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I live/grew up in Michigan, where I will be for the next couple years to complete my degree and I LOVE our summers. To put it simply, being outside in the woods or on the beach in a MI summer makes me the happiest creature on earth. That being said, they are short lived and I dread the rest of our seasons. They put me into a literal depression (I for sure having something mentally seasonal but I've never been seen about it)
I'd really like to live in a place with scenery and weather as wonderful as a Michigan summer, but where it last most of the year, or at least where the winters aren't so miserable. The outdoors is a HUGE part of my life- I work at summer camps each year, I garden, bike trails ect- and I really won't be content somewhere where I'm confined indoors all year round. It's at the top of my priority list above job, cost of living, ect (though, those are still factors of course)
I like 70-80 degrees best
I don't mind tons of rain as long as there is an equal amount of sunshine
Green, green GREEN!
Lots and lots of trails
and I love all kinds of water! (river, lake especially ocean)
Light snow part of the year is okay but I'd like it minimal. I like falls- it's not that I don't like seasons, I would like to still have them. I just don't want them to be so extreme!
Other factors that do matter
I am a more left leaning. I am gay and on top of that, I'm studying to become a sex researcher. So I need an open minded community. (Not an ultra liberal though- my friends all say Portland is my place, but that seems pretty left for me)
The kind of city with farmers markets and where even regular folk raise chickens.
I won't be able to officially move for a couple of years, but twice a year I can take a road trip to wherever I please and I'd like to start exploring possible future homes!
It seems there are a limited number of cities where you could find work as a researcher.
Why don't you research the places that might have job openings and ask our opinions on those cities. In the end it may come down to where you find work and you'll just have to adjust to the weather.
I would not recommend the drearier parts of the PNW like Portland if you have SAD. It's a serious illness that has cause people to have to relocate to climates that have a normal amount of sunshine. GOOGLE it and see what you think. A good friend of mine had to relocate out of Portland after living there for eight years because the depression caused by the continually overcast skies really had a negative effect on her.
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