This is just a general topic: Which is the best place to live in america?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Give me your top 10.

Off the top of my head, and without too much thought:

1. too hot
   
2. too little rain
   
3. too much rain
   
4. too many hurricanes
   
5. too much government
   
6. culture
   
7. too flat
   
8. too much BS in general
   
9. too dark in summer
   
10. too many farm animals
    
11. too much religion
    
12. too many people
    
13. too much crime
    
14. too much pollution
    
15. gangs
    
16. cheerleaders
    
17. football
    
18. too much law enforcement
    
19. too much traffic
    
20. too many taxes
    

You should have stopped at 10

Edited September 29, 2006 by Gupt

[isleta521 5]

Anywhere in the world as long as my baby is with me .

But seriously, I like most places in New Mexico (except the Clovis area - To close to Texas (sorry my Texan friends)).

[homesick_american 1]

Anywhere in the world as long as my baby is with me .

But seriously, I like most places in New Mexico (except the Clovis area - To close to Texas (sorry my Texan friends)).

Pffft, we have enough carpetbaggers moving to Texas already; we don't really need any more. They come for the jobs, they stay for the quality of life. Who the hell would want to live anywhere else?

[timelena 0]

We are in California, and I don't like it here that much because we would like to live in a city, and large cities in California are very expensive. We won't be able to buy a house in the nearest 5-10 or more years

Since I have not been anywhere outside California, I don't know where is the best place to live

Some people like Dallas. But isn't pollution a huge problem there?

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

If I had my druthers I would live in Portland, OR.

For all the reasons mentioned above - surrounded by natural beauty, relatively cheap cost of living, temperate weather, decent public transport, reasonable amount of nightlife and shopping and an hour from the ocean.

Though it rains a lot -- it's not perfect.

Unforunately, my job as it is at the moment limits me to LA and maybe NYC.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

We are in California, and I don't like it here that much because we would like to live in a city, and large cities in California are very expensive. We won't be able to buy a house in the nearest 5-10 or more years

Since I have not been anywhere outside California, I don't know where is the best place to live

Some people like Dallas. But isn't pollution a huge problem there?

On your last question, less than in southern CA.

[isleta521 5]

Anywhere in the world as long as my baby is with me .

But seriously, I like most places in New Mexico (except the Clovis area - To close to Texas (sorry my Texan friends)).

Pffft, we have enough carpetbaggers moving to Texas already; we don't really need any more. They come for the jobs, they stay for the quality of life. Who the hell would want to live anywhere else?

Actually like the SA area - want to go there again soon. Some places in Texas are nice to visit. I have good friends that live there and I have to go to Houston to work once in a while as a job requirement but the food is good - love BBQ. The taxes are lower there I hear and you do not have to pay state taxes (I think).But really never thought of living in Tx as I am happy where I am at.

[KarenCee 3]

1. Atlanta, GA. 2. Dallas, TX.

I consider both to be simply uninhabitable.

IMHO, the solution is as follows:

1). Draw a line across the U.S. through Washington D.C. Exclude everywhere south of that line.

2). Now exclude California and Oregon just on general principle.

3). Now exclude New Jersey (smell), Deleware (too close to NJ), and most of the north east (say, New England except for Maine and upstate New York). The politics and taxes there are just insane.

4). Now exclude the fly-over states - that's everything between the Rocky Mountains and the East Coast, which does not border Canada. It's just too boring and too far away from anything interesting, or has other problems.

So what's left? Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska.

You can safely exclude North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. if you want to have any kind of decent job with good pay. You eliminate for smell, that probably excludes Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. That means the only places worth living in the U.S. are:

Maine, New York, Michigan, Washington, and Alaska.

Personally, I chose Alaska (moved here from Virginia, and after living in Texas). I don't recommend it for you though because we don't need any more people up here - so maybe try, um, Maine?

FWIW, I have seen a lot of the U.S. - and mostly by car or motorcycle. You'd be amazed at how much it smells. The only states I have NOT been to are Idaho, North Dakota, and Nebraska. I don't see any reason to go to any of those either - my guess is they are pretty stinky.

Good luck!

AKDiver

Thank god this is just your opinion.

