1707

Then you have places like Florida that make it nearly impossible to even get them in the first place so they can crow about how no one is on unemployment or something.

1708

At one point I wondered if Huntsville would be a decent low cost retirement town.

1709

Unemployment is not only temporary but also many places make it difficult to claim and will absolutely delay the initial payment while people jump through hoops.

A lot of people who had a lower paying job which they lost already had a nest egg wrecking event right there because they had to wait for unemployment to kick in. If it even did.

A lot of them probably saw their hours cut before they got let go officially too.

1710

If this is the case, the problem is not with the benefits, but with the minimum wage.

The $15 min wage that is part of the Dems plan will change things, and nearly entirely for the better.

1711

Well if you want to move to a low cost of living state and want warm, Alabama is a good choice. If you like cold then can I call your attention to Montana or the Dakotas perhaps? I totally get that heat and humidity isn’t your thing, but I think the trends are pretty clear that a lot of people prefer that to cold and snow. So that’s why people looking for low cost of living + warm might enjoy Alabama.

1712

On the other hand, the local government is atrocious.

1713
1714

The Dakotas are literally a barren wasteland.

Now Montana and Wyoming? Beautiful. Well western Montana anyway, Eastern is basically more Dakotas as far as I know.

1715

Also, they are only frigid cold in the winter.

In the summer, they are unbearably hot.

1716

Driving across South Dakota was hell. My brain has blocked most of it out.

I still remember Wyoming and Montana though and it’s been over 20 years.

Also don’t speed in Wyoming. Like at all. Getting pulled over by the highway patrol and the officer asking me “Are you aware you were doing 75 in a 70?” And I was like: “Wait, what?”

1717

I’ll take your word for it. I like my beautiful natural vistas where they belong: on my Windows 10 login screen.

1718

If it makes you feel better the speed limit on the Interstate is 80 nowadays in Wyoming.

1719

I’m sure it still means: “Exactly 80 unless you like talking to cops.”

Edit: Though seeing Montana’s speed limit signs of “Reasonable and prudent” was pretty cool at the time.

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1720

I live in Maine. My parents put their house in the market here in October and sold it in under a week for the asking price with zero contingencies. It was a family from Pennsylvania. There has been a load of people from more urban areas moving here throughout the pandemic, and I kind of welcome it. Maine’s population is the oldest in the country, and we could really do with more younger people here.

1721

I’d live in Maine. Mostly for the lobster if I’m honest.

1722

You get bored of it pretty quick. Trust me. ;)

1723

Maine has crazy evil mosquitos

1724

We tend to not worry so much about the mosquitoes because we’re too busy worrying about the black flies. (Though at least black fly season is only about four to six weeks long.)

1725

Let’s hope something happens with that plan. It’s criminal how long it’s been stuck at that measly $7.25/hr. I think I was making more back in the early 80’s working for $3.15/hr in inflation-adjusted terms.

1726

I was making $7/hour in 1993 working for the admissions office as an undergrad.