Manifest Destiny... or no?

This post will remain a work in progress... until it's not, I suppose.  For now...

Live where you play...

Options I am considering for my domicile

Brevard - full time

Pros: 

  • Riding is absolutely upper-echelon.  It is almost ludicrous that I can leave my doorstep and in 2 miles be on an amazing trails.
  • Culture is actually pretty cool.  Steve Martin has a house here.  No, seriously.  Somehow this place has managed to have it's cake and eat it too.  It's a mountain town, but it is also "uppity", progressive, and forward-looking.  I think this is a result of who actually lives in this "retirement community" - and this is a bit of a double-edged sword - people bring money here... and everything becomes more expensive :-(  meh.
  • Airport - AVL is great.  No direct flights anywhere that I care to go to - but, 38 minutes to ATL and the entire world is at my finger tips.
Cons:

  • Job/dating.  If you move to WNC, bring a job and bring a partner.  Asheville opens up both - but, I'd prefer to live in Brevard and head to AVL if/when I need a little "city life".
  • Expensive.  It's difficult to reconcile how expensive this place is, in relation to the job opportunities and such.  As I mentioned, it feels like a retirement community.


Brevard - part time, Spearfish - part time. 

If I claim South Dakota as my "domicile" there is no state income tax.  It's unclear to me if I could own a home in either/both places and rent them out as an AirBNB, or not.

Brevard - part time, Grand Junction - part time.

Portland - full time
I think Portland only works if I plan on spending 90% of my time west of CO or TX.  If I still have to frequently visit DC or other places on the eastern seaboard for work, it's probably not worth it.  Also - Portland seems to suck more.. and more... as time goes by.  I think I missed the time period in Portland's history when I should have lived there.  Perhaps Spearfish and Portland (for a while) then Spearfish and Brevard.

SoCal is off the table.  I don't think the "penalty" of living there is worth it.  I have lived in SoCal a 1/3rd of my life already.  There are plenty of other places to see/do.

Bentonville has dropped off the list too.  The people, the amount of change it's going through and the growing pains of that happening, make it seem less compelling.


Granted this is a rather limited-scope analysis, but I have found this article rather interesting (and validating - as I had a feeling MN sucked for taxes)
WalletHub - Tax Burden by State

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