Where do you live and do you like living there?

[JoeyBoy718]

I live in Seattle.

Price: Cost of living in Seattle is one of the most expensive in the country, but you can go 30 minutes out of the city for a decent price (depending on where you go because a lot of Microsoft people live out of the city and drive the prices up).

People: People in the city are either nerdy programmers or blue-haired hippies. People outside of the cities are pretty country. There's a homeless crisis going on right now inside the city, especially the downtown area.

Adventures: The people are very outdoorsy here. Not like Miami where they lay around on the beach, but more adventurous. Hiking is popular year round and there are many mountains within an hour drive from the city. Skiing is very popular during winter and kayaking is very popular during summer.

Location: There aren't many big cities within driving distance. Vancouver, Canada, is a 3-hour drive north and Portland is 3 hours south. There are many nice small towns you can go to for day trips.

Weather: Seattle has a reputation for being rainy. It's a bit of a myth. The summers are the most beautiful I've ever seen. It literally doesn't rain once for 3 straight months during the summer, it stays light out until 10 pm, and it's always warm but never gets unbearably hot. The other 9 months of the year are constantly gray. It never rains heavy though. There's a daily mist during Fall and Winter but you hardly even notice it after a while. You'll never find yourself running for cover like you do on the East Coast.

Tech: It's probably the biggest tech area outside of Silicon Valley, which explains the cost of living. The Microsoft and Amazon headquarters are here and there are also Google, Facebook, Zillow, Uber and a million other companies, not to mention a bunch of startups. It's also easy to find Meetups where people discuss different topics in tech or collaborate on projects.

 

[lukin2006]

Traffic is going to be the death of me. I have to drive my son to his school, 20 miles one way, every Monday morning during rush hour. It takes me an hour and a 1/2 to get home.

But it isn't as bad as the 5 FWY in @dexternjack's neck of the woods! I have to take that drive every time I go to an Angels game.

OMG, 90 minutes for a 20 mile drive...I couldn't do it, me and traffic congestion are not buddies, I am always looking for shortcuts in any of my regular commutes.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I'm in Southwestern Ontario (Windsor, across the river is Detroit). I do not like living here and have no interest in Ontario anymore, reasons, summers are to humid, spring is either to rainy or just goes straight to summer, winter is unusable (we get a wet cold and not enough snow for good winter activities), now fall I like, easily the best season here, other reasons we pay twice the Canadian average for hydro and insurance (monthly insurance and hydro > than my mortgage, insane, getting to congested, to much urban sprawl, lacking in green space and naturalized areas (what green spaces that are left we have to fight tooth and nail to keep), and the province is far to liberal for me.

The wife and I at some point are moving to Alberta, Canada...it's our absolute favorite place...we love the Canadian Rockies and the national parks in Alberta the wildlife and nature...

I realize this doesn't help the OP much, just thought I'd share.

I've driven the road from Calgary to Jasper many times. It's one of the most beautiful places I've been. As a nature/wildlife photographer, Alberta would be a prime place for me.

As a side note, some of my earliest ancestors settled in the Howick area in Ontario after leaving England and Scotland.

 

[Runwildboys]

CT is beautiful

One of my best friends lives in Somers.

Yeah, it's nice to look at...but the cost of living and taxes are ridiculous, plus it's a boring state, full of Giants and Patriots fans!

 

[Reality]

I'm in Southwestern Ontario (Windsor, across the river is Detroit). I do not like living here and have no interest in Ontario anymore, reasons, summers are to humid, spring is either to rainy or just goes straight to summer, winter is unusable (we get a wet cold and not enough snow for good winter activities), now fall I like, easily the best season here, other reasons we pay twice the Canadian average for hydro and insurance (monthly insurance and hydro > than my mortgage, insane, getting to congested, to much urban sprawl, lacking in green space and naturalized areas (what green spaces that are left we have to fight tooth and nail to keep), and the province is far to liberal for me.

The wife and I at some point are moving to Alberta, Canada...it's our absolute favorite place...we love the Canadian Rockies and the national parks in Alberta the wildlife and nature...

I realize this doesn't help the OP much, just thought I'd share.

I have had friends tell me they love Alberta and I wouldn't mind spending some time there myself

 

[Reality]

Here goes.......to preface this list, I will start with a few personal things I don't mind sharing. My wife started out as a registered nurse years ago and has worked her way to nurse practitioner. Currently, she is working on furthering her education, so we move often to different teaching hospitals(from Stanford to Dartmouth to any children's hospitals). We do travel contracts from 13 weeks to 6 months then move on to the next place. Sometimes, she goes to teach new graduates and sometimes she learns from others....just depends on what step is needed next. For myself, it is hard to hold down a permanent job, so I usually go to a local dive shop and help teach Scuba but I also have a side business helping restaurants trim their fat with a partner, which I can do from anywhere. I guess it is kind of like Kitchen Nightmares but way less hectic and more on the financial side Got two little ones to keep in shape as well. We are nearing the end of traveling so the girls can settle down and start Elementary school and stay in the same school system....we have narrowed it down to Texas(for family) or California(no family anywhere close).

