If you could live wherever you want, where would you live - your ideal city (house, pros and cons)
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I have no idea, to be honest. It seems like every place has an equal amount of pros and cons. I feel like if I actually did move somewhere, I would end up comparing it to other places and think, "geez....maybe I should have moved there instead." I have lived in the Hartford area most of my life, and lived in NYC for two years. Now I'm living in Fairfield County, CT, which is in between NYC and Hartford, but closer to NYC. I don't really like it, to be honest, but my job here is great, and it's only a 90 min drive from my family.
However, the areas that I have considered moving to would be South Florida or Phoenix, AZ. I have been to both places and like both, but found issues with them. Phoenix, for example, is very generic and boring, and the summers are way too hot. South FL is just a big, flat urban sprawl with no real natural outdoor space, which would drive me crazy. And the summers are brutal.
I also almost moved to San Diego, but having the same weather all year round seems like it would get boring.
Plus, since my family is in CT, and I would probably only have a few weeks per year of vacation time, it would really suck to have to waste my vacation days traveling to visit family. That sounds bad, but hey, I'd like to be able to take real vacations, too, lol.
So, ultimately, I stayed here in the Northeast. At least it has lots of variety with seasons, urban/rural areas, diversity and beautiful scenery in the summer time.
I'd have to agree with the poster above me. I wouldn't know. I haven't really gotten to travel within the US very much so the only cities I feel I have enough knowledge to say if it is "ideal" for me are Los Angeles, San Diego, and New Orleans. Out of those three, I would pick New Orleans, but I could not say it is ideal because I'd rather live somewhere colder.
My ideal place would be a big affordable city that has four seasons, is on the West side of the country, and is not too far from Phoenix so if I needed warmth or an escape, I could easily get it. The only place that I could think that would fit this is Denver, which is about a ten to twelve hour drive from Phoenix (I love road trips so I wouldn't mind making this), and I don't even know if Denver is all that affordable or "big". Big meaning it actually feels like a city, not suburbia. I can't say it's ideal if I've never been there.
I'd have to agree with the poster above me. I wouldn't know. I haven't really gotten to travel within the US very much so the only cities I feel I have enough knowledge to say if it is "ideal" for me are Los Angeles, San Diego, and New Orleans. Out of those three, I would pick New Orleans, but I could not say it is ideal because I'd rather live somewhere colder.
My ideal place would be a big affordable city that has four seasons, is on the West side of the country, and is not too far from Phoenix so if I needed warmth or an escape, I could easily get it. The only place that I could think that would fit this is Denver, which is about a ten to twelve hour drive from Phoenix (I love road trips so I wouldn't mind making this), and I don't even know if Denver is all that affordable or "big". Big meaning it actually feels like a city, not suburbia. I can't say it's ideal if I've never been there.
I have been to Denver. I almost moved there back in 2012, coming from Hartford, CT. I mean, it was nice, but after being there for one day, I couldn't imagine living there. It's so isolated and most of it feels like suburbia, except for the downtown business district. Also, in the winter it looks remarkably brown. And I definitely didn't like the liberal/hippie atmosphere. Not that I'm conservative, but the hippie style was quite rampant. Lots of homeless people, too. And now, lots of pot heads. No thanks.
Most of the Denver metro area is generic, cookie-cut out housing, from what I saw. The nearby mountains are nice, but they get crowded with too many people hiking.
Denver also feels somewhat like a cow town mixed with hipsters, to be honest. People like to wear boots, flannel shirts, etc. I didn't really like it, although the people were friendly. It was a culture shock, coming from Connecticut.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Well since the OP said wherever I want, I'll take an ocean view house in the hills above the Maui coast with some acreage. Pros and Con's sure, but it's Maui so I'm sure I can get over the cons on most days.
If I had to choose a city on the poll I'd pick Phoenix, specifically North Scottsdale. Desert sunshine and I get along very well, especially this time of year. The area has everything I could really need and Arizona has kicking ass fantastic scenery. That and I could always vacation in more eclectic cities like New Orleans, Seattle, or Boston.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-09-2014 at 08:47 PM..
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