Just curious

[NanceGreggs]

There have been many posts over the past few years by DUers considering relocating to other countries as a result of what's going on in the US.

I'm just wondering how many DUers are contemplating relocating to "bluer states" based on anti-choice laws and/or tighter gun restriction laws.

I realize that not everyone is free to just pack up and leave states where they currently reside - but I do wonder how many here are planning to relocate due to the political positions of their state representatives.

[BigmanPigman]

1. You couldn't pay me enough to live in a non blue state.

I'd be miserable.

[samplegirl]

2. I've been considering it for a long time

now. Not just because of the gun laws but mainly the people and the amount of ignorance here.
I grew up here in Ohio would of loved to think I could stay here forever… snow and everything.
Ohio will never be the same since it turned red.
Retirement is about 18 months away.
When we have a guy like Loychik who wants to rename our State Park after trump it’s time to think about getting gone.
Our entire town has gone MAGAt crazy.
They have nothing to offer seniors here. The weather is not good with to many gray days. My entire area has gone full tilt trump. Neighbors on both sides of me are MAGA’s.
It progressed so much during Bush/Cheney it became un recognizable. Restaurants and businesses sported the Trump signs. The mentality here is the epitome of the dumbing down of America.
Is there such a place that could be called home again??

[NanceGreggs]

3. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I live in Canada now. But I am a native NYer and as such, I would never have had to face the idea of pulling up stakes, leaving friends and family behind in order to seek bluer climes.

So I wonder how people in red states cope with the idea of doing so.

[Easterncedar]

4. Ohio's political climate makes me so sad

I went to college there and lived near and in Cleveland for some time. Have relatives in Dayton. Ohio had wonderful liberal arts colleges and a solid union labor culture, gorgeous farmland and parks. Was it just the industrial collapse that sent it down this awful road? We left for New England when Cleveland’s unemployment rate hit 14% in 1982.

[samplegirl]

14. After seeing how the election

was with Hillary and trump… there is not a doubt in my mind that the 2004 election was stolen for Bush/Cheney
and Diebold was front and center in Cleveland lending a hand.
Everything went downhill after those years and recession
took so many people down here.

And yes our Industry all fell to complete ruins.

N.E. Ohio has never recovered from those years.
Republicans have infiltrated every form of government
from our school boards to most local branches of government.

I’d love to move to the New England states.

[2naSalit]

5. I was...

Considering a bluer state but there really isn't any place to go right now, that I would find acceptable and affordable.

Montana was purple and turning bluer until magatness and cheating became the norm here. And too many wannabe insurrectionist types are flocking to this place thinking it will be their salvation from drought and high heat while sitting on top of 3/4 of the water for western states.

But they are making worse by coming here and putting untold stress on this fragile ecosystem that has been isolated and encroached upon to where its total destruction is in view for those of us who have been here a long time. With all the trophy homes being built and careless people who don't understand where they are and what it means for their safety and well-being. It used to be you only had to worry about the tourists for a few months out of the year, now, they never leave and think that we don't have a clue about how to live so they aim to show us how it's done. A lot of those don't stick around after their first long winter.

But many are investors buying all the homes and property for sale and making it impossible for any of us to afford rent, don't even think of buying something because it costs over $400K for a fixerupper. It's insane and getting worse but who can afford to move anywhere at this point?

If I could, I would emigrate to Canada, my first choice for refuge. Beyond that, I don't know, going into late 60s now and retired so...



It bothers me that the social climate is such that I would want to leave my home country, it bothers me a lot.

[Easterncedar]

7. Wonkette's editrix just abandoned Montana

She couldn’t stand the reddening. It’s terrible. Looks like the confederacy might win the civil war in the end.

[2naSalit]

10. It's still a consideration...

But I have learned not to leap without a secured place to land and I haven't found anything in 10 months of searching and watching. The pandemic made things worse all around.

I don't blame Wonkette for bailing. Some tell me to stand firm and help in the fight but I'm tired, I've been in the political fight for over fifty years and seen only a few gains.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I suspect there is an active downsizing of households underway and towards that goal

Myself included. The baggage, the numbers, the opportunity have to match to some extent. That's the equation in my view.

[hlthe2b]

8. I returned home to CO when it was just turning purple and have worked to turn it blue

I was always uncomfortable living in a red state, surrounded by people whose antipathy toward me was not always hidden--even in the workplace-- and how red-state politics influenced every damned thing I did and dared to say. It was like an out-of-body experience.

I honestly think I've given myself a few more years of life after having returned to a state I dearly love and feel comfortable in, despite the problems here and everywhere...

I've made calls on the behalf of DEM candidates in red states in nearly every election and tried to help--especially Georgia== and even Texas. I won't give up on those states, but damn if I want to live there.

[PJMcK]

9. Spain or Portugal

My wife and I are nearing retirement. With each day, we’re becoming more and more appalled and frightened by the downward spiral our country is taking. We’re life-long New Yorkers but we’re watching the mid-terms and then 2024 to decide where to spend our retirement.

This country has been destroyed by the Republicans. Both Spain and Portugal have Golden Visa programs that allow for fast-tracking of citizenship if you buy a home, (it’s a bit more complicated but that’s the basic idea). It’s a bail-out plan should we need it.

Never mind which state! If Republicans regain control of our governments, this failed experiment will have run its course. It will be time to leave.

[hlthe2b]

11. I think the irony is that those who can't afford Spain or Portugal, Canada, or elsewhere will go

(and actually have been going for many years) to MEXICO. Pretty soon, American immigration to Mexico might become a ludicrous counter to the hate-filled RW response to Mexicans moving northward. Yes, $$$ is the difference, but it is still a bizarre concurrence.

[PJMcK]

12. Yeah, it ain't cheap!

But who wants to live out their life in dystopian America?

[2naSalit]

13. That's a good plan.

I don't have much of a nest egg but if I am careful, I can make do in a number of situations. Going to a new country is scary but it's not like I expect to be around for decades either. I just don't want to live in fear at the end of my life, I've worked too hard for this crumb of the dream and I'm going to keep a death grip on it.

I don't know if I can be safe here if we don't defeat the fascists. Being single makes a leap easier but is also hard without a partner to help with the transitions. I've always been alone but I was hoping to not be at this point. Oh well, time will tell.

[lark]

15. We aren't currently thinking of moving, our children are here.

However, if drumpf or some similar person (Abbott or Death Sentence) steals the win in 2024, like R's plan to do, we will have to consider selling and moving out to CA. so we're not living in ConfedAmerica. We have a friend in CA who has land and has said we could move there if we put in a gravel road and extend the electricity.

Unfortunately, our friends in NZ have moved to Canada so they can't sponsor us like we had planned. Big Bummer!!