Also, Hawaii or New Zealand, some other island paradise sounds awesome unless you have kids that want to visit you. Thousands of dollars to fly kids and grandkids every time isn't a very viable option in my opinion.

Where?

His name is Cal Uber Alles.

I didn’t quote it, but pac man summed it up pretty well. I rarely disagree with his view on things.

He does tell it like it is in fewer words than I can.

Do you like:

The kind of weather where the summertime humidity affords you the ability to not take a shower because you'll be soaking wet after 10 minutes outside?

Winter that can occasionally be bitter cold, but is usually just "generally cold" with nice, slushy snowfall?

Severe thunderstorms all summer long, occasional tornado warnings and (every now and then) a nice hurricane....with a couple multi-day power outages thrown in for good measure?

Leaving for the 90 mile drive to the shore on a Wednesday, and returning on a Saturday or Tuesday in order to avoid the traffic?

Getting honked at anytime you don't move the absolute split-second a light turns green?

Having no ability to turn right at a red light...like almost ever?

Toll roads that are basically your only route to many places....that are just as congested as the non-toll options?

Taking comfort in the fact that getting anywhere is at least a 15 minute drive filled with stop signs, lights and traffic?

Paying 10k-15k per year in property taxes?

Living in a twin?

Watching parents get kicked out of high school and youth sporting events for being abusive to the refs, coaches and players?

Having the only nearby food option after a pro sporting event be a Chickies and Pete's and the buffet at one of your many "Gentlemen's Clubs"?

Really good train service, so long as you don't mind riding the train 20 miles into the city to jump on another train and ride 20 miles back.....to end up in a town 5 miles away from where you started?

Having easy access to that hotbed of activity: Wilmington, Delaware (hey, no sales tax!)?

......then move to beautiful Delaware County, Pennsylvania! You're welcome.

I’ve been looking at houses in Idaho lately.

I'm going to go watch a few more episodes of House Hunters and I'll get back to you.

CA may have its issues but I visited Riverside, CA today and I liked it.
9FA2A8CE-00F0-48C9-8BF1-D6008925BF49 (resized).jpeg

How about Brisbane QLD (Australia), good pinball scene too.

But then you’d be in Massachusetts ...

Lots of gangs and murders in Riverside and neighboring cities like Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Bernardino

Similar to the guy that posted pics of those lovely hills over Los Angeles.

Not sure about the crime stats but I felt safe in the area I was in. That mountain I posted is about a mile from my motel. I walked there and there were lots of families walking up the mountain to watch the sunset. On my way back I caught a moonlit concert in the park for 9/11 for seniors and then walked by a culinary school where all the chefs could be seen through the windows working on pastries and cakes. Downtown Riverside is kind of quaint with some nice little restaurants and shops. Anyway, I’m just a visitor but it all made a good impression on me.

I wasn't aware of that. It still seems like bigger house, less money, than here.

It's too easy to generalize. There are going to be good areas and bad areas wherever you go. Glad you enjoyed your stay and took in some of the local culture.

The only problem I have with Riverside is it gets so darn hot out there blocked from the ocean breeze we sorta get.

Not sure if it’s already been mentioned, but NicoVolta actually toured most of the country (and some of Canada) and in part was looking for a new place to live. You might read some of his thread about what he found out about various states. Everyone is looking for something different, but some good insight about different parts of the country in that thread (sorry, I don’t have the link handy).

No no you're suppose to hate California, it's the in thing to do apparently. Can't say I understand people's random hate and bizarre generalizations but what do I know, I'm just another immigrant.

To the op, if crime is a concern though then you can check crime per capita data which is publicly available. One example:

https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-dangerous-states-in-america/

So the top ten states to avoid as far as crime per capita are:

1) New Mexico
2) Alaska
3) Louisiana
4) Arkansas
5) Tennessee
6) South Carolina
7) Alabama
Arizona
9) Oklahoma
10) Missouri

Of course that's at a macro level so really you'd be best served visiting places in person and spending time there, not as a vacation but actually as if you intend to live there. The reality is often people do not have your interests in mind, instead they want to spew whatever bile fits their narrative which results in all sorts of generalizations that are just plain wrong at best, and downright deceiving at worst. If I listened to people I never would have moved to LA, so let me tell you I'm glad I ignored the haters and visited this place in person, I'm never leaving.

