Best place to live in the US.. opinions please

[Eyeball Chambers]

The Mud Shark Epidemic gets much worse when you move down south.  They all have that look that wants to get good ole dads attention.

Oh Fuck... I rarely go further south than Kentucky.... 

[Doug_Steele]

Oh Fuck... I rarely go further south than Kentucky.... 

Once you get past ashland, Kentucy....It is all over.  Mudsharks are running amuck. 

[BayGBM]

Hey, bay! Thanks for posting that San Francisco beach photo. I lived many years ago in the background (on the southern side of GG Park) in the Sunset neighborhood on 36th avenue (the Boulevard) and hit that beach just about every weekend ... fog or shine - didn't make any difference. Right below that picture spot is where surfing started in Northern California.... right below the Cliff House and near Seal Rocks.

And that large row of condo townhouses in that photo was where the old Playland at the Beach was located. It was a great place for kids from all over the Bay Area back then.

That photo brought back some damn fine memories.

I'll try to find a photo I took of that area during a recent visit. You just might recognize what it is.

[HTexan]

austin TX

[Doug_Steele]

austin TX

I feel sorry for you Mr. Witten. 

Bradenton, Florida 

Anna Marie Island 

Siesta Key 

[bigdumbbell]

02657

[stuntmovie]

One of the world's finest cities.

Name it.

Don't participate, Bay.

This location marks the spot where I spent most of my out of school hours as a kid. (No Cal's first surfing spot.)

OPPS! Sorry! Repeat photo.

[body88]

Boston is a great place to live. It's filled with professionals and students. Metro Boston is very clean and very safe. You can walk from one end of the city to the other and never have to go through a bad area, since all the bad areas are outside of the metro area. Great restaurants, lots of history, nice parks, beautiful architecture and a good nightlife...it's on the ocean and there is lots to do. You're very close to hundreds of miles of beaches and about 2 hours south of ski mountains like Killington, Loon and Jay Peak. Lastly, you can count on four seasons (three of which are very desirable to experience).

There are some drawbacks, though. If you don't like snow or cold, this could be a deal breaker. Boston has tough winters, but if you like winter sports and the whole "Christmas feel" you will enjoy winter time in Boston. Also, Boston is very expensive. However, there are several cities just outside Boston where you can find housing for a more reasonable cost. That said, even those cities are expensive compared to most places in the US. Lastly, if you can't handle a fast pace lifestyle and traffic, don't move here.

[RC]

I just recently moved from Los Angeles to Vermont.
Talk about major change! 3.8 million ( in LA alone ) vs 623,050 for the whole state!
I enjoyed my time in LA, but in my opinion it's entirely too overcrowded.
Still all in all it was great experience, made some cool friends and had a blast.

[RC]

I agree with you. Boston is a pretty cool city, lived there for three years!
Denver CO is pretty rockin!

[BayGBM]

The good life: setting sail from Sausalito...  (don't forget the wine and cheese) 

[Mr Nobody]

Where the hell is Sausalito Bay? looks decent

[BayGBM]

Boston is a great place to live. It's filled with professionals and students. Metro Boston is very clean and very safe. You can walk from one end of the city to the other and never have to go through a bad area, since all the bad areas are outside of the metro area. Great restaurants, lots of history, nice parks, beautiful architecture and a good nightlife...it's on the ocean and there is lots to do. You're very close to hundreds of miles of beaches and about 2 hours south of ski mountains like Killington, Loon and Jay Peak. Lastly, you can count on four seasons (three of which are very desirable to experience).

There are some drawbacks, though. If you don't like snow or cold, this could be a deal breaker. Boston has tough winters, but if you like winter sports and the whole "Christmas feel" you will enjoy winter time in Boston. Also, Boston is very expensive. However, there are several cities just outside Boston where you can find housing for a more reasonable cost. That said, even those cities are expensive compared to most places in the US. Lastly, if you can't handle a fast pace lifestyle and traffic, don't move here.

You’re kidding right?  The OP is looking for “the good life.”  Unless you enjoy wearing long-johns and gloves, that is definitely not Boston.  Winters there are long, harsh, and ugly (true for all of New England). And summers in Boston are humid and yucky.  Yes, it’s a great place to get an education, but Boston and the surrounding area is insular, horribly segregated, and still classist.  See more about that here http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=102286.0

I suppose it depends on your lifestyle, but to me the good life is Mediterranean climate year round with wide open fields and the beach less than one mile away.  As for Boston being “on the ocean” one does not see people in Boston snorkeling, surfing, or kite surfing very much.

