Moving out

[Subjugation]

I don't mean to be discouraging, but drugs and escaping reality is just a part of the human condition. Regardless where you move, there will be always be people who want to take drugs, and people who will supply their needs. I say that respectfully to your situation. It's regrettable, and I sincerely hope the best for you and your family.

If it were me, I would want to move to Vegas. But that's because I'm a degenerate gambler who loves neon lights, whores, and a 24 hour lifestyle. However, I think you are looking for something a little slower.

If you can afford it, come out to California. It's an incredibly beautiful state with anything you'd want geographically. Whether you like nature, sports, partying, or going to school, you can do it all in any of our major cities. You can live in the mountains, beach, desert, farm town...whatever. It's all here. Even small towns, like you said.

But it's expensive as hell. It's way overpriced in any of the cities that would be worth moving to like San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, and San Diego...Taxes up the ass, and school is really expensive at the moment, with all the State budget problems, and all the cuts being made due to our State defecit.

Maybe you can ask Daemon about Los Angeles. I hear it's a pretty cool place to live. It's huge, too. I'm up here in Sacramento, and it's just ok. Sac is kinda boring, but it's geographically close to a shitload of stuff. It's a cool place if you like nature.

As far as your family goes, I have fortunately never had to deal with that. As a suggestion, you might want to see if there's an Alanon in your area. I think Alanon is like an help group for people with alcoholic family members. However, they deal with drug addiction, not just alcohol addiction. I'm pretty sure it's all free, so you might want to ask one of their counselors or members for some suggestions for your situation. They've all lived through it, or been in your situation, so you might want to at least look into it.

[Vykromond]

Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona

Of those four choices, I would say that your best option is to go with the second or the fourth. Missouri is nice, especially the area where PJ said (or so I hear), and you'll probably be able to get a job there as well as eventually furthering your education without having to displace yourself. Arizona is also a great place at the moment because of an expanding job market and an unusually large youth population. The other two (especially OK) I'm sort of iffy about.

[Jerome Scuggs]

Louisiana has a pretty decent employment rate (because the people grow up here are so stupid, outsiders have an easy time getting jobs over everyone else)

My mother coordinates the social services here, she's in contact with the national sevices and being as such she could get your family help if needed. If you wanna move somehwere where it's dirt cheap to live, and easy to get money, Shreveport LA is your place. And we don't have alot of fun things to do, so there is an insanely huge community sprouting up...it's all centered around 516 Soundstage, our local music-of-all-sorts venue. If you come here, you will find friends, who can relate and help you, find you housing, and such. My girlfriend's mom owns a coffeeshop downtown and could get you a job easy (her current cashier has a felony record...see how easy it could be to get a job?)

College-wise, Shreveport is near Louisiana Tech, home to LSU at Shreveport, and Centenary, probably one of the nicest colleges in Louisiana.

edit: oh, I have a cabin in New Mexico, beautful place, nice colleges. Honestly I'd prefer NM over LA, ut realistically LA is dirt cheap to live in. I know this because we have a TON of immigrants (my gf is from england) so yeah.

[dchao]

Toronto's cool. I was born there and lived there for 11 years.

[Jeansi]

I'm positively surprised that even people of TW can take matters such as this seriously.

:up:

[Saturn V]

I'd say find a job first then move, but that's just me talking from experience. :turned:

I've moved five times in four years. The easiest move I had was when I moved to a city and already had a job lined up.

Sorry to hear about the drug problem, though. My brother did an eight year stretch in prison because of drugs. Once he was out, it only took him a few months to get back in. What a fucking loser. :death:

[PH]

Well, payday is tomorrow, so I need to make a decision pretty damn quickly. Either that or hide out at grandma's until the 15th to put some more thought (and money) into it.

I have a cabin in New Mexico, beautful place, nice colleges.

I lived in New Mexico on and off for a total of about five years, in the northeast and northwest parts of the state, and it really is a beautiful place, but I'm just not much on the way of life there. The cities aren't my thing, and the rural areas are just that, VERY rural. Hell, when I lived at Navajo Dam it was 50 miles of rough, winding roads to the nearest semi-large town.

As for Oklahoma, I know a couple of people there who might be able to help me find something. I know it's ultra-conservative central, but that's pretty much the situation here, so I figure I'm not losing much as far as the type of people I would be surrounded by.

Regardless where you move, there will be always be people who want to take drugs, and people who will supply their needs.

Absolutely right. My conscience tells me to stay and see my family through this, but then common sense taps me on the shoulder and says "Hey, dumbfuck, they don't want help. Things aren't going to get any better." I figure at least if I escape from here I don't have to watch them destroy my family. I think I've done all I can do for them, it's time for them to do something for themselves.