So go there in person, experience the local flavor and see what works for you. There's more to a city than what random people spew on the internet, what works for one person may not work for another, it really depends on what you value in life. For me there are some basics:

1) Won't do humidity.
2) Won't do winter.
3) I need large variety in terms of cultures, language and people.
4) Need great weather.
5) Need lots of sunshine.
5) Need tolerance and acceptance, I like being able to eat lunch with a lady friend that may be wearing fishnets and orange hair without being harassed.
6) Need tech jobs
7) Won't do thug life, so no crime.
Needs hills and valleys in the landscape.
9) Driving friendly.
10) Endless things to do.

Of course that's my list, it may have zero bearing on your requirements in which case my opinions are of no use to you. It's like when people ask what pinball machine they should buy, I mean really, who the hell knows?!? Everyone is different.

Anywhere within an hour or two of Madison wisconsin. Great areas to raise a family.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

There is a reason Texas dominates the "best places to live" lists every year.

Google Cary, NC.
That's what we did 12 years ago, best places to live in the US for young families. Ended up outside of Cary and could not be happier.

Based on the places I have visited Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee!

South or north suburbs of Indianapolis IN is a good place. Affordable housing, good schools but we do have hot summers and snow in the winter.

That's totally cool, that's why you need your *own* personal data points to determine what works for you and why generically asking "What city?" on it's own just can't get you a good result.

For example, for those ok with winter I'd often recommend my home town of Montreal, Canada because it's stupid cheap to live there, cheap homes, full health care, one year paid maternity leave, dirt cheap daycare for kids, dirt cheap schools and universities, extremely safe to live, endless festivals, endless food options, tons of farmers markets for healthy food, and so on. However it's also an extremely liberal city meaning you may potentially see a woman leading a man around on a leash while waiting for the metro, people making out in parks, pride parades, ladies wearing thigh high boots in shopping malls, people wearing extremely skimpy outfits, etc. It's not for everyone hence why just blindly recommending it could do more harm than good, it has to be to a persons particular needs which is something only you will know in detail.

Moved to Annapolis last year after dreaming of moving here for about 20 years. It probably would not make your list because it is expensive, but it is much cheaper than where I lived in Montgomery County.

The Pros are outstanding though:

Chesapeake Bay (we live on the water, which is sweet)
More history than most places in America (founded 1640)
Home of the US Naval Academy (something awesome about seeing all of these great young leaders)
Awesome weird mix of being more conservative than some parts of MD but also being more bohemian and accepting. People are more into outdoor living, navy football, etc compared to how much you make.
People wear topsiders (don’t you dare call them Sperrys) not to be trendy, but because you need positive traction on boats. Same for Helly Hansen and similar brands.
I can be in DC for meetings in 45 mins.
Delicious, delicious crabs.

Just curious, what sort of weird sex are small children forced to learn about in California? Seems pretty reasonable to me... https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/he/cf/cahealthfaq.asp

I've lived all over the country and I find the more you put into the city you live in, the more you get out of it... Regardless of region, weather, or political makeup.

https://www.aclunc.org/docs/lgbtq_inclusivity_requirements_and_how_they_interact_with_parental_opt_out.pdf

http://www.fulcrum7.com/news/2019/4/28/r5zja9p8siqmk3nqf2ujyyjrsfv02r

There's more, but it gets quite graphic. The "progressives" in charge of CA schools are trying to indoctrinate our kids into thinking this crap is normal. But really its just brain washing to try to increase their pool of eligible targets to prey upon also known as "grooming".

Switzerland checks all this amd more

Top contenders meeting your exact criteria on the outskirts of major population centers:
1. Texas on the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Dallas.
2. Colorado on the I-25 corridor south of Denver but north of Colorado Springs.
3. Tennessee on the I-40 corridor between Nashville and Cookeville.

Top contenders outside of major population centers.
1. Virginia Shenandoah valley on I-81 corridor between Roanoke and Bristol
2. Pennsylvania in any town within 50 miles of Lancaster.

I personally live in Maryland between DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis for work, but if I was guaranteed remote work forever I'd move my family to one of those locations.

You forgot the worst bad....TRAFFIC! That’s pretty much my only gripe. Then again I regularly commute from Clearwater to Orlando.

Other than that. I love FLA

I'm biased of course, but I have traveled all over this great country, and experienced a lot of places. Raleigh, NC has been fantastic for our family. We live in the County (no city taxes), we're 10 minutes from a growing downtown, 1.5 hours from the beach, 2.5 hours from the mountains, and the business climate both for large and small businesses is stupendous. Raleigh is routinely voted top 10 places to live and has won the US World and News rankings twice, I believe. NC gets a bad rap for education, and it's not always unwarranted, but Wake County (Raleigh) is one of the best school districts.

