If you could live anywhere else

[Radio_Guy]

Where would it be and why?

Mine would be Boston, one of the most beautiful cities I have been to. Of the places I haven't been, probably Havana.

If moving expenses were no object, where would you want to move to?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Someplace where the leaves turn in the fall

and it snows in the winter and isn't too hot in the summer. But it would have to be a place without a lot of traffic. A small town in Maine, maybe, near the sea. I'd like to see a whale or two.

[northzax]

9. Tallahassee

I'm sick of raking leaves, and the fucking snow! god, stop it already! and it's so freaking quiet, I can barely think! :)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

13. Where are you???

[northzax]

30. small town in Coastal Maine

you?

I kid.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

33. hehehhe

well, I have to admit that our weather for the past four months has been perfect. Lows in the 50's (once in a while down to 30) but always getting past 60. This week the heat is starting.

Do you see whales? We have manatees here and more aligators than you can shake a stick up. But really it isn't a good idea to shake a stick at an aligator.

T-Grannie

[Auntie Bush]

70. ((((((((Vermont)))))))

We have Pat, Bernie and Jim and all the people that voted for them.
What more could anyone want?

We also have beautiful green mountains, snow and lots of skiing.

[XanaDUer]

101. I lived in Tally-ho for two years...

It is a wonderful place, an oasis of blue in a sea of red...I still miss it.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Fayetteville, Arkansas 1969

Been there, done that, would love to do it again. What a beautiful, incredible little town that was (back then.) A yearly trip to Nassau Bahamas would be nice.

[long_green]

26. That's cheating. So...I'll do it too.

I'll take New Orleans 1969. But only if I can be 18.

[BOSSHOG]

35. I can be in New Orleans

in about an hour (if the twin spans in Slidell are not being worked on.) But, lets see if I were in Fayetteville in 69, I could take a summer field trip to NOLA. Awesome. New Orleans is an incredibly charming town, great to visit anytime.

[Arkansas Granny]

39. I live about 45 minute south of Fayetteville, and I can't think of

anywhere in the U.S. that I would rather live than where I am. Fayetteville and the surrounding area has grown tremendously in the last few years, but it's still a nice place to be. I know a lot of folks, especially those who've never been here, consider Arkansas backwards, but the truth is, we're just laid back (waaaay back at times). So come on back anytime, BOSS, we'd be proud to see you.

:hi:

[BOSSHOG]

41. Sometimes it rips my heart out

when I think of my time there, but on the other hand they are incredibly fond memories. We are getting older and I know longer have any family there. We will be through Fayetteville next week on our way to the inlaws in Kansas (I have to stock up on my Razorback paraphernalia.) I have to go to Farmington and see what's in a safedeposit box I haven't opened since 1985. And we are spending the night with an old Navy buddy in Rogers. I'll take the Ozarks any day. Trying to time the trip so we can take old Highway 71 from Alma north to Fayetteville. Thanks for the invite.

[Arkansas Granny]

48. The drive up the old highway is great these days. There is hardly

any traffic at all and you can enjoy the sights without worrying about someone running you off the road. Have a safe trip!

[dmallind]

3. New Zealand

Sane government policies, beautiful scenery, decent economy in the major cities at least.

In the US? Minnesota's OK (where I am now) but given my hobbies I would like to check out Vermont - seems to be a place where moderate politics have been balanced by a strong belief in personal freedom.

[wakeme2008]

7. New Zealand I would second but not Minnnnnnnncooollllddddd

:)

[tridim]

21. NZ or Costa Rica

I've given Costa Rica some semi-serious thought in recent years.

I'd just like to live somewhere where life can be lived in a laid back manner. Like the 90's in America until Newt ruined it all.

[Goblinmonger]

4. Without a doubt, Toronto

Beautiful. Very vegetarian friendly. And it's Canada. Don't know what I would do for a job without my teaching license, but that is a different thread.

[marmar]

5. In order:

1. Amsterdam - because it's so cool, so laid-back and so "do your thing and chill"-ish.
2. Paris - because it's the most beautiful, most refined city on the planet.
3. San Francisco - beautiful, liberal and free, especially by U.S. standards.
4. Barcelona - for its festiveness and beauty.
5. Toronto - because of its incredible multiculturalism, which seems to be accepted and celebrated here more than anywhere.

[LSparkle]

11. I love your list

especially Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

[pocket]

6. Havana does sound nice

but I don't speak Cuban.

[texastoast]

8. Sweet little isle near Santorini

in Greece.

There are few people and it feels like home.

[Sammy Pepys]

10. Havana, just outside Phoenix, or Ireland

Been to all three, love them all.

