These questions prey on my mind as my husband and I consider our upcoming move. We don't know where we'll go yet, but if you look at a map of the United States with virtually any significant statistics overlaid on it -- demographics, overall crime, sex offenders, pollution, household income -- it's impossible not to come to the conclusion that the northeast, the deep south, and California are dead as a doornail.
Before you protest that there are good spots in Northern California, nice rural areas in the South, and pockets of beauty and peace in the northeast -- I know. But I'm not thinking about the next five years. I'm thinking of the next 20. I don't want my children to have to flee their home like I'm doing, and like my husband did.
Consider this tweet, which stopped me in my tracks:
So where to? We have some ideas. The nature of my husband's work means we fortunately aren't reliant on the local economy, so we can live literally anywhere that suits us. After crunching a lot of data (thanks, city-data.com, for doing much of the work for us!) we have narrowed it down to the following places:
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1. Kentucky. This is our front runner. On a list of all 50 states sorted by white population, Kentucky is number 12. Most of the top 11 are either in New England -- out of the question considering the number and type of guns we own -- or out west where the cost of living is much higher thanks to Californians fleeing their shithole of a state and bringing with them all the terrible ideas that made them flee. Kentucky checks a lot of boxes: low cost of living, below the Mason-Dixon line, vast amounts of cheap, plentiful wooded land, and four seasons including a mild summer and snowy winter. While the eastern part of the state is severely economically depressed with the resulting crime and drug problems, the rest of the state is faring better.
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2. Tennessee. Just about everything true of Kentucky is true of Tennessee, except that it has a much higher minority population. Kentucky is 89% white, Tennessee only 79%. I knew a few like-minded folks who have made their homes in the northern part of the state, and apparently much of the minority population is centralized in the major cities. Spread is inevitable, though. It's a matter of when.
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3. Idaho. Specifically, northern Idaho. Idaho is the reddest state in the U.S, and Kootenai County is the reddest county in the reddest state. Northern Idaho is very near Canada, and the weather is not appreciably different from British Columbia. In other words, it's freaking cold. It's also beautiful, with tons of opportunities to get outdoors and interact with nature. This is a major plus for us. And it's lily white as the driven snow, the 5th whitest state in the country. But it's far -- a full day's drive from our families -- and it's expensive. The influx of Californians has driven real estate prices up. We wouldn't be able to afford near the house or land that we would in Kentucky or Tennessee.
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4. Montana. Similar to Idaho, but it does seem that especially the northeastern part of the state near Glacier Lake and Flathead Lake have issues with drugs, alcoholism, drunk driving, depression, and sucide. Kalispell gets fewer days of sunlight than Seattle! Some reviewers on bestplaces.net report living in isolation. We like privacy a lot, but we also want community. Not sure if Montana is the place for that.
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5. Louisiana. I know what you're thinking. If it weren't for D.C., Louisiana would be in the bottom 5. The abundance of cheap land, beautiful inexpensive houses, and proximity to our families is tempting. It has us wrestling with a bigger question: do we give up the South? Do we walk away from the land and culture for which our forefathers fought and even lay down their lives? It's tempting to say hell no and commit ourselves to arming up and prepping for the hard times.
Then I look at my daughter. Do I really want her to be a minority? I'll obviously have to home school her. But what about her social life? What about her safety? Even the rural parts of the state will be overrun before she grows up. Is it worth standing our ground if she does the lion's share of the suffering?
If you have suggestions, feel free to comment below.