If you had the luxury to move anywhere in the United States with the following criteria:
Where would you move and why?
I have lived in the Chicago area, Pensacola, MD and northern VA. Given winters in Chicago and summers in FL, I have to say that northern VA meets most of your criteria if you live west of the DC area. Lots of horsey people and spaces, yet close to DC and small towns with cultural stuff, university life and enough weather to suit most people.
But I am biased as I am here and content with all your criteria. I would say I see lots of stuff on the west coast that tempts me. But as I am here, well, I am here, probably for the duration. But if you found the perfect trainer all else would fall into place. There are cities and universities that give you cultural possibilities in many locations. I might think about being a snowbird and winter in Aiken or FL… but family and finances keep me here, not a big problem with an indoor and days like today when it was in the low 60s.
You need to be clear about what constitutes “moderate” costs. Also, how large is a large city to you? (SF? NYC? Chicago? ATL? or would something smaller work). Perhaps SC (Landrum, Aitken). Perhaps the middle of the country (Kansas).
I moved from Great Lakes crappy weather to central Florida 10 years ago. It pretty well ticks all your boxes; I have adapted to hot summers surprisingly well. Lots of stuff in/around Orlando, and lots of stuff to do w/ in a few hour drive. No state or local income taxes freed up a significant amount for me. Property taxes lower than NE Ohio. Unlike Rerider above I wouldn’t ever move to Calif, even though I have friends out there.
I know lots of people who winter in Aiken or places in Florida, but after trying the back and forth for two winters, I found that got old. I did not want to own two homes.
Have a friend who moved to the Tryon area about a year ago. She loves it but Charlotte is the only big city around, and thats maybe 60 miles or more from where she is.
I made the choice after college, and moved back to Tucson. I love my trainer, but there are several trainers I recommend to people depending on what they’re looking for. I suspect the three horses I have at my trainer’s cost similar to one up in the Scottsdale area, just an hour and a half away. And between Tucson and Phoenix there are a lot of clinician options.
I am a morning person and ride before work all summer - an hour and a half to two hours at the barn, drive to work, shower in the gym, at my desk by 8am. Temps are comfortable that early down here, and there are few days we can’t ride. We are all miserable right now because we’ve had two different winter storms this week with temps getting down to low 40s and wet arenas… and a freeze warning tonight. Rare for us, really.
Currently in SE Ohio, and ticks a lot of your boxes. Columbus, OH area is nice, too. I think Lexington, KY would also be on my list. I’m looking at retiring in Landrum, SC area because taxes are better, and I like the mountains and have family in NC. All of these have big show venues nearby (WEC, Brave Horse, KHP, Tryon) so perhaps center searches around those? Then look at cost of living comparison calculators, and I like to look up boarding barns in the areas as well.
“Moderate” board/living costs and “relatively close” to a big city are really really subjective. What do you consider to be within those parameters?
Ocala FL seems to fit.
Hay is expensive, sure, and normal full board (not training board) will run you $600-800+, but in comparison to places that people regularly pay $1500+ for full board, that’s certainly affordable. Plus there’s plenty of places with partial and pasture board options if you want to go that route.
Tons of dressage trainers.
45 mins to Gainesville. 2 hours to Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando.
Cost of living is relatively affordable. Land/home prices have gone up in my three years here (hooray for my home value!) but are still lower than places like Columbus, Ohio.
I was born-and-raised in Columbus. I guess it could also fit, if you’re okay with them never getting enough hay and your horse never getting turned out for 6+ months of the year. Or paying $900+ per month to get enough hay, but you still won’t get turn out. The area is really struggling as far as good boarding barns go, I’ve been told by friends still there. Several barns that had been around for a while have closed. Some new ones have opened, but the jury is still out on if they’re providing quality care or not. The H/J show options are significantly more than Dressage, but there’s a couple excellent dressage trainers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Columbus area otherwise, but boarding there was absolutely miserable.
I live in the north metro Atlanta area, which is quite horsey. Lots of dressage options here as well as two very popular/active GMOs. There are tons of clinics, several good show venues, good options for vets/farriers etc. We dropped a 0 off our tax bill when we moved here from the northeast, and cut our mortgage in half for a comparable property. (We later bought a farmette - something that was simply not available for non millionaires in the northeast where we previously lived.)
Atlanta has a lot to offer in terms of music, restaurants, sporting events, and so on. I travel for a living and find having the access to the airport and direct flights to almost anywhere a big plus. There are fabulous museums, nightlife, shopping and recreational opportunities. We also have four seasons, which I enjoy - I am not a cold weather fan but having fall color, a bit of a cold snap around the holidays and then an early spring and longer summer works well for me.
Good luck finding the perfect place !
It depends on your definition of “moderate price” and “good trainer”. I have been VERY happy with western WA for availability of mid-level instruction I.e. someone who has their gold medal and had taken several amateurs to FEI levels on moderately prices horses; Not necessarily a nationally known big-name. Also barns and GMO’s that host the big names a few times per year. Great show sites and several large shows per year within a 1 - 2 hour drive. You can get this within an hour North or South from Portland, and 1.5 hours north, south, or east of seattle, and very close to one of the smaller suburb type cities (Olympia, Tacoma, Vancouver WA, Salem OR, Bellevue, Everett, etc). Board at a good dressage training facility with an indoor area and a resident trainer who can get on your horse would run you $500 - $800 depending on how close you want to be to Portland or Seattle. Or, you can find a place to board and trailer out for lessons $300 - 600. Also several areas where small farms and land are reasonably priced (i.e. much lower that CA/FL, but not mid-west prices). If you just want to be near the city for airports, entertainment, and connections, these areas work well. If you need to be IN Seattle or Portland 9 - 5, rush hour will make it a bear to get to your horse in the evening. I have found the pacific northwest to be particularly open-minded as far as finances. Lots of places where you will fit in and be equally welcome on either a $75k warmblood, or a $3K OTTB. I feel like you don’t get that kind of range in many other parts of the country.