[lonestarnot]

103. Like your choices.

Fiji on my short list too.

[BonnieJW]

12. Van Couver

Did I spell that correctly?

[Joe Fields]

104. It's one word, but it's a nice choice. Been there many times.

And, also Vancouver Island. Especially along the eastern coast near Nanaimo.

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. If cost were no object...

I'd move to Amsterdam and buy a house on one of the canals.

Or maybe to London.

[SpecialK]

15. Berlin....unfortunately there are no jobs there, though. :-(

[sweetheart]

59. Star FM 87.9

Berlin has a very fun internet rock and roll radio station,
with traffic reports, speeches from New York..
wiertchaft... Merkel. I put the channel out of my computer
in to a marshall amp, and Berlin ROCKS scotland.

:party:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. Liddington. A village in the UK.

We rented a cottage there. Beautiful.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

17. Vancouver BC

I pine for real civilization and Canada has that. Being a former bouncer, the US seems to me like a giant barroom where a fight is about to break out.

[napi21]

18. I'd move to Switzerland or Sweeden or Denmark.

I an't go that far, so I'm seriously considering Canada! I haven't found anywhaere in the US anymore.

[AnneD]

29. Of all the places I've been ...

Switzerland was the most beautiful. A great place to live. Canada is on my list too if things don't improve.

[napi21]

47. Well, my son, who currently works in Italy, is possibly going to get

a job in Zurich! I've already done some checking , and if he gets that job, it will give me an advantage of having someone there to help me!

I know the question posed by the OP was "what is your dream", but I'm very serious.

[AnneD]

52. So am I

eom.

[EstimatedProphet]

19. Amsterdam

You have to go there to understand.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. Two places

in the US-in or near Litchfield Co CT. Very nice folks I know live there.

outside the US-New Zealand, which appears to be a sane country. Very nice folks I know live there, too.

[dysfunctional press]

22. in the u.s.: maui

outside the u.s.: new zealand

if you have to ask why i chose maui, then i don't really think that i could explain it to you.

[Xithras]

36. Oh yes, Maui.

Five days into my last trip there, I was searching the help wanted ads and the real estate classifieds. I didn't want to come home :(

[dysfunctional press]

38. everyone does that...

and every couple promises to find a way to move there in 5-10 years.

[seabeyond]

23. north west coast. might settle for north east

but there is humidity. i would live there because of the beauty, cooler, less bugs, more open minded people, have ocean to boat on and sit and look, not swim. near canada to visit. more progressive and damn beautiful. did i say beautiful? yup.

[warrens]

24. Vancouver, New Zealand or Greece

I love Chicago, but at some point, I will probably end up in one of those three places. Argentina is another possibility.

[Blue_In_AK]

25. I love where I live...

I just wish sometimes that we were part of Canada instead of the US. It makes more sense.

[foreverdem]

27. Ireland

I've been researching my family tree and have seen how beautiful it is. I hear the economy is really good as well.

[Warpy]

28. Maybe a treehouse in the Pacific Northwest

It's year 8 or 10 of the drought here in NM, and I miss rain and green.

I've lived in Boston and loved it, but it's been yuppied nearly to death since the mid 80s. I've lived in the southeast and hated it, but I know the mountains are better than where I was. I live in the southwest now, and if this drought ever ends, I'll love it as much as I did when I first moved here.

So give me a treehouse in the northwest, complete with puter hookup and some sort of shower facilities, and I'll be in heaven. But only if I can come home to the desert once in a while to dry out.

[Bjornsdotter]

31. Sweden, Denmark, Norway

...Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland.

Top 2 choices....somewhere in Skane on the ocean, close to my family or my favorite city Copenhagen....either way I'd be close to my family.

Cheers!

[livetohike]

32. Port Douglas, Australia

would be my first choice.

I would dive:


and hike in the rainforest:


maybe do some sailing:
http://images-partners.google.com/images?q=tbn:hr0eCchCDwxc-M:

or just hang out on the beach:

[Nay]

55. Oh, man, I loved Cairns and Port Douglas. I could live there.

[livetohike]

56. Definitely!

Here's to Cairns and Port Douglas :toast: and maybe one day getting back there.

[liberal N proud]

34. Where it never gets cold and the sun shines sometimes

I live in suburban Cleveland and I can honestly say that I have lived where the sun doesn't shine.

Fewer days of sunshine than Seattle

[HughBeaumont]

83. Not to mention the winters are painfully unbearable.

It doesn't even have to snow. The wind downtown is so cold it burns your eyes, lungs and skin and makes going to lunch seem like torture. And the cold stretches from mid-October into mid-May. For instance, this weekend, it's supposed to be in the upper fifties as a HIGH. Lows into the 40s-30s. When the HELL is it going to get WARMER already?

