Where's the best place to live?
 

...so the car is tucked in for a long winter's night,
and the markets have been bouncing a bit. More and more I've been thinking it's time to cash out of this place and look for a warm beach, or at least a place without snow and where the Porsche livin' is easy 24/7/365.

Europe has a lot to offer, what with everything good (and there's soooo much good) being so accessible, either by train, plane or better yet... porsche. Maybe Valencia, Barcelona or south Portugal.

I've been looking into the options in Mexico and even Cuba, but each of those come with special kinds of baggage.

Are there outstanding locales in the US that I should be openning my eyes to other than the seemingly obvious San Diego area? You know, places where the climate is moderate, the economy ain't backslidin', and the natives are friendly...

not california, go away.

Not here. It sucks here.

Really.

San Diego ain't like it used to be.

Unless you have a lot of money, CA is stressful.

Guess it depends on what you're looking for. This may help:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0028612337/ref=ase_avsearch-bkasin-20/002-5593119-1423251

Best place in the WORLD TO LIVE is Monceito, CA....American Riviera, great climate, ocean views, close to Los Angeles. You just need the panango....$$$$$$$$$$$$....the entry is steep....$50M...but look at it this way U could be Ophra's neighbor and claim to know her housekeeper on a first name basis.

Or maybe Central Coast of CA....San Luis Obisipo area...up around Cambria...property is a bit cheaper now that they have had their earthquake...very beautiful country, a little distant from amenities

Las Vegas if you like the Desert, lots of 24/7/365 entertainment, golf courses, 1st class restruants, gambling, conventions/trade shows and International Airport....LA is 4 hours away by car....property values are climbing rapidily...Everything is close by in the town.

Tucson...another desert town, laid back, good cultural amenities, U of AZ is there. golf courses, restruants, retirement destination. More of a spread out rural feel than the highly planned tract house developments in LV. Phenoix is 90 minutes away wt Airport. Property values on the climb.

Re: Where's the best place to live?
 

Does Libya have a beach? :D

Neverland has promise...

I'd love to live in Scotland, personally.

Had my fill of Los Angeles

California is the best place in the world to live. You have great year-round climate here. (unless you like tornados and torential rains, go to Texas)

You have great mexican food, nearly every culture is represented here. You'll never be bored and its the Porsche capital of the world.

Besides, you can get the best hot dogs on the planet at Pink's (corner of La Brea/Melrose).

Now, I'm gonna eat.

I think I just need to get out of L.A. and move back to Ventura County.

Buy a barn somewhere, raise sheep

not here in No Cal. we have no more room. so cal might take you, if so you can have our water we send down there.

I'm waiting for our NZ and Oz posters to weigh in. If getting away from snow is your bag, forget the Pacific Northwest...it doesn't happen often here in the Willamette Valley, but when it does, it can be a female dog!

Paul, I hear you guys got 7" of snow plus 1" of frozen rain on top of it. Makes fun driving in the P-car, eh? ;)

I have contemplated an emigration to NZ on more than one occasion...

Heard that's tough. I'd go north. Maybe to BC. Canada has all the benefits of the U.S. w/o being a terrorist target.

Makes for no driving in much of anything. TV news out of Portland tonight said supermarkets up there are running out of food. Partly because of panic buying, but partly because trucks simply cant make deliveries. I-84 is closed from Troutdale to Hood River, I-5 is a skating rink North and South of Portland to who knows how far. The airport has been "all flights cancelled" for days. Crossing my fingers for a thaw tomorrow. In a nutshell, Oregon has been pretty much shut down. My Kudos to power company line crews throughout this state. They are doing an amazing job in horrible conditions, restoring power when ice laden limbs or trees topple across the lines. And they are doing this 24-7. Whatever they are being paid, it isn't enough...they are the ones keeping people alive up here.

How often does that happen up there? Yearly? I thought it rarely snowed in the PNW.

