I live in Napa Valley, one of the most beautiful places in the world to live. I have lived within 75 miles of where it currently live for the last 53 years. The weather is wonderful, the scenery great, food beyond belief, and everything within a couple hours of driving. It is CRAZY to live here. The cost of everything is beyond believable. Taxes, housing, food, gas, is all way above national average. If you are conservative at all, YOUWILL GO FKN CRAZY here. Although we make good money, I don't know how the average joe can live here. I'm searching for an exit and may make it another 5 years. Looking at Idaho, Arizona, Utah. The last thing they want is another Californian FKN up their state like we did to Colorado.
Best place to live?!?!
- Thread starter Skkeel01
- Start date
mtnbiker58
New member
DiscoDavis
Explorer
x1000 on what Don just said. I would say I share the same mindset. Not a huge gun nut by any means, but the laws seem to get more restrictive on a weekly basis. Our infrastructure and access to nature here is superb, so I tolerate it.
I just got home from work (20:00), and I have to leave my house at 06:00 to avoid what we Californian's refer to as 'acceptable' traffic, and I have a "9-5" job (my work is only ~40 miles from my house). It is ungodly bad here for that. My commute is 2 hours each way, easily 3 if there's an accident anywhere. Guy at my company drives 5+ hours from the valley to work each way. I'll be honest when I say it gets pretty bad, and consistently so. Has gotten this way in the last decade, but there are a lot of people here. If you can get a job outside of the standard peak hours/work from home, I would 100% say do that instead. Oh and you will hate how Californians drive, end of story.
I just got home from work (20:00), and I have to leave my house at 06:00 to avoid what we Californian's refer to as 'acceptable' traffic, and I have a "9-5" job (my work is only ~40 miles from my house). It is ungodly bad here for that. My commute is 2 hours each way, easily 3 if there's an accident anywhere. Guy at my company drives 5+ hours from the valley to work each way. I'll be honest when I say it gets pretty bad, and consistently so. Has gotten this way in the last decade, but there are a lot of people here. If you can get a job outside of the standard peak hours/work from home, I would 100% say do that instead. Oh and you will hate how Californians drive, end of story.
I should also mention a few car-guy things that are good about NorCal/Bay area
NO RUST
Seriously. You know how cars back in the mid-west are sometimes called 'rust free'? They're not. Not unless they're from the west.
Cool cars/trucks/bikes EVERYWHERE
An example of the stuff I've seen just on the roads while commuting this week. Since this is the Rover sub-forum, I'll start with:
At least one of every model Land Rover except the Series trucks (D1, DII, LR3, LR4, RRC, RRS, P38, L322, brand new RR, Disco Sport, Evoke, Defender) OK, I didn't see a 101, but I have a buddy locally who has one so I guess I could swing by his place and check that box too.
2 Ferraris
A Fiskar
a few G-wagons
2 Astons
And of course more Jags, Porsches, AMG Mercs, M BMWs, Teslas, etc than you can shake a stick at.
That's just a normal week.
Bikes? Well, we've had a lot of rain recently so not so much but still Duc, Triumph, BMW, Guzzi, and the usual HD and Japanese stuff.
And tomorrow night I'm going to the Camel Trophy retrospective at TAD where we'll have several CT rigs on display from our club.
So you know, there's that.
When I was in Charlotte visiting my brother over new-years I saw one Rover. One.
NO RUST
Seriously. You know how cars back in the mid-west are sometimes called 'rust free'? They're not. Not unless they're from the west.
Cool cars/trucks/bikes EVERYWHERE
An example of the stuff I've seen just on the roads while commuting this week. Since this is the Rover sub-forum, I'll start with:
At least one of every model Land Rover except the Series trucks (D1, DII, LR3, LR4, RRC, RRS, P38, L322, brand new RR, Disco Sport, Evoke, Defender) OK, I didn't see a 101, but I have a buddy locally who has one so I guess I could swing by his place and check that box too.
2 Ferraris
A Fiskar
a few G-wagons
2 Astons
And of course more Jags, Porsches, AMG Mercs, M BMWs, Teslas, etc than you can shake a stick at.
That's just a normal week.
Bikes? Well, we've had a lot of rain recently so not so much but still Duc, Triumph, BMW, Guzzi, and the usual HD and Japanese stuff.
And tomorrow night I'm going to the Camel Trophy retrospective at TAD where we'll have several CT rigs on display from our club.
So you know, there's that.
When I was in Charlotte visiting my brother over new-years I saw one Rover. One.
