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Best city to live in?


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What is the best city to live in if you are a cruiser? I feel pretty lucky in DFW, because Galveston is only a days drive away, and we have a pretty good airport. But then we talked about moving down towards Galveston. How cool would that be? Then I of course thought about the number of ports reachable from a Galveston debarkation, given a 7 day cruise. Then I started thinking about New Orleans, which is growing. And those enormous ports in Florida. 

We aren't moving any time soon, but I love the dream! What do you think?

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7 minutes ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

What is the best city to live in if you are a cruiser? I feel pretty lucky in DFW, because Galveston is only a days drive away, and we have a pretty good airport. But then we talked about moving down towards Galveston. How cool would that be? Then I of course thought about the number of ports reachable from a Galveston debarkation, given a 7 day cruise. Then I started thinking about New Orleans, which is growing. And those enormous ports in Florida. 

We aren't moving any time soon, but I love the dream! What do you think?

What do I think?  ........ Get the heck out of Texas!!!

 

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Guest toodle68

Somewhere in Florida..   it would be a bit of a drive, but you would have access to 4 ports, 5 if you count New Orleans.  We have talked before how often we would jump on the 3-4 night cruises if we were within driving distance of Orlando...  Living in Richmond, the cost to get to most ports really adds to the overall price. 

Of course, very little would ever actually entice me back to Florida to live..   :) 

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3 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

Somewhere in Florida..   it would be a bit of a drive, but you would have access to 4 ports, 5 if you count New Orleans.  We have talked before how often we would jump on the 3-4 night cruises if we were within driving distance of Orlando...  Living in Richmond, the cost to get to most ports really adds to the overall price. 

Of course, very little would ever actually entice me back to Florida to live..   :) 

Yeah, I kinda like Florida, too. Enormous mosquitoes, crime rate, neighborhood alligators.....

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Come to New Jersey! You have Cape Liberty within at most a 2-hour drive; 1 hour or less from most major suburbs. Also have a fairly easy drive to Galveston or Boston, along with EWR, JFK, and LGA airports in easy driving distance for domestic or overseas itineraries.

And ignore the old tired jokes about us having smokestacks as our "garden state" growth. That's one section of the New Jersey Turnpike in the central part of the state. Get away from there and into the southern part of the state, it's nice open country down there with a lot of beautiful areas. Go up north and you have bustling suburbs with arts centers and restaurant rows and other offerings that give NYC a serious run for its money, for a lot less than what NYC costs! And also with lots of trees and flowers and no smokestacks.

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Just now, JLMoran said:

Come to New Jersey! You have Cape Liberty within at most a 2-hour drive; 1 hour or less from most major suburbs. Also have a fairly easy drive to Galveston or Boston, along with EWR, JFK, and LGA airports in easy driving distance for domestic or overseas itineraries.

And ignore the old tired jokes about us having smokestacks as our "garden state" growth. That's one section of the New Jersey Turnpike in the central part of the state. Get away from there and into the southern part of the state, it's nice open country down there with a lot of beautiful areas. Go up north and you have bustling suburbs with arts centers and restaurant rows and other offerings that give NYC a serious run for its money, for a lot less than what NYC costs! And also with lots of trees and flowers and no smokestacks.

Pretty much all my life, I was fed the whole "NJ and NY suck" thanks to Baretta and Kojak, etc.  Nothin but bums, winos, hookers, and litter-filled streets.  

 

Man, was I dumb.  Get away from the city and NJ is beautiful.  I saw more different types of animals in NJ during my couple of days there than I've ever seen here.

 

And NYC blew my mind.  We stayed in Weehauken, and took the ferry over to the city and it was wonderful!   

 

Very good people up there, too.  More like "Friends" than "Jersey Shore".

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2 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yeah too much snow in Charleston.

(Former Myrtle Beach resident)

...still diggin' out...

Roads are likely going to freeze tonight so I might not be able to go to work again tomorrow.  Sounds nice, but I have stuff to do before we head on down to Canaveral.

