Where to Move To, to Escape the Worst of Climate Change: The Best and Worst States
I use my own metric, which is what states, OVERALL, are better for you. The main measurement, is you and your families well being, which includes mental, emotional and physical well being. Don’t want to move to a better/safer location because of where your family lives? If you are not willing to live far from them, get them all to move with you, to a better place.
I have lived in 15 states, and traveled to all 50 states. I know 8 states pretty well, that I have not lived in. I have spent most of my time living in the upper Great Lakes zone. And, my SO is from the Great Lakes, but not the Midwest.
Minnesota is The Best. Last year, it was the ONLY state that sent more money to the federal government, than it got back. Every other state was on Welfare. MN is most like OR, and OR is most like MN. Those two states, are not like any other. MN is almost NOTHING like any Midwestern States. The key reason is that almost all the early MN settlers, were from Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is sort of like Scandinavia in America. That is why the Lutheran church is so big in MN.
I would say that the next group of best states are in the Midwest, Northeast, and Northwest. I would rank Iowa/Wisconsin, and then Michigan (except NOT South Central Michigan) as the best in the Midwest. I think Oregon/Colorado/Washington/California/Utah are the best in The West. BUT, a number of those states have some pretty bad Climate Change problems. In the Northeast I think Pennsylvania on up to Canada are all some of the better states. Because of Climate Change, the coastal areas, and those prone to floods or forest fires, are not good choices.
The Upper Midwest is the best area, overall, partly because of the MUCH higher housing costs in the Northeast and The West. A couple of years ago, someone we knew, moved up to Northern MN to reduce her cost of living. A one bedroom apartment was $250/month. In 2017, my buddy bought a 2BR/1BA, 1200 sq ft house, in small town Central MN, for $16,000.
We are sponsoring a family from Ukraine, so I just looked at rents and housing costs in NE Wisconsin. An ok 2BR/1BA, 800 sq ft apartment rents for $800/month. A bigger townhouse is $1100. You can rent a 3BR/2BA apartment for $1300-1400/month. Most of the 3BR/2BA homes start at $180k, but you can get them down towards $100k. There are, basically, no bad areas to watch out for in NE Wisconsin (except for a small town that is east of Oconto Falls). If you live very close to one of the rivers, you can get flooded out…that is about the only issue as far as Climate Change problems.
The worst state is Indiana. The resurrection of the KKK, in around 1920–1925, when all those “Confederate” statues were built, was birthed in Indianapolis.
Next worst is South Carolina/Alabama/Mississippi. If you are White, and not poor, then South Carolina would probably seem like a good state, until you get flooded out, or die from heatstroke. Columbia and Columbus, GA, I think, have the worst humidity problems in a Southeastern Summer.
After this 2nd to last grouping, I would say that the next worst group is probably Texas/West Virginia/Louisiana/Tennessee/Arkansas/Missouri/Oklahoma.
Florida is an outlier, because of Climate Change. I just read that only 19% of people in FL have flood insurance, even though 50% of the claims in the US come from there. The flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms, wind/storm surge/wave damage, will only exponentially increase, until almost the whole state is uninhabitable, barring a miraculous turn around of Climate Change.
The other MAJOR problems in FL, and, in the near term, South Florida, also are because of Climate Change. We can start with the Insurance problem. If you are Rich, you can pay cash for property or a house(s), and not need a bank loan. U don’t need insurance, as you can pay cash, at least until your home is uninhabitable…and maybe even then you can pay to have a home on a floating city.
The rest of us, can’t afford to live in FL. Many have already gone without flood/wind/hurricane insurance, and many have already lost EVERYTHING, with no insurance to help.
You need to get insurance to get a bank loan, to buy/build/rebuild. AND, to make things worse, the Insurance Companies, will not serve FL, without reinsurance. The Reinsurance companies are all in Europe, and if they decide not to provide reinsurance, to a US insurance company in Florida, then that US insurance company will pull out completely.
The other two near term problems in South Florida, are both from rising sea levels. They are the availability of drinking water, and toxic pollution from all the Superfund sites. When the seawater gets into the drinking water aquifers, it is gone. When the seawater gets into the Superfund sites, it will spread that toxic shit all over the place.
If you live in a disaster area, move as soon as practical, before your property is destroyed, or worth nothing. At some point, the housing markets in disaster zones will collapse. I recommend moving to the Upper Midwest (or Southern Canada), near the Great Lakes. Same goes if you live in Florida…mostly South Florida, in the near term.
The average person is MUCH better off, overall, living in Canada, than the US. If you are quite wealthy, then the US could be OK, as you can live anywhere, and not need health/home/car insurance, as you can just pay cash for everything. Unless you get shot, in some stupid, minor dispute, or a Terrorist Shooter event…money won’t help if you’re dead.
Use your Free Will to LOVE!…it will help more than you know
