This may be asking a bit, but can anyone help me find a place in the US that has close to year-round warm weather, moderate cost of living and some proximity to road racing tracks?

Oh, and laid back cops or lack of juiced up overzealous highway patrol would be an added bonus of course.

 

Sunny Florida.

Just watch out for FHP and retirees!

 

Gotta Agree, but the FHP are pretty brutal as are the laws for getting caught doing wheelies or anything like that. I settled in SC about an hour north of atlanta thinking it would be great, but the winter weather is a bit chilly yet. Spent a lot of days in the 30's and 40's over the winter. Granted it was dry and could have ridden but not for me. The riding is great, have a track 35 minutes away, the dragon is an hour away, cost of living is dirt, and cops are easy going. But that weather thing grrrr. I went to Florida in Feb. and it was awesome. Hung around the West palm beach area. Warm, the track is about 30 minutes away.

 

Southern Cali. Year round warm weather. It really doesnt rain that often. There are some places it snows, like the high desert. The Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside counties) have cheap to moderate expenses, But there are some places where it gets really hot in he summer. We have the california speedway here in Fontana whick is pretty close like less than an hr drive. There is also the Irwindale speedway in LA. San Diego and Orange county are really nice, have better climate but the expenses start to get high. And we have lots of cool beaches. All these areas are within about 100 miles from Los Angeles county.

 

+1 On San Diego. Absolutely beautiful and doesn't rain nearly as much as it does in FL. Def a higher cost of living and I can't speak about the CHP.

 

^^^ +1 San Diego County (San Diego County is huge - covers alot of area...cost of living varies from N-S & E-W.)

In addition to above posts, Willow Springs International Motorsports Park. Home of "The Fastest Track In The West" - Willow Springs International Raceway & The Streets Of Willow Springs track. 2 tracks in one place...can't beat that!
http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/home/home.asp

Also, Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch - Pahrump, NV is only about a 3-3.5 hr drive from San Diego. Chuckwalla Valley Raceway is about the same...3.5 hrs drive as well.

San Diego County is a mecca for sportbike riders...for both local twisties (tons of them) & accessibility to many tracks.

 

Let's say I was hypothetically starting to do research on a place to live in the San Diego area, where would I want to look if I want to find a neighborhood where my car/bike wouldn't be likely to be stolen and the rent is reasonable? My idea of reasonable is around $800 for a studio, $1000 for maybe a one room APT with a separate kitchen.

 

What about the sunny SW like NM, AZ or NV?

 

Well, the decision as to where I will eventually move to is a ways off, but I figure two years comes up quick and there's a ton of data I have to go over if I'm going to make somewhat of an informed decision.

As of now, I'm loking at the sub-LA southern Cali region, Nevada around the suburbs of Las Vegas, and Houston. Everyone has an opinion about anywhere so I'm looking around at census data, average living costs (rent/food), average income for teachers, and also proximity to race track/road courses and local twisties.

I'm just gonna tally up the positive and negative aspects I find through my research and make a decision once I'm finished with my studies.

Honestly, I keep to myself most of the time so whether the people there are ******** or not really doesn't make that much of a difference, although nice people would be a bonus. Besides, I'm from NJ and 30 minutes from NYC, I doubt I'll find people any worse (as far as being a bunch of douchebags) anywhere else.

 

might also do some research and factor in theft data for the areas you're considering.