If you could live anywhere, where would that be and why?

[tinkerbell85]

I've read the breakdown on why MMM chose the city he lives in. I'm curious if others have done this and what you've decided is the best place for you to live and why? My husband and I are at this point and deciding where we want to move. We are early 30s, have 2 young kids, (age 1 and 4) and want to move soon before the oldest starts school. We are in the north and I hate the cold weather. One city I've been interested in is St. Petersburg, FL because: I love the weather, and I'd love to live near an artsy, not too big but not too small downtown area where we can walk to the farmer's market, parks, etc.
I'm interested to hear others' stories on what thought process they went through to decide where to live to have a better quality of life.

[Mikila]

If I could live anywhere in the U.S. it would be...right here.  We've moved 11 times in 10 years, across 5 western states.  We've chased promotions and opportunities.  Ultimately you learn what you require of a community to enjoy living in it.

We live in the northeastern corner of Texas, a stone's throw from Arkansas. 

We love the outdoors, and this land is clothed in thick forests.  We are centrally located for travel: 2 hours south of the mountains (more like big hills to this CA transplant), 6 hours from Nashville,  16 hours from Tampa, FL, 5 hours from the Gulf, and to the west 15 hours we have Denver and skiing, etc.

This medium-sized city has a library with a great sci-fi section.  There are 2 colleges, and LOTS of good jobs.  People are friendly and we have a great church. 

It is important to me to live somewhere my kids will be able to stay when they are grown, and I have that here.  Of course nothing is perfect, and when it comes to location you have to pick your poison.  Which downside can you best bear?   

[Mikila]

If you are picking a hometown,  a LCOL is imho very important to fire.  A mortgage of 500/mo makes savings easier.  We could make $30k more a year in CA but I know we couldn't come close to this quality of life there.  We have two verdant acres for $70k.  The school bus takes the kids to and from school-free!  We can fish and swim all we want at the lake 3 miles down the road.  The orchard and garden are being expanded next year.  Our neighbor's donkey he-haws whenever a car drives up and otherwise amuses us.  Our dog runs free and pretty much stays home, lazily sleeping and chasing squirrels and cats.  He is living the good life, too.

[cavewoman]

Can I pick everywhere ? I guess the real answer would be in an rv. This is the same answer I give when I'm asked where I'd most like to travel.

[Bracken_Joy]

I know I would want to be in the pacific northwest still (<3 will always be home), but I'm still not exactly sure where- which city.

Why?
-Family is close by
-The outdoor recreation is unsurpassed
-I know how to garden here
-I'm a food lover/snob/hippy. I can get all the types of food I want here, from people I know and like.
-I very much self identify as being from my state. I can't really imagine moving permanently to another state. I've done temporary moves, but I always come back.

[YK-Phil]

Pacific Southwest, for us Canadians, as my home base in Canada for 4-8 months. We have an acreage on a gulf island and are in the process of building a 400 sq.ft home there. The rest of the year, I'd travel to a different low COL area in the cooler months every year, starting with Spain, France and Portugal, probably Eastern Europe and Turkey, then SE Asia, Taiwan, and Okinawa, Mexico and Central America. Eventually I'd like to visit North Africa and particularly Algeria where I was born, pre-independence. The plan for our first winter (2016) is to do a long road/camping trip, starting in November in British Columbia, down through the SW USA, then cross to the east coast via Texas and Louisiana and everything in between, then north to eastern Canada to see family and friends that I haven't seen in decades, then back across Canada to the west coast by July, in time for sailing and kayaking season. Now that we're FI, I'm almost ready to action the plan.

[Faraday]

I've read the breakdown on why MMM chose the city he lives in. I'm curious if others have done this and what you've decided is the best place for you to live and why? My husband and I are at this point and deciding where we want to move. We are early 30s, have 2 young kids, (age 1 and 4) and want to move soon before the oldest starts school. We are in the north and I hate the cold weather. One city I've been interested in is St. Petersburg, FL because: I love the weather, and I'd love to live near an artsy, not too big but not too small downtown area where we can walk to the farmer's market, parks, etc.
I'm interested to hear others' stories on what thought process they went through to decide where to live to have a better quality of life.

