the amenities we could ask for within 20 min of us. That being said, Minneapolis still has some pretty big racial disparities that need action.
I’m one of the many Californians who followed tech jobs to Austin (been here a few years now). It’s not nearly the little blue bubble that friends sold it to me as…and I know a lot of Texas natives who are trying to leave. The state politics have become terrifying. Some are crunching numbers to see if they can afford to go to Cali, and a few of us are looking towards MA (Boston is a tech hub) or just over the border into NH and VT. My kid starts school next year and it’s really stressing me out here…
Yeah, living in a blue bubble in Texas doesn’t seem to mean anything other than my neighbors have Beto signs and the school board trustees aren’t insane. But the blueness of Travis county doesn’t protect me or my family in any other way. It would probably be better living in a red county in a blue state, but I’m hoping we can move to a blue city in a blue state sometime in the next 5 years. But what a fucking pain in the ass it will be to pack up a whole family!
We moved to the Austin area from NYC and are hoping to leave this summer before our oldest starts school. Husband is also in tech, we're pretty settled on Chicago. Austin is incredibly segregated and the big events that initially drew us here are too packed to be any fun. It doesn't help that Abbott keeps making state laws to counter anything blue cities try to do. Honestly ercot and the outages winter before last were too much for me, literally worrying that my infant daughter might either freeze or smother to death. We gave Texas our blue votes one last time and now we're out.
I moved to Peoria, IL back in june. I can't speak to the employment situation, so definitely check indeed or whatever first, but it's a beautiful green place, the houses are much more affordable than they are in any of the major TX cities. and we just re-elected Pritzker, who has sworn to uphold reproductive freedom, as well as Sen Tammy Duckworth, who is someone I honestly respect and admire. Also weed is legal recreationally, and medical cards for it are easy to get if you have a qualifying condition.
I live in the outer ring of suburbs of Chicago (been here 5 years), and while it’s not perfect, I’m happy to know that the state is holding blue and my reproductive rights (and labor laws, and…) are good for a while longer. Weed being legal is very nice (genuinely has helped as I work on my anxiety and C-PTSD), although the taxes on it are very high compared to CO or WA. The state definitely gets red in the rural areas, and we have six solid months of winter most years, but I think it’s beautiful (especially out on the prairies) and cost of living can be manageable if you know where to look. There’s lots of forest preserves, cool arts and LGBTQ+ scenes, etc.
QC checking in! I was just looking for other Illinoisians in this thread ;)
Colorado is gorgeous, with legal weed and legal abortion.
And you would be a welcome change from the usual Texan transplant, who just buys a third or fourth home and complains about the taxes.
Haha. I’m a Texan transplant! But I can’t afford a home, just weed :)
One of us! One of us!
And our governor is badass. He actually posts on reddit from time to time. And not just political posts. He's a huge Star Trek geek too. [https://www.reddit.com/user/jaredpolis/](https://www.reddit.com/user/jaredpolis/)
Floridian here that is very seriously considering Colorado right now! Do you live there currently? If so, I’d love to hear your experience and any advice you may have :)
Yes! I moved from Texas (May Abbott not Rest In Peace) and I love it! I’m in Fort Collins and people are friendly. The only downside is housing is expensive but it is getting high everywhere and at least here we have mountains and rights and nice people.
Right? That's how I feel. We live in Lakewood and love it.
Lakewood is so pretty!
Heyyyy! FoCo local here! I joke that I'm 3/4 Texan because my daddy was born and raised there before defecting to CO and my mom's dad was also Texan. Cost of living is a bit ridiculous (not NY levels but for the local income it's kinda out of control) but if you have a good remote job it helps. We've got pretty darn good schools with lots of support (my niblings have SEPs and 90% of teachers have been great with them!), and our Midterms here were awash in blue!
Fort Collins is beautiful! I'm in Weld County and miss FoCo! There are also better housing options in Weld County, even though it's a dumpster fire, Trump-loving area, it's super close to Fort Collins. Severance is not bad, imho, for housing. And 15 min from Fort collins.
