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If I was retiring, perhaps I would be ok with Thousand Oaks.
From my time at Longs there were tons of fake breasts, big hair and gaudy-cheap jewelry and Lexus SUVs (all bought on credit). Also a lot of prescription drug abuse (we even had a sting at our store).
My wife lived there for a year, her neighbors across the street were this huge Hispanic family; every morning this Escalade would roll up to pick up some of their kids and blare their horn. They never, ever just walked up to the door. By the number of random cars that drove through that area, we were pretty convinced they were slanging drugs too. They had about 6 cars, which were all parked on the cul-de sac.
The other neighbors were worse, if they found trash on the street, they blamed the four 20-something women next door and actually threw the trash onto my (then) GF's lawn. They also had an a-hole 12 year old that was just really annoying.
Basically, it has all the terrible, stereotypes of Orange County - car-loving, conservative, Mexican hating, phony rich.
Sweet. Makes me homesick for Hutington Beach. Actually, no. Not at all.
1. Seattle. Friendly people once you learn how to socialize here. Have a great job, met my wife here, and is so close to so many natural wonders. It's sort of expensive for housing though, other than that, there's few gripes. The grey skies in the winter don't bother me. We get 2-3 months of perfection in payment.
2. Chicago. So much stuff to do, people are still somewhat friendly, and all that a big city has to offer plus reasonable transit and reasonable housing costs. This would be a great place to raise a family.
3. Barcelona & the SE coast. The Spanish lifestyle is to die for. Wake up at 9, throw some clothes on, drink a shot of espresso and a light breakfast, to go work till 12 or 1. Come home, eat a big lunch, siesta time! Wake up at 2, go back to work till 7 or 8. Eat a light dinner, then party time till midnight. Nightlife doesn't get much better either.
4. Cincinnati. A somewhat dilapidated city with a thriving suburb across the river, and boring suburbia surrounding it. I met a few friends there and I value them, but that's about it.
5. St. Louis. Ditto to Cincinnati.
...
(will perpetually be dead last) Phoenix. Ugh. Dead city. Dead suburbia. Terrible people. Terrible drivers. Pretty much sums it up. Only reason to live here is cheap cheap housing and cost of living. Other than that it sucks.
1. Charlotte, North Carolina (2 Years) - Big City with a small town feel. Plenty to do for a city it's size. CIAA is crazy, love the options of going to NFL and NBA games, shopping ain't bad either.
2. Columbia, South Carolina (21 Years) - Raised in this city. I love the town. Lake Murray, the closeness to the mountains and the beach. It's my home and it comes first in my heart as being my hometown. Just 2nd as far as living goes...Plenty to do. Not far from Charlotte, Charleston, Greenville, or ATL. If I wasn't raised in Columbia would I live there? Sure....Just get tired of seeing the same old for your whole life...
3. Savannah, Georgia (1 Year) - Nice town with plenty of southern charm....It's nice to visit...That's it..
Only lived in 3 places my entire life. Born and raised in the DC area, educated in the Boston area, then returned back to the DC area and now split time between the DC area and Miami area. Have spent a month in Seattle and just got my own place there as well but I wouldn't place it on my list of places 'lived' just yet until I experience a minimum of 2 years in Seattle. Looking forward to seeing my new home in Seattle and exploring the area but am relieved with my schedule of DC and Miami.
In the next few years I am looking into trying Manhattan in NY but right now am still somewhat young but my ideal pad is extremely high rent, as they say either go big or just say where you were and for me in NY I would only live in Manhattan. After a few year stint in NY I would like to own a place to live concurrently in DC, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas. So far I have 2 of the 5 covered but 3 more to go. Other places on my short list in order are Boston, Minneapolis, San Francisco/Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, LA, and Tampa.
Easy now, you're speaking about the town that gave the world Octomom and Richard Nixon.
We also gave the world Zebrahead (I happen to know the bassist's mum).
But I'm also speaking about a town that is a vortex for wind, heat, and pollution. it is truly boring here, nothing is in walking distance. Anything that is at least semi-interesting (i.e. Disneyland) is at least 20 minutes away by driving.
1) Tokyo - This city is flat out amazing. I wish I could have stayed longer but the time I had there was well spent. I did a study abroad program here and met some really cool people. Karaoke bars/booths aplenty, amazing food, coffee in Hachiko Square, bazaar like grocery shopping in Ueno, cartoon porn everywhere (which was a little weird at first), and extreme urbanity that just does not end. Downside was that I got incredibly lost for the first month or so of trying to walk around and explore. No street grid makes it hard to get your bearings. Seeing girls walking around in cosplay outfits was a little strange at first too but no one pays them any attention and eventually you get used to it too. Also, the fact that soooo many people here are non-religious took a little getting used to as well (I'm not religious either but I grew up in the Bible belt so this was almost creepy).
2) Chicago - I only spend about two months here -hardly enough time to get to know the city on any sort of intimate level but there was a really good Swedish breakfast place on Clark St that I really miss.
3) Atlanta - currently live here. Been here for about 6 years now and it's really cool. Takes some getting used to because it's a big city but doesn't feel as dense as some of it's peers. Pretty soon, you learn to like that fact though and having a little space (only a little - we're not talking about McMansions here) so close to the city is really nice. I love my job here and Atlanta has been a boon to my career (entertainment industry).
4) Nashville - Grew up here and this city is almost tied with Atlanta in my ranking despite being a fraction of the size. It's really hard to find anywhere that has a sense of identity that Nashville does (New Orleans, Austin, and maybe San Francisco are probably about the same in this regard). Nashville is a city of musicians and they know it. Music culture is everywhere here.
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