[charlie]

37. Oh, man

Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, the Scandinavian countries, Costa Rica, Ceylon, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Brazil... I just like being the hapless foreigner. You never get inured to the day-to-day and everything is always fresh and invigorating.

[bigscott]

40. Amsterdam

where you can be yourself. Or Berlin, London, Munich, Vancouver, Whistler, Paris or Prague

[1620rock]

43. Maritime Canada....beautiful. eom

[La Coliniere]

62. That sounds perfect!

Halifax on the east coast, Vancouver on the west. I love both places.

[azmouse]

42. There is no where else I'd want to be than where I am right now.

The Phoenix area may not be Paradise for everyone but I love my home and community.
This is my little slice of Heaven (it's only like Hell in the summer.... LOL)

[Horse with no Name]

91. I love what downtown Glendale has become

It is so charming.
I was born and raised in the west valley.
I miss it. Can't wait to come home.:)

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

44. I'd split my time between our house in Ireland

and Chicago...

[MadHound]

45. Geez, I hate moving, I probably wouldn't go anywhere

There are many, many places I'd love to visit, but I truly love where I live. Missouri is a beautiful state, full of natural wonders and wildlife. Where I live now is in a rural area, and it is absolutely great to come home and hear nothing but the sounds of nature. But I'm close enough to a college town that when I want the art, culture, and bright lights of a big city, it's within easy driving distance.

Also, we have four distinct seasons here, that are each great in their own way. Plus, I've set roots down here, literally since I've planted an orchard and starting a farm. I really enjoy where I live, and wouldn't trade it for anyplace else. Plus, I have family and friends here that I couldn't easily part with, so I guess, all in all, I'm staying. Now then, all I have to do is to keep other people, especially developers, from coming into the area and spoiling it all.

[Blue_Tires]

46. just about anywhere but here

[Bridget Burke]

49. First, I would need to travel. Extensively.

Since I don't really have much personal experience outside Texas. I'd probably start with Ireland.

[LouisianaLiberal]

86. The west coast of Ireland.

My family emigrated from there between 1820 and the 1880's. I'll buy the tickets - when do we leave? But we have to visit the Cyclades first - I've always wanted to see the Aegean.

Seriously though, I am going to visit Ireland for the first time later this year. My brother tries to get me to go to Amsterdam with him every year, but he always goes at the time of my peak business season. With the exception of Greece (with no reason other than my love of the language, literature and history) I would feel most at home in Ireland.

[Mr_Spock]

50. I realize every day that Boston/NE is the best place

smart political dialog, 4 seasons, rocky Atlantic ocean, mountains, Cape Cod, history - birthplace of modern democracy, lots of smart people - other than it gets cold in the winter, this place is nearly ideal.

[Jamison]

51. Maracaibo, Venezuela. n/t

[B Calm]

53. Summer time would be in Northwest Ontario. Winter would be

in the South Pacfic and having my bare butt swatted with palm leaves by half naked hula girls..

[BooScout]

54. Cornwall.....

But only because you asked for somewhere else. I love where I am now living in the valleys of Wales. You would not beleive how beautiful it is here in the spring.

[chaska]

57. Planning to move to Montreal in a couple of months.

[Master Mahon]

58. Nirvana

because I wouldn't have to use any artificial means to get there! :+

[LSK]

60. Greek Islands, New Zealand, Colorado, FL Keys

[B Calm]

63. Out of the Greek Islands, I would pick Corfu.

[sweetheart]

61. Mars

You said moving expenses were no object.

I think it would be a very profound experience to leave
the prison ship physically; before dying.

[VOX]

64. Vancouver, BC; Nelson, New Zealand; London...

Vancouver, BC -- Big city, but still quite beautiful, and you can get out to some open country fairly quickly. Very nice people, and probably the easiest cultural transition to make for an American.

Nelson, New Zealand -- The Santa Barbara of New Zealand. Beautiful area, lots of artists and wineries. Gorgeous weather. **Not** a worrier's paradise!

London -- Excellent transportation. No end of available "culture," lots to do, and the people are terrific, for the most part. It does have some problems, though, no question.

Inside the U.S.: Santa Barbara (gorgeous, but awfully pricey now); Flagstaff (one of the nicest towns in America); Santa Fe, NM (one word: SKY!); Palm Springs (for all the development, it's still a very cool place to be).