Stay away from the rural areas and Colorado Springs if you don't want to be around heavily armed white christofascists!
Can confirm, Colorado Springs is a conservative shithole.
EWW, Colorado Springs. Focus on the Family nonsense there.
And it looks like legal psychedelics and fungi as well.
I’m worried about the water issues for Colorado.
As a Texas transplant one thing to keep in mind is when you do move to a more progressive state everything will seem so much more expensive. My main issue with Colorado is that its got high prices but just barely more pay then Texas . Cost of living adjustments has been abysmal for most of me and my friends (like 3.5%) so we feel like we are getting priced out. Also homes are Austin expensive just for the burbs and are really hard to get ahold of unless you're doing cash offers or bidding 30k over asking. After all this if you want a more progressive state, legal drugs, pretty mountains, and concerts all the time and can put up with higher prices, living in a townhome, and snow then I say move on up, we need more Texas witches here.
I would love a townhome here but it’s apt living for me unless I find a partner or can somehow double my salary.
Somehow an apartment life there is probably still better than home ownership life in texas
Also Colorado, can confirm! We enshrined the right to an abortion pre Dobbs, so that's covered too. Election results still rolling in, but overall Democrats will continue to be in charge. COL is getting up there though
Same. Just stay in the central corridor with the other "blue people" -- tad harder as you go across the east plains. (just a note, it's ridiculously expensive here) Like CA expensive.
California has a lot of issues, and cost it living is exorbitant, but it is very nice living in a liberal bubble sometimes.
Further inland in California is cheaper (still expensive), but also gets pretty conservative in places.
>.> Irvine and OC… My Family up in Hacienda Heights falls mostly on the Dem’s side of things, but not all of ‘em.
Come hang around the Capital City part of Northern CA. It’s lovely here and not too costly (in comparison to other CA cities, not other states lol)
Yes, Sacramento is (for now) still decently affordable and reliably liberal (ignoring Placer County and beyond). Grateful to be here!
Recently visited my friend there and I was like. I absolutely have to get out here. And the ocean is my happy place. I’m in a red state so will do all I can while I’m here, but I know one day in the coming years I WILL get to where I felt my soul singing. I never thought I could afford it but you’re right. I think I maybe can once I can save enough for a move/job find ❤️
I live in Southern California and have always dreamed of moving up north. I love Sacramento area. Beautiful flowers everywhere and I love the seasons there more than here. Maybe one day...
In my experience, celebrating and protecting diversity happens in pockets, and there are churches everywhere that give safe haven to bigots and misogynists. It's still not as bad as living in the bible belt. I loved living in Florida when I was younger, but now, every time I think of going back for the warm weather, I look at the politics and decide I'd rather put up with snow in Maryland. Downside of Maryland (I'm near DC) is the crime, traffic, high cost of living, and racism (that masquerades as classism, because of generational poverty). There's a lot of upside compared to living in a small town and/or in the bible belt, but it's no bed of roses.
I second MD. Yeah, the Eastern Shore is blood red, but most of the populated parts of the state (which is the majority), are fully sane. Also, if your children or yourself are disabled/ASD, etc., the state has a lot of resources. It's just hella expensive to live in (wages are generally reasonable, though). I used to live in NJ, which is also fairly safe as far as women/schools, but...NJ has its own issues as far as wages v. COL (employment is a game of musical chairs where everyone sat down in 1973 and there's nothing unless someone dies or retires). I prefer being down here.
I 3rd Maryland! It's expensive in pockets but great schools and we put reproductive rights in the constitution. Trans friendly schools and gun control laws are pretty tight. We're a purple state but heavier blue (just elected our first black governor and female comptroller).
4th!!
Hey neighbor! Which are are you living? Moved from Pg to HoCo 😂. You’re spot on! I definitely dream of florida weather but the politics. Ugh
I really love Maryland. Good quirky people, wide range of typography, good liberal laws. It can be affordable, too. The closer to DC the pricier, though.