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18 minutes ago, bcarney said:

I'm guessing next door to @Matt would be the best place to live in Florida from a cruise perspective. :)

Amen to that! But, I'm guessing that Matt has a very high fence/wall around his house with a sand bagged machine gun nest perched high above with 360 degree coverage. That way he can enjoy piece of mind, quiet and solitude from the masses of RC cruisers wanting to be his bff and garner valuable insider cruise info. that he doesn't share with the rest of us here. But then again, now that you have let the cat out of the bag he may put in another fighting position or two!:3_grin:

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Give me Florida anyday....so many ports and options to cruise from. Not to mention the  weather year round is so great.

 

But thanks to living in Canada, I wont be able to do that for at least another 20-25 years till I am ready to retire. I wish I was as lucky as Americans that can move from state to state with no issues really.

 

I would cruise at least 20 times a year if I lived that close to a port...and prob wouldn't cost much more than what it costs me now to cruise 2-3x a year living in Canada.

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Well, I'm partial to Orlando myself.  Good job market, lots to do, you can be a Disney kid and go as much as you like; you can avoid it all and never set foot on that side of town; or you can split the difference and go once in a while until you get sick of it, and then pretend it doesn't exist for a couple years!  Cruise ports galore from 45 minutes to 4 hours away.  The only snow you'll see comes in a paper cone with a choice of 15 flavors.  If you like beaches, scuba diving, kayaking, gambling, broadway shows, roller coasters, college football, professional soccer, jumping out of an airplane, etc. we've got it all.

Cost of living is reasonable, no state income tax and only 7.5% or so sales tax (varies a bit between counties).

We do get hurricanes, but they don't happen every year and as long as you take them seriously and take precautions, you will be fine. 

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We're taking a "scouting" trip to The Villages next month just to see how it is there.  We have a number of friends who are going to retire there within the next few years (some as early as May of this year).

I have heard good and bad things about it.  Neither of us are golfers so I'm not sure if we would use the amenities as much as our golf-loving friends...but we're definitely coming down there SOMEwhere...and soon.  It's 9 degrees here in northern Virginia today !  YIKES 

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13 hours ago, rjac said:

Amen to that! But, I'm guessing that Matt has a very high fence/wall around his house with a sand bagged machine gun nest perched high above with 360 degree coverage. That way he can enjoy piece of mind, quiet and solitude from the masses of RC cruisers wanting to be his bff and garner valuable insider cruise info. that he doesn't share with the rest of us here. But then again, now that you have let the cat out of the bag he may put in another fighting position or two!:3_grin:

True story: while handing out candy this year for Halloween, someone came by and said "trick or treat...love the blog!" :6_smile: :51_scream:

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Lower Slower Delaware, great place to retire to unless you get a blizzard in Rehoboth and a foot of snow and 7 degrees, but this is unusual! No State Tax either, very low property tax. Drive to NY 4 hours, or Baltimore 2 hours, fabulous beaches, restaurants, and parks! PhL, BWI airports 2 hours away too!

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We're taking a "scouting" trip to The Villages next month just to see how it is there.  We have a number of friends who are going to retire there within the next few years (some as early as May of this year).

I have heard good and bad things about it.  Neither of us are golfers so I'm not sure if we would use the amenities as much as our golf-loving friends...but we're definitely coming down there SOMEwhere...and soon.  It's 9 degrees here in northern Virginia today !  YIKES 

Bring a golf cart..  From what I understand there is a lot of promiscuity among the retires.  But there are some nice housing in gated communities.  But if you go to the "down town" area you will need a golf cart or you'll get run over.

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5 minutes ago, arebee said:

Bring a golf cart..  From what I understand there is a lot of promiscuity among the retires.  But there are some nice housing in gated communities.  But if you go to the "down town" area you will need a golf cart or you'll get run over.

I've heard some crazy rumors about The Villages (basically people living out high school/college all over again), but all in all it sounds like a fun place.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We're taking a "scouting" trip to The Villages next month just to see how it is there.  We have a number of friends who are going to retire there within the next few years (some as early as May of this year).