Mike Arvilla is from up thataway... I don't think he would be quick to tout it as an ideal place to live.

[jwb]

bay,

i've been to san fran area 3 times (twice in may) and it is pretty but still frigging cold imo...

[Earl1972]

isn't the water too cold in san fran?

E

[BayGBM]

bay,

i've been to san fran area 3 times (twice in may) and it is pretty but still frigging cold imo...

Have you spent much time in Marin, Napa or Sonoma counties?  Notice I did not say SF (which does get cold).  The three counties north of the Golden Gate bridge are Mediterranean virtually year round.  Remember, we are talking California wine country.  If the weather were less than perfect there… the grapes would not grow… but they do—year round... and a billion dollar industry is based on that fact.

[The Showstoppa]

Once you get past ashland, Kentucy....It is all over.  Mudsharks are running amuck. 

You never visited far-western North Carolina.....

[Mr Nobody]

You never visited far-western North Carolina.....

Asheville beats this stuff

[jwb]

I went to Sausalito for a day on the ferry... was a nice day but is the climate really that different all the time?... san fran itself is chilly!

[The Showstoppa]

Asheville beats this stuff

I like Asheville, but even further west is much nicer.....or north towards Boone.  I love the NC mountains.

[Purple Aki]

Boston is a great place to live. It's filled with professionals and students. Metro Boston is very clean and very safe. You can walk from one end of the city to the other and never have to go through a bad area, since all the bad areas are outside of the metro area. Great restaurants, lots of history, nice parks, beautiful architecture and a good nightlife...it's on the ocean and there is lots to do. You're very close to hundreds of miles of beaches and about 2 hours south of ski mountains like Killington, Loon and Jay Peak. Lastly, you can count on four seasons (three of which are very desirable to experience).

There are some drawbacks, though. If you don't like snow or cold, this could be a deal breaker. Boston has tough winters, but if you like winter sports and the whole "Christmas feel" you will enjoy winter time in Boston. Also, Boston is very expensive. However, there are several cities just outside Boston where you can find housing for a more reasonable cost. That said, even those cities are expensive compared to most places in the US. Lastly, if you can't handle a fast pace lifestyle and traffic, don't move here.

I went on a skiing holiday to Killington and Vermont seemed like a really nice, chilled out place to live. I don't know what the summers are like there, but it's definitely on the list of places I would like to live if I ever left the UK.

[Mr Nobody]

I like Asheville, but even further west is much nicer.....or north towards Boone.  I love the NC mountains.

Boone is a cool town, you got hoes there with the college and all

[BayGBM]

I went to Sausalito for a day on the ferry... was a nice day but is the climate really that different all the time?... san fran itself is chilly!

Yes, it is!  This area has what are known as "microclimates."^*  Within just a few miles (sometimes one mile) you can have very different weather.  By the way, although I love it here, I acknowledge that there are other great places to live:  there is a reason why people dream of living in the Keys, Santa Barbara or Hawaii.  No one “dreams” of living in Boston.  Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and parts of San Diego are also nice—if you can afford them.  But as has been said,

i want to move back to california, preferably orange county or north san diego county...

also, anywhere in california is soooo expensive i don't even know if i could afford it...

If you don't have your act together in terms of career and $$ your quality of life will suck.

Again, lifestyle has a lot to do with it.  For many people a Mediterranean climate is a big part of “the good life.”  Obviously, if you’d rather go ice fishing, Alaska would be a better destination.

[BayGBM]

^*Microclimates

San Francisco is a city with microclimates and submicroclimates. Due to the city's varied topography and influence from the prevailing summer marine layer, weather conditions can vary by as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit from block to block.

The region as a whole, known as the Bay Area can have a wide range of extremes in temperature. In the basins and valleys adjoining the coast, climate is subject to wide variations within short distances as a result of the influence of topography on the circulation of marine air. The San Francisco Bay area offers many varieties of climate within a few miles. In the Bay area, for example, the average maximum temperature in July is about 64 °F (18 °C) at Half Moon Bay on the coast, 87 °F (31 °C) at Walnut Creek only 25 miles (40 km) inland, and 95 °F (35 °C) at Tracy, just 50 miles (80 km) inland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microclimate

[HTexan]

I feel sorry for you Mr. Witten. 

Bradenton, Florida 

Anna Marie Island 

Siesta Key 

austin rocks. Great music scene and hot women.