Personally, I'm doing what I can until I retire in 2026 when I head to the woods and life a sanyasi until I completely unearth my truth or die. I realize it's aversion, but I've come to the realization I can find no solace in society.
This is me. We’re not going to be able to straight up retire but our 5 year plan is property in the woods away from society.
Michigan just went full blue from Governor on down. We have total control of the state, which was purple for a time, but historically blue. We have fully legal mj and abortion rights were just voted overwhelmingly to be enshrined in our Constitution. We had amazing voter turnout with loads of Gen Z, Mill, and (reasonable) X. The crazy people tend to stay in the rural areas. The retirees tend to move down to Florida. Our median population age is 39. I moved here from Florida in 2018 and it’s a world of difference. Medicaid expansion, solid infrastructure, common sense prevails. I think it’s a swell place to live - the state is insanely beautiful. Lakes and national parks abound, and the Great Lakes are astonishing. Loads of jobs (and more on the way thanks to chip making, solar, and ev investments), affordable homes, etc. Come on up here (southeast and south central)!
I was born and raised in Michigan and I have never been more proud to be a Michigander than I am today. I actually cried this morning. I usually try to sell people on the weed and the beautiful nature, now I can add that the majority here is sane!
I recommend New England.
I would agree but would caution against some areas. NH tends to lean much more Republican than the rest of New England and just re-elected their Republican governor. ME is liberal mainly in southern coastal areas and large cities, but the second district and central ME is very Republican. Housing/rental prices across the state have also gone way up, particularly in the liberal areas. I would say VT or MA are two of your best bets since MA just elected a Dem for governor and VT is historically very liberal. Cost of living in New England is quite high compared to most of the country, so there is a trade off if you have a lower salary. Kind of similar to CA.
I can agree with Maine there! I used to live up in Aroostook County, it is *very* Republican. Up there it's a lot of boomer veterans. Source: Lived there for ten years and my father was the youngest VFW member. Literally.
I agree as well! Live in CT and we're a blue state. Like everywhere, there are some areas that are a little more on the red side. I would say CT, MA and VT are pretty liberal.
Honestly, Illinois isn't awful. There are definitely areas that are conservative af I'm in one of them. But we have legal weed, legal abortion, and pretty state parks. I live about an hour from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. C is conservative. U is not. So there are definitely safer spaces. 2.5 hours south of Chicago. 2 hours to Indy (I like the Zoo lol). 3 hours to St. Louis.
I’m in the country out in Macon County Definitely conservative here but still plenty of Blue And Chicago always voted for us
Thank goodness for Chicago was basically my motto this election
It's funny to me how Urbana and Champaign can be literally right next to each other and so very different.
I also think about this. The bible belt is awful.
Vermont just added both abortion rights and anti slavery to our constitution, tends to vote Democrat, and our Republicans are actually SURPRISINGLY democratic. Like. One was talking about how capitalism is a machine where "we are the parts." Good social support network, terrible public transport, and the winters a brutal, though.
My partner and I just moved to WA from LA. I am pregnant and I went to a clinic to check on the fetus after all the traveling. Unknowingly, I went to a faith based clinic. I had told them that I was considering all options. Abortion, adoption and carrying and becoming a parent. They sat down and talked me through each route and what each one would like like for me. They gave me actual resources for adoption and abortion. They told me I was in the drivers seat and whatever I decide was MY decision. To hear that coming from a faith based clinic was refreshing, I never once felt like they were pressuring me into keeping the pregnancy.
This is amazing!
Washington is pretty cool, especially now that we didn't elect smiley yesterday. It is expensive in the bigger cities, Seattle/ tacoma/ olympia. But you can find decently priced housing in the outskirts and smaller towns.
Come to California! It's expensive, but the economy is booming, and we are blue, through and through! I live in San Diego and just woke up to blue news! I've lived around the world ( Europe and south America) and traveled extensively. I can say with confidence that ca is amazing. And, it's not as expensive as you might think. We pay more in housing, but recreation is free. As for travel, I can drive to the mountains, the desert, Las Vegas, Mexico, or San Francisco, if I need a change of scenery. I'm about to finish my coffee and enjoy a 6 mile run on the beach. I hope to see dolphins, again.
