Leftist in Phoenix and worse in Tucson. Otherwise, the opposite.

"slow" transition, not so! horridly fast!

Right, but o.Only near the border to Mexico

I've lived mostly in AZ since 1964, starting in Prescott back when it was population 10,000, but now it's a mini-megopolis of over 10 times that and seems spoiled. Also spent way too much ne time near the Mexican border and finally escaped that moving to the Rockies in Northern Arizlona, higher, cooler and we're lovin' it here. Show Low area, . Taylor, Snowflake. all kinda rural and great climate.
Tucson and Phoenix, forget them!

I too have been thinking about this, and have come up with (and eliminated items from) a list very similar to what is discussed in this thread. I would like to add some thoughts and get feedback.

The reason that CA has such pleasant weather is that it is one of the handful of places in the world with a "Mediterranean Climate", but if you are in SoCal and not near the ocean then the summer months are too hot to do anything outdoors. I love the outdoors and it is increasingly onerous to not be able to do anything after work in the summer months here in LA. Carson City it technically in the border of the Med Climate Region, and I am waiting to see what the weather is like there in the summer - whether one can hike and ride during the afternoon in July and August. (Since there are people here on this list with more knowledge of the area, I would like to hear back). It is certainly COLD in the winter in CC - 37 today vs 71 here in SoCal.

CA may not be a great place to live, but it is a good place to visit and living in Texas would make that hard. (I had pretty much decided on Austin at one point, but have now recanted. Austin is now a prime contender for Amazon campus, which will certainly alter the area.) From NV, at least I can visit my CA friends.

Yes, a Mormon population does seem to be a good buffer against leftist migration. I am not religious, but I have gotten along well with Mormons in the past - and Carson City seems to have a population thereof.

NV lacks a seacoast, which is really bad. That is the major advantage that TX has: if TSHTF, then Texas has both resources and coastline.

Just some thoughts.

Jan

We actually talked seriously of moving to Colorado Springs, but it is a liberal area long term. Love AZ, Flagstaff is expensive but beautiful. Prescott and Oro Valley are nice, but hot. I grew up in Texas, N. Mexico, Wyo. and ND, with uncle in Pheonix (too hot) and gransparents in Calif, L.AA. area, to wacky. I do love Payson, AZ, rugged, does get snow, but my uncle had a second home there when Phoenix got too hot, and we always tried to meet up there. Roswell, N.M. is a nice retirement area, and only about an hur from the mountains if you get hot.

One could legitimately say that the purpose of government programs is for the benefit of government itself and its minions (workers). Any benefit to the supposed recipients of the programs is purely icing on the cake and accidental. First they tell you there is a problem that can only be fixed by government. Then they remove all possibility of free market solutions. They they install the funding for their program and execute it. Then we find out later that it doesnt work, but the reason is that the government didnt get enough money to do it.

Its all BS.

Raising children is getting extremely difficult. The system really thinks your kids belong to it. And, they don't give a damn about the well-being of your child.

I am similarly thinking about relocating.
My past 27 years have been working in Washington State. No state income tax.
I recently retired. . . so the state income tax is no longer a big deal . . .
Climate and "interesting places to hike and see" with affordable housing are topping the list.
- Stayed in and drove through Flagstaff AZ March 7-8... Terrible snowstorm -- they have a high elevation - get lots of snow.... drove 2 hours to Page AZ... beautiful blue sky and just plain nice.
- Spent a day and a half in Sierra Vista AZ ... about 12 miles north of the border with Mexico.
My friend that moved from from WA state says summers get up to 93F (unlike 114F for Phoenix) ... and there are loads of hiking trails, hills, low population density and home prices are reasonable... Sierra Vista is on my list.
- Driving out of Death Valley through Panamint Springs then onto US 395 heading North ... going through Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine and Bishop ... nice little towns ... beautiful views of the mountains to the West . . . I will need to drive through there again this summer and make inquiries.
- St. George Utah -- great location ... only seven hours (max) drive from all the Utah Natl Parks, plus Grand Canyon and sundry other wonderful trekking locales. And although I am a member of no religion, I do tend to like Mormon Country and a few of my closest friends are Mormons.
- Nowhere Oregon ... lots of wide open spaces remain in S.E. Oregon ... I was at a hot springs there many years ago -- Alvord Hot Springs. Spoke with one of the natives. She had a place (would not divulge the location) and had been living off the grid for a few years. Lots of open country to disappear into.
- Default -- Remain in Eastern Washington for the relatively mild winters, lovely spring plus warm summer and fall.

In all likelihood, I will stay put with E. Washington as my home base as I explore over the next two years... someplace in Southern Nevada or Arizona would be my target in term of my current outlook.

To many from California are already in Colorado!
Busy turning it into the mess they attempted to escape from.