In no particular travel order:

Bellingham, WA - not much to say about this city, real small and kind of old. It is really close to Canada to go explore Vancouver and also kind of a short drive to Seattle. A lot of whale watching, fresh seafood but quite a bit of rain, especially in the Winter. Some real nice trails to explore and nature in general but it does get pretty cold. This is a real political state and town though. Be ready for multiple protests for anything and everything and lots of pot smoking on every corner. The people who aren't there for College are mainly the hippie type. Cost of living is cheap with no real option to upgrade housing.....will stick out like a sore thumb.

Bend, Oregon - nice country but this state was not for us. The people were pretty much like those in Washington but weirder. The weather wasn't the best either with lots of rain. There wasn't really an easy way to get to the coast either. Cost of living - moderate

California

San Francisco area:
We have lived on all three sides of the city. We love the area and can go to Napa, Yosemite, Monterrey Bay, Carmel all within a little drive. There is so much to do, can live there for years and still not see/do everything. It does have a lot of fog and light rain but it isn't near as bad as Seattle rain. The late Summer months are perfect. We liked Pacifica the best, well because I am a water bug
I won't go into detail on the three sides but it does get quite a bit hotter on the East side and down to the South. Cost of living - very high

LA area:
We have lived in Calabasas/Topanga/Tarzana areas. It is much warmer here than SW of LA. or along the coast. Beautiful, rugged areas to do things outdoors and a short trip down the 101 to Santa Barbara or a bit South to Malibu.

We also were in Beverly Hills for awhile and that should be self-explanatory.......

Newport Beach was our favorite which is near Anaheim/Orange with plenty of things to do. Being that far South, the outdoor activities are limited, it is mostly beach stuff.

There have been other places along the coast down to San Diego but basically, LA down to SD is the same....just gorgeous. The weather is usually perfect with arms reach of the coast but it does get warm further towards the East up and down the state.

Cost of living - high but not quite as expensive as SF on average. There are places in the state where it isn't so bad but not sure they are areas where many want to live. If anyone wants a house near a major city, expect to pay close to a million for something decent and of average size and not real old.

Houston

Do not go there, it is a really hot, humid vacuum of a place! This is my hometown too, never really knew how bad it was until I moved out of state. I lived South towards NASA which is better than most of the surrounding areas but it is still bad

San Antonio/Austin

If I had to settle down back in Texas, this is where it would be. It still has the nature I like with one main drawback....no ocean! It does get hot but I think it isn't as bad as Houston. Cost of living in Texas is nothing compared to the West Coast

Hanover, NH

This is a beautiful area, close to Vermont, Boston, NY, the whole NE map. I am amazed by the color of the trees and the local seafood. There is not enough city life for us to settle down here but it is a nice change. The Winters will be brutal we are told, so we won't be here past October Cost of living - moderate but higher the more East you go. It takes a nice, country drive from here to go see the sights but it is a nice ride to the destination.


There have been a few other small cities we lived in, but they are within the SF/LA areas. For the wife and I, we like California because you can do the nature thing or the city thing, even in the same day if you wish. I have snow skied at Big Bear one morning and went surfing that afternoon Cali has everything to offer but it is crowded and expensive.

Hope this list helps someone, I can get more specific if anyone wishes.

I have looked at Washington and Oregon, but the rain there would get old eventually. I have looked at the northeast, especially Vermont and more recently, New Hampshire, but the long non-stop winters would probably be tough to deal with not growing up in it. Don't get me wrong, I love cold weather and snow, but when you are surrounded by snow for weeks and months ...

 

[Runwildboys]

Wanted to tell you. The Vinyard was unbelievable. Jim Belushi and his family go to my friends church which is right down the street from their cottage. And what they call cottages are big houses lol.
Went to a small fishing town and learned it was where the first JAWS movie was filmed. To top it off, you can see Billy Joel's house. Very tiny town, if you blink, it's gone. Martha's Vinyard is so beautiful and Majestic. They say heaven is better then any place on this earth. I truly thought I was in heaven.

FIFY...........Glad you liked it there. I was only there once, when I was 16, but "peaceful" is the best way I can describe it.

 

[Runwildboys]

I'm in North Hollywood, CA. One mile from Universal, 12 from Downtown LA, adjacent to Glendale, Burbank, 6 miles from Pasadena. Very nice suburbs, but very expensive.

As soon as the little one turns 18 I'm probably off to Rhode Island. Gorgeous, gorgeous state.

I find Rhode Island to be much too flat, and I have a personal grudge, leftover from my days delivering furniture: They seem to number houses in the order in which they were built.
You can drive down the road, and the first house on your right might be #3.....then the next one may be #96....the next, #7. They don't even abide by odd and even sides of the street. (This isn't the case with every town, but I've seen it too many times..........Also, it was 20 years ago, so it's possible someone realized how stupid that was by now.)