We do have mild winters, and brutally humid summers for about 1 month (mid July to Mid August). If you have bad allergies be aware of pollen season every year, which turns everything a hazy yellow for about 2 weeks. But from March to June and September to November, it's always very pleasant.

As an unbiased opinion, of all my places of travel, some of the nicer places:

Texas (But brutally hot in the summer) - Best political atmosphere for me
Florida (But brutally humid in the summer and hurricanes) - Best climate for me
Arizona (Also hot) - Best people
New Mexico - Prettiest Scenery

I hear Guam is lovely year round.

Where is here?

If your really into batman, should definitely live here!!

bat_cave2 (resized).jpg

I'd rather live in Mianus than Uranus.

Have lived in Michigan all my life but Arizona does sound really nice. An old coworker of mine moved to the Phoenix area and loves it. Sure it gets hot in the summer (at least it's a dry heat from what I hear) but he can also golf all year round while up here in Michigan we are stuck inside 5 months out of the year and dealing with some of the worst condition roads in the country. I got a chance to talk to him a while back and he said none of his neighbors actually grew up in Arizona but rather moved there from other states like he did.

Isn’t it just Austin every year? And I got the impression the rest of Texas hates Austin?

Michigan is worse! All the lake effect snow comes this way and people aren't as nice.

5 months a year? Where I'm at it's 7 months a year! My mother and step father had a place in Oro Valley AZ for a few years and they loved it!

Maybe you should want for them whatever makes them happy, not what makes you happy.

Louisiana!!

Great people, food, music, fishing. Low taxes and low cost of living. Centrally located, close to lots of other great states, plenty to do.

I lived in California for five years, almost bought half a crappy duplex next to train tracks for $400k in 2003 and realized holy shit this is stupid. My house and 9 acres here cost less than half that.

Gas is $1.99 a gallon here right now!

But mostly the food. Crawfish season can’t come soon enough.

Grew up in Wisconsin, lived in NY and Chicago many years, moved to Charlotte area 5 years ago, it’s amazing. Live in the burbs about a 15 mile / 30 minute commute to the city center. Homes have gone up in price but are still at least 25% less than Wisconsin and like 40% less than Chicago area. Property taxes (outside Mecklenburg county) are insanely low. Schools (outside Mecklenburg county ) are great. If you want to live close to the City in a good school district get ready to pay a lot. The summer is hot yes but it’s a million times better than painful insufferable northern
Midwest winters. Never again in my life!!

It’s really hard to beat Huntington Beach, CA. Weather report: 75 to 80 degrees and sunny. Every day of the year. Everlasting beaches with 100 yards of sand filled with bikini-clad girls. Surf in the morning, drive 90 minutes to Big Bear and ski in the afternoon. All of the culture of Los Angeles is only 30 miles away. Of course it takes 2 hours to drive there, but still. Bike riding would be awesome but the drivers are so idiotic your chances of being run over and killed are pretty high. Not that it matters because the vagrants (often labeled as homeless) use bicycles as the driver of their economy so any and all bicycles are immediately stolen just after purchase. It is basically not a crime to steal anything valued at less than $950 so anything you leave out or in your car is gone. Police won’t arrest anyone for taking drugs, dealing drugs, stealing bicycles, etc because they are just given a ticket and released back on the streets in 10 minutes. The vagrants are on every corner begging for money. They usually have better clothes and phones than me. They set up encampments built with blue tarps everywhere and threaten everyone who walks buy. And yes they poop in the streets. Houses are comfy but very small. You can get a basic one for $800,000 or so. Something nicer is more of course. There is high sales tax, high income tax, high gasoline tax, but we have Prop 13 so property tax is reasonable. Assuming you bought your house 20-30 years ago that is. The state of course is run buy some of the most incredibly stupid and idiotic people on the face of the earth. It’s a great place to live. Literally and I am not joking the #1 topic of discussion of everyone who lives here is “where in the hell can we go to get out of here”. Please get me out.

Housing in Colorado will make your wallet bleed. My house has doubled in value in 7 years and I haven't done shit to it and it's in arguably worse shape then when it was bought.

Boy,I sure would like to comment on this thread,but what I would say would probably cause a shit storm! My paradise was the city of Oakland!! Look at it now And thats what folks are running from!! Good luck,there is no place to hide from what is to come,sorry!!!