Best Place to live in America (or the world): Your Two Cents

[tomgallagher]

Tucson in the winter and Sedona in the summer.

[RyanJP]

Napa county / St. Helena.

[aarrggh]

  Parsippany  >   New Jersey .

[RyanJP]

I have lived and or traveled in 29 countries and five continents and to me the best place to live would be Ireland.  The climate is generally mild in the winter, though wet, and the people can't be beat.  The countryside is some of the most beautiful in the world.   Biggest drawback would be the number of American tourists in the summer.

Paul, my mom's got distant family out there and I've been planning a trip out there someday.

[pdxtodd]

I live in the Portland Oregon metro area and can tell you that yes it does rain a lot here but having lived and traveled all around the world, there rain in Portland isn't all that bad.   We have beautiful summers/falls and the access to the coast (a hours drive),  the mountains (an hours drive), the desert (an hours drive) makes it one of the best places to live (IMHO).   We like to tell people that it rains all the time - but since I'm talking to my sly brothers - I'll let you know that it really isn't that bad.  We tell people that it rains to keep them from moving here!   Oregon has other places that are great to live as well -- Bend Oregon is in the high desert and is stunningly beautiful.  If you are looking for a laid back place to live - Eugene with the University of Oregon as the center of the city is a great place to call home.   I grew up here so I'm a little biased, but through work I've lived all across the US, Europe, and Asia/Pacific.    If I had to pick a place outside of North America - it would have to be Australia.   I lived and worked downunder for 2 1/2 years and fell in love with Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.   New Zealand would be my 2nd choice, having lived in Auckland.   

If you ever make it out to Oregon and need a place to stay while you look around let me know.  There's always a light on and a place to stay for any of my sly brothers.

[Rob]

there must be hundreds of nice places to live in the world, but I've gotta say that the best place is where your loved-ones are.  Sorry if it's a cliche, but it's true!

[wpruitt]

there must be hundreds of nice places to live in the world, but I've gotta say that the best place is where your loved-ones are.  Sorry if it's a cliche, but it's true!

Best answer yet !

[Dome of Steele]

PxTodd:  Oregon in general, and Portland specifically has been at the top of my list in research (along with Colorado).  It has a cool atmosphere, access to different types of terrain, and a decent climate.  The only drawback I've heard of is frequent rain and cloudiness.  But according to what I've seen, it rains less in Portland than further up the NW Seaboard (ie Seattle).  Austin gets extremely hot in the summer, but the winters are very mild. 
Be careful what you offer Todd or I might show up on your doorstep one day with a thirst for one of those local Portland brews I always hear of! 

[marshd1000]

I am biased towards Western Washington as well as Western Oregon as the best places to live in America for many of the reasons that Todd mentioned.  I also give a nod to Spokane as it is a great medium sized city very close to the great outdoors.  But for all of North America, I really like Vancouver, BC as it has the big city feel and is only 15 minutes from the mountains and skiing.  It is wedged right between the mountains and saltwater.  I had the pleasure of living near Vancouver while across the border in Bellingham, WA in the early 80's.  You will see what I mean about Vancouver if you watch Winter Olympic coverage on TV.

By the way, Todd, I have relatives in Portland.  When I visit them, we ought to get together for coffee!

[Mike]

I see Spokane was mentioned a couple times. I was born and raised here and hadnt left the Northwest until this past spring so it was all I ever knew. I like it here for the most part. We are Washingtons 2nd largest city, we basically touch Couer D' Alene (I know I spelled it wrong). We are on the dry side of Washington. I like to say we are 6 hours from anywhere. About 6 hours to Seattle, 6 hours to Great Falls Montana, 6-8 hours to Canada. We are a growing city, right now we are hosting an ice skating thing, it is really big but I forgot what its all about.
  We have extreme weather you could say, always dry it seems. We get down below 0 in the winter with snow, 100+ in summer, not much rain but just enough. We are the Lilac City, its pretty nice in spring. Lots of lakes for boating, swimming, great fishing, or just to go and visit them. There is great skiing all around, Silverwood Theme park is a couple hours away. Great hiking and outdoor stuff. Lots of good music lately.
 We have a nice little area called Green Bluff where all the farmers have festivals for everything like the cherry pickers trot, apple picking, pumpkins, all sorts of fun stuff.
  Spokane is a little city that wants to be big. Personally I want to move Southeast from here for the change.

