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That's a long post. Let me break it down to two issues that I see. First would be the social/personal issues you primarily discussed. The second would be business-related issues that you seemed to omit.
First, for the social issues, only you can determine what is best for you. For example, I'm a native San Diegan. What you described, I would call "laid back." The lifestyle is slower than other metropolitan areas, although it has changed quite a bit since I grew up.
Lots of peope like that style of living. Less stress, more emphasis on quality of life, etc., can be very attractive to some. If I were to recommend such a place, you would oviously find it unacceptable. So, I would only recommend that you be sure to spend some time onger than just a weekend or holiday in any area that anyone recommends.
Oh btw, you mentioned La Jolla like it's different than San Diego. It happens to be San Diego. It's in the city limts and it's an area that many people escaped from years ago. That's how much of Rancho Santa Fe started . . . with people who escaped from the congestion and traffic problems native to La Jolla and the limited ways in and out of the area.
Now, for your business. It may make sense to go somewhere that is business-friendly. For example, Nevada has some big incentives for business as well as individuals. There is no income tax in the state that applies to both individuals and businesses. There is also no inventory tax applied to businesses.
I am only aware of a few of the business-related issues so you may want to investgate it further. However, I know there are other things that make locating your business in Nevada very attractive.
Finally, you visited LV, but it's not the be-all end-all of Nevada. There is another metro area with smaller towns surrounding it. It's Reno. It has an airport and it sits atop a major E/W artery called I80. That makes for easy shipping of your products.
It also has easy access to California and the Silicon Valley without needing to pay the excessive California real estate prices. You'd be something like 4 hours or so to the bay area (Silicon Valley), which might be important for your line of business.
Also, the area provides a wealth of recreaton. You'll be close to Lake Tahoe and the skiing opportunites presented up the hill. You also have the entire Sierra Nevada range right outside your back door for hiking, horseback riding, and hunting/fising, if any of those things interest you.
It might end up with Nevada being a god state for you, for both personal and business reasons. Specifically, it's the north-western part of the state that might meet your needs.
* Friendly people
* Enough stuff to do, to keep things original and interesting to actually live there
* A great place to run a tech company, and find decent tech talent
* Good food - defined by lots of cuisine choices, done well
* Decent weather, at least at the times it's supposed to be decent, seasonally
* A decent place to drive (I love driving... one thing I hate is carrying a ton of shopping bags around with me when I go to a supermarket, etc.. I'd love just to pull up somewhere and dump it off, not to rely on public transport)
* A decent international airport for when I'm flying back to the UK (every few months for a weekend) and to other places in the US
* Little religiousity. I'm atheist and I like a place with an open mind, where there's not necessarily a church on every corner and the expectation that you must attend every Sunday!
If you like Texas, try Dallas
*Texas Friendly
*6.5 million, plenty to do
*Home of TI, EDS and tons of tech talent
*More restaurants per capita than NYC also shopping
*4 seasons but little snow, can be hot in summer but best AC in the world
*Built for cars, but does have DART rail - inside LBJ loop easy to get around
*DFW International is one of the top airports in the world
*Not as religious as you think - most of those people are in the exurbs
Also it is said that Dallas has the best looking women in the world.
All american, nice architecture, diversified economy, friendly and just a well rounded city.
The biggest con is the weather. You just gotta get used to it.
quote;"Decent weather = 75 degrees+ in the summer, and not too cold in the winter. I quite like the separation of seasons New York has, but that's partly because I think NY suits snowy weather around Xmas time. Not sure it's something I'd like to have to deal with myself 3 months of the year."
Seattle or Portland, Oregon. but probably in the burbs if you just want to drop off the groceries from a car. Honolulu??
i agree with austin for you. a lot of high-tech people are locating there and it has a lot to do.
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I picked two for you.