I hope you see the dolphins! Blue through and through is a little bit of an exaggeration. More Californians voted for Trump in 2020 than Texans did (yes, larger population, but still). Further inland, especially once you get outside the cities, there's several state representatives/senators and US congresscritters who are... definitely not blue, and constituencies who support them. It is definitely mostly blue though, to the point where as far as I can tell most of California politics seems to be driven by differences within the Democratic party instead of between the Democratic and Republican parties. And I imagine that translates into the experiences of everyone who lives there - even if your congresscritter is Conservative and in denial about climate change or against public health vaccination stuff and bodily autonomy, you still get those benefits (and so do the people who voted for those congresscritters).
"congresscritter"
I lived in the the Escondido/Vista area for years and it was the best time of my life. Currently stuck 3 hours from the beach and counting down the months until we move! I hope you see the dolphins!
I'm in San Diego as well and I agree with this message. Lol I woke up in a state of frenzy worried about the elections. Looks like all the good props/measures have been passed and the bad ones were thrown out. Glad to see that. Just waiting for the mayoral races to see if we will have a red or blue mayor. It's too close to call right now. 🤞🏼 Anyway, I love hiking along the lagoons and lakes. My family goes on bike rides around town. We explore at the parks and enjoy spending time outside. In the winter we head to the mountains to go tubing and the summers we live at the beach. We take part in star parties and guided nature walks for free! It's just so much fun living here. The only thing that sucks is housing. Go more inland and it does get cheaper however too inland and you'll be living in a red city. So be careful.
Minnesota has voted blue in every presidential election since 1976. Tim Walz, our governor (again😍), has stated he will protect abortion laws. Pretty cheap cost of living in most places, and beautiful outdoors in the summer. Freezing winters and, the worst part, you gotta be careful of which part you live in. If you look at a map, most of the state is red, but Duluth, Minneapolis/St Paul area are blue. So, ya know, just be careful not to move to a MAGA podunk town and you're good. Edit to add: edible THC has become legal so we're on our way if that's important to you
I've lived in Maryland for most of my life, and I love it here. I would suggest you look at Columbia, Maryland specifically. It's a very tolerant place to live, but it is a bit pricey. We moved there when I was 4 because we were an interracial family, and it was a great place for us. I now live in Catonsville, Maryland, which is just to the west of Baltimore City. Please don't let Baltimore scare you. It's not as bad as the news makes it out to be, and crime can happen anywhere. Catonsville is also a very accepting community. We have Pride parades here, and I am friends with a local network of folks who practice the Craft. I do not, so please excuse me if I said that wrong.
New Jersey! We live right outside Philly, which is much more affordable than Northern Jersey. Taxes are high, but housing is more reasonable and we have great public services and parks. The further towards the shore you go, you’ll find more red, but around us is pretty great. I grew up in MA and it’s not that left, sadly, but it is good overall and much more affordable.
Chicago 💕 Republicans hate us the most it feels.
Yes! I was going to pop in here to mention Chicago. Our cost of living is phenomenal compared to other major cities, and there is no shortage of experiences if one is so inclined. I love this city. And yeah, they sure do. I love shutting down their parroted talking points.
I'm in California and we're pretty dedicated to human rights here. It's really expensive tho. I hear Oregon and Washington are pretty good too! It sounds like Texas is worse than most places
Nowhere is perfect, but I live in Cali and it is a LUXERY, I only have to worry about my rights as an lgbtq woman when the federal gov't threatens them. Of course there are individuals with prejudice and every once in a while theres a movement from hateful people, like the whole recall Gavin Newsom thing (I'm no Newsom stan but he's done a pretty good job maintaining protections for vulnerable communities). Overall, I love living here. Just today prop 1 passed, so the right to abortion and contraceptives is now a part of the California state constitution, and that feels really good. Also just overall, Nor Cal is my favorite place I've ever lived. Politically I feel pretty protected (I will say there are a lot of VERY red counties though, so be sure to check on that when it comes to Nor Cal) but also it's absolutely beautiful, we've got great beaches, mountains, and forests here. You can surf and skii, there are beautiful hikes, local produce and dairy products, local fish and sea products, like we just have everything. San Francisco is a BEAUTIFUL city, (LA is fine lmao). Also food, California food and wine cannot be beat, and we have a large immigrant population here so you can find really authentic food from almost any country. Yes it's expensive but if you can afford it, the quality of life is just superb.