They're saying it's the worst storm in Portland in 10+ years. It's ugly here. I just walked 4 blocks to Plaid Pantry and the ice is so thick on top of the snow you don't break through it when you walk.

I know it's nothing like the midwest or the northeast, but we just aren't ready or able to handle these storms. We have very few snowplows so everything but the main highways are nasty.

It got up to 25 degrees today with no east wind. The wind all day yesterday kept the wind chill between 4 and 7 degrees all day.

It's also the first time I've ever seen the mail not be delivered because of the road conditions.

More freezing rain forecast for tonight.

We usually just have a day or two of snow a year which lasts about 24 hours.....

They think the airport might end up being completely shut down until Friday if things don't improve rapidly tomorrow.

Cabin fever officially begins tomorrow at noon!:D

If this happened every year, I'd be gone. Snow itself happens every year, but mostly in the high desert towns east of the Cascade Mountains. Here in the Willamette Valley, snow on the ground is fairly rare...once every couple of years, but it's usually gone by the next day. Mountain passes get snow, lots of it, every year. Think I read somewhere that an inch of rain equals a foot of snow, and we get well over 3 feet of rain per year where I live. Last time I saw krap this bad was mid 1970's for ice...but we had one hell of a blizzard back in '69 that kept things shut down for a couple of weeks. Right now, I'm looking forward to our usual winter weather pattern of temps in the low to mid 40's, and rain...lots of rain! Oregon is a state of many different climates. Before they tore the town down, (another story)Valsetz, Oregon (coast range) was the wettest spot in the lower 48, with an average rainfall of over 14 feet per year. On the other hand, Bend, Oregon, perhaps 150 miles East of Valsetz, gets an annual rain/snow fall (measured as H20) of maybe 12-18" (guessing here...relying on memory from having lived there for a couple of years) and is high desert sagebrush type country.

I'm going to go back to NZ one of these days. I can't even imagine what I could get there for the price of a teeny 2-bedroom home here in SF.

I dream of St. Petes Beach, Fl. That's where I go to vacation & eventually retire.

texas is like california
except it doesnt suck.
we havent gotten a tornado here all year. kansas is where you want to watch out for that. also no massive earthquakes, no energy crisis, no lame duck governor, no new wave liberal eco-crap and so on. ill admit when it rains, it does pour.
if i can say one thing for california though it does seem like there a lot more porsches than in dallas and san diego weather in definately more constant (though i prefer the seasons).

i plan to move to germany. singapore seems nice, costal spain would be fun too i bet

I've got the same up here in the foothills east of Redmond/Seattle - lots of snow and then freezing rain on top of it. My dogs are sliding across the ice when they try to squat and do their thing. Funny to watch, but poor guys.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1073574806.jpg

Anyway, I've struggled a lot with the where to live question. I'm a west coast guy (life long) and love the climate and beaches of San Diego, but the cost of living is high and the CA taxes are even higher!

Central Oregon (Bend) has a nice 4 season sunny climate, but no ocean (for surfing) and it has gotten expensive there too.

My mom and step dad ended up in Southern Oregon, here: No sales taxes and nice 4 season sunny climate - still a few hours to the ocean.

I made a trip down to Tronconnes Mexico a few years ago - beautiful and a lot of American expate's there year around. But, you are living in a third world country for sure. http://www.troncones.com.mx/

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1073665362.jpg

You have to deal with traffic - or live close to work. Gas is still ~ $1.90 for premium, and cost of living is high. But aren't you worth it?

Grew up in San Diego and been in Chicago for 15 years. California ain't what it used to be but still beautiful. You do need dough though to be near that beauty though. And if you're near one of the cities, you may not get to speed much.

Troncones/Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa IS beautiful - growing larger, but still 100 miles of empty beaches to build a home on 10 miles further down the roads. You can drive from Mexico to the US/Canada too. As China wakes up and the EU flexes it's muscles (Airbus), we might be going beyond NAFTA and Mexico could in 20 years be the new Florida/California - land booms, etc. Then again, maybe not....

