Folks Of Interest Old car friendly places to move to?

Been thinking of moving east lately , I bought my house here at a good time and feel like California is due for another housing " correction" with interest rates soon to rise and the political / economic atmosphere lately

Hoping to find affordable living and OK wages ... Southern California doesn't pay very well , compartive of cost to live here!



My back ground is machine shop /production , tool room type stuff and hot rod stuff , so I would like to find a place that has a decent amount of work in those areas... It would be nice if there was also a healthy interest in old cars too

Places that sparked my interest so far are:
prescott,Arizona
South Carolina
Texas (probably area around Dallas and Austin )

 

I think Austin has got
To be growing at such a rate that your housing situation would be right on your tail.

What kind of car friendly-ness are you looking for? Might let us find a better match for you

 

how about Minnesota?

 

Kentucky is extremely "old car" friendly. No hassles with DMV or law enforcement. Close to many great car events in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio. Great state, green, treed and rolling hills. Still part of Americana.

 

Yeah I agree the Midwest is pretty old car friendly, Kansas City Missouri has a massive car scene and quite a few automotive aftermarket shops head quartered here. From Pete and jakes to aeromotive and procharger.

 

Coastal SC has a pretty good car scene, but the wages here aren't great. If you could land work in a reputable shop here (there aren't many) you could do quite well.
There are plenty of people here who are willing to pay for top shelf work, but weeding out the bargain hunters is as tough as weeding out ripoff shops. Property tax is low, no vehicle inspections, not too bad on home prices, but a poor education system and congested traffic in the summer.

 

There's Texas, then there's Texas, and finally, Texas.

 

I wasnt thinking Austin itself nessesarily but maybe that area of Texas , I'm from a farming / industrial town of 24,000 origionally and was an hour from big city , so that type of thing would suit me fine... Couple acres right outside of town sounds good wherever it is

By car friendly I guess I just mean a few people around that mess with this stuff , it feels pretty dead here... most enthusiasts are 50+ ... There is some Intrest from the younger crowd but for the most part they are just trying to feed themselves and pay rent

I tried that.... Twice... ;-)
Whats the temp today Greg ?... Did it go up past -10 yet?.... I'm thinking southern part of country is a better fit for me

 

Central Florida is extremely "old car" friendly. Lots of car shows, cruise ins, swap meets and flea markets within a 50 mi. radius of Ocala. Many big name race tracks close by. Property is fairly inexpensive and cost of living is relatively low.

No I'm not a member of the Bureau of Tourism. LOL

 

I think the suggestions of the Prescott and Austin areas, sound good. Hard to beat what our San Diego has to offer, though. Good luck to you wherever you go ...

 

I will look into it ,thanks ... Doesn't have to be a hotrod shop , I would be just as happy making parts behind a Bridgeport or a lathe again, I could go back slinging tires and changing oil like I did in highschool if it paid my bills!

Average wage in a hotrod shop here is 20-35, BUT my house just appraised at 350,000 and its a shack gas is about 3.00 gal. ect .ect.

I figure if I can walk away with some$$ from my house and decrease my expenses I should be able to make it fine on15-20 hr .....when they raise the minimum to 15 ... Ill just go to Wendy's !

 

Lived in Chino Valley Az. which is 13mi north of Prescott. That area has a very, very active car community but as far as work...???If you opened your own shop...maybe?? I thought it was expensive there but Im pretty cheap so what do I know...?? If you do decide to move there I can hook you up with some great car guys...
Now I also have been in Austin as my Son teaches at the University there. Has a way cool car community there and it comes across as a pretty solvent place to work and play. And......great food and great music. But again...what do I know...

 

Check out East Tennessee. Tri-Cities area; commute from outside small communities. Low taxes, cheap property, strong economy.
Lots of car people, from tradionalists to muscle cars.

 

Thanks, I agree , I love the weather here , I'm 7 miles from the beach even happy with my little shack and big garage , but the wages just suck here , feels like the only industry that will be left soon is tourism ...

I'm working too much to enjoy what sandiego has to offer.. I'm getting tired of scraping by.... Hotrod shops don't offer much for benefits or a retirement

 

Above all.... What area has the highest percentage of good lookin single women 25-35 ....that like old cars

 

Some where in the mid west, America as it should be!
Lots of old car stuff, so so weather, and some of the prettiest girls I have ever seen!
KK

 

Don't move to anywhere around an oil field. We have 10s of thousands of guys freshly laid off. TX, LA, OK and the like. Stay away unless you have a job waiting.

 

I have done what you are considering 20+ years ago...........left Ventura, Ca for Ottawa, Ontario, Canada....the second coldest capital in the world next to Moscow!
Chose it on a whim..........suffered the consequences of long, freezing cold winters.
Then moved here to New Brunswick........still long, freezing cold winters but......that sure allows for build/repair/update time on my Hot Rods.
The summers are short but I just cram everyday of them with my cars. Park my OT and drive the Hot Rods.

I have a very large garage, enough "old car/Hot rod" stuff happening and I have a double lot with lots of space. It's country living for me now.

I have from time to time "looked" around for "better" places but every place has some drawbacks. Bugs, snakes, tornados, high humidity, earthquakes, low pay, crime....etc. etc.
One thing I would not do and that's move back to California! 26 years there was enough.