WOW!!! I guess I sort of dropped a bomb and left the room, but this has truely been great reading.
I would love to be able to respond to all of your comments, but not feasible.
I've probably visited 95% of the places listed ... Have not been to Paraguay, Iowa, or Hawaii for instance.
I purposely didn't say much about myself to not influence responses. I am not political or religious, but people who might label me would certainly pick liberal for my social beliefs, ignoring how I might think fiscally. Other than smoking, which I can't stand, I'm not about taking people's rights away, but I won't be championing them for you either. I don't own guns, but if the *#!& ever hit the fan, I'd certainly be looking for one.
Like others, I prefer to be around like minded people, so since my first passion is mountain biking, there's the obvious choices.
Whereever I end up, it must have a "sense of place" (lingo drop for you fellow urban planner/geographers!).
I work in real estate finance on the asset management side, so it would probably be difficult for me to find gainful employment in a rural area. That said, even though I grew up urban, I find myself more and more open to having a little land.
Speaking of growing up ... Since I spent most of my adolescent life in the 80's on a bmx bike, I've always sort of had that California counter culture in my soul. So, SoCal and NorCal would be a dream scenario, but for all of the financial reasons mentioned, that might not be possible. And, the traffic/commute would kill my soul ... A line from the movie Point Break comes to mind - I'll paraphrase ... "All those lost souls inching away on the freeway in their metal coffins" ... Ouch!!!!
Another example is Bend, OR. I've recently spent some time there and I must say I'm drawn to that kind of lifestyle. Big enough town to have access to stuff, and everyone there stays outdoors it seems. But, housing cost is outrageous.
So, I'm trying to narrow down my options by cost of living, sunny/moderate temp climate (open for debate I suppose), access to jobs in my line of work and outdoor adventure mentality. With these parameters, the list dwindles quickly.
Some of you have mentioned places on the east coast that I like (Asheville, NC, and Vermont for instance), but there's just something alluring about the west and every where east seems to have the same weather as Louisville, just a bit more/less snow and a bit colder/milder temps ... The number of sunny days are usually very similar, which is not a good thing ... I definitely need more sun if/when I move.
What I have learned from my search is it's very difficult to just "pick" somewhere to live and then find work. And it's as difficult to just look for a job and "hope" you like the places you can live. And, if money wasn't an option, we'd all probably live close to family and travel extensively to the places we love most of the time.
Anyway, keep the opinions coming, I'm living a little through all of you.
Thanks!
I would love to be able to respond to all of your comments, but not feasible.
I've probably visited 95% of the places listed ... Have not been to Paraguay, Iowa, or Hawaii for instance.
I purposely didn't say much about myself to not influence responses. I am not political or religious, but people who might label me would certainly pick liberal for my social beliefs, ignoring how I might think fiscally. Other than smoking, which I can't stand, I'm not about taking people's rights away, but I won't be championing them for you either. I don't own guns, but if the *#!& ever hit the fan, I'd certainly be looking for one.
Like others, I prefer to be around like minded people, so since my first passion is mountain biking, there's the obvious choices.
Whereever I end up, it must have a "sense of place" (lingo drop for you fellow urban planner/geographers!).
I work in real estate finance on the asset management side, so it would probably be difficult for me to find gainful employment in a rural area. That said, even though I grew up urban, I find myself more and more open to having a little land.
Speaking of growing up ... Since I spent most of my adolescent life in the 80's on a bmx bike, I've always sort of had that California counter culture in my soul. So, SoCal and NorCal would be a dream scenario, but for all of the financial reasons mentioned, that might not be possible. And, the traffic/commute would kill my soul ... A line from the movie Point Break comes to mind - I'll paraphrase ... "All those lost souls inching away on the freeway in their metal coffins" ... Ouch!!!!
Another example is Bend, OR. I've recently spent some time there and I must say I'm drawn to that kind of lifestyle. Big enough town to have access to stuff, and everyone there stays outdoors it seems. But, housing cost is outrageous.
So, I'm trying to narrow down my options by cost of living, sunny/moderate temp climate (open for debate I suppose), access to jobs in my line of work and outdoor adventure mentality. With these parameters, the list dwindles quickly.
Some of you have mentioned places on the east coast that I like (Asheville, NC, and Vermont for instance), but there's just something alluring about the west and every where east seems to have the same weather as Louisville, just a bit more/less snow and a bit colder/milder temps ... The number of sunny days are usually very similar, which is not a good thing ... I definitely need more sun if/when I move.