To the OP:

The South ain't all that bad, depending on where you live. Do understand though, this is just my opinion. Since Atlanta or Dallas is your only options, maybe doing an extensive search on both cities might help you make a better informed decision. My husband and I live two hours northeast of the Atlanta Airport, in the Appalachian Mountains. The air is better, the area is gorgeous, and there isn't the traffic that Atlanta and its suburbs deal with daily. However, despite all this, we plan on moving back to Canada one day. Nothing against the South, it's just all our family is there ( I have no family of my own - just my husband's).

Hope this helps.

[homesick_american 1]

We are in California, and I don't like it here that much because we would like to live in a city, and large cities in California are very expensive. We won't be able to buy a house in the nearest 5-10 or more years

Since I have not been anywhere outside California, I don't know where is the best place to live

Some people like Dallas. But isn't pollution a huge problem there?

I wouldn't say it's huge. It's a problem, but there are cities with worse air.

Anywhere in the world as long as my baby is with me .

But seriously, I like most places in New Mexico (except the Clovis area - To close to Texas (sorry my Texan friends)).

Pffft, we have enough carpetbaggers moving to Texas already; we don't really need any more. They come for the jobs, they stay for the quality of life. Who the hell would want to live anywhere else?

Actually like the SA area - want to go there again soon. Some places in Texas are nice to visit. I have good friends that live there and I have to go to Houston to work once in a while as a job requirement but the food is good - love BBQ. The taxes are lower there I hear and you do not have to pay state taxes (I think).But really never thought of living in Tx as I am happy where I am at.

That's fair. And yes, there is no state income tax in Texas but don't let that fool you; property taxes and sales tax are higher because of it.

[akdiver 3]

I gotta disagree on the flat...I live near the mountains in NC. They're hardly flat.

Sure it is. All you have are the stubs of once-great mountains.

There's hardly too many people or too much traffic, not compared to the northeast of the country

I don't want to live there either. (:

It really is just a matter of opinion

Of course.

but you obviously haven't been *everywhere* in the south, otherwise you wouldn't say its flat

I've been to all those states, and even lived in some of them. In fact, I've been to every state except Idaho, Nebraska, and, North Dakota. I lived in Virginia for over 20 years, and NC isn't any less flat than it is. But hey, compared to Alaska, most everywhere is flat. (:

I can only assume the part of Michigan you sniffed was not Detroit, and just out of curiosity, where does Utah rank on the smell-o-meter?

I didn't drive through Detroit. To be fair, I was trying to avoid Michigan so I drove through Canada, but I had to stop on the Michigan side of Sault Ste. Marie to get some tires changed at the Honda place and do some laundry at the laundrymat. So, I didn't smell much of Michigan, but it does get bonus points for being next to Canada. (: As for Utah, I don't remember any bad smell, and I was there recently too - but I had the windows rolled up most of the time because it was so hot.

Also, akdiver couldn't have been within 161 km of NYC

Sure I was - but I don't want to live there. My positive comments about NY were about upstate, not the NYC area. The reason why I liked it was because I just thought the drive on the NY Thruway was nice - and they also get a lot of snow.

Pffft, we have enough carpetbaggers moving to Texas already; we don't really need any more. laughing.gif They come for the jobs, they stay for the quality of life. Who the hell would want to live anywhere else?

You must be kidding...see my post in the other thread about pissing on Texas when I moved away.

If I had my druthers I would live in Portland, OR

Any state where they prevent you from pumping your own gas so they can create minimum wage jobs for losers who want to scratch your car with the pump nozzle sucks - there are no two ways about it. Factor in Oregon's goofy land use laws and proximity to California and you have a formula for making the bottom of my list.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[LaGreenEyes 0]

Hello All,

This is getting exciting here. Nice replies from all our VJ members are appreciable. I hope this thread will help others to who are confuse like me. As i mentioned i have only two options 1. Atlanta GA and 2 Dallas Tx. But here i got so many options and its great. Its really really great, it would be helpful to me and to our other VJ members too. When i posted this thread i was not so sure that some VJ members might not like it but hey i was wrong you are really heplful guys and now i can say :

I AM PROUD TO BE A VJ MEMBER. ....

Thanks for your info and keep posting might someone else looking for the same answer..

Thanks to all.