Agree with all the above comments - it depends… For me, weather is also a huge issue. I wouldn’t leave California for - almost anything! But I don’t live in the Bay Area or near San Diego - both are way too expensive… I live in the suburbs of Sacramento - large city, check.
There are several GOOD trainers within an hour’s drive (and many within 30 minutes drive). For top quality international riders - the Bay Area isn’t too far away, and we even have some real up-and-comers here in the suburbs of Sacramento (as in international competitors), as well as USDF faculty, USEF judges, etc - all of whom offer training and lessons. And top clinicians come into the area - including Olympians. Trainers - check.
Moderate cost - again, that is all relative. There are plenty of good barns in the area that are in the $500 to $750 range for board and turnout (turnout is necessary to my Pony’s well being). Training ranges from $600 to $850, single lessons from $75 to $100. Clinics are more, all depends on the clinician. CA is not as expensive as people think - IF you avoid the Bay Area and So-Cal.
Weather is relatively doable - no hurricanes or major winter storms. No snow or ice! Summers are hot - but a dry heat, very different from the humidity of the East Coast, and at least in Sacramento area, it cools off in the evening, so if you can ride evenings or mornings - it is very pleasant.
You really have to define reasonable costs, and what you consider a city (and how close you need to be)… Also - what kind of training do you want? And is show access important to you? Weather? Do you work, and if so, what industry (aka do you need to find a job in a specific industry)?
Glad to hear a voice for Tucson. I am looking to relocate there in the next year or so and plan to do low level dressage and maybe eventing. My horse is 28 so he’ll stay my trail horse (looks like lots of options for that in Tucson). My plan is take lessons and lease a horse until he’s not rideable or passed on (though he’s amazingly healthy).
I think low level eventing has grown here because the Southern AZ Eventing Association built a cross country course at our Fairgrounds, and so schooling has become more viable than when people trailered out of town. Our dressage barn actually wants to go out as non-jumpers for a fun outing on some of their fundraiser days. I believe more local boarding stables have also built some cross country jumps as well.
My first dressage trainer is really an eventer and I adore her. If you want info when you are coming down, I can get you in touch!
I live in a gorgeous state and have my own farm…but I would move to Aiken in a heartbeat. Why? Because it is super expensive here, cold 9 months of the year and the horse community is dying; Aiken is 90% of the national average COL, lovely 9 months of the year and the horse community is thriving…Sigh…unfortunately I can’t work there without some major hurdles in licensure.
Have lived north of Chicago, Wisconsin, Western Tennessee, and St. Louis. St. Louis is nice usually for relatively mild winters. Summers can be horrifically humid. We’re looking for large piece of land in Manatee County, Florida, around Myakka City. It’s a straight easy 20-30 minute drive to Sarasota. Land costs vary by how much is not wetlands and the size. They have been rapidly increasing but 100 acres of flood “X” land requires no flood insurance and have seen parcels from 800K-2M, depending on location. Taxes are then agricultural (you do have to USE them for an agricultural purpose but can lease land for cattle grazing), there’s NO STATE INCOME TAXES, and no taxes on individual investment funds! Add those savings up for 20 years and IMHO, you can’t beat it, PLUS, if Florida is declared your homestead state, you are not taxed on the first 100K of assessed property value. Lastly Florida does not collect an state “Estate Tax” at your death, though you’d have to pay Federal (Bloodsuckers LOL) All in all, we figure we could save millions over the next 20-40 years, and use the money in other ways besides giving it all to the government. BTW Suwannee Countee and Dixie County in Florida have HALF the tax rates of other counties in Florida, though Dixie County looks iffy from my real Estate perspective. Just my 2 cents LOL
if you plan to buy, look for the mineral rights and look for Mosaic (Phospate mining)… They poison all the water around them because they dump their radio active waste into the rivers around them… Also really look into your water supply… Because of the rapidly growing population wells go dry at an alarming rate… the area looks nice on the surface but there are a lot of problems beneath it…
Re federal estate tax:
Because of these exemptions, it is estimated that only the largest 0.2% of estates in the U.S. will pay the tax.[SUP][7][/SUP] For 2017, the exemption increased to $5.5 million. In 2018, the exemption doubled to $11.18 million per taxpayer due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. As a result, only about 2,000 estates per year in the US are currently liable for estate tax.
FYI for those who think they might be subject (excerpted from Wikipedia).
Have you spent much time in Aken? I have gone several times… I have thought of moving there form the northeast - not sure would love to hear more…
I live in Aiken. What do you want to know?
I would seriously consider the Aiken or Tryon areas, but I’m extremely wary of the high humidity in the summer. If money were no object, I’d probably end up in Seattle or Portland, Oregon because I love the cooler climate, the mountains, and the proximity to the Pacific.
Thank you for replying. How long have you lived in Aiken? Do you ride dressage? I thought seriously about moving there from NYC, I ride in CT. so want to get away from the high cost of the northeast. do you live there year round? the weather seems a bit precarious to me… meaning super hot in the summer and not particularly good in the winter … that is what I am curious about.
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