Best place to live?!?!

[Skkeel01]

So, I'm curious why do you love where you live?

I like my city (Louisville, KY), it's where I grew up, family is here, it's very affordable, we get an equal dose of all four seasons, we have lots of parks, an urban forest, trails for mountain biking/hiiking/running right in the city, great restaurants, the Ohio River, cool neighborhoods and architecture, decent employment, and we are centrally located.

But, we don't have mountains, desert, or oceans, a strong culture of adventure, etc.

I have always wanted to move out west, so I'm curious what everyone else thinks. With young kids, schools are obviously important to me. And, since it's cheap to live in Louisville, it would be hard to move anywhere with a cost of living way more than here ... I'm not ruling out high cost of living places because I believe it would be worth the extra expense to live somewhere that shares the same passions for life, culture, and outdoor adventure as me.

The most difficult pill to swallow is increased real estate costs - we have very affordable housing in Louisville.

Just wondering if I should change my stars ... Cheers!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I am pretty happy in SE IN myself. I do like to visit places, but I am yet to find somewhere else i want to raise my kids honestly.

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

DO NOT come to Iowa.

Cost of housing is atrocious...healthcare is non-existent...traffic is unbearable...public education is lousy...oh, and the hordes of humans!!! Don't get me started...



But hey, if you want Presidential candidates, come and get 'em!

 

[sydneyman]

i like western north carolina. its got mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. hope you like hipsters though. They infest all the nice places to live it seems. Asheville is closest to me and has more than its fair share. I plan on moving to chattanooga tn or charlottesville va at some point. they are both still southern, mid size cities with great scenery to enjoy. plus i can get away from these damn hippies.

i really like the south east culture wise (im from ga/va), and appalachia is a nice compromise between mountains etc and the ocean is only hours away if thats important. You can be rural while being very close to amenities.

 

[DiscoDavis]

San Francisco (East) Bay Area (lafayette, orinda, moraga) California was where I was lucky enough to grow up. Amazingly nice place, VERY good schools, pretty safe, etc. Area has always been affluent but in the last decade or so has been way more flashy about it. the # of Land Rovers/Range Rovers per capita here is ridiculously high. Housing prices are insane (see 600% national average), traffic is the worst (I travel in the dead of night when I can), but we are close to a lot of stuff. I appreciate the fact that I live 5 min from a local dealer more than anything else honestly... :smiley_drive: Northern California has more open land but less infrastructure. Close to the city for fun stuff and can drive to the mountains/forests/deserts within a few hours (something a lot of places out west have).

California is cool for now, but too many people, not enough water, highway infrastructure is pretty abysmal for population. If you're conservative at all, you will hate it and most of the state will hate you. A lot of guys I know are moving to Texas, where property and cost of living is lower, not to mention taxes being better. Salaries are high in CA but it won't get as far as you'd think. If you have kids it might be worth it for the schools but plan to retire somewhere else and save $.

Now if I really wanted to punish myself I would go back to Switzerland and spend the rest of my days in a TDI defender or building an entdecker :coffeedrink:. Talk about cost of living being high... That's what I call a dream retirement. Nicest people (once you get to know them), insanely good food, and fun colored money. The Swiss really know something about living life. If anyone reading this is Swiss, lets talk . How about we trade houses and trucks for a month or two, I've been missing Schweiz terribly.

 

[harbinger808]

I'm quite the opposite. Born and raised in Hawaii on Oahu. My wife and I had our first born there for 2 yrs then decided to move to Phoenix AZ where she is from. We just had our daughter in April. We would not have been able to afford our lifestyle back on the island. Honolulu is one of the most expensive cities in the US but it has a lot of what I think you are looking for.
We decided on the mainland US because it will allow us more access to traveling as we can loadup and drive or take a flight. Always going to be cheaper for us now... well except visiting the islands again

 

[Clymber]

for me its New England, we currently live in CO and are moving back to VT by the start of March. Yes the winters are cold but its more laid back no big chain stores more mom and pop. If you want to feel like you are in Europe you can drive a few hours north and be in Quebec or Montreal a day or 2 drive and be in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. Drive a few hours east be in Maine, NH or MA and get seafood from the dock, 4 hours south is Boston 6 hours in NYC
to me that is the perfect place

and as for the best place to live thats like asking what is the best color we all will have reason why we live where we do

 

[mezmochill]

i like western north carolina. its got mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. hope you like hipsters though. They nfest all the nice places to live it seems. Asheville is closest to me and has more than its fair share. I plan on moving to chattanooga tn or charlottesville va at some point. they are both still southern, mid size cities with great scenery to enjoy. plus i can get away from these damn hippies.