Colorado Springs area is nice, woodland park is also. Another good place is the Monument/Palmer Lakes Area, it is just below Monument Hill which usually closes a couple of times in the Winter. I live just north of there in a town called Castle Rock. Good schools but housing is getting closer into the pricier Denver Metro Area as it is an easy commute into the Denver area proper. Larkspur is right in between Castle Rock and Monument (north side of Monument Hill) and Castle Pines (just north of Castle Rock and more convenient to Denver). My cousin lives on the east side of Colorado Springs and loves it. I love Castle Rock but unless I get a better job, I am being priced out of the rental market, already priced out of buying. Please if you do come here, leave CA in the rear view, we are already becoming East California as far as politics. Colorado Springs up to Douglas County are conservative but Denver/Boulder has enough people to override the rest of the state for votes.

Yes it is.

You're going to have to PM me if you can because I'm still in moocher status. I should be able to respond there. I'd like to elevate out of moocher, but can't at this time for a reason (it nothing to do with money and I do like the Gulch).

Agreed. Used to live in Louisville, and Indiana was a respite, quite beautiful, and not terribly liberal.

Page, AZ is very nice.
Southern Utah and the Arizona Strip are lovely also.

We here in Indiana would like to build a fence around our state to keep the Liberals out. But we would love to have you. It's a quiet state and flat, but if you find beauty in corn and wheat fields, Indiana might be for you.

I lived in Bend for about 12 years before Santa Fe, and La Pine is definitely more livable than Bend, depending on our interests. Beautiful area.

I live in Sedona Arizona, unfortunately the prices for homes or land to build on has sky rocketed. I moved here 29 years ago and I'm not going to move any where else. I would would recommend Prescot Valley, Prescott proper wuould be a little pricey. Oro Valley is a nice area but you would be building a home in the middle of no-where. Flagstaff is a fairley large city @ 7k ft. living there would take some acclimatization. It gets pretty cold with a large snowfall at times (like this year). Home and land prices vary there. The out skirts of the city the homes and land are less expensive. I hope this helps.

You might consider Oklahoma, still the most conservative state. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area has very affordable housing, low cost of living, and a thriving labor market for both blue collar and professionals. It's a big medical center, with lots of advanced treatment facilities and specialists. The Oklahoma River (actually a dammed up stretch of the Canadian River) has Olympic qualified white water runs and canals run through the Bricktown entertainment section of town. Cultural life is pretty good, with an orchestra, museums, and multiple playhouses, with Broadway plays on a regular basis. Thanks to a diverse cultural makeup, there's a wide variety of restaurants offering Asian, European, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, and African tastes, besides some top quality steakhouses.

Oklahoma City is on the junction of I-40 and I-35, so road travel East, West, North, or South is easy. Will Rogers airport is a well developed travel center, and Amtrak has a line between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, so rail travel is available.

When we retired 7 years ago we chose La Pine, Oregon. We absolutely love it here.

I strongly recommend going to https://www.bestplaces.net/ for very detailed metrics about any place in the U.S., including climate, politics and many other ways to measure quality of life according to your standards.
I've been using it for over 10 years in searches for places to go to escape where I was at the time. I have come down to Prescott and Prescott Valley as the place that gives me my particular combination of necessary characteristics. Of course, I live in the Santa Fe area now (don't ask), so almost any place is better, if I only measure politics. BestPlaces gives way over a hundred metrics and is highly user friendly.

Those who love what abhor will stay here in Cali. I've heard your theory before, though. See my notes here on the slow, steady decline and creep into leftism across this one-great nation.

The problem as I see it is no matter where you decide to go there will be others that follow for very similar reasons. Too bad far too many of them bring their political BS with them and in a very short time they will ruin the place they escaped to.

I decided years ago NOT to have children into this society.

Hiding in plain sight would require that you make yourself and the people in your tribe indistinguishable from other people in the area in which you are living . Children have a mind of their own and would have a tendency to "blow your cover" accidentally.

Something I've come to realize in my research...If a place has nice weather and pleasant natural surroundings the leftists are trying to take it over. Where are they not going? North Dakota? I have even read things that indicate I should avoid the Boise area to avoid them. I can tolerate leftism to a level...to the point where I can "hide in plain sight" as is mentioned here. I'm trying to get my kids to adulthood without the officials prying into every facet of how I raise them. That's coming to an end here in California. So...it's a study of where can I go where the chances of getting mugged are low, there aren't tent cities everywhere, there are some great outdoor activities and the schools are good. You'd be amazed how hard that is to find these days...all a sign of leftists creeping in everywhere. We are living in interesting times. Problem is here in California we're on the bleeding edge of totalitarianism and bureaucracy prying itself into families. I view the family structure and culture as a foundational component of civilization. It's viewed here as a cancer, a threat. Without getting into the details...I can hardly listen to the radio on my drive in to work in the mornings without hearing a flood of propaganda. It's like we're living in a horror movie out here.

Leftists desire being elected because they thirst for control. I think the whole nation is subject to a slow transition in that direction...leftist control. If I can just get my kids to adulthood the way I want the battle is done and won.