Your perfect location

[dullnboring]

This is something I am always thinking about. Let's see, I would like to live in an urban area where I can walk to the grocery store and restaurants and parks and commercial districts, with public transportation (although I'd like to keep my own car), with an open-minded liberal and diverse population, comfortable weather for most of the year with low humidity and lots of sun (although I can deal with the occasional freezing cold day), a vibrant city but with lots of nice little individual neighborhoods tucked away, and a good economy. Ignoring that whole pesky cost of living issue (because in my fantasy world, money is not an issue), I think the top picks for me would be as follows:

In the US

San Francisco - Perfect
San Diego
New York - shame about the weather though
Boston - Ditto
Denver

Outside of the US

Sydney
Melbourne
Perth
Auckland
Cape Town
Durban
Tel Aviv
Barcelona
Nice
Buenos Aires

[Spookmeister]

Looks like this inquiry took on a life of it's own! I'll let this be everyone's fantasy location...

I'd move to Seychelles, a little island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. If you never heard of it, look it up and check the pictures. It would shame Hawaii!

[SpeedyAZ]

In the US:

1) Dallas, TX
2) N. Scottsdale, AZ (where I am now)
3) Houston, TX

Outside of the US:

Monaco
Venice, Italy
Nice, France

[imright]

Originally Posted by pixieshmoo

If I had the money, I'd buy my own frggn island and move only the people I like. In reality however, anywhere that isn't NJ is probably better, but I'm thinking more along the lines of New England somewhere.

You had been saying that you were afraid to move because you know that if you were to move, and you did not like it, that you would not be able to afford to move back. My question is, why would you want to move back to NJ? If you end up hating it in Maine, then you could move somewhere else, say, Pennsylvania, which is close to NJ and inexpensive, peaceful, and kind of like the olden days in my opinion. I have been to Maine. Went there to look as I was thinking that I wanted to move there too. Drove in from the west, was looking at the Bangor area. The homes and the people in the country (coming from the west, may have been coming from the southwest, can't remember), it was so beautiful. I started to cry. I knew that I could make it there. Then my son woke up (he had fallen asleep in the car) and said that he hated it and that it was hiddeous. (He did not want to move in the first place as he was a teen). But before that, I loved it and was literally crying my eyes out. Something very peaceful, and warm. I stopped at a gas station, and the woman behind the counter was very nice (this was out in the country) and all of the people who were coming in and out of the gas station (I interviewed all of them) were also nice and said that they liked it there. However, when we finally reached Bangor itself, I was so tired and my son was pointing out eveything that he hated about Maine, and when I saw Bangor, and it was ugly to me, I just turned around and left. On our way back, we stopped in Portland at another gas station and the young women inside were very unprofessional and I felt rejection from them eventhough I was very nice and friendly.

[cazelais]

Where I am now in Verdun which is in Montreal QC. I have everything at my feet. Subway, shops, supermarket, tennis courts, close to downtown but well away. Bike paths and beautiful parkland. Long winters too but no place is perfect. Just have to bundle up. Winter has been very easy up until now.

[Steve-o]

In the USA: Chicago, N. Scottsdale/Carefree area, Denver, Boston, NYC.

World: Sydney, Dubai, Venice, Oslo.