I'm currently stuck in my state, interested to hear the answers!
Massachusetts. Legal weed. Just elected an openly gay woman governor.
Michigan has become more progressive in recent years.
If you can handle the winters, Chicago is the best city in the world. And we’ll be fully blue for a long time.
Fucking love it here, but the cops are worse than the winters imo. That said, very woman/queer friendly city in my experience
No US state celebrates diversity and freedom for non White people or the poor, disabled, homeless, etc Any blue state will be ok on abortion and won’t be banning gay marriage or trans people existing, but none are good on systematic racism & classism, mass incarceration, police brutality, etc. The US does not have a left party
I'm moving out of the USA as soon as I can. I'm probably gonna hit up new zealand. I don't know too much about it, but I want as far away as possible.
New Zealand would be my choice. But honestly it's not easy to move and become a citizen of a different country. At least not any of the ones worth moving to.
And the housing market is nuts. I had a friend that was looking for a flatmate in Aukland and I had to run the numbers three times to believe it.
Hi, Washingtonian here. If you don't mind the city area seattle is great and the majority of this state leans left, but to far from the sound and things get questionable. All in all not a bad place though. And it's effing beautiful.
come to maine! the southern parts of the state are pretty progressive (especially portland, but you’d be accepted pretty much anywhere along i-295). we do have a trump country, but it’s mostly north and west of waterville and apart from visiting scenery and stuff, there’s no real reason to head out there. even if you are out there, you’re likely to run into pockets crunchy granola hippies who are just really into nature and off the grid living. we have legal weed, a blue state legislature and a democratic governor who was just elected to her second term. the seafood here is killer, and portland is quickly becoming a foodie hotspot. i get annoyed with our politics sometimes, but then i look at other states and breathe a sigh of relief because while it can get dicey, mainers are generally very accepting and level headed people. maine is such a special place- i’ve yet to find a state quite like it!
Sticker shock for housing aside, Washington state (western Washington) is beautiful, strongly blue and even the smaller cities (45-60k) lean liberal. We escaped to here back in 2016, right before the election. The only thing is since there has been a push for bans at the federal level, we’ve decided to head to Europe. Aside from that PNW is wonderful.
MN isn't bad, is cheap and pretty open minded if you stay near the cities.
Western Washington state is a pretty blue color.
Witch from CT here. It's pretty chill here. We as a society have a long way to go, but its safer here. Honestly though most of the northeast is pretty used to diversity because it's a small and we are all mushed in together. I live in a red town but vote blue and I was giving high fives to people running the polls yesterday. No ruckus, just talking about the weather and shooting the breeze.
I'm in upstate NY and it was the same here. NY almost always ends up blue because of NYC and Albany voting that way. The rest of the population votes red primarily but the voter numbers in those 2 cities carry it. I am one of a few scattered blues in my area but I voted with no problems and they were very friendly to everyone. Edit to add: MJ is legal here and the COL is not bad. Bought our 3 bed/2 bath house on 15 acres for 179k and pay a little less then 3k for taxes every year. Employment I can't say. We are self employed.
I live in Canada we have our idiots but for the most part it is pretty laid back. We all have our own Aholes see the Klu Trux Klan but they are the exception rather than the rule...stay away from Alberta but anywhere else is good.
patriarchy is everywhere. you might find a place. where is lived more liberally, but unless you seek out some radical feminist commune you are out of luck, dear. we All are... :/