So, at my age now, I'm just going to settle in and continue what I do til the end and just smile!

Good luck with your search!

 

. I would bet that there are a lot of guys that would trade places with you. yes, San Diego area is pretty isolated from the big volume of people North of you. but, prices in most busy parts of the country with reasonable weather are going to be high.

 

Hmmmm....better than SoCal...good luck. Since the New Year, I already been:
-- On a six-shop hot rod tour.
-- On one poker run, which visited 5 hot rod shops.
-- Donut Derelicts twice.
-- To the newly renovated Petersen Museum.
-- To the World Famous Pomona Swap Meet.
Old car friendly --> I have NO problems here. No inspections.
Old guys in hot rods --> I have the feeling they are no matter where you go, sorry.

 

Unless you really screw up along the way, you'll get there too so don't complain too much about us grey-beards...

.

 

Houston......

 

Your probably right , but I also work in a shop that charges over 100an hr labor an probably 50% of those customers always say "I have their dream job".. That's cool and all ...but I'm the guy eating top ramen ... Weighing the facts ..one would probably not trade places

 

Oh, I'm not the one complaining --> I'm already there!!! The OP made the observation that most hot rod guys in his area are 50+.

 

There is still lots of stuff to do in California , I agree ... But you have to be on a " mission" traffic is bad to the point of if I want to go to mooneyes Christmas party,antique drags .. ect.I'm leaving here at 3am , that kinda stuff isn't fun to me, technically I can only afford to do a couple of car things a year here... Even if lots of it is in my backyard..

When I go up to LARS most the lic plates are out of state... Tells me the people who can still afford the hobby aren't from here

 

Just to be clear ..I'm not complaining either ... I like the greybeards , but when you look around and very few young guys get excited about this stuff and even less are building anything it's like it's last breath...
You look at most the young guys building stuff it's all guys doing it in there garages outside of California

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you were complaining.
Oh the young guys are here, too. Just in my extended family, the under 35 group has:
- 1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight
- 1957 Chevrolet Nomad
- 1961 Chevrolet Bel Air
- 1964 Cadillac Coupe DeVille
- 1964 El Camino (soon to be swapped for a 1964 Chevelle 2-door wagon)
- 1967 C10 (OT)
And one will be looking for an OT Buick GN

 

Since you're considering SC, the Upstate area of Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson is the best part of the state for a good supply of decent paying jobs for people with skills IMO.

Michelin has its US headquarters there, along with 4 manufacturing plants, their US research and development facility, and a 2000+ acre test site with about a dozen different tracks.

BMW's US manufacturing facility is also there, and as they've grown there's also a load of companies who have set up in the area as component suppliers to BMW.

Lots of other metalworking related manufacturers in the area, in all sorts of industries, as well as lots of independent machine and fab shops who supply parts to companies both in and out of the local area.

Another plus for the area is the fact that it doesn't go thru endless boom and bust cycles like TX does. The big bust happened here a long time ago as the textile industry folded up. Since then, industry is diversified enough that, even though things may slow down in a general economic downturn, they don't collapse like the areas where every good job is directly or indirectly related to a single industry like oil.

Housing prices are reasonable, or dirt cheap compared to most of CA. Property taxes aren't bad. No hassles from the authorities if you buy a house and decide to build a separate workshop. No hassles if you want to do some side work for profit out of your garage either. Obviously, the above doesn't apply if you buy in a restricted subdivision, but there's plenty of places available most any time with a nice house and couple acres for well under $200K.

Electric utility prices are 10-11 cents per kw-hr. Don't know how they are in your area, but I've read on other forums that they're 3 times that much in some parts of CA.

A machinist friend of mine grew up in Los Angeles. Joined the service when he finished high school, and ended up here when he got out. His kids are grown and he's divorced. His parents still live in LA, and about a dozen years ago they were encouraging him to move back there. He took about 3 weeks off and went there to check out jobs, cost of living etc. Got a couple job offers around $30/hr and started looking at other costs. He said it didn't take him long to realize he could live better here on the $16 he was making at the time than he could on $30 in LA, all things considered.

Hotrodprimer or some of the other members from that area of SC could tell you more about the hot rod scene there.

 

All I can add is I am a greybeard, that has worked in the auto repair business since I was fourteen. I have been to California albeit in the Marine Corps. I live in southern Ohio and have all my life. Plenty of car related action goes on around here from April through October. If you don't mind a little drive, isn't that what we have our cars for to drive? Now that being said I have friends that live in Northern California and I envy them everyday! Being able to hop in your Hot Rod and take a ride at anytime is very appealing. But family and other ties keep me here. So if I was a single male, living in Southern California I would have to really investigate all the areas around California, and see if there isn't a solution, maybe closer to home! Maybe a little farther North or East I know there are plenty of Hot Rod Shops out there to check into and there has to be some machine shop type places to seek employment. Remember you may move for what seems like higher pay and less out of pocket expenses, only to find out after a couple years it really all just balanced out. The grass is always greener. Joe

 

Where I live in Southeast AZ is nice if you are retired....not much production work going on here! but the weather is nice, no smog police, etc. Good luck...