K

Well I live in the Dallas area and have traveled and lived many places and I would have to say that all things considered, this is the best area to live as far as cost of living, job market, there are alot of things to do.. Yes Dallas has crime, but that's within the city limits of Dallas, and of course in a big city there's always crime, but the city itself in the downtown and uptown areas is going through a big rebirth with lots of new building and commerce. The suburbs are nice, depeding which one and how far out you live, and what you are looking for. Public transportation is finally more available between Dallas and Ft. Worth, and many companies offer discounts on monthly/yearly passes. We are only second to Houston in restaurants per capita so if you don't like to cook, there's always somewhere new to eat. If you do like to cook we must have 9-10 chains of grocery stores. My husband likes it here, we live in a tranquil suburb but kind of in the middle of everything. If we could afford it, I would love to live in South Florida..but the lifestyle we are used to would not be possible there without a hefty pay raise.

[k_hudda 0]

Hey i was thinking about the carrollton area or plano area. hows that?

Hello All,

This is getting exciting here. Nice replies from all our VJ members are appreciable. I hope this thread will help others to who are confuse like me. As i mentioned i have only two options 1. Atlanta GA and 2 Dallas Tx. But here i got so many options and its great. Its really really great, it would be helpful to me and to our other VJ members too. When i posted this thread i was not so sure that some VJ members might not like it but hey i was wrong you are really heplful guys and now i can say :

I AM PROUD TO BE A VJ MEMBER. ....

Thanks for your info and keep posting might someone else looking for the same answer..

Thanks to all.

K

Well I live in the Dallas area and have traveled and lived many places and I would have to say that all things considered, this is the best area to live as far as cost of living, job market, there are alot of things to do.. Yes Dallas has crime, but that's within the city limits of Dallas, and of course in a big city there's always crime, but the city itself in the downtown and uptown areas is going through a big rebirth with lots of new building and commerce. The suburbs are nice, depeding which one and how far out you live, and what you are looking for. Public transportation is finally more available between Dallas and Ft. Worth, and many companies offer discounts on monthly/yearly passes. We are only second to Houston in restaurants per capita so if you don't like to cook, there's always somewhere new to eat. If you do like to cook we must have 9-10 chains of grocery stores. My husband likes it here, we live in a tranquil suburb but kind of in the middle of everything. If we could afford it, I would love to live in South Florida..but the lifestyle we are used to would not be possible there without a hefty pay raise.

[homesick_american 1]

Hey i was thinking about the carrollton area or plano area. hows that?

Plano is very nice, Carrollton less so. Carrollton's location is fantastic but there are some very iffy parts of town so I'd be careful about where I lived. Plano, OTOH, has been upper middle class and snooty for years. That means lots of Starbucks, hardly any violent crime, and lots of one-upsmanship from the neighbors.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Plano. We're thinking of moving there ourselves. I just wanted to be honest about what kind of place it is.

You might also consider Lewisville, Corinth, McKinney, etc. They're further out, hence the housing is usually cheaper.

[TRKCKL11 0]

hi i guess i'll put my 2 cents in. I'm leaving the cold praire winters for the beautiful mountains of Idaho. Coeur d' Alene to be exact. Jobs are plentiful scenery is beautiful weather is great i have'nt sampled restaurants yet. Spokane Wash borders us if you need the bigger city life. It does not SMELL!!!!!!!. Housing is up there in prices but not too bad. Its close to canada.Its safe people are friendly. My husbands been there 13 years and loves it after leaving calif (modesto) area. Down fall is no hockey or football teams nearby and no nascar tracks either.

[Ecalos 0]

I come from the Prairies in Canada too and I'll be moving to Denver, Colorado.

Beautiful city, gorgeous scenery, snowboarding nearby. 4 distinct seasons, but a typically mild winter (I'm used to -40, 11 degrees F is teeshirt weather)

Summers are a bit hot, the area in itself can get quite dry, but living a stone's throw from the mountains is something I've never experienced before and I'm looking forward to it.

Housing prices are average... it depends where you want to live. The farther away from Denver Metro, the bigger the house you can get for less money. The closer you are, well... Let's just say I don't mind a bit of a commute

Big city, lots of nightlife and restaurants, plenty of attractions, and an International Airport that is a major worldwide hub. I'm set!