[smirkymonkey]

65. A Few Places....

London and environs (Cotswolds, Kent)
Brugge, Belgium
Provence (Avingnon, Arles, St. Remy, Aix)
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Any of the Greek Islands
Harlem, Netherlands

Preferably an apartment in each one (or a tiny cottage!) :)

[corporate_mike]

66. Oahu, Hawaii

[area51]

67. "If you could live anywhere else..."

Any country that has job opportunities & is civilized enough to have universal healthcare.

[BreweryYardRat]

68. Seattle.

I'm in Tampa, FL. Republicans, heat, and mosquitoes galore. Can you blame me for wanting a radical shift?

[jerry611]

69. Tasmania, Australia

1. Internationally: Tasmania, Australia

2. Domestically: Alaska

Both laid back, isolated, scenery that will take your breath away... What else could you ever ask for?

[kineneb]

71. Germany

probably somewhere near Stuttgart or Nuremberg. I speak German and really like Europe. Otherwise, I am happy to stay in California.
Hubby votes for Belgium, somewhere near Antwerp.

[bdamomma]

72. Bermuda

[NightOwwl]

73. Bainbridge Island.

It's so beautiful there. And if I start craving city life, Seattle is just a 40 minute ferry ride away.

[GoneOffShore]

74. Easy for me

A flat in Paris and another in Aix en Provence.

Paris for the culture, the food, the gorgeous women. Aix for the same reasons on a smaller scale.

[anitar1]

75. I choose Italy, somewhere near Florence. I loved the

people there and the countryside. Seems to me that they know how to live. But I love Oregon also , and would want to spend time here.Maybe 3 or 4 months a year.

[mnhtnbb]

76. I am living where I love: Chapel Hill, NC, but

we are building a house on Isla Bastimentos (Red Frog Beach Club) in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. It is so incredibly beautiful.
We're watching the political/economic environment in US before we decide to retire there permanently or just use it as vacation/investment place.

[yorkiemommie1]

77. santa barbara , CA

or my birthplace, oahu, hawai'i.

[Hekate]

81. I want to stay where I am in Goleta/SB; grew up on Oahu but won't go back

Yorkiemommie -- where are you now? Are you in SB? I grew up in Kailua, lived in Honolulu around UH, finally in Wahiawa. It was my (ex) husband's idea to move to California.

If I'd had enough money I'd have stayed in the Islands in the first place. If I'd had enough money I'd have been back to the Islands more than the three times I've been in the 27 years I've been away.

But I love where I am -- the community, my friends and neighbors, the coastal environment and climate, plus my second (and final) husband. All good. The bad part is the cost of housing -- young people can't afford to buy; in fact I don't know how anyone can. Infrastructure employees are aging and will be tough to replace because of housing.

Leaving this area after retirement is somewhere around Plan B or Plan C. Plan B: we sell our home, recognizing we'll never be able to move back here, but grateful for the nest egg, and move somewhere on the West Coast we hope will be compatible. Plan C would be Canada, strictly a political decision, and one that gives me such terminal anxiety that I probably wouldn't be able to actually do it.

Hekate

[yorkiemommie1]

85. oh, you are SO lucky!

my daughter went to UCSB and is dying to get back to Goleta/SB. She's in Marina del Rey now.

I'm in Redondo Beach area; it's nice enough here, and we have many friends etc; here but I would move to your area in a minute. I grew up in Honolulu and Pearl City ( Star of the Sea HS ) and went to UH.

I left HI. 33 yrs ago and have only been back a few times. The last time, I HAD to revisit the main library, and downtown Honolulu because I was dreaming about it so much. After I visited the library, esp. the dreams stopped. ( Funny, the library got smaller since I was little, ha ha ).

Husb. is retired; I have a parttime job I love, and so we have resigned ourselves to staying here.

It's nice meeting someone from back home!

Yorkie

[Hekate]

94. Yes, it's good to meet someone from "home"

It was about twenty years before I stopped saying I was "from Hawai'i" when first getting to know someone. My husband never understood it -- but it is a truly special place.

The one thing I will always thank my ex for is letting me choose where to settle when we moved to California. We drove up the coast from the Ontario/Upland area looking for a business he could buy -- he was attracted to Los Angeles -- but when we got to SB I knew this was the place. When we split he ended up in LA after all, but I stayed and raised the kids here. I do feel lucky.

I understand about the power of your dreams. One year I couldn't get the colors of Hawaii out of my inner eye. You know how very different the palette of So Cal is from the Islands, even on the coast. Some part of me just ached for that green, that moisture, and when I saw a watercolor someone was selling at a local SB crafts fair, I just had to have it. The artist was a woman who traveled there and painted something besides Waikiki Beach; that is, a series of the Nuuanu Pali and the Ko'olau Mountains from the Windward side of O'ahu. She not only got the colors exactly right, but I recognized the view from Waimanalo. >sigh<

Hekate

[yorkiemommie1]

96. i'm glad there is a good antiwar movement in Hawai'i, also

there was during my days at UH ( another beautiful valley ) and there still is!

now that you mention it, i've never seen a painting like the one you have!