[Mike]

Oh and our slogan is "Near Nature, Near Perfect"

[buddha]

I am surprised, Nay.....I  AM SHOCKED that no one has mentioned.....

BALD KNOB, ARKANSAS[/b]

[bubbadave3]

I see Spokane was mentioned a couple times. I was born and raised here and hadnt left the Northwest until this past spring so it was all I ever knew. I like it here for the most part. We are Washingtons 2nd largest city, we basically touch Couer D' Alene (I know I spelled it wrong). We are on the dry side of Washington. I like to say we are 6 hours from anywhere. About 6 hours to Seattle, 6 hours to Great Falls Montana, 6-8 hours to Canada. We are a growing city, right now we are hosting an ice skating thing, it is really big but I forgot what its all about.
  We have extreme weather you could say, always dry it seems. We get down below 0 in the winter with snow, 100+ in summer, not much rain but just enough. We are the Lilac City, its pretty nice in spring. Lots of lakes for boating, swimming, great fishing, or just to go and visit them. There is great skiing all around, Silverwood Theme park is a couple hours away. Great hiking and outdoor stuff. Lots of good music lately.
 We have a nice little area called Green Bluff where all the farmers have festivals for everything like the cherry pickers trot, apple picking, pumpkins, all sorts of fun stuff.
  Spokane is a little city that wants to be big. Personally I want to move Southeast from here for the change.

We moved to the PNW from Boston almost 13 years ago now.  When we first moved out this way, we lived in Spokane Valley for 6 mos. before deciding to move to Coeur d'Alene. 

[pdxtodd]

Marsh let me know when you're in Portland and lets get together.   

Dome:  Its funny -- it does rain more than places like Denver, Phoenix, LA, but the rain also makes Portland what it is -- green and beautiful.  I lived in Seattle for 10 years and you are right -- it rains more up north and its typically 5 degrees colder than it is in Portland. 

While it rains here - very few people own umbrellas -- and in fact you can usually spot the tourists and transplants as they're the ones carrying an umbrella.  Portland is also the sunglasses capital of the world -- reason is that you only need them for 5 months out of the year and we all lose our sunglasses at some point over the other 7 months of the year.   You'll also see people wearing tshirts and shorts year round here - I've been to LA and had friends putting on coats when the temperature dropped into the 60's -- in Portland 60's is picnic weather.   You'll also see people here doing things outside year round regardless of weather.   

Portland is a minim silicon valley - in fact there is a part of the city that is named "Silicon Forest".   Oregon is also one of the leading states for green technology.   While on the other hand we're at the top end of the states with the highest unemployment.

[bartman]

Well, I have been around the US and most of Europe, Japan and I will say that every place has a downside so each person must figure out if the upsides outweight the downsides. For some the upside it employment and they live in a place they really don't care for.

I work from home so I can live anyplace I want. The ideal place for what I like to do would be California because of the weather, but the downsides of traffic, smog, cost, taxes, expensive housing, tree huggers outweigh the upsides for me.

So with all things taken into consideration, I live in Colorado and I think it is the best place for someone that likes motorcycles and outdoor living like me to live. And I do. The downside is except for Denver area it is a bit backward culturally speaking but I can live with that and prefer it. Most of my family live in Las Vegas, but I can get flights down there from $19 to 49 bucks so I go there quite often. For me I love it here. I know some people that can't stand it, but that is what is great about America, it is large enough with a diverse climate and culture, most people can find somewhere where they are happy. Though I have dual citizenship in another country, there is no better country I have found (for me, your mileage may vary) that I would rather live in.