OT - Where would you want to live?
I've always valued insights from members on this board and am interested in hearing about cities members prefer to live in.
Let's say you are given a promotion at work and your company is willing to pay all moving expenses and adjust your cost of living to any city in the United States. Where are you moving to and why?
Personally, I found the island of Kauai to be better than Maui. More beautiful and less busy.
Kauai is the best for reasons stated. Now don't tell anyone!
Kuaui is my favorite. At the end of most vacations I'm ready for my own bed and shower. Not there. Didn't ever want to leave.
but I prefer a city where you can walk most places. It's hard to beat for that.
In the middle of a 1000 acre Montana ranch, 100 miles from nowhere.
People generally suck, and I want to be away from them.
This answer will not be topped.
But what if you don't have access to MGoBlog?
Nice choice.
I like my house, because I have a bit of isolation, but am still in West Michigan.
To the west I have over 3 square miles of interconnected parks, a couple miles of Lake Michigan shoreline through the woods, and the closest house in that direction is ~80 miles away in Wisconsin. To the east I the closest house is over a mile away and across a ~320 acre lake with a nature preserve directly across from me so I see trees. To the north and south I have a house fairly close to me though.
So I get some isolation, but I am still close driving distance to Muskegon and Grand Haven.
I too live in the dunes around Grand Haven. Wouldn't trade it for anywhere. Tyring to guess the lake you are on, White, Silver or Pentwater?
say. I would love to have an island away from everyone and sit on the beach all day enjoying my solitude.
weather and outdoors
Honolulu or NOLA. Good vibes
NOLA in the summer is BRUTAL!
Yeah, I love that city with all my heart but 4 months out of the year it'd be a tough go. Also if you have any self-control issues that city is a real problem. Would love to have a house there but think my body would revolt at living there full time, in part b/c of what I would put it through.
Southern California and Ann Arbor are my top 2 and there aren't any super close 3rds.
In a perfect world, I'd be in Ann Arbor mid-May to November and in Los Angeles December to mid-May.
Next in line would probably be any number of places out west with easy access to nature, probably Colorado or Northern Arizona (Sedona/Flagstaff).
Hawaii is obviously fantastic, but I would never live there. Something just so claustrophobic about living there long term.
I know someone who splits Chicago and LA/Malibu. And someone who splits Chicago with Tempe. Though, now they have kids so I'm not sure what happens when they get to be school-aged.
Hawaii seems like it would be fantastic when you're there as a tourist. Then you move there and realize that you're making less money than you did on the mainland while your expenses are way up, that you're totally isolated from your friends/family, and that it's hard to make new friends as people assume you're just there for the short term (and/or have an ax to grind against mainlanders)...
So basically the opposite of Ohio.
Portland: A super chill, livable city with awesome food and lots of nature. Only issue is homeless people
San Fransisco: Awesome culture, cool city, great food, also very expensive so the all expenses paid thing would be nice
Boston: Smallish city with a colonial flare and cool personality, only downside is the winter
isn't even possible because no job, other than barista, would relocate out there.
Portland is where the young go to retire.
April 10th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^
Have you? People are flocking there from California to escape all that is wrong with Cali. There is a ton of opportunity in the city/metro now.
I have way too strong a pull toward my hometown to choose anywhere but there.
I used to live in Newport, RI. I'd probably go back there if forced to leave where I am. It has to be somewhere where I can race boats, but southern climates are too warm. Newport's a little bit regulated by the ocean, which is nice.
I lived in Newport in the mid '70's as a kid and we go back several times a year (luckily we are only a 4.5 hour drive). Winters are not half bad, I raced a Laser in the frostbite fleet a few years ago - 46 boats on a Sunday afternoon in December with some of the best in the world sailing regularly. Typical temperature in winter is 45 degrees and, like you said, comfortable in the summer, especially when the sea breeze kicks in just before 1 pm.
There is a FB group called, If you grew up in Newport, RI, that is worth joining. A lot of old photos and great memories.
Hmmm....claiming to grow up in Newport would be a massive stretch for me, but I did spend two absolutely awesome years there. If the pull of home wasn't just a little bit stronger I'd've tried to figure out how to stay after my tour was up.
Not going to lie....I actually went to Google Maps to type that address, but then got the joke halfway through typing.
Ann Arbor, in one of those houses by the arb.
I like where I live now, however I would choose Hawaii to escape the winters. Give me some island life.
Boulder, CO
Annapolis, MD
San Diego, CA
Boulder is definitely great.
Realistically: Chattanooga Tennessee Fairly progressive southern town on the rise, surrounded by mountains and the Tennessee River cuts through town. Cost of living is cheap, weather is pretty reasonable. 2 hours to Nashville, 1.5 hours to Atlanta. Still a day's drive back to Michigan if I wanna catch a football game.
Fantasy land? Western Australia or French Polynesia. French Polynesia for the rugged, raw beauty of the islands, mountains coral reefs and lagoons. Western Australia same thing, just add desert, subtract lagoons.
I like Louisville/Lexington and have often wondered about Chattanooga. Still have seasons but weather is much better.
Chattanooga is pretty great and has great access to outdoor activities.
There are few good things about living in Houston. I mean, if the airport is your major attraction... :) (PS: You'll quickly learn to hate United's fares from IAH).
Houston is basically swampland. The summers are awful. It's extremely humid.
If you move there, buy flood insurance, even if it's not required by law.
Make sure your renters' insurance covers floods, then. A lot of the discussions post-Harvey were full of obvious-in-hindsight discussions about the way water is routed during floods -- basically, there's so much concrete in Houston that water rises more rapidly than the models had forecast, and a lot of that gets channeled through downtown.
I'm not sure about Houston as a Cajun food destination. Tex-Mex, sure. Barbecue -- OK, but the best is in the Hill Country. For Cajun, I'd expect to head to New Orleans, or at least Baton Rouge. (It's possible I've just missed out on some good places).