It's not Disney Land but we do have a theme park.

Jeanette Isabelle

You guys are great, thanks!

Maybe you could get some ideas from this quiz.
http://www.findyourspot.com/

Interesting. Based on my first time through the quiz:

Portland OR
Tulsa OK
Clarksville TN
Salem OR
St. George UT
Shreveport-Bossier City LA
Little Rock AR
Jackson MS
Tacoma WA
El Paso TX
Chattanooga TN
Bryan-College Station TX
Corvallis OR
Kent WA
Hattiesburg MS
Alexandria LA
Greenville SC
Eugene OR
Olympia WA
Fort Wrth TX
Athens GA
Bellingham WA
Johnson City – Kingsport TN
Oklahoma City OK

Not one California suggestion!

"...Not one California suggestion!..."

No big surprise there, why in the world would anyone want to move TO CA???

I wasn't suggesting that anyone base a future move on this quiz , only suggested that it might help. I'm sure if you took 100 people from a survival forum and 100 people on a big city forum you would get different answers. I like snow so most of mine were up north, probably would have been different if I had said I hated snow. At any rate it does come up with some questions that anyone should ask themselves if they plan to move to another location and start over.

No worries , Angel, I don't think any one site or source is gospel on the "better places" issue. Thanks for pointing toward the site.

If you've got any questions on this end of the state I can help with let me know. Off the top of my head we've got three good size state parks, three national parks/rec areas, & 5+ lakes within ~100 mile radius. Larger cities & metropolitan areas are Chatanooga, Knoxville, & the Tri-Cities (Bristol, Kingsport, & Johnson City).

Stockton now adds to its various titles that of most expensive gas in the country. Not making it any easier.

Feedback from local job applications so far: I am over-qualified for what I want even if there were job openings.

Fighting denial about how bad it is.

Trying to rally to sell off my stuff to get ready to move. Tough market for a seller.

You might try downgrading your resume to see if the overqualified reasons will change anything.

I know a fellow with a Master's in ME had to obscure that and present himself as only having a Bachelor's in order to get a job.

Sometimes you have to change flies to get a strike.