Santa Barbara or San Diego, CA. Both terrible HCOL but you can bike EVERYWHERE.
If not that, St. Augustine, FL or Venice Beach, FL. Less HCOL and no state income tax.

[3Mer]

North shore of Lake Superior, somewhere around Grand Marais, MN.  Why?  Because it is beautiful, feels like home and I like it more every time I'm up there.

[Faraday]

North shore of Lake Superior, somewhere around Grand Marais, MN.  Why?  Because it is beautiful, feels like home and I like it more every time I'm up there.

There's some island up there you have to get to with a boat or small plane...I can't remember the name of it, but it sounded pretty darn good to me....

[fa]

I can get all the types of food I want here, from people I know and like.

Huh?  I don't get this.  I would know the staff of any restaurant I visit frequently.  Luckily there are not many because we cook at home almost all the time, so knowing and liking restaurant staff is not a big deal.  Is that what you mean?

[3Mer]

North shore of Lake Superior, somewhere around Grand Marais, MN.  Why?  Because it is beautiful, feels like home and I like it more every time I'm up there.

There's some island up there you have to get to with a boat or small plane...I can't remember the name of it, but it sounded pretty darn good to me....

Isle Royale - it is a National Park.

[Bracken_Joy]

I can get all the types of food I want here, from people I know and like.

Huh?  I don't get this.  I would know the staff of any restaurant I visit frequently.  Luckily there are not many because we cook at home almost all the time, so knowing and liking restaurant staff is not a big deal.  Is that what you mean?

Nope. I mean produce and meat, generally. Right now my food culture isn't where I want it to be (recently moved), but in the past, I bought eggs from neighbors, half cows from a relative, half pigs from our local 4H chapter. I got cheese and soup bones from my alma mater's program. And produce, oh produce. We have so many farmer's markets, and everyone has a coworker (or seven) who brings their extra garden bounty in- usually zucchini or tomatoes, whatever is a bumper crop that year.

People I know routinely give game and fish as Christmas presents. Year before last, I smoked king salmon to give as presents. My old neighbors thanked me for watching their house with a bag of wild chanterelle mushrooms they picked.

When I lived in Mississippi for example, the food culture was wretched. The only thing you could grow was fire ants, apparently. The meat didn't taste right, the veggies were fibrous and the fruit mealy. Just... bleh.

Sorry I wasn't clear =) I'm pretty smitten with the food culture out here. I know elsewhere in the US you CAN find food culture, but it's not as in-your-face, everywhere you look, as it is out here (most places, anyway). I've spent decent amounts of time in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and Virginia. Washington and Oregon are the only places I've found such a "whole foods" food culture like this.

[Faraday]

People I know routinely give game and fish as Christmas presents. Year before last, I smoked king salmon to give as presents.

I would worship anyone who gave me smoked salmon for Christmas. How did that gifting idea work out for you?

[Bracken_Joy]

People I know routinely give game and fish as Christmas presents. Year before last, I smoked king salmon to give as presents.

I would worship anyone who gave me smoked salmon for Christmas. How did that gifting idea work out for you?

Great! My dad had caught too much salmon that year to fit in our freezers, and I got a smoker for my 13th birthday (nerdiest 13 year old girl ever). We used applewood chips a relative had cut and cured on their property. People really liked it =) And of course, I made a lot of extra, so I really liked it too! It's a small smoker, so it took a long time to do all the batches, but it wasn't awful. Good way to spend time with family anyway.

This last year I gave everyone spicy canned dilly beans and pickled asparagus for Christmas. Not totally sure what I'll do this year, but probably vanilla extract and mushroom salt.

[Faraday]

People I know routinely give game and fish as Christmas presents. Year before last, I smoked king salmon to give as presents.

I would worship anyone who gave me smoked salmon for Christmas. How did that gifting idea work out for you?

Great! My dad had caught too much salmon that year to fit in our freezers, and I got a smoker for my 13th birthday (nerdiest 13 year old girl ever). We used applewood chips a relative had cut and cured on their property. People really liked it =) And of course, I made a lot of extra, so I really liked it too! It's a small smoker, so it took a long time to do all the batches, but it wasn't awful. Good way to spend time with family anyway.

