Can anyone think of a Place in the U.S. that is nice Neighborhoods & Natural Disaster Free? (earthquakes, live in)

[BVitamin]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I haven't read all the other suggestions, so this may or may not have already been suggested. Minneapolis would a decent fit; I remember taking a geology class in college and the professor telling us that it was one of the safest places in the world from a natural disaster standpoint. There are no earthquakes, no hurricanes, it doesn't usually get many tornadoes, it's not in a flood plain. The main risk is cold weather in the winter, but you can control that (or at least one's reaction to it) by turning on the heat and wearing a coat when you go outside. There aren't even any poisonous snakes. It's also much cheaper than LA. You'll find lots of ex-Californians floating around.

Mosquitoes?

And I guess I'll post this again.

[jeffredo]

Originally Posted by christianguitarist27

/snip

There are very few places that are risk free. If you've been born and raised in SoCal and are still terrified of earthquakes I don't think you'll be happy anywhere (if the remote prospect of environmental danger is what you're trying to avoid). There'll be something thats going to get your anxiety up. Watch the news - there's occasional flooding in almost every region of the country even if they don't have those other "big name" disasters. I'll take my chances here, thanks.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

I was going to be a bit of a homer and suggest Orlando because since 1985 I've never experienced a tornado, significant damage from a hurricane, flood, or any real damage from thunder/lightning storms. I mean we do get some intense storms but nothing more than few trees ripped down and slight power outages. The worst hurricane we got was Charley which did do some roof ripping in isolated parts of the metro. However, as I began to research this topic, I discovered that Florida ranks 3rd for the number of tornadoes annually and 1st for the number per unit area. Don't worry as most of them are EF0 or EF1 in intensity and most people don't even know that Florida gets them. As for sinkholes, the damage is very limited and usually takes weeks, months, or even years to occur so you have time to react and in many cases even save your home. Honestly, in my experience, Orlando is as free from natural disasters as many of the other places listed. The coastal regions of Florida have to contend with much more destructive winds and storm surge plus the minimal, yet possible, threat of Atlantic tsunami.

Where were you in 04 when Charley went directly over Orlando?

Hurricane Charley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Did you forget about Frances??
And Ivan?
And Jeanne?
Orlando was blue tarpville.
Hurricane Season 2004: We want your Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne stories – Hurricane Blog – Orlando Sentinel

[newenglandgirl]

Originally Posted by 585WNY

I live in Rochester, NY and can tell you first hand that the worst "natural disaster" we ever had here was an ice storm in the early '90s.

Doesn't New York State (like areas of PA) have fracking? And all the serious dangers that go along with that?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by OrlFlaUsa

I was going to be a bit of a homer and suggest Orlando because since 1985 I've never experienced a tornado, significant damage from a hurricane, flood, or any real damage from thunder/lightning storms. I mean we do get some intense storms but nothing more than few trees ripped down and slight power outages. The worst hurricane we got was Charley which did do some roof ripping in isolated parts of the metro. However, as I began to research this topic, I discovered that Florida ranks 3rd for the number of tornadoes annually and 1st for the number per unit area. Don't worry as most of them are EF0 or EF1 in intensity and most people don't even know that Florida gets them. As for sinkholes, the damage is very limited and usually takes weeks, months, or even years to occur so you have time to react and in many cases even save your home. Honestly, in my experience, Orlando is as free from natural disasters as many of the other places listed. The coastal regions of Florida have to contend with much more destructive winds and storm surge plus the minimal, yet possible, threat of Atlantic tsunami.

I forgot to mention sinkholes.....most of the lakes in Orlando are sinkholes.
This enormous sinkhole happened in one day, my husband was 3 blocks away and watched it happen.

Winter Park Sinkhole

[zonababe]

Sedona AZ. Mild weather year round and nice neighborhoods.

[danielj72]

Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota probably come the closest to being disaster free. There is an occasional tornado however, but not as many as there are to the south of that region. Blizzards are really the worst weather you will face in those upper midwest states, but blizzards are more of an annoyance than a natrual disaster. The next safest region would have to be the northeast, but they are at some risk for hurricanes and of course attacks like 9-11.

[Cthulhu7]

Towns and cities which could give Minneapolis a run for it's money (natural disaster-wise)


Crime stats for each of the ten years (starting in 1999) are shown on each link, along with some info on tornadoes:

- Del Rio, TX http://www.city-data.com/city/Del-Rio-Texas.html and further down the Rio Grande...

- Eagle Pass, TX http://www.city-data.com/city/Eagle-Pass-Texas.html

- Roswell, NM http://www.city-data.com/city/Roswell-New-Mexico.html

- Buffalo, NY (still has problems with blizzards) http://www.city-data.com/city/Buffalo-New-York.html


Also, some elevated towns along the Ohio River Valley starting with the region just to the south of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (the Monongahela Valley) and ending around Portsmouth OH
as well as large sections of "Superiorland"/"New Finland" (the Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan,) certain areas of the Appalachian Highlands region and parts of Northeast Pennsylvania (including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.)

http://www.globaldatavault.com/natural-disaster-threat-maps.htm

Just make a Google image search for "tornado," "hurricane," "earthquake" etc plus "map" and "risk" or "threat"

Crime rates come and go, depending on various circumstances.

[BPerone201]

The twin cities (MN), but it's snowy and freeeezing in winter. Other than that, there's really not much else.
The Philadelphia area is another possibility.

[davidals]

Parts of the Southwest might qualify - you will deal with hot summers.
Parts of the northeast away from the coast might qualify - you will deal with cold winters.

Tornadoes: you're more likely to see one even in rare locales like New England that you will anywhere west of the Rocky Mountain front.

The exact opposite is true regarding earthquakes.

Hurricane risk decreases south to north in the east, the reverse is true with blizzards, though there have been a handful of rare but dramatic exceptions to that rule: the 1899 blizzard that froze the Mississippi River to its' mouth, or the 1938 hurricane that hit Rhode Island head-on and still ranks among the 10 most destructive hurricanes in US history.