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?
I'm here too. But I do think the city has some serious long-term issues.
Fine place to live for now, but I'm a bit bear-ish on the long-term future of the Front Range.
Infrastructure is really pretty terrible. The mountains are close and a great recreational spot - if you can GET to the mountains. It's becoming increasingly difficult.
Water's going to become a longer-term issue. The state's definitely facing a deficit in the future. All the Front Range communities will be bidding for water rights vs. each other - this is a spot where more centralization could help but the Front Range is rather decentralized.
I've been surprised in moving here - the talent base here does not impress me. I think a number of corporations will be reticient about setting up too many operations here because of such. CU is a good school but other than that the state doesn't grow much talent internally.
Significant housing fall-off seems inevitable to me too. Right now Denver's biggest "structural advantage" is its relative cheapness compared to California (where half of CO's new residents come from). We'll get closer and closer to parity over time. That's when the market fall off could occur. Tons of folk here are currently very stretched.
I'm a bit negative there. But these are some of the things that concern me (as I assess whether I want to be here in 5-10-15 years).
Idaho.
I live in Nashville and absolutely love it, the only issues are that you have to know somebody in order to go hunting out here and there's no skiing, which is why I would probably end up moving back West if I had no other concerns. Other than that, weather is pretty damn great, there's tons to do in the area both city and outdoors and Hot Chicken is fantastic.
lovely. A gorgeous drive up the coast into Maine.Big fan of the northeast.
Portland, Oregon or Cambridge, Massachusetts...I prefer Chicago to Boston but I prefer Cambridge to Evanston...I do love Chicago, though
Outside the U.S.
Paris, Istanbul (yeah, even with Erdogan in power there), London, or Berlin...maybe throw Rome in there.
EDIT- I would prefer Ann Arbor to Evanston (but not to Cambridge) if there was the easy cheap access to a nice big city near Ann Arbor...
Michigan's Upper Peninsula... I can visit any of the crowded choices, come back home after a trip always reminds me why I love it up here. To each his own.
Due to my profession, I prefer NYC over LA in heartbeat. Now, if I had a ton of money and could do whatever....
Sept through Thanksgiving: A place in Ann Arbor
December: NYC
Jan - March: Warm weather place with trips to go skiing
April/and part of May - Back to NYC
May - August: Europe (Italy or Spain) and travel around the world
April 10th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
I can dig it. I like where you're head is at. It's hard to say which is nicer in September, Ann Arbor or NY. December is awesome in NYC. I don't mind the winter but I hate the end of winter (Mar/Apr) on the east coast. Late April through June is better and June in NYC/LI is spectacular. Miss it man! But by summer, NYC is too hot and gross.
What do you do by the way? Are you in entertainment?
Due to my profession, I prefer NYC over LA in a heartbeat. Now, if I had a ton of money and could do whatever....
Sept through Thanksgiving: A place in Ann Arbor
December: NYC
Jan - March: Warm weather place with trips to go skiing
April/and part of May - Back to NYC
May - August: Europe (Italy or Spain) and travel around the world
I'll stay in Ann Arbor in the shadow of the Big House, Valhalla to me
as much as you can grow up being a Navy brat and it's damn hard to beat if CoL isn't an issue. The weather is fantastic for the vast majority of the year. Yes it can be cooler than most people think in some early summer months (May/June), but that's nitpicking if you're living in Chicago and it's 25 in April and then 95 in August. There's no humidity as well so you don't get that brutal heat in the summer that you do in most places in the country.
It's one of the safest large cities in the country. You have the California school system which is generally excellent (K-12) if that's important to you. Traffic isn't the best, but it's light years better than LA and SF.
For those that think weather is getting over prioritized, I want you to remember your lives in college in Ann Arbor or any other place you lived when it was cold. Remember those rare sunny and warmer days in spring when you felt you had to get outside to take advantage of it!! That's a life that's dependent on the weather. It's not just the shittiness of plowing and muddy snow and the brutal cold. It's adjusting your day because it's finally not shitty. You just don't have to do that in warmer climates and it makes a world of difference.