 

[Tabascocat]

I have looked at Washington and Oregon, but the rain there would get old eventually. I have looked at the northeast, especially Vermont and more recently, New Hampshire, but the long non-stop winters would probably be tough to deal with not growing up in it. Don't get me wrong, I love cold weather and snow, but when you are surrounded by snow for weeks and months ...

Like Joeyboy said, the rain isn't as bad as it is made out to be. It is more of a mist/drizzle that ya get used too. But, those few late Summer months are gorgeous with minimal rain if any at all. I like just a few months of Fall/Winter rain but 8 or 9 months is a bit too much for me.

I wasn't raised in snow either and don't think any place like NH could be my permanent home. A place like Tahoe or North Carolina, I could handle snow-wise.......I think

 

[viman96]

I am open to most areas though I don't plan to move to any very high cost of living places. I definitely want to be able to enjoy the area where I live at least most of the year. Whether it's a warm or cold climate does not really matter to me. The more you get away from one thing that bothers you, the more you get of something else that bothers you.

What do you consider high cost of living? For instance if you are in the Midwest than anything on the West Coast is likely expensive. But if you are in NORCAL and move to the PACNW then you would consider it cheap.

 

[Montanalo]

We live in Larkspur, Colorado, about an hour SW of Denver -- basically, we are in the front range of the Rockies at about 7,000 ft. We moved here about 3 years ago when I retired and love it. Our criteria for moving here included (in no particular order): four full seasons (warm summers, long spring and fall and moderate winters), access to excellent medical facilities (regional medical center on the south side of Denver about 30 minutes away), access to an international airport (DIA is 45-60 minutes away), clean environment with lots of outdoor activities and generally, a high quality of life. If you avoid the immediate Denver and obvious ski resort areas (like Aspen or Breckenridge), the cost are reasonable... certainly lower than CA, OR or WA. Hope this helps

 

[Montanalo]

We live in Larkspur, Colorado, about an hour SW of Denver -- basically, we are in the front range of the Rockies at about 7,000 ft. We moved here about 3 years ago when I retired and love it. Our criteria for moving here included (in no particular order): four full seasons (warm summers, long spring and fall and moderate winters), access to excellent medical facilities (regional medical center on the south side of Denver about 30 minutes away), access to an international airport (DIA is 45-60 minutes away), clean environment with lots of outdoor activities and generally, a high quality of life. If you avoid the immediate Denver and obvious ski resort areas (like Aspen or Breckenridge), the cost are reasonable... certainly lower than CA, OR or WA. Hope this helps

I should have added that my Avatar is the road in front of our house...

 

[Tabascocat]

I should have added that my Avatar is the road in front of our house...

You call that moderate? Looks like a full blown blizzard to this southerner!

 

[Ranching]

I live in the Rio Grande Valley in deep South Texas. I live on a small ten acre cattle ranch. I designed and built my place about 15 years ago, I also own a home on South Padre Island about 30 miles away. I get the best of both worlds, surf and turf. Low cost of living allows us to live a very comfortable life down here.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I'm in CT.... You don't wanna live here.

I live in Connecticut, and yes you do!

Though I live in the New York City suburbs in a heavily wooded area. It's beautiful and compared to NY, the taxes are non-existent. I bought twice the house in Connecticut that I could buy in Westchester County NY.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Fairview NJ & Cliffside Park NJ. The corruption in the town government/police department in this neck of the woods is off the charts. Even the feds wouldn't try to prosecute these criminals. I'm sure there is corruption in plenty of places in the North East but these places take the cake.

They should just burn most of New Jersey to the ground.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Ugh, no way to Austin, TX. Traffic NIGHTMARE! There is no way in hell I would most to Austin.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I'm in North Hollywood, CA. One mile from Universal, 12 from Downtown LA, adjacent to Glendale, Burbank, 6 miles from Pasadena. Very nice suburbs, but very expensive.

As soon as the little one turns 18 I'm probably off to Rhode Island. Gorgeous, gorgeous state.

Rhode Island is a great place to live. Hollywood, CA. Not so much. Too many tourist

 

[YosemiteSam]

Yeah, it's nice to look at...but the cost of living and taxes are ridiculous, plus it's a boring state, full of Giants and Patriots fans!

There are actually quite a few Cowboys fans here too, but that's pretty much anywhere. Cost of living is pretty high compared to other places, but it's still manageable if you pick the right places.

 

[Trouty]

Rhode Island is a great place to live. Hollywood, CA. Not so much. Too many tourist

I live in North Hollywood. Less tourists, more artsy folk. The tourist part is 5 miles from me and over the hills of Studio City. Fun place to go, even living here, but yes, a little too hectic living there. I have friends that live out there.

Yes, I dream of Providence. Gorgeous. I will sell my home here at some point and move out that way and buy something really nice. I also adore Baltimore (@bkight13) and Washington DC. But Rhode Island is looking like my next home. If the boy gets into Brown, how sweet would that be!