PM me if you want to 'talk story' sometime!

:hi:

[Jean Louise Finch]

78. When I'm older, rural France

Preferably in Bretagne. At the moment, not the best place for work! Until then, I'd be jazzed to check out Ghana. Or Senegal. I've heard amazing things.

[Dulcinea]

79. Someplace warm with a beach I can be on all year round.

Hawaii or Key West. I love being near water; it calms me.

[AllieB]

80. A little coastal town in RI, or a little coastal town in California

basically, a little coastal town anywhere. I like living where I live though, except for the winter.

[HughBeaumont]

82. Washington DC.

Love the area, more progressive, more to do, ideal climate, great food, more multi-cultural, better suburbs, etc.

Plus it's not too cold in the winter; but then again, I'm from Northeast duh-HIGH-ah, where it's cold 9 months out of the year. For instance, this weekend it's supposed to be in the mid fifties. Excuse me, isn't it, oh, I don't know, MAY??? When the hell is the weather going to get WARMER already? Another thing I hate about the weather here besides the fact that it's shitty and unbearable during the winter is that we don't have a spring. There's never a time where the tempuratures are in the pleasant 60s-70s, we just go directly from really cold to really hot almost within a week.

Unfortunately, it's too late now. 5 to 7 years ago would have been an ideal time to move to a suburb down there. Now, 60-year-old shacks in not-so-good suburbs cost $300,000.

[ObaMania]

84. Greece, London, or Italy. n/t

[Bombero1956]

88. someplace warm

maybe Hawaii. Being a native New Englander I've had it with winter. I wouldn't mind North Carolina either. My wife and I have a standing offer to come live part of the year in Holland. Most of her family is from there and a cousin offered to build us a house on his property in Putten. probably won't happen until I either win big on the lottery or she retires in 10 years.

[Kurovski]

87. Madison, Wisconsin.

[Odin2005]

89. My family's ancestral home: Bergen, Norway

[ugarte]

90. Crawford, Texas

:rofl:

[BigBearJohn]

92. Either Thailand or New Zealand

[Hamlette]

93. Norway

I'm reacting to the influence of religion in our country and want to go to a place where the atheists are in the majority. Sorry believers, the whole god thing is driving me over the edge. Maybe if we hadn't started electing people who believe god tells 'em to invade Iraq or the Schiavo fiasco or the gay marriage thing. It's all based on religion. And it has an adverse affect on my life.

[laylah]

95. Telluride n/t

[Maestro]

97. Texas Hill Country

with frequent get-togethers with some great Texans, my friends and family, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, etc...

[ikojo]

98. New York City

I would feel like less of a minority, being Jewish. I would not have to explain things such as Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays. I guess there are talibornagains in NYC but they cannot be as fanatic as here in MO.

I wore a yarmulke during the demonstration last week and did not feel one bit self concious about it (I'm female and it's still not common to see women wearing a yarmulke outside of synagogue). When I do this in St Louis I feel self concious about it.

[guinivere]

99. Somewhere in England if money was no object.

Amsterdam and Ireland also make the unlimited dollars list.

I would love to live in Maine, Canada or Alaska.

[bikebloke]

100. New Zealand

As first choice. Then France or The Nederlands. Perhaps Spain. There was a time when I wanted to move to Scandinavia for the social democracy. Over the years, I've grown fond of warmer temps. I'd even consider Oz, despite Poodle Howard.

[Joe Fields]

102. The Redwood country of the northern California coast

The redwoods are my church, my peace and tranquility. They are majestic and mysterious. And they are endangered.

I have had the good fortune to travel throughout the U.S., and never have I been so inspired by the confluence of where the Pacific coast meets the redwoods. It5 is pure magic for me.

[Igel]

105. Assuming also some income ...

Eugene, Oregon (ok, maybe Coburg or Veneta) or Brno, Moravia. Olomouc wouldn't be bad, either.

[kath]

106. A country with free and fair elections, and universal health care.

Is that too much to ask??

[earth mom]

107. Ireland, England or Italy. eom

[hyphenate]

108. If money were no object

I would live just north of Boston, near Gloucester or Rockport, Mass. If I had to choose a place outside of the U.S., it would be the Rosedale area of Toronto, or near Lake Ontario itself, perhaps on Ward's Island, or one of the other islands.