It’s dry. That’s literally my only complaint.
Top Ten List of States to Live?
- Thread starter hoks2415
- Start date
Colorado.
Tahiti
Switzerland
Private island in the Caribbean
No, I don’t know how to follow instructions. I love the beach but the Pacific beaches are too cold and the Atlantic/Gulf beaches are too people-y and redneck-y. I also love the mountains and we really love Colorado but in a small town with few people. Love the views of the Sangre de Cristos. Something with majestic mountain and lake views and very few people would be perfect. Don’t mind the snow if I don’t have to get out in it. A winter home on the beach in the Caribbean or Tahiti would be perfect
Tahiti
Switzerland
Private island in the Caribbean
No, I don’t know how to follow instructions. I love the beach but the Pacific beaches are too cold and the Atlantic/Gulf beaches are too people-y and redneck-y. I also love the mountains and we really love Colorado but in a small town with few people. Love the views of the Sangre de Cristos. Something with majestic mountain and lake views and very few people would be perfect. Don’t mind the snow if I don’t have to get out in it. A winter home on the beach in the Caribbean or Tahiti would be perfect
Damn. I forgot about the Virgin Islands. Okay, I can stay with the rules and say Colorado with a winter home on St John. Final answer.
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Tahiti is nice but really small. Yeah could probably do Hawaii but Tahiti is just tiny and in the middle of nowhere.
That’s what I like about it. And the people were so friendly. And if I’m being correct it would be French Polynesia. I don’t want to live on Tahiti but Bora Bora or Taha’a or Rangiroa. Or Moorea. One of those.
California
Hawaii
Florida
North Carolina
South Carolina
Got lazy after that. There are 10 states I havent been to (Oregon, Alaska, Maryland, Delaware, and the New England states) so they may have made the list, although I do hate the cold.
Hawaii
Florida
North Carolina
South Carolina
Got lazy after that. There are 10 states I havent been to (Oregon, Alaska, Maryland, Delaware, and the New England states) so they may have made the list, although I do hate the cold.
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Some people don't know what a U.S. State is.
Maine, Colorado, or Montana. Colorado is getting too pricey. My house in Iowa would sell for nearly a million in Denver. Stupid housing prices.
Maine, Colorado, or Montana. Colorado is getting too pricey. My house in Iowa would sell for nearly a million in Denver. Stupid housing prices.
I’m not going to actually respond based on the criteria described as I don’t know how you can ignore the excluded criteria. That said:
1. As I approach retirement and think of fleeing the cultural noise of dc metro, I like the idea of someplace quiet but within an hour of a university or other cultural center, where people still enjoy talking to each other, with access to good cycling and hiking, and a reasonable cost of living.
2. Where in iowa or other midwestern srates would you recommend?
3. Also on my target list: southwest Virginia, western nc, and solely for the huckleberries, Montana.
1. As I approach retirement and think of fleeing the cultural noise of dc metro, I like the idea of someplace quiet but within an hour of a university or other cultural center, where people still enjoy talking to each other, with access to good cycling and hiking, and a reasonable cost of living.
2. Where in iowa or other midwestern srates would you recommend?
3. Also on my target list: southwest Virginia, western nc, and solely for the huckleberries, Montana.
Different strokes for different folks. I moved to SoCal 7 years ago and other than Hawaii it's the only state I really want to live in.
I lived in Wisconsin and Iowa for the first 24 years of my life and hated it while others love them. I absolutely hate NYC but have friends that have moved there and they love it.
For me I think some of the Mid Atlantic and mountain west states somewhere not in a city but not too far from a big city.
I think states that have a lot of different landscapes and some cool cities
So my top 10 in no order would be
North Carolina
Virginia
South Carolina
North Georgia
These four are pretty amazing with mountains to beaches and some large and smaller cool cities nearby such as Atlanta, Charlotte, DC, Charleston, Savannah, Richmond, Raleigh etc.
Upstate New York-very pretty area of US and you are close to visiting NYC anytime you want.
Base of Front Range Colorado
Northern California
Oregon
North New Mexico
West Montana
-I love the mountains.
I think states that have a lot of different landscapes and some cool cities
So my top 10 in no order would be
North Carolina
Virginia
South Carolina
North Georgia
These four are pretty amazing with mountains to beaches and some large and smaller cool cities nearby such as Atlanta, Charlotte, DC, Charleston, Savannah, Richmond, Raleigh etc.