I can't thank you guys enough for all your help. You're the greatest people in the world. Any final suggestions before I figure out what the hell to do with my screwed-up life?

[Mr. Peanuts]

Whatever you do, make sure that you are safe for accommodation, a job, cash and all other necessities.

[ZeUs!!]

You're going to want to move somewhere urban, not New Mexico. If you're moving somewhere new you'll need to make some new friends quickly and of course theres employment issues

[Facetious]

I have an an aunt and uncle who live in Oklahoma, they say that it's essentially an awful state (they lives there because they has a huge piece of land that they couldn't afford in any other state, and they have horses and stuff). The stories my aunt has from working at a school down there are pretty much exactly what I'd personally imagine from Oklahoma (a kindergartner finds a gun on the kitchen table, brings it to school, the principal does the parents a favor and doesn't turn them into the authorities, which is technically illegal under Oklahoma law, but suspends the kid, and the parents yell at the principal for suspending the kid, saying it's unfair. She has like 7,723 stories about crazy hicks like that, seems like the kind of environment you're fleeing, not trying to run towards.

I posted this in a thread for Jason, it sort of applies although it doesn't cover any of your target states.

Areas I'm familiar with:
Northern Virginia: Full of rich, stressed out people that are constantly in a hurry and rarely doing anything meaningful with their lives. Horrible traffic, expensive cost of living, but the benefit is that anyone with any sort of computer skills can make 15-20 bucks an hour easily. I may spend more of my life living there, but I really hope to God I don't.

New Orleans: New Orleans is tons of fun, but at least I found that as a place to live, it really runs you down. The racial/economic tensions in the city are truly depressing, the amount of drinking everyone does is almost to the point where it isn't any fun anymore, and the pot is 60 dollars an eighth. However, there are some truly wonderful/unique places in the city to see jazz music and socialize, if you can control yourself to the point where you aren't too obliterated to remember going to them. My understanding is that there are pretty much no jobs, unless you want to work in a store, restaurant, or bar. If I ever find myself in a position where I have no real ties, and I feel I need to let loose for a while, I can certainly see myself moving there for a while, but for a person like you, that's looking for some sort of meaning to life, moving to New Orleans would almost definitely be a bad idea.

Asheville, North Carolina/WNC in general: I've only lived here for a short while, but I enjoy this area more than any area I've ever lived. The people here are all friendly, liberal, and relatively counterculture. The city itself has tons of independent businesses and interesting places to go, and from a natural standpoint, the area is phenomenally beautiful. The mountains are everywhere, creating a most peaceful atmosphere. As far as jobs and living expenses are concerned, I don't really know. I've met a few college dropouts that have jobs and places to live, so it's certainly not impossible, and there are lots of weird opportunities around, for instance, this guy I know says there's a farmhouse out in the mountains that you can live in for free, in exchange for 20 hours a (edit: month) of work.

Note: Moving to a super lame place (Indiana) just to be near some girl is a truly Godawful idea dude. If your goal is to get out on your own and explore, you don't need a girl as a crutch. I've never been to Indiana, but it's gotta be lame. It's Indiana for Christ sake. Jesus.

I agree with bz that the best plan is to find an area where you have some contacts already, there's no real reason to move to an area where you don't know anyone unless you're really inspired by the area (which, if you were, you wouldn't have posted this thread).
As far as the family issue goes, I don't think that anyone should have an obligation to no-good hard drug addicts for any reason. I'd think to hide from the family completely might not be the best idea, in the case that someone turned their life around and wanted to have a healthy relationship with you, but it seems like you should worry about that at a later time, get your own life in order first.

[Dim]

Come to the pride and joy of Britain! BIRMINGHAM

[Dim]

NOTE: For a deeper insight into Birmingham you can visit:

http://www2.b3ta.com/birmingham/

and http://www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk

[Mr. Peanuts]

They don't have butter pies in Birmingham. Which really pissed me off.

[Liquid Blue]

Northern Virginia: Full of rich, stressed out people that are constantly in a hurry and rarely doing anything meaningful with their lives. Horrible traffic, expensive cost of living, but the benefit is that anyone with any sort of computer skills can make 15-20 bucks an hour easily. I may spend more of my life living there, but I really hope to God I don't.

Preach it brother, preach!

Don't come to Northern Va. It's overcrowded and the traffic is not the greatest (crappy roads don't help the problem). Although you would probably be able to get a job around here, they cram so many people into such a small amount of space (townhouses slammed together, 3 feet front lawns, overcrowded schools, etc etc) you get this constant feeling of being stuck in a crowded elevator.

[Facetious]

what high school did you go to? i went to south lakes, do i know you?