If you could live anywhere in the U.S. where would it be?

[Droopy]

Technically speaking I guess most of us can live anywhere we want in the country, but I'm guessing that a lot of us have ties that keep us where we are. That is the case with me. I'm a trucker and it is very easy for me to find a job in that field. Trucking companies usually have a high turnover rate and they are just begging for safe, qualified drivers to work for them. But my family and lifelong friends are here in southwest Ohio and I couldn't bear to move a long way away from, especially just for something as frivolous as a change in scenery.

But if I did not have those ties I would be out of here in a heartbeat. I just do my trucking in Ohio now days. I have a Cleveland area delivery route. Well, that happens to be in the snow belt which can be hazardous to your health and career if you are a trucker. So if I could live anywhere I wanted and if I was going to remain a trucker, I would live somewhere where it doesn't snow. I would also not want to live somewhere where they get hurricanes or earthquakes. I would like to live in a place where there is very little chance that my life and my job will be affected by nature. So, believe it or not, I'd choose to live in south Texas or maybe south New Mexico. I could really dig a dedicated run between San Antonio and Laredo. Or maybe San Antonio or Laredo to Las Cruces. The cost of living in those areas is also important to my choice because us truckers aren't exactly rich.

If my job were not a limitation I'd choose to live in Portland, Oregon.

[graywarrior]

1. Northern New Hampshire

Specifically Errol.

[Droopy]

5. Northern New England is beautiful

I used to run up to northen New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine every so often. I also did some Canadian work going up through there and into Quebec.

[graywarrior]

7. I knew I liked you for a reason other than you are crazy.

[Droopy]

8. Haha. Thanks!

Not many people like me for my craziness. :)

[graywarrior]

10. Maybe they don't know.

[AlCzervik]

2. Monterey, ca.

[LeftyMom]

3. Portland is teh awesome.

Very vegan friendly and I know a skillion or so people up there. If I didn't have any pressing reasons to be anywhere else, that's where I'd go.

Either that or someplace in the mountains over Santa Cruz. Felton, someplace like that.

[Droopy]

13. I've been there many times

I like everything about the place and I was tempted at one point to move there. It's a good thing I didn't. I'd never be able to afford a mortgage there on a trucker's salary unless they pay truckers around there $40 an hour.

[FloridaJudy]

22. Wanna buy a house in Boulder Creek?

Terrible condition, but gorgeous location on top of a mountain. It's practically uninhabitable now, so you'd need a lot of friends in the building trade.

And my sister and I would be grateful: technically it's ours (long story). An elderly relative lives there now, but we've almost convinced him to move to a more convenient location: he's 90 years old and can no longer see well enough to drive. He also hasn't been capable of doing any maintenance for the past ten years, so the place may very well be a tear-down.

Comes complete with a '63 El Camino in the garage that hasn't been driven in almost thirty years.

[LeftyMom]

24. I'd be sorely tempted

but I can't even afford the El Camino. :D

[sniffa]

4. American Samoa

Just to cut into Hillary's commanding lead there.

[seemunkee]

6. Manhattan if I could afford it

My family connections in DC are long gone. My wife's family is here but putting a little distance between us wouldn't hurt.
So much food, art, music and life in NYC and no where near as uptight as DC. Washington must be the most conservative world capital anywhere.

[Maraya1969]

28. If I had the money I'd like to live in Manhattan also, at least for the summers

Greenich village and right by Central park sounds great.

[seemunkee]

51. My brother lived in the village for most of the 80s

I loved to visit him even if his apartment was a shoe box.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. you know what Droopy...I used to think that I would never leave

from where I am now. I thought I had put down roots and found a home. I am not so sure, anymore. If it means being with the one I love then where ever they are, that is my home. Home, for me is not a place, but a who.

[Droopy]

11. Ahhh

I see what you mean. I got to know and really like a woman who lives in Denver. We have visited each other. If we were to fall in love and she refused to leave Denver, I think I would have a serious dilemma on my hands.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. Good luck for the both of you --

:pals:

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Right here in Masschusetts...

I've lived away from here, and hated it. I'm a MAsshole for life. I prefer Western MA, but Boston's ok too. :)

[China_cat]

15. San Francisco

[carly denise pt deux]

16. Manhattan

with an apartment near Central Park, a close second would be somewhere in southern California
Carly

[enigmatic]

17. I'd go back to Jerome, AZ

Visited Jerome many, many times when I lived in Phoenix; if I ever came back that's probably where I'd end up:



http://www.azjerome.com/

[Droopy]

19. Hey, man. Where ya been?

It's been a while since I've seen you around here.

I like Arizona, too. I'd have to live around Pheonix, though. A lot of people don't think "snow" when they think Arizona. But I've been through Flagstaff enough times to know.

[enigmatic]

20. I'm ok

Just busy, and very, very tired:) Phoenix was like The Wild West there by the time I left; I can't imagine what it's like now, though there are some great places there, too. I almost picked Bisbee; that's another great almost-ghost town by the border. That would be just as good...

[FloridaJudy]

18. Berkeley, California

Where I was born and raised. Great weather, lively cultural attractions, and probably the most progressive city in the United States.

I couldn't afford to move back there now. The price of housing is outrageous. Plus, I always forget how horrendous the traffic is in the Bay Area. The last time I visited family out there we got stuck in a traffic jam at midnight! And that was before the freeway exploded...

[Arugula Latte]

61. I love Berkeley, but I agree with your assessment. Too much $$$ to live there.

I like Portland a lot because it has a similar vibe to Berkeley.