Upstate New York-very pretty area of US and you are close to visiting NYC anytime you want.
Base of Front Range Colorado
Northern California
Oregon
North New Mexico
West Montana
-I love the mountains.
I didn't spend a lot of time there, just flew down there for a wedding like 25 years ago. I think I was in Tulsa. But I do remember being really impressed by the weather for the short time I was there.
That's about all I'm basing it on. Note that I have my own home state above it though so I'm assuming it's not always like that.
Besides if I've got all this money that it doesn't matter I'm sure I could live in the nicest area of any state in the union.
That's the thing if I've got so much money that none of that stuff really matters than why would I live in just one place?
I mean hell I could spend summers in Alaska, Fall in the Midwest, and Winter and Spring in Florida.
And shame on anyone if they have Mississippi listed as one of their top places to live. Awful weather, awful people, awful schools, awful scenery, awful food, awful history. I live in Alabama and while it unfortunately shares some of these less-than-palatable characteristics with Mississippi, it at least has some redeeming values (decent folks, solid cities, better scenery).
Mississippi has a human rights record that would make China blush. In the 1950s until the 1980s they actually had a state-sanctioned program called the Mississippi State Sovereignty Committee whose mission was basically to preserve the "traditional" (i.e. segregationist) values of the state. It actively investigated its citizens through recordings and wiretaps and over the years, files on approximately 100,000 citizens have been obtained. That is not insignificant for a small rural state.
Eisenhower or Kennedy should have just thrown a couple of nukes towards Jackson 60 years ago. The state is beyond redemption.
Mississippi has a human rights record that would make China blush. In the 1950s until the 1980s they actually had a state-sanctioned program called the Mississippi State Sovereignty Committee whose mission was basically to preserve the "traditional" (i.e. segregationist) values of the state. It actively investigated its citizens through recordings and wiretaps and over the years, files on approximately 100,000 citizens have been obtained. That is not insignificant for a small rural state.
Eisenhower or Kennedy should have just thrown a couple of nukes towards Jackson 60 years ago. The state is beyond redemption.
I've been to VA Beach a few times, but really only when it's warm enough to head to the beach, so I haven't been there when the weather is crappy. Where I am is a lot closer to the mountains and most years we get "enough" snow most years - maybe a cumulative ~2 feet/year; some years a lot more, some years less. The flip side is that in the summer it rarely ever hits 95 and there are still plenty of days when you can be outside without feeling like you're melting.
Fairfax is a good place - it's pretty crowded around there though. I've been to Annapolis a couple of times and it seems like it'd be a cool place to live - esp if you've got a place that looks out at the water. From your perspective it would be a huge win for them to end up there vs Fairfax - you'd be able to miss the DC traffic, and I think skirt around the side of Baltimore, coming down to see them.
Annapolis is really cool, and in sort of an isolated way (ie, you really don't want to live in Annapolis to work in DC). Great culture and USNA, access to the bay, eastern shore, and ocean is good other than the bay bridge. But really not great if you're coming to DC every day.
Fairfax is populous but not crowded, economically prosperous, and pretty much the definition of an exurb these days. If you like driving among massive cloud data warehouses and AMZN distribution centers (at least in its outer reaches), you'll love it. OTOH, good proximity to city (with Metro actually opening someday out there), international airport, the beach, and the mountains.
Yeah, this is probably the first time I've seen anyone put Oklahoma on a list of anything good.
The one good thing I've found in that state is the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge - it's a really nice place to go hiking and camping. We went there a lot when I was in college, and I've taken the kid there a couple of times.
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Worn by time and nature, the Wichita Mountains loom large above the prairie in southwest Oklahoma—a lasting refuge for wildlife. Situated just outside the Lawton/Ft. Sill area, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge preserves approximately 60,000 acres of mixed grass prairie, ancient granite...
I live in Western Loudoun County, and the main road I take "into town" (the Dulles Greenway) is lined with data centers, and now also a big water treatment plant. Where I live is beautiful, but they've managed to line the road there with the ugliest possible buildings.
As for the Metro out here, I believe it's currently 3 years behind schedule, and I have no idea if/when it'll actually open. There's been apartment complexes in Ashburn that went up years ago selling the promise of being walking distance to the Metro - people have come and gone without ever seeing that part of the deal.