What I have learned from my search is it's very difficult to just "pick" somewhere to live and then find work. And it's as difficult to just look for a job and "hope" you like the places you can live. And, if money wasn't an option, we'd all probably live close to family and travel extensively to the places we love most of the time.
Anyway, keep the opinions coming, I'm living a little through all of you.
Thanks!
meatblanket
Adventurer
Colorado used to be nice, but now it's an overcrowded mess. When I don't need to work anymore, I'll be out of here.
ghostingrey
New member
Pretty interesting to see everyone's opinion. I grew up in Lexington so I know where you're coming from regarding Louisville. It's a great and very underrated city. I left Kentucky after high school and moved all over the country. I moved back in my early thirties because I thought it would be a great place to raise my new family but left again after three years. Where did I go....South Dakota.
Most people thought I was crazy but it's been a great move for us. The Blacks Hills area has enormous amounts of public land, a relatively mild climate for the area, a thriving economy, very low taxes, and plenty of affordable housing. I have a trout stream through the middle of town and hiking and biking trails withing a few minutes of my house. Hundreds of miles of offroad trail within 5o miles. 5 National Parks withing an hours drive. The people here are the nicest of anywhere I've ever lived, definitely more so than in KY or GA. I think another good option would be Wyoming. It has excellent schools, low taxes, and affordable housing.
I'll never understand the hype about California. My brother lives in the Bay Area and every time I visit I want to kill myself. Sure the food is great, but I would never be able to deal with the crowds and traffic.
Most people thought I was crazy but it's been a great move for us. The Blacks Hills area has enormous amounts of public land, a relatively mild climate for the area, a thriving economy, very low taxes, and plenty of affordable housing. I have a trout stream through the middle of town and hiking and biking trails withing a few minutes of my house. Hundreds of miles of offroad trail within 5o miles. 5 National Parks withing an hours drive. The people here are the nicest of anywhere I've ever lived, definitely more so than in KY or GA. I think another good option would be Wyoming. It has excellent schools, low taxes, and affordable housing.
I'll never understand the hype about California. My brother lives in the Bay Area and every time I visit I want to kill myself. Sure the food is great, but I would never be able to deal with the crowds and traffic.
Last edited:
Kgh
Let’s go already!
I've heard it said: Location, job satisfaction, or money - pick 2. It has proven pretty much true for me.
Ideally after this next couple of years, I will live in the best place in the world:in my Defender. If that is too small, there are always Tigers or EarthRoamers. I have no desire to be anywhere specific and want to see it all. Except California.
Inread the blogs of those who have tossed the system out the window and just gone for it. To a person they seem exuberant and engrossed in life. That to me is where to live.
Ideally after this next couple of years, I will live in the best place in the world:in my Defender. If that is too small, there are always Tigers or EarthRoamers. I have no desire to be anywhere specific and want to see it all. Except California.
Inread the blogs of those who have tossed the system out the window and just gone for it. To a person they seem exuberant and engrossed in life. That to me is where to live.
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
I have to say middle Colorado in the summer and Florida in the winter. But I live in Oklahoma, and its OK.
Christophe Noel
Expedition Leader
Not saying it's the best but...Prescott, Arizona. I've been here for 17 years now. Summer is never more than 90 degrees. Winter drops snow, but it's usually gone in days, alternating with winter temps in the 60s. We have pine forests out the back door. The desert is a short drive away. Within a short day's drive I can be on a beach in Mexico or California. I can be in the Rockies outside of Silverton or in the red rocks of Moab. I can be in Vegas by lunch, home by dinner. I catch my flights out of Phoenix a short 90 minute drive away. Sedona is just over the hill, Flagstaff is a touch further (90 min). Our little town is right out of a Norman Rockwell painting with a dozen parades and festivals every year. I know hundreds of people in town by their first names. Didn't lock my house for a decade. And, we have 500 miles of mountain bike trails webbed through hundreds of square miles of national forest.
It sucks here. Someone please rescue me.
It sucks here. Someone please rescue me.
XJLI
Adventurer
Ha. This guy.
I'm making the best of my location. It doesn't lend itself as well to the outdoor activities I'm into as somewhere out west, but I deal. Grass is always greener. It is very interesting to see people say that Colorado is turning into a mess now... ever since driving cross country that was my dream settling location. I stopped modding my truck as if I did live out west and bought a boat instead. I live on an island, why not? Soon-to-be wife and I have good (state-employed) jobs with outstanding benefits, and will be buying a house as far from the city as possible since we work farther east.