What's worse a hipster, a hippy or a republican?

 

[sydneyman]

What's worse a hipster, a hippy or a republican?

the one i can smell from across the restaurant.

Way to bring politics into it. :clapping:

 

[Burb One]

San Francisco (East) Bay Area (lafayette, orinda, moraga) California was where I was lucky enough to grow up. Amazingly nice place, VERY good schools, pretty safe, etc. Area has always been affluent but in the last decade or so has been way more flashy about it. the # of Land Rovers/Range Rovers per capita here is ridiculously high. Housing prices are insane (see 600% national average), traffic is the worst (I travel in the dead of night when I can), but we are close to a lot of stuff. I appreciate the fact that I live 5 min from a local dealer more than anything else honestly... :smiley_drive: Northern California has more open land but less infrastructure. Close to the city for fun stuff and can drive to the mountains/forests/deserts within a few hours (something a lot of places out west have).

California is cool for now, but too many people, not enough water, highway infrastructure is pretty abysmal for population. If you're conservative at all, you will hate it and most of the state will hate you. A lot of guys I know are moving to Texas, where property and cost of living is lower, not to mention taxes being better. Salaries are high in CA but it won't get as far as you'd think. If you have kids it might be worth it for the schools but plan to retire somewhere else and save $.

Now if I really wanted to punish myself I would go back to Switzerland and spend the rest of my days in a TDI defender or building an entdecker :coffeedrink:. Talk about cost of living being high... That's what I call a dream retirement. Nicest people (once you get to know them), insanely good food, and fun colored money. The Swiss really know something about living life. If anyone reading this is Swiss, lets talk . How about we trade houses and trucks for a month or two, I've been missing Schweiz terribly.

+1 to all this guy said. Always funny seeing your home city posted on the interweb and wondering if you've driven past IRL. Sweet Discovery by the way!

Bay Area is hard to beat. One hour to the beach, 2 hours to the snow, and a whole lot of open space compared to some other highly populated areas. The Sierras are beautiful for being so close to where the work is. Also, the food in the Bay Area is amazing, so much diversity and something for everyone. While young it's hard to beat (if true appt. city life isn't your thing, which on this forum, is probably true for most). I could see retiring up the the foothills or to just over the NV side of the border, and get a little bit more of both worlds, just got 30-40 years before then

Also having gone to school in Los Angeles, and living there a little bit after, don't go without a set time period, it will consume and destroy you, glad I got out of the bubble down there, and unsure if I did infact like it down there.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

What's worse a hipster, a hippy or a republican?

The hipster democrat that hits the bong

 

[zelatore]

I'm on a tablet and hate typing on this thing so more info later.

I'm from your area originally, near Evansville. I now live in the California delta, a tiny river town called Walnut Grove, and work mostly in the bay. Long story short, I can think of no reason I'd ever want to move back to the midwest!

 

[mtlove91]

I'm getting ready to leave Southern California and move to Northern Nevada. I could care less about the beach. I'm all for the desert, mountains, lakes and rivers. Hoping to move to a small town with less than 25k people. Cost of living isn't so bad either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LR Max]

Currently living in Atlanta. I've noticed how fast my life now moves compared to living in NC and SC. Everything is a race and everything is about how much money you can throw around. Housing is pretty much impossible...I have no idea how people have 1 mil to live in a townhouse. Leaving the city on a Friday...lulz. Impossible.

Sure the mountains are nearby, but they are full. It is so weird that there is a significant population there.

 

[wildorange]

Is this strictly for the US members?

If not, I'm biased to say London. ;-)