My wife and I bike in your neck of the woods every weekend, and in the winter, we ride the gravel in southwestern Loudoun. I envy you, a lot. Love the bakeries in P-ville and Hillsboro. Love the breweries at Vanish and Bear Chase. Love the horse country. Western Loudoun is really fantastic; eastern Loudoun less so. Covid didn't help the Metro, and I do wonder how opening the extension will be financially viable until DC "really" reopens. A real chicken/egg problem. I think last I heard the new target is something like 3Q of this year.
Back to Md-- A buddy of mine, who is a C-suite guy at a large publicly traded telecom and, shall we say, "liquid", lives over on the eastern shore a little south of St. Michaels. Now that is living. If you can afford it.
It's hands down Hawaii. Salt water sucks ass, but it doesn't get too hot, or too cold. Very few natural disaster events.
That said, I like Iowa, very few people, and the less the better. Will be moving back when I retire, The Good Lord Willin' and The Creek Don't Rise!
That said, I like Iowa, very few people, and the less the better. Will be moving back when I retire, The Good Lord Willin' and The Creek Don't Rise!
I will not include any state I have not visited, so the Pacific coast states are out (I suspect Washington and Oregon would be high on the list). But from where I have spent time....
1) Minnesota
2) Colorado (only the proliferation of Boeberts and mass shootings keep it from #1)
3) Wisconsin
4) Michigan
5) Montana
6) Wyoming
7) North Carolina
8) Iowa (dropping like a stone under current leadership)
9) Florida
10) New Mexico
1) Minnesota
2) Colorado (only the proliferation of Boeberts and mass shootings keep it from #1)
3) Wisconsin
4) Michigan
5) Montana
6) Wyoming
7) North Carolina
8) Iowa (dropping like a stone under current leadership)
9) Florida
10) New Mexico
Great Thread
For me in no particular order:
Oregon, preferably east of the Cascades
New Mexico preferably west of the Rio Grande
Utah
California, anywhere north of Bakersfield
Colorado west of the front range
Washington
North Carolina
Tennessee outside Memphis
Nevada outside Vegas
Hawaii
For me in no particular order:
Oregon, preferably east of the Cascades
New Mexico preferably west of the Rio Grande
Utah
California, anywhere north of Bakersfield
Colorado west of the front range
Washington
North Carolina
Tennessee outside Memphis
Nevada outside Vegas
Hawaii
Annapolis as a very easy one hour drive for us. No traffic except occasionally a backup on the Highway 50 bridge. We come up from below, so we don't go near Baltimore. Just Maryland countryside.
Fairfax can be two or three hours depending on DC traffic.
I could see myself retiring to the islands, but man those are out there. Moorea is one of the larger islands and you can drive around it in one of those three wheeled cars in an hour. I think I'd get island fever after a year or two out there. Although the constant influx of topless french girls would be nice.
Since I lived there for 10 years.....
1. Hawaii
2. Hawaii
3. Hawaii
4. Hawaii
5. Hawaii
6. Hawaii
7. Hawaii
8. Hawaii
9. Hawaii
10. Hawaii
1. Hawaii
2. Hawaii
3. Hawaii
4. Hawaii
5. Hawaii
6. Hawaii
7. Hawaii
8. Hawaii
9. Hawaii
10. Hawaii
California (not San Fran or LA)
Florida (not Miami)
Texas
Tennessee
Georgia
North Carolina
Nevada
Hawaii
Not sure after that.
Florida (not Miami)
Texas
Tennessee
Georgia
North Carolina
Nevada
Hawaii
Not sure after that.
We've been spending a lot of time looking in the North Georgia mountains for our future retirement home. Lot of pretty cool beautiful mountain-ish towns.
I go back and forth on how far I'm willing to be from Atlanta. When it gets to be an hour+, and then that's basically two hours from the airport, and I get cold feet.
My daughter is in N. Ga. Lots to be said for it. I love the small towns and how nobody gave you the stinkeye whether you were or weren't wearing a mask. Lotsa good food down there, great state parks, and beautiful country.
No self-respecting meth-head would make a list like this and leave off Iowa, Kentucky and New Mexico.
What if we want to live exactly where we are but want a bunch of chosen family and neighbors/co-workers to leave?
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