In 1940, more people lived in Arkansas than Florida. In 2015, Florida became the 3rd most populous state in the country. It's a state with bad schools, mediocre service jobs, is mostly poor, and a culture that can kindly be called crazy. But it is fucking warm and that matters to people.
I second the San Diego sentiments. I lived there for almost 11 years during my late 20's and 30's after moving from the Detroit suburbs. The weather is fantastic. Most of the people there are well educated and cultured. The vibe is chill. And I loved the proximity to the mountains, great skiing, the ocean and Vegas! My only issues are the awful California taxes -- both state and property -- and the exorbitantly high cost of real estate. I would be fine in this hypothetical because my pay would apparently compensate but I would be more worried about my kids growing up there. Eventually they'll have to buy a house and that is very difficult to do on a single normal salary (less than six figures in today's dollars). Hell, even dual income is a struggle. I found that if you are not wealthy and you want to live in a decent house, you need to sacrifice a lot of things you could otherwise have living in a cheaper state like NC where I live now.
I really love the mid-west, I have lived in many different areas, but I cannot stand the people in many areas of the country. California is so fake...land of the plastic people. I love winter...I want a change of seasons...I will never retire to florida, crap I mean why would I retire to a sauna?
I am currently living in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and honestly can't see moving any further south than this.
OP says "in the US".
Marin, South Bay area have pretty easy access to the culture of San Francisco, without so much of the cold, foggy weather.
The Finger Lakes in upstate NY have some nice, small towns, and incrementally improving wineries.
Loved San Diego, but the mono-climate in SoCal can get a bit dull. "San Diego is boring" is a theme. I recall going back to visit Ann Arbor one warm spring day, and it seemed like the whole town was out, making the most of the (precious) nice weather. In San Diego people would sometimes get lazy, get frustrated by the traffic, and decide, "The beach and the sunshine will be there- let's just go tomorrow,"
April 10th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
One thing I definitely missed during my 11 years in SD was passionate college sports fans. SDSU is the only D1/FBS college sports team in town and that is meh. I found the level of excitement to be several orders of magnitude lower than when I lived in Michigan. People tend to care more about their own stuff and agendas. I missed the college sports comraderie, rivalries and fandom I experienced while growing up in Michigan.
Well, I've wasted...I mean spent the last 16 years of my life in Crotchtester....I mean Rottenchester...I mean Rochester, NY...
...I do not recommend anyone who can find a job elsewhere transplant here...crummy weather, embarassingly underdeveloped waterfronts, insane taxes, and cliquish unfriendly people make it awful for transplants...
As long as I get to dream, here goes:
Domestic:
Petoskey or Traverse City, MI
Burlington, VT
Fort Collins, CO
Park City, UT
Moscow, ID
Spokane, WA
Overseas:
Lyon or Grenoble, France
Aosta, Italy
Budapest, Hungary
Perth, Western Australia
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
If the biggest issue my wife and I face is having some Southern Baptist neighbors a few houses down who think we’re disgusting heathens for not going to church, then that’s a small price to pay.
Living in NOLA every time of year other than the summer would be great. Chicago would be great but I can’t stand the lake effect. I think I’d hate CA.
I could work remotely there for the rest of my life and be happy.
My husband and I took our honeymoon in Positano. Everything about it is magical.
Ann Arbor
Boston
NYC
Temperance, MI
West Michigan is a little too Culty for me, man of color, to ever live there.
It's quaint and I backpack and snowmobile in Da Yoop whenvever possible.You should too.
I get back to at least one Big House game every year now and it’s a blast.
GO BLUE!!
Fall in Ann Arbor
Winter in Northern California - East Bay or Wine Country
Early spring in Austin
Late spring/summer in NYC
April 10th, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
I love the great lakes, the metroparks, downtown Detroit, etc. etc.
I would like to get on the water in Grosse Ile; safest city in Michigan, access to fishing, swimming, living the dream. So the only thing I would change is the location of my house, hell I don't even care how big my house is.
jdon
April 10th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
April 10th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
Seattle, 25 years ago.
Today? Maybe Bend, Oregon.
But my priorities, money being equal, are in the outdoors.
Hilton Head SC or any of the surrounding areas
I split my time between:
Barcelona
Nice/Monaco area
Swiss Alps