I've actually been considering a move recently, but you can quickly rule out a lot of places in the US.
If you want to live in a place that doesn't have unbearable climate (which for me is extreme cold or heat), unbearable crime, at least two semi-large cities withing a day's driving distance (i.e. not a lot of the southern states have even one decent-sized city - which means you can't find a lot of stuff locally), or states that are 100% non-compatible with the 2nd amendment (which sucks because CA, MA and NY have some really nice areas - I've not seen anything in IL that makes me want to live there)... Your choices are limited.
Been thinking of Pittsburgh a lot lately. Similar to Tulsa (little colder - less southern/bible-belt-ish). Its a fairly Red city but with a lot of middle-of-the-road dems and republicans (not as many extremists on either side - they all live in Philly). Little better mix of culture - not too expensive to live (decent economy brings in middle-income families as neighbors).
I honestly loved Northern CA, but wouldn't live there because of the state's grip on everything (and the political climate). Sucks too because they had great hiking/camping/etc. and as long as you stayed out of the bay, the people were all nice.
Have considered Reno or Vegas, but both places are suffering from a horrible economy and Meth is worse there than it is here (hard to believe, I know).
Oregon or Washington would be ok - but I'd have to live east of the Sierra Nevadas (to get away from Portland or Seattle) and I'm not crazy about how the temps go down and the weather turns nasty once you get to or past the mountains.
I could own a place in Wyoming or Montana, but I don't think I could live there long-term (could do the whole, live like a hermit for a year, but that would be about all I could stand). Pretty much east of that and the weather outweighs the benefit of living there.
To the south, I don't know that I would live in NM (except for maybe the northern part which is basically southern CO) and the political climate of CO is starting to go the way of CA - they want to rule your life too much. UT is pretty much too weird for me - and it had only one city - Salt Lake. AZ has always intrigued me - I have friends that live there (no allergies from what I hear), but it's a love/hate relationship - I love so much about that place and yet hate so much about it at the same time.
I've typically ruled out TX, but I'm starting to consider northern DFW area (or even Plano area). Houston area was on the list, but low because of the smog (traffic is actually worse here since they F@#$ed up all the roads in Tulsa) and ridiculous 4-5 month unbearably hot season.
I'm really trying to avoid the southern states (don't want to downgrade from OK in areas like education, economy, standards-of-living, drug-use, crime, etc.), so I don't typically include them. However, if I could stand the people, I'd live in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area of FL. Really like to visit that area.
North Carolina or Virginia keep popping up on the radar too - love mountains and beaches in the same state, but I don't know about the economic/political/religious climate there (also - hurricanes are a pretty regular factor anywhere in the southern/eastern parts of the US that touch water).
If you want to live in a place that doesn't have unbearable climate (which for me is extreme cold or heat), unbearable crime, at least two semi-large cities withing a day's driving distance (i.e. not a lot of the southern states have even one decent-sized city - which means you can't find a lot of stuff locally), or states that are 100% non-compatible with the 2nd amendment (which sucks because CA, MA and NY have some really nice areas - I've not seen anything in IL that makes me want to live there)... Your choices are limited.
Been thinking of Pittsburgh a lot lately. Similar to Tulsa (little colder - less southern/bible-belt-ish). Its a fairly Red city but with a lot of middle-of-the-road dems and republicans (not as many extremists on either side - they all live in Philly). Little better mix of culture - not too expensive to live (decent economy brings in middle-income families as neighbors).
I honestly loved Northern CA, but wouldn't live there because of the state's grip on everything (and the political climate). Sucks too because they had great hiking/camping/etc. and as long as you stayed out of the bay, the people were all nice.
Have considered Reno or Vegas, but both places are suffering from a horrible economy and Meth is worse there than it is here (hard to believe, I know).
Oregon or Washington would be ok - but I'd have to live east of the Sierra Nevadas (to get away from Portland or Seattle) and I'm not crazy about how the temps go down and the weather turns nasty once you get to or past the mountains.
I could own a place in Wyoming or Montana, but I don't think I could live there long-term (could do the whole, live like a hermit for a year, but that would be about all I could stand). Pretty much east of that and the weather outweighs the benefit of living there.
To the south, I don't know that I would live in NM (except for maybe the northern part which is basically southern CO) and the political climate of CO is starting to go the way of CA - they want to rule your life too much. UT is pretty much too weird for me - and it had only one city - Salt Lake. AZ has always intrigued me - I have friends that live there (no allergies from what I hear), but it's a love/hate relationship - I love so much about that place and yet hate so much about it at the same time.
I've typically ruled out TX, but I'm starting to consider northern DFW area (or even Plano area). Houston area was on the list, but low because of the smog (traffic is actually worse here since they F@#$ed up all the roads in Tulsa) and ridiculous 4-5 month unbearably hot season.
I'm really trying to avoid the southern states (don't want to downgrade from OK in areas like education, economy, standards-of-living, drug-use, crime, etc.), so I don't typically include them. However, if I could stand the people, I'd live in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area of FL. Really like to visit that area.
North Carolina or Virginia keep popping up on the radar too - love mountains and beaches in the same state, but I don't know about the economic/political/religious climate there (also - hurricanes are a pretty regular factor anywhere in the southern/eastern parts of the US that touch water).