I have heard good and bad things about it.  Neither of us are golfers so I'm not sure if we would use the amenities as much as our golf-loving friends...but we're definitely coming down there SOMEwhere...and soon.  It's 9 degrees here in northern Virginia today !  YIKES 

My ex-girlfriend lived there with her parents for almost a year, and she worked as a waitress at Johnny Rockets.  Unlike on a ship, they danced and put on a show at various times, she said it was a lot of fun.

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20 hours ago, Floski said:

Pretty much all my life, I was fed the whole "NJ and NY suck" thanks to Baretta and Kojak, etc.  Nothin but bums, winos, hookers, and litter-filled streets.  

 

Man, was I dumb.  Get away from the city and NJ is beautiful.  I saw more different types of animals in NJ during my couple of days there than I've ever seen here.

 

And NYC blew my mind.  We stayed in Weehauken, and took the ferry over to the city and it was wonderful!   

 

Very good people up there, too.  More like "Friends" than "Jersey Shore".

visited NY for 1st time in july, saw lots of bums, wino's and litter filled streets but as hard as i tried i just couldn't find any hookers :9_innocent:

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On 1/4/2018 at 5:24 PM, jce2 said:

What do I think?  ........ Get the heck out of Texas!!!

 

Gotta disagree with this completely.  DFW is a great place to live.  Cruising from Galveston is not my first choice, but it's a nice choice.  With the DFW airport right there, you can go anywhere in the world for your next cruise.  There is tons to do in Dallas, great restaurants... and no state income tax in Texas.  It's hot in the summer, but pretty good weather the rest of the year.  

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10 hours ago, RCVoyager said:

Gotta disagree with this completely.  DFW is a great place to live.  Cruising from Galveston is not my first choice, but it's a nice choice.  With the DFW airport right there, you can go anywhere in the world for your next cruise.  There is tons to do in Dallas, great restaurants... and no state income tax in Texas.  It's hot in the summer, but pretty good weather the rest of the year.  

I agree with your reasoning.  If you CAN'T live in Florida then the next best plan is to live near a major airport. If you're going to have to fly, you might as well try and make it a single leg event.  There are many downsides to living right outside of Washington, DC but one of the very important UPSIDES is our proximity to 2 major airports (I don't count Baltimore as it's not convenient for us at all).  At least when we fly, we can get to almost anywhere in Florida with a 1 leg flight.  There's nothing wrong with living in Boise, ID  but you're going to have to change planes no matter where you go.  Just sayin'

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On 1/5/2018 at 9:05 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

We're taking a "scouting" trip to The Villages next month just to see how it is there.  We have a number of friends who are going to retire there within the next few years (some as early as May of this year).

I have heard good and bad things about it.  Neither of us are golfers so I'm not sure if we would use the amenities as much as our golf-loving friends...but we're definitely coming down there SOMEwhere...and soon.  It's 9 degrees here in northern Virginia today !  YIKES 

I went with an aunt & uncle who toured it last year.  I'm not the target audience, but I'm pretty sure I'd absolutely hate living there.  It's like a homeowner's association on steroids that also runs the local government all the way up to the county level.  That's a plus for some, but it's far too restrictive and rule-scolding for me.  You have to use this approved landscape company, you can only have these approved plants, you have to have an approved color, floorplan, pool enclosure, roofing material, driveway size and shape, etc.  It's also sounds like fee-city.  There was an association fee, an activity fee, a this fee, a that fee, and they probably have a covenant that lets them add and increase fees whenever they feel like it.  I haven't spoken to people who actually live there to understand if it's really as bad as it sounds, but that's the impression I got from the tour guide attempting to sell people on the place, so I'm assuming if it sounds that bad when they're trying to paint a rosy picture, the reality's even worse.

That said, having your neighbors on a tight leash and clearly defined parameters for how everything has to be appeals to some, so there's a lot that's just a matter of preference there.  I just feel like it's way too controlling.

The other big big issue I'd have with it is the fact it's a bit of a wasteland outside the borders of the compound and you're basically 2 hours from anything else.  Airport, Port Canaveral, Disney, Downtown Orlando, etc.  It's all 2, 2 and a half hours away.  If you don't plan on leaving much, that isn't an issue, and there are certainly a lot of activities on property (you're paying dearly for them, may as well take advantage). 

 

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