This last year I gave everyone spicy canned dilly beans and pickled asparagus for Christmas. Not totally sure what I'll do this year, but probably vanilla extract and mushroom salt.

A chick who loves to drive a smoker? I never even thought 'o such. I'd better go back and make sure you are on my "MMM Crush List".  I hope your family and friends know how lucky they are to have you around! :-)

[Bracken_Joy]

People I know routinely give game and fish as Christmas presents. Year before last, I smoked king salmon to give as presents.

I would worship anyone who gave me smoked salmon for Christmas. How did that gifting idea work out for you?

Great! My dad had caught too much salmon that year to fit in our freezers, and I got a smoker for my 13th birthday (nerdiest 13 year old girl ever). We used applewood chips a relative had cut and cured on their property. People really liked it =) And of course, I made a lot of extra, so I really liked it too! It's a small smoker, so it took a long time to do all the batches, but it wasn't awful. Good way to spend time with family anyway.

This last year I gave everyone spicy canned dilly beans and pickled asparagus for Christmas. Not totally sure what I'll do this year, but probably vanilla extract and mushroom salt.

A chick who loves to drive a smoker? I never even thought 'o such. I'd better go back and make sure you are on my "MMM Crush List".  I hope your family and friends know how lucky they are to have you around! :-)

Haha, why thank you! The thing is though, that's my point- I'm not particularly rare out here! A friend visiting from LA once said, "I had no idea Oregonians basically live in a fairy tale". We really, really like our food out here. And where I grew up (Not Portland. Portland is its own beast, totally different from the rest of OR), no one is more than a generation or two from farmers and hunters at most. It's a pretty good combination of 'practical and connected to the land' and 'hippy/hipsters who love good food'.

I get lots of awesome gifts too. Notable gifts last year included antelope steak, applesauce, caramelized onions, peach pie filling, and a hand made alpaca wool scarf. We're just weirdos out here =D

[Faraday]

Haha, why thank you! The thing is though, that's my point- I'm not particularly rare out here! A friend visiting from LA once said, "I had no idea Oregonians basically live in a fairy tale". We really, really like our food out here. And where I grew up (Not Portland. Portland is its own beast, totally different from the rest of OR), no one is more than a generation or two from farmers and hunters at most. It's a pretty good combination of 'practical and connected to the land' and 'hippy/hipsters who love good food'.

I get lots of awesome gifts too. Notable gifts last year included antelope steak, applesauce, caramelized onions, peach pie filling, and a hand made alpaca wool scarf. We're just weirdos out here =D

Whoa. Now I must pay attention to those teasing thoughts urging me to go see Oregon.

[Bracken_Joy]

Haha, why thank you! The thing is though, that's my point- I'm not particularly rare out here! A friend visiting from LA once said, "I had no idea Oregonians basically live in a fairy tale". We really, really like our food out here. And where I grew up (Not Portland. Portland is its own beast, totally different from the rest of OR), no one is more than a generation or two from farmers and hunters at most. It's a pretty good combination of 'practical and connected to the land' and 'hippy/hipsters who love good food'.

I get lots of awesome gifts too. Notable gifts last year included antelope steak, applesauce, caramelized onions, peach pie filling, and a hand made alpaca wool scarf. We're just weirdos out here =D

Whoa. Now I must pay attention to those teasing thoughts urging me to go see Oregon.

Visit, but don't move here. Economy is crap outside of Portland and there's lots of meth.

It's pretty though!

[TravelJunkyQC]

Can I pick everywhere ? I guess the real answer would be in an rv. This is the same answer I give when I'm asked where I'd most like to travel.

This. Although not necessarily an RV, but rather, everywhere. I just need to be close to those I love when I want to be, and other then that, anywhere and everywhere depending on the season and my own fancy.

[Louisville]

Is this a "money is no object" question, or do I need to continue to work in this scenario?
If I have to kep working, I'd stay right here in Louisville. The only bad thing I have to say about it is "winter". Yuck.
If my stache ever gets big enough, I'd love to live in Bonaire. Scuba, scuba, scuba, and you never have to get on a boat.