The best place to live

[herronm]

I have to vote for our little burg of Sulphur Springs Texas.  We have about 14,000 people, great parks, good schools, very community minded, excellent infrasturcture (library, streets, old historic downtown....), cost of housing is great (new 3 br, 2b) for 150k to 200k, 3 great lakes nearby, commutable to several good job markets.

Don't everyone rush here at the same time    That much skin might scar the locals.

Good to hear from you Pro. Melon.  How are you mending?

[PBurke]

summit county, colorado. or maybe glenwood springs, co. just my idea of perfect.

[schro]

I have some similar & some not so similar criteria...
1. No or Low humidity (guess that rules out the south and east coast)
2. Don't have to shovel snow
3. Must cool off at night (sorry, no Vega$ or Phoenix)
4. Access to golf
5. A place where Mrs. Schro will be happy
6. Not too remote, access to amenities (health care, groceries, ya know...civilization)
7. Not too far away from kids and potential grandkids (talking retirement time here).

Wife and I already have some land off of upper Klamath Lake in So. Oregon. We may build on it in the next year or two. I love Southern Oregon. Great golf, hiking, fishing and the weather is pretty darn nice most of the year.

Until then, I have a hard time leaving the Sacramento suburbs.

[marshd1000]

If I could afford it, I would love to live in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Climate is similar to Seattle.  But the visual backdrop is spectacular.  In fact, you can be downtown and go up to Grouse Mountain for skiing in about 15 minutes.  I'm guessing that traffic is probably as bad as Seattle.  But they have a more developed tranist system.  So you have the best of the city and wilderness at your doorstep.  Plus it is the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

[Tyler]

Schro, the upper Klamath is a great area.  But, doesn't it snow up there?

I played a couple baseball tournaments in Klamath Falls.

I have some similar & some not so similar criteria...
1. No or Low humidity (guess that rules out the south and east coast)
2. Don't have to shovel snow
3. Must cool off at night (sorry, no Vega$ or Phoenix)
4. Access to golf
5. A place where Mrs. Schro will be happy
6. Not too remote, access to amenities (health care, groceries, ya know...civilization)
7. Not too far away from kids and potential grandkids (talking retirement time here).

Wife and I already have some land off of upper Klamath Lake in So. Oregon. We may build on it in the next year or two. I love Southern Oregon. Great golf, hiking, fishing and the weather is pretty darn nice most of the year.

Until then, I have a hard time leaving the Sacramento suburbs.

[schro]

Avg snowfall around 50" inches a yr. with very little accumulation.
Avg rain around 18".

[Tyler]

Avg snowfall around 50" inches a yr. with very little accumulation.
Avg rain around 18".

Not bad! Plus, you'll be able to buy all of your head shaving stuff, and other stuff, sales tax free.

[BALDANDRE]

Wife and I already have some land off of upper Klamath Lake in So. Oregon. We may build on it in the next year or two. I love Southern Oregon. Great golf, hiking, fishing and the weather is pretty darn nice most of the year.

Until then, I have a hard time leaving the Sacramento suburbs.

LOVE the drive from Redding just past Ashland on the 5....man, it's a great drive, one of the ebst out there! 

Talk about tree city USA...Sacramento in the fall......man, you would think you were the northeast...beautiful!!!

[Tyler]

LOVE the drive from Redding just past Ashland on the 5....man, it's a great drive, one of the ebst out there! 

Talk about tree city USA...Sacramento in the fall......man, you would think you were the northeast...beautiful!!!

Yep! Those were my playgrounds growing up.  Lake Shasta, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Ashland, and the Sacramento river.  Good times!

[BaldRob]

I'm right where I want to be... Far North Burbs of Chicago!  Far enough out of the city to not have to deal with the city type problems, close enough that it's only a short train ride away...  Add to that, I'm midway between Chi-town and Milwaukee, surrounded by lakes and great people.

Summer ranges from mild to hot, humidity is around, but typically not too terribly bad (like the south and east).

However, it's not an area for the winter faint of heart!  We do get snow, but it varies from year to year... it's the cold that most people can't stand.  This past winter we had two weeks straight of sub-zero temps, with the wind chill down between -15 and -40F.

[Razor X]

New Jersey is not the worst place to live, but it is becoming unafordable.

It sure is becoming unaffordable.  There seems to be a concerted effort to drive people out of the state.  The property taxes are horrendous.

[RichardN.]

I live in upstate NY for now which is fine but I'm planning to retire somewhere else, I just don't know where exactly.  If I could afford a house in Hawaii, that's where I'd go, but I don't see that happening.  I love the New England area, but winters can be difficult.  I spent summers working on Martha's Vineyard while in college on the '80's & fell in love with the island, so that's a possibility.  Florida???  Montana???  I don't have to think about it too much right now.  I won't be retired for 21 years at least!!  Friends of mine recently bought a house in SD.  There from Massachusetts I really like it in SD.

[Koaa2]

San Francisco for me! Best city in the world, but also one of the most expensive. Would love to live in Castro section, can walk to everything, transportation downtown, best restaurants ever! Will stay in Cathedral City, CA, outside of Palm Springs and travel to SF a lot!

[ChallengeMe]

You need to look at the whole package for the best place to live. There are several places I would love to live, for certain parts of who I am. But here near Warren Ohio is pretty good:

A-Financial: Among the least expensive places in the US. I moved here two years ago, excellent community, 3 bedroom ranch, large yard, big deck with hot tub, for 86k. (ok, the previous owner was in a big hurry to sell) This gives me several hundred dollars a month over what living in other parts of the country costs, to live on.

B-Culture: We are only an hour away from Cleveland and Pittsburgh, for big name entertainment, etc. Many people in the bigger cities spend more time then this on their daily commute. And I have hundreds more dollars a month to spend in this.

C-Shopping (for your wife): I live 2 miles from the biggest mall complex in the US (yes, bigger then the Mall of America). She has several hundred more of my dollars each month to spend there.

D-Weather: We have the four season here, and I love each one. It doesn't get too hot here, and we are 20 miles south of the snow belt, so winters here are decent.

E-Outdoors: I am an avid fisherman, and live 5 miles from the 3rd biggest lake in the state. I love fly fishing and the Erie tribs and Pennsylvania creeks are a short drive. No mountains or ocean to look at, but I can live with that.

F-Economy: OK, every place has a downside to it. If you don't already have a good job, don't come looking here. This area ranks 100 out of the top 100 metro regions for finding a job.

[RC The Uncola]

I've lived in many different places.  I guess the big one for me is I need to live in a place that I can be outdoors alot year round.  With lots of activities like hiking, sight seeing etc...  I do really like Arizona for this as well as parts of California.  But im also really into my career right now so thats another factor to look at.  So the cool place in AZ is like Sedona or wherever but the jobs are in PHX.  and the coolest places in Cali are like Yosemite and the beaches but probably the jobs are in the Bay Area or LA.  It is a unique balance of what you need in life and what you want and life and what you can afford in life.  Throw in a wife and kids and the dynamics shift even more so.  Then the best place to live is and should be right way you are. However i Think the following is what I perceive as the best places to live:

1)  Maui
2) AZ
3) Cali
4) Inside Jessica Albas thong
5) in an RV

Until then Im still looking forward to being the oldtimer drinking at the tiki-bar on some Island