I recently took my son to Berkeley and he LOVED it. That place is just electric. And the views from the hills across the Bay are just stunning. :loveya:

[querelle]

21. Boston

I've visited many US cities, but Boston is #1. I like the fact that you can go almost anywhere in central Boston on foot and I have always felt very safe there. Very compact, historic, beautiful, and the shopping on Newbury Street is world class.

Q

[Chovexani]

23. Back home in NYC

:(

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. For physical setting, public transportation, and overall convenience, Portland

I left because it didn't work on a personal level anymore, but there are times when I feel like moving back, especially when it's below zero here in Minneapolis.

[stuntcat]

26. Western NC

the piedmont

[Sugar Smack]

27. Islamorada, Florida.

In the keys.

[Droopy]

29. I love Florida and especially the Keys

But it seems like they get leveled by a hurricane down that way once every 5 years or so. When I visited the Keys I stayed at a motel in Homestead. I was 23 at the time and alone. I was in between jobs and I just went down that way because I wanted to see something I'd never seen before. It was right after hurricane Andrew. The clerk at the hotel took one look at me and assumed I was down there looking for construction work. :)

[Sugar Smack]

32. I'd move there, baybee, & I'd just suck on a tree

til the wind passed. The flora and fauna are too beautiful for words.:loveya:

[Fox Mulder]

30. Anywhere in VT, NH, or ME.

I'll be moving to either of those locations w/in the next year. :) :woohoo:

[Mojambo]

31. Madison, Wisconsin.

I've heard that Boulder, Colorado is a pretty cool place too.

[knitter4democracy]

48. If only to eat at Harvest all the time.

Best restaurant I've ever eaten in. Great Whole Foods, too. Ooh, and a couple of lovely yarn shops. :)

[SKKY]

33. I've lived in a lot of places over the course of my life...

...both in the States and Overseas. But all things being equal, I would probably choose Louisville, Kentucky. I'm from there, and I just haven't lived in a place that tops it overall. Some are better in one area than the other, but on the whole, Louisville has it all.

[Droopy]

34. I bet that not many people think nice cities when they think of Kentucky

But you are right about Louisville. The way they have the interstate system around there make it a trucker friendly city, too. I used to run through Louisville four times a week for a dedicated haul I used to have. I never dreaded driving through there like I do with some other larger cities.

[SKKY]

37. You're absolutely right, which is why it's still a very "livable"...

...city. Good public schools, fun stuff to do, Louisville is very Democratic, and the cost of living is still reasonable- even for a trucker or a sailor!

[terrya]

35. Here in Chicago.

[CatholicEdHead]

36. Twin Cities are pretty nice

But, Madison, Wisconsin is pretty nice. The Dane County area is a nice place to go to.

[Liberal Veteran]

38. Montreal.

:P

[hippywife]

39. There are many places on that list!

Santa Cruz, CA area just because the place has so much going on & seems to have more liberals per capita!
Chicago for all the stuff to do.
Corvallis, OR because I really do want to live in a liberal area.
Eastern Tennessee in the Smokey Mountains or Virginia for the Blue Ridge Mountains.
North of Denver for, you guessed it...the mountains!
Vancouver, BC for all the reasons listed above!

What it boils down to is I just want mountains and lots of liberal friends and neighbors, I can make my own stuff to do in that environment. :hi:

[Phentex]

40. Maine

Anywhere in Maine. It's where I plan to retire.

[Ptah]

41. It would be somewhere the rivers and streams had water year-round.

:shrug:

[Droopy]

43. You'd like Ohio then

The summers are pleasant, too. We don't have too many days when the temperature gets above 90 degrees. But man does it get cold in the winter. The water in some of those streams actually freezes sometimes.

[Ptah]

44. Probably.

Thirty years ago, I enjoyed a couple of years in Ann Arbor

That was where I saw my first fireflies.

Green followed by fall colors!

:thumbsup:

[madrchsod]

42. chicago,madison wis,or northern tip of maine

if i had enough money i`d have homes in all three

[Tektonik]

45. Anywhere in socal is good for me

Socal is home to me and always will be. I could live in the Mojave Desert, the shores of North San Diego, in the Valley, it's all good to me.

I'd like to have a large home in the Mojave Desert and a townhouse in Del Mar or La Jolla if I had my choice.

[otherlander]

46. Maybe Eugene, Oregon.

Or maybe Black Mountain.

[Maccagirl]

47. Cape Cod or northern California

both seem to be beautiful.

[knitter4democracy]

49. Northern Michigan. I'm fairly good here in Battle Creek, but . . .

Traverse City is so wonderful, and so is Petosky. I love it up there.

[Haole Girl]

50. Hawaii

I'm sure this is quite a shock to those who know me! lol ;-)

[fortyfeetunder]

54. Big Island for me too

Live off the land...paradise...

[NMDemDist2]

52. Maui

:shrug:

[DarkTirade]

53. I like this place

although the fact that you need a car to get around is a big minus for me.

Portland's beautiful, I've only been there once but I loved it.

Although right now there's a person in another city I want to be with... so that's pretty much all I can think of right now. :P

[laylah]

55. Back in Colorado nt.

[Genevieve]

56. Right where I am now.

I searched a long time -- I traveled alot - the U.S. as well as Europe .
I'm living in my dream location - I'm never going to leave.


edited for punctuation

[ChazII]

57. While I live where it gets as hot

as hell I would choose to stay here in Arizona.

[1gobluedem]

58. Somewhere in New England

Boston maybe with a summer place on Cape Cod or the Maine coast. Love it, love it, LOVE IT there.

[WinkyDink]

59. Strangely enough, Kennebunkport, ME.

[cali]

60. Right here in the Northeast Kingdom

I've lived quite a few places, but this is home and it's a very special place.