Quoted from CLEllison:

Great subject and very hard to answer honestly due to some rules of this site. Before I get rolling let it be made clear I am a tolerant person. I believe in respecting someone's beliefs even though I may not agree. I simply ask for tolerance be reciprocated. I saw one person mention where I currently live. Oregon. I dont care where you live the #1 thing that can make or break a place is politics.
The bad: (as a whole this part matters)
This state as a whole is mind numbingly out of control. (Blanket statement alert) People are vicious and down right rude. The city of Portland is a straight up shitfest. Homeless issue out of control, needles laying all over the place, after dark the real "prize winners" come out. Should your political beliefs differ you WILL be attacked "at a minimum verbally". It's completely intolerant. Traffic is beyond ridiculous. Rent/home prices are ridiculous.
Run by a mayor that encourages violent protests and restrains the police from doing their jobs. Judges that slap wrists... repeat offenders get back on the street in a matter of hours.
The good:
Pinball scene is really big here. About an hour from the beach. About an hour to the mountains. Hiking and general outdoor activities. Hunting big game. Dunes for avid ATV enthusiasts.
The neutral:
Weather depends on where you physically live.
You can drive 15 minutes and be arsehole deep in snow or simply get a dusting of snow. Drive an hour or so East and be in desert and a COMPLETELY different political ideology.
In closing, if you enjoy large crowds with crap attitudes, barely being able to afford to live then you will adore Portland Oregon. If you don't then look at Eastern Oregon. Less snow, more tolerance
For me, Idaho is on my radar as I enjoy freedom, heat and blue skies. I've also looked at New Zealand however super expensive to live, dual citizenship allowed, must possess a skill they find worthy to gain citizenship.

Quoted from golfingdad1:

What part ?
I've been looking

Quoted from golfingdad1:

Exactly, i was looking Idaho Falls area as well.
I'm a big skier, but the eastside of the state is really cold. Really cold.

Quoted from Chitownpinball:

You all live in an uninhabitable climate. The poster child for waste and pollution. I cannot disagree with this more.

Im sick, I love winter. I like to hunker down, have fires, cuddle up. Makes being in the basement for hours on the weekend much more tolerable when it isnt as inviting to go out. Also makes me appreciate the warmer times even more. ALSO NO BUGS IN THE WINTER.

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

Bay Area has prettygood weather, but I think San Diego has better weather. Sunny 75 year round. Something like that.

Quoted from jorge5240:

I live in the Bay Area which sucks. I hate it here. Here for the kids and job.
Goal is to move to our vacation home eventually. It is in California but is relatively inexpensive, homes can be had for 300k, no traffic and on a lake. Get all the joys of California (weather, scenery, etc) without the insane prices.
I have tried to find some place better (visit a different state every year) but nothing compares for our life style.
Only 14 more years to go!![quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from jorge5240:

I do believe California has good qualities. Where I want to eventually live is more conservative than anywhere I went in Texas or Tennessee plus no humidity. You can find one stop light towns in California, you just have to look.
Sure some things are still more expensive (gas) but the trade off of scenery, weather are are worth the added costs for me and I have built that in to my retirement. If I find somewhere better I may jump ship but I don’t see it happening.

Quoted from usandthem:

That's neat if you can do it. Move to a dream location with all your loved ones. It's probably highly impractical or near impossible for most to pick up roots like that. What about established careers, churches that you attend, doctors, etc.?

There seems to be a lot of cognitive dissonance on this thread. I see a lot of people saying that they love a particular place (except for the liberals) or except for the diversity and all sorts of nonsense like that. The desirability of a location is the sum of many factors. Did you ever stop to think that much of the success of the Bay Area and the fact that a 1000 sq. ft. home costs more than a million bucks is largely because of those awful liberals and their terrible tech companies that pay a median salary of 250K a year? You know those liberals who value education, parks and rec services, a clean environment (well, the best that you can make it with so many people packed into such a small area)? Be careful what you wish for. If the Bay Area were more conservative, it might look more Mississippi instead.

Quoted from fosaisu:

The rich/highly educated demographic in the US now leans solidly democratic. Pinside’s userbase leans conservative and probably has higher than average income given it’s an expensive hobby, so maybe that’s throwing you off. But your stereotype doesn’t match up with reality anymore.

