Other than the place you presently live, what would be your ideal place to live?

My first pick would be Santa Barbara, CA. It is my idea of paradise in terms of climate, lifestyle, and cultural amenities.

My second pick would be living in San Francisco if I was single.

My third choice would be Naples, Florida.

New York City...SERIOUSLY

It's not the stereotypical "muggings & drug dealers" that it was.

Since Rudy was mayor, crime was down 64%!!

Rudy padlocked all the sex shops in Times Square, making it a family-friendly part of New York City, since Disney, MTV, & all the good stuff moved in.

He also got rid of the Prostitution & drug dealings in the area.

I don't want to be one of those idiots who makes faces in the window of Fox News channel while they are on the air though

Do US territories count for this? I would say Peurto Rico.

Darcaine

Jaime and I both agree. We feel it would be best for America's Debate if we could live here:



It is called Money Key, a 5 acre island in the Florida Keys currently on sale for $3,200,000.

You can see the full details of the listing at Vladi Private Islands.

Now if we can only find a philanthropist who shares our vision...

Mike

A cabin in the Cascade Mountains near Sisters, Oregon.

Doesn't sound exotic, but it's the most pristine place I've ever been.

Well, that's a hard one......I was in New Zealand and I loved it, they have more sheep than people, gorgeous countryside, and very nice people.

But, then Santa Barbara is nice, but I miss ocean waves, there are very few of them because of the bay. And, parking is tough, tough, tough.

Then there is one of my favorite spots on earth - Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, but being a national park living there is a a no-no.

It would have to be somewhere where it almost never gets cold, yet has snow nearby, hardly ever gets a big storm, but gets rainbows over the mountains. Has miles of white sand beaches, a lots of sea cliffs. Oodles of places to walk in the evening, but no mosquitoes. A zillion restaurants from all over the world, and no reservations necessary. Not hot like the desert, but the desert is an easy drive to the East.

The best Mexican food. Also, the city would have to be visually beautiful and easy to get around (well, commute time is a bit sticky).

Where would all this be? oh, yes, - San Diego - where I live!

Replying to the ideal places to live in the United States.
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I'll not mention that I would dearly love to live in Ireland , since it's not in the US. And I won't mention Madison, even though I would never even consider living elsewhere( except temporarily), because it's where I presently live.

I've often thought it would be cool to travel around the country and stop off for a year or two in whatever place
touched my fancy.

New York City, for sure, near Central Park, San Francisco and across the bay. I love downtown Chicago...those wonderful old brownstones. Fort Collins Colorado is neat....Boston is a must. Well, that's where I'd like to live....all over for a while and then back home again.

My husband, as a young Marine, was stationed in Santa Barabra during WW2 and I know he would want to go back there for a while.

Madtown

Austin,Tx.

You could visit Roy

Tonight it is so cold here I would like to be anywhere where it is above freezing. No wind chill of -25 degrees. I have been to a lot of places. Some more beautiful than Chicago. Warm, greenary all yr. round, ocean breezes. I have totally loved those places I have gone to. Hawaii, Bermuda, several mainland states. But even as much as I HATE this weather it doesn't last long and I love it here all over again. It is home!

I'm actually very partial to Providence, R.I. What an amazing transformation that city has undergone in the last 10 years or so! It is like a modern day venice, with its beautiful canals and bridges... Not to mention the great abundance of Mr. Potato Head statues which you find here and there in the city, now. I do, actually, have a plan to move there myself in the next year or so. I'm pretty tired of Massachusetts, to be honest, and I'm particularly tired of paying for the "Big Dig" over and over and over again.

Good thread.

For city living, I would be torn between San Diego (Basheva, you are right, it's a wonderful city) and Seattle, which is a really cool place.

For small town life, the most beautiful place I've been to is Ouray, Colorado. Trust me, this is an incredible place. Looks like Switzerland. A little bowl-shaped valley (I say valley, but it's at 8000 feet) surrounded by 14,000 foot rugged peaks. Awesome.

Ideally, I'd have places all around the US, each with its specialty motorcycle for the area. I'd just float from town to town on a fully-rigged touring bike, suit up for the dirt or the road or the strip, jump on something with character, and jam my brains into the Nirvana of two-wheeled travel. I'd also be perpetually 19 in body but not soul. Oh wait, that's my idea of Heaven!

Otherwise, I'd like a little ranch outside Buena Vista, CO on the Arkansas river and a getaway cabin out near Tincup. Raise free-ranging chickens, have a banty rooster or two, sit in a rocking chair and play my guitar to the sounds of river and breeze in the willows. Build a greenhouse for raising veggies. Live off chicken, eggs, and trout. Get me a grizzly bear pet . . . naw, that's already been done Okay, no grizzly bear pet.

Meanwhile, this place is good. Too many neighbors though and bit too steep, no water nearby. Wildfires in the summer, bummer. Occasional blizzards, other strange weather like flash floods. Lots of sunshine though, and critters roaming around. Chickadees, woodpeckers, mourning doves, ravens, red-tailed hawks, stellar jays. Deer, raccoon, fox, black bear, puma, squirrel (two kinds) and chipmunk. Pine, spruce, fir, aspen. Wildflowers when it's wet enough. This will do.

Colorado towns are WAY cool.

Darcaine

I'll think about you all (shivering in your heavy undies) later this afternoon - I am planting bareroot roses. We do that in JANUARY in San Diego.

Sorry 'bout that.

Seriously, there are so many beautiful places. I have been to Tahiti. Went horseback riding at sunset on the beach - the coral lagoon stretching out turquoise and the deep blue sea beyond that. Palm trees lying flat along the surface...white sand....black sand...

And the center of the island (Moorea - right next to Tahiti) is a jagged moutain almost always cloud crowned. The Tahitians really do walk around with flowers behind their ears (even the men) and singing. They are always singing. Of course the monster mosquitoes sing too.

So, maybe not Tahiti -

New York City - the only city in the world. I'd move back there despite the extent to which Giuliani ruined its character (Times Square is not meant to be "family-friendly", damn it!). If they manage to eliminate the prostitution and drug-dealing altogether, I'd have to opt for somewhere else...

Savannah, maybe? It's gorgeous, a manageable size - and has people like Jaime and Mike in it (not a reference, btw, to drug-dealing or prostitution).


Otherwise, Seattle or maybe Portland. If Vancouver counted, that would be second to NYC...

I have lived in California, Alabama, Virginia, both Carolinas. I have never been to as beautiful a place as Landrum, South Carolina, in the foothills of the SMoky mountains. All four seasons, rolling hills, great food.