Your ideal living location/environment

iceracer wrote: South Delaware is nice. Four seasons but not extreme. Not far from Dover. Great beaches.

As someone who is painfully familiar with slower lower, I didn't see that one coming.

Emerald Isle NC. I love the beach, and spend alot of time at my parents place down there. I just like the laid-back lifestyle, and they got a Bojangles a couple years ago, so I wont go hungry.

Taiden wrote: I'd like to live in a 750k+ population area. It would be densely populated in the center (where I would be living) with satellites of suburban housing around it. It would be very diverse in terms of income, heritage, and political beliefs. Public transportation would be good enough that I could easily live with just a bicycle, but shop rent would have to be cheap enough that I could own a project car for giggles. The motorsports / car scene would have to be alive and well. Weather would be 80* avg in the summer, probably 3/4 days sunny, and a brisk winter. It would be amazing if there was a 1-2 month long snowy season, or mountains nearby that got snow. Seasons would be a must. The people would be friendly and helpful, and of course crime would manageable. Ideally near the ocean. Oh, and I'd want to be able to ride my longboard in comfort at least 10 months out of the year. (Comfort means no rain and > 45°f)

You have just described Big Bear, CA. with a few exceptions. Big Bear is definitely a suburb. There are plenty of people living there, but its no hub. Public transportation is fair, but since its so semi-rural you can't really get anywhere.

Good skiing, short drive to any of the SoCal beaches, snow in the winter, 80-degree summers.

My only problem with the East Coast (no offense to the east-coasters) is that the seasons kinda suck. You get four seasons on the east coast, no matter what state it is. In New England you have 4 months of snow and freezing weather. In the mid-states you have 2 months of snow and some freezing weather. In the mid-south you have the rare snow, but its mostly 45 degrees and E36 M3ty for 3 months. In the far south you get one week of 30-degree weather and they think its the apocalypse and the affect on the orange crop will cause the economic demise of the western world. Then summer rolls around and its 104 degrees with 99% humidity and its now an economic crisis because the old people keep having strokes and taking away republican funding.

Plus... I must say that if you have ever ridden surf on both coasts, there is NO comparison. There is a reason that CA spawned the surf culture. Its insane. High salinity means high bouyancy, sharper rises make better waves, larger prevailing winds make higher surf, earthly rotation makes faster incoming tide... not to mention, the water isn't brown mud. If I'm going fishing, give me the DelMarVa peninsula. If I'm going surfing, give me DelRay or Grand Hook at Pismo.

Climatically, the west coast has the trump card. The primary currents of the Pacific move N-S keeping the ocean cold. That means a mostly dry atmosphere with adequate and predictable rain. It also means a much smaller temperature spread between the seasons. The east coast has the opposite with the Atlantic moving S-N bringing relatively warm water. That means that summer is 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity, while winter is 10 degrees and 10 percent humidity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was quoted as saying, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Last time I was there, it was July 4th weekend and it was 58 and windy.

fritzsch wrote: Id probably go with a small town in new hampshire on lake winnipesaukee, although the property prices have become crazy, damn bostonians....

Issue up there is a near total lack of work. There's tourists out the wazoo four months a year, and it's a cashless backwoods wasteland the rest of the year.

And yes, we refer to them, aka "my inlaws", as Ma55holes.

I really love Northern California (aside from the job market). Cost of living is very moderate compared to the rest of California. Weather can get hot in the summer, but dry heat. People are friendly and things are pretty relaxed. From Sacramento, you are within a 2 hour drive of pretty much anything you could ever possibly want to do (surf, ski, dance, eat, drink, world class parks). Tics important boxes for me:

Food - we have it all. Some of the best produce in the world, good ranching too, and great seafood. And we have people from every culture in the world putting their traditional spins on these foods.

Beverages - Some of, if not the, best beers in the world. Best wine in the U.S. Not just in Napa valley either. Lots of less known places like Lodi and Paso Robles that put out wines the quality of the Napa ones, but less well known, less snobby, and cheaper.

Driving - How many hours do you feel like driving? That's about how many road courses you have access to. Within 4 hours of Sacramento, I have access to Infineon, Thunderhill, Reno-Fernley, and Laguna Seca. And then there are the mountain roads and things like HWY 1.

Outdoor activities - What do you want? We have it. Hiking and camping all over. Play in the snow and mountains up in Tahoe. Yosemite valley. World class rock climbing. River rafting. Go down to the bay for boating.

Weather isn't perfect. Summers are hot. But I'll take a dry 100 in the central valley over 90 and stupid humidity on the East Coast. Survived a hot summer pretty easily in a Miata with no A/C. And even have chances to put the top down in December and January.

The best place that I've ever lived was Portland, Maine.

That probably doesn't help you...

New Zealand. Oh wait, you meant in the USA...

I loathe cold weather in a way similar to my hatred of French cars. I can't wait to get out of PA. Originally, I thought I'd move to western NC or eastern KY (and still haven't written it off), but it's still stupid humid in the summer. I spent two weeks in AZ (in the fall, granted) and loved it. The sun shines almost every day. People are generally cheerful as a result. There's endless opportunities for off roading with Jeeps and motorcycles. Cars don't rust. Northern AZ has trees and even snow to shut my wife up. The only downside I've seen so far is the miniscule selection of race tracks vs where I live. I figure I can replace racing with off-roading and still find happiness.

ddavidv wrote: New Zealand. Oh wait, you meant in the USA...

That's fine. Please expand. I am interested in knowing more about New Zealand. I often entertain the fantasy of going there to start up a brewery, but I really don't know what it would be like.

I know NJ gets bashed a lot...

But the southern half of the state is a LOT different from the northern half, and closer to what you are looking for.

While ALL of NJ is considered an urban area by density, most of the southern part of the state is pretty empty. Between the salt marshes, state forests, and just the pinelands.. most of the interior is devoid of people, with everyone clustered at the shore, near philly, and in a few big towns/cities in the middle.

We get a few weeks of below freezing weather in the winter, and a few weeks in the 90s in the summer, but generally, aside from the humidity, is pretty pleasant. NYC, Philly, and the Baltimore/washington area are all less than 2 hours away. The ocean is less than an hour from anywhere in south jsersey.. the mountains about 2 to 3 hours.

We are the garden spot of the Middle Atlantic Region. We get very very few major storms, have great white sandy beaches, casinos, boardwalks, and our very own Racetrack.

Give me 10 acres of rolling land in mid Michigan with a 1500sf house and a 3500sf garage between Lansing and Jackson... preferably with a digital line to the property.

In reply to mad_machine:

You forgot to mention the highest taxes in the nation!

One day I will leave the deep South.

I'd like season changes again. My needs are fairly small.

SVreX wrote: In reply to mad_machine: You forgot to mention the highest taxes in the nation!

this is true.. but our incomes are higher too.. and some areas, away from the shore and the city, are pretty cheap

I need sun. I thought when I moved to the Great Lakes that I'd gets lots of snow (and lots of days off), but I was greeted with clouds clouds and more clouds. As an outdoor enthusiast soil type impact my happiness as well. Here in Erie, the soil has got lots of clay/loam that just hold sooo much water. It gets messy quick, and dries out slow.

I'd love to live someplace with more rock, more sun, a colorful mainstreet, and lots of public parks right outside city limits.