I would guess polling would bear you out on some of these issues (education) but not on others (diversity, the environment). Unless you meant that some individual conservatives care deeply about all of these issues even if conservatives as a whole rank them below other issues, in which case fair enough.

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

You're the one who gets moderated? Wow
Good post by the way. Right on point.
Seems like nobody has mentioned Hawaii. I've read Hawaii is the #1 Happiest State. Arguably prettiest state as well. No love here?
Great thread if we can keep it on track.

Quoted from SimpleSam:

Yes, no gun laws would be best but our recently elected governor is not as freedom oriented as his predecessors.
I wrote about five different cities I had lived in and you focused on three words. Those three words may not be important to you but they are to me as well as many others who are fleeing CA for greener pastures which is why I thought it relevant. I don't want to get into a gun control debate, you can always try Democratic Underground (for an echo chamber) or AR15.com (for well researched opinions different than yours) if you'd like to discuss guns.
Back on topic, I wish I had moved out of CA when my children were young so we could have been established in an area where they might have stayed. The main economic problem with CA is that there are two extremes; places that are affordable with few jobs (Central Valley) and places that are incredibly expensive but with good paying jobs (Bay Area, LA). The house in San Jose that I grew up in (60 years old, 1,500 square feet, ok neighborhood) just sold for $1.5 million. Even in the tech industry, the kind of salaries needed to afford that are rare and would require two highly compensated people to afford it. Of course people just spend half their income on their housing or live in hovels but what kind of life is that? Average income people end up living in lower cost areas (like Modesto) and commuting into the areas with lots of jobs (like the Bay Area). Spending several hours per day commuting is common in CA. I sure hope my sons end up in some place where they have opportunities and I can afford to retire to.

Quoted from Methos:

I've never been to the Bay area, but those that I know that liked it. Why are you concerned that your kids won't experience the same there anymore?

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

Still plenty of houses in the East Bay for $600k-$800k. Condos <$500k. Depends on the city. Still not cheap. SF, Silicon Valley, fuggetaboudit!

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

Actually not true. This is my business. You dont NEED $1M+ to get a good house/neighbood/schools in the Bay Area. It's easy to make generalizations about housing in the Bay Area, but not every city and town here is outrageous. Most simply don't know the entire area.
Anyway, despite all its charms I don't wish to retire here. Where else can I get good weather , not too hot or too cold, no harsh winters, low humidity?

Quoted from jeffro01:

Only much of what you call out here is subjective... I live in Martinez, in a house built in this century for less than $750K. My sons school is awesome and our area is safe. So I'm confused by your post...
Jeff

Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

Gotta agree with Jeffro here. You're basically telling everyone here in the Bay Area who lives in a <$1.5M property that their home & neighborhood are sub-par, which is false and a little offensive. Even for "your area", where my offices are located, I don't concur.
Here's an example of a property I sold in your area for around $1M (see photo). Good condition. 4-bedrooms. 1/4 acre. Wasn't Brand New, hence the nice-sized lot. Most of the new home developments have postage stamp lots where you can pass the Gray Poupon to your neighbor through the window and smell each others' farts. And they cost at least 30% more than the resale homes. I generally don't recommend those.
New custom home on large lot? Sure. Big bucks. $1.5M-$2M+.
I just don't like this false narrative that you've got to be loaded to own a decent property here. Way too many people hear that and believe that and never even try to become homeowners, which is sad because they're getting bent over on rent and missing the boat.
[quoted image]

Quoted from SimpleSam:

You do realize that the $1 million house you are showing is $200K to $400K in big chunks of the country, right? While people in the bay area, if they are in a high demand field, make more money, they don't make five times as much. The reality is, outside of people in highly compensated professions, most people are better off with a lower paying job in a much lower cost community. The only catch is that they can't ski and surf in the same day.
This is what a million bucks buys in Reno. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/14501-Quail-Rock-Ct_Reno_NV_89511_M21978-63653?view=qv[quoted image]

Quoted from vicjw66:

You know nothing Jon Snow.
SoCal has everything including the best pizza places. It’s got the best food in the world, the best weather in the world, the best entertainment in the world. Try Lamppost pizza and their wings. Best ever. Sure our homeless problem has gotten pretty bad the last few years, but that’s because homeless are being dumped here by the jack booted nazis that plague many of the other states. Would you rather deal with the homeless, or all the religious racists? That’s what it comes down to.