Quoted from iceman44:

Texas is pretty F ing big, i'm quite sure you haven't "driven through" my Texas!

Quoted from kirkgun:

I just moved away from Charlotte. I lived there for 7 years.
Home prices were incredibly low, but have increased for a couple years now. I found the winters be very mild, very little snow, however native Chaloteans believe that their winter weather is as bad as Antarctica. The summers were terrible. I love 'warm'. But for about 90 straight days in the summer, it is hot and humid. Period.
I don't have kids, but I believe the education system is pretty crappy, unless you are going to be living in an economically exclusive neighborhood. Then it's probably awesome. Which probably is similar to many other highly populated places.
I hated driving anywhere there.
I met many awesome folks who became friends. But I was not happy there. "Southern culture" is not my cup of tea. We literally jumped at the opportunity to relocate to Reno, NV.
I'm loving Reno so far. But I have only been here a couple months. Home prices are roughly double Charlotte though. That was a big challenge for us. I don't think you'd be happy with the 'median income' here. It's pretty trashy. And I think the schools suck here too.
I can heavily recommend Iowa City, IA. But the winters can be rough some years.

Quoted from snaroff:Wishful thinking. Try nice 4-5 months out of the year (max). I live there part time...couldn't take it full-time.

Agreed (and I've lived in CT, NY, NC, Salt Lake City, San Jose/CA, Sunnyvale/CA, Fremont/CA).
If CA were so "crappy", the real estate prices wouldn't be so high! Most of the people that complain about CA have never lived here!

Quoted from pascal-pinball:

and Monaco?
The whole country is on this picture.[quoted image]

Quoted from o-din:

Carolinas are beautiful. They have cool city names like Winston Salem and Hickory.

Quoted from cmack750:

And don't forget the Gem States OTHER gem....[quoted image]

Quoted from Chisox:

I know the OP will not pick Illinois because of the weather but I implore the rest of you readers, do NOT move here. It SUCKS and most of us are leaving.

Quoted from o-din:

I take it you've never seen the roads of Compton.[quoted image]

Quoted from JodyG:

I was actually thinking hard about Del Boca Vista, but I am not old enough yet.

Quoted from JodyG:

Love it out there, just not sure I could ever make the move to CA. I spent 10 days chasing and photographing trains up the mountain from San Bernardino and out into the desert by you a few years ago before the big fire. Beautiful part of the country![quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from pinmister:

My brother and sister live on Maui and are always trying to convince me of moving there. It is a beautiful place but it would probably be worse than living in the middle of Wyoming in terms of a pinball desert. Imagine trying to buy, trade or sell games on an island-this thought has actually been a determining factor for me. It is expensive in most parts but there are tons of job opportunities, especially in the construction industry. I have to say out of all the places I have visited the people of Hawaii are the kindest and most outgoing. The spirit of the locals is what makes it special for me.

Quoted from SimpleSam:

I grew up in San Jose, Ca (and still have family there), lived in Sacramento, CA for a few years while active duty in the USAF, lived in a suburb of Dayton, OH after graduating from college, lived and raised my family in Modesto, Ca, and am currently living in Reno, NV.
There's not enough money in the world to get me to move back to San Jose. Even if you can afford it, it is still ridiculously crowded with constant traffic.
Sacramento wasn't bad when I lived there but it was a lot smaller back then. Although hot in the summer, it is pleasant the rest of the year. There are plenty of job opportunities and the cost of housing is much lower than the bay area.
The most important thing I learned living in Dayton was that plenty of people live full and complete lives even though they can't surf and ski in the same day. It was definitely not an exciting town with lots of wealthy people and great weather like San Jose but I still liked it.
I had moved back to San Jose when I was offered a job in Modesto. I jumped at it and, like Dayton, was able to live a full and complete life in spite of it being a cow town in the Central Valley.
We ended up in Reno when we followed our oldest son who went to UNR. We love it here but ultimately will probably end up wherever our children land. Reno is a small city so there is little traffic. Because it is the gateway to the Lake Tahoe area and a gaming town, there are a lot more entertainment options than you would expect for a city of its' size. Being close to Lake Tahoe, there's world class skiing, lots of water sports, hiking and mt bike trails, camping, etc; definitely an outdoor paradise. The biggest downside to Reno is there just aren't that many jobs. Pinball wise, we only have one significant arcade (Press Start) although we're about 2 hours from Sacramento (in good weather!). No state income tax, sane gun laws (for a little longer), and more freedom oriented citizens are just bonuses.

Quoted from SimpleSam:

We really like it, I hope your son does as well. Having a good job is a key to happiness anywhere.
The GSR is a nice property. During Hot August Nights, they have a huge car show and are the host for the free concert.
Speaking of Hot August Nights, that's another great thing about Reno; lots of big festivals. It seems like every other weekend, Virginia Street is closed for a party. This weekend is Street Vibrations and two weeks ago was the air races. There's so much to do.

Quoted from nvu4prod:

^^^^ . Both parents work
in high tech while the grandparents take care of their siblings.

Quoted from PtownPin:

Not my experience, but my expectations might be different. I've been developing land in the inner Bay Area for 25+ years, and if u want to live next to good jobs, be a great school district, low crime, live in a nice home, and not have to commute for hours yours paying well over $1.5M+ .... yes in some areas u can find half way decent 25+ year old track homes for close to a $1M, but their not great places to live.

Quoted from John-Floyd:

Anywhere but Illinois

Quoted from Strummy:

They have nice camp grounds no?