Never been to Spain, but from what I hear, now that Europeans can move around and work and live elsewhere, Southern Europe is opening up like the American South & West did. It might be starting a Golden Age like California from the 20's - 60's.

I spent nearly 50 years living in SO CAL. I moved to LV 9 months ago.

So CAl when I was growing up was the best place in the world to live. Great weather 365 days a year. You could wake up in the mornining smell the Orange Blossoms, go to the beach in the mornining, be in the mountains at noon, go to the desert in mid afternoon and be Downtown for dinner. The weather hasn't changed, but the Orange Blossoms are gone and it seems everybody has discovered paradise and it's turned into an anthill.

I will fairly shortly have the opportunity again to move to where ever I want to. I know one thing for certain I don't want to move back to the old hood...I've bin there and done that.....

Big Pine Key, Fla.. about 20min north of Key West

Wait a little bit, and you will be able to settle on the moon, if Bush gets reelected :)

Aurel

Problem with Mex. is foreigners can't own land there. The country reclaims it after 99 yrs., so if you're planning to pass down your palatial hacienda three generations from now, it might be a bit hard there.

So much for Cardenas and the Chiquita Banana War in 1942. :(

Big Pine Key is like another country.

my home town is the kind of place that parents don't let there kids come to.. to visit friends and hang out. because of the decadence..

Wifes don't want their husbands to hang in Big Pine Key..
There are many many reasons for that...

tax haven states, etc, etc. are being eye-balled by 70mill educated baby boomers. go figure

I want a home base with access to anywhere.. for as long as I want, whenever I want.

But Lee..
I just read a good science 2p article on deserts. I think it's good enough to mention.. It's in Science News. and maybe send me an e-mail for a scan.

SmileWavy

Ken, you wimp! You know you live in the best place...1 hour from the rockies, world class skiing, great beer, 70MPH speed "limit", hot Canadian women that need to keep warm all winter.
And best of all, opening up the garage in spring to fire that puppy up, hearing that growl, and re-living the first drive experience every year!

Suck it up and have a cold one!

Since I moved to the desert everything has (eventually) has bin goin my way.... House up in value (barring legal suit) the same as the old one in CA on less money invested, Difference in money invested is earning 7% @. Legal suit will go my way...The Stock Market is finially goin my way. No State Income tax, Cheaper cost of living (somewhat). And I get to talk to you boyz all the time! What could be better?? Just need to fix the ole rust finder..an get it going again!

I'm in escrow on this place:

http://www.canadaygroup.com/listings/listing_details.cfm?LstID=367

Good bye Calyfornia :D

Sunset Magazine just came out with the best places to live in the West issue. For neighborhoods, the one I live in was choosen the best. I don't know why as it is just like many other older 'historic' districts in SoCal like Pasadena or downtown Huntington Beach.

Best new developement was in New Mexico, I believe.

Molokai No stop signs you will know everyone in about a month. Honolulu is 20min away. A house can be had for $150k. Beaches are empty, great fishing .Diving, Hunting. Steve

LMAO!
that place can hold back orcs!

The house in "The Surreal Life?"

In a perfect world, I'd like to split my time between Maui and Antibes, France.

Heh, wait until our dollar, which is doing famously against the US$ at the moment, to plunge back down to US$0.50 and take the plunge. We have relative parity for cost-of-living, with the exception of P-cars, which are insanely expensive here. Get liquid and then double your nett worth, instantly!

Check out some Australian property prices and see what your dollar will buy you guys here. You will be impressed. $500k here will buy some very nice property. Our weather is superb, our food & wine are world class and not many of us are anything like Steve Erwin (buffoon).

One of our states even has unrestricted highways! No speed limit!! We even speak the same language (almost!) and girls like American accents. ;)

Lots of space here, guys... :)