santa fe?

tons of sun, altitude takes an edge off the summer heat, near green in the mountains part of new mexico, plenty of 'arts' in the area, wonderful opera house, green chillies, etc.

and elk huntin' too Bernie!
Troy

I hear San Antonio is nice - never been there.

Central coast of Ca. is high on my list... but for vash there is no opera or high end type of entertainment. I could get by on the local bar bands.

Portland Or. has the entertainment and the outdoors... but then there is the weather.

I would move to Cambria tomorrow if I could.

A second vote for Santa Fe, NM.

i do love santa fe. i was under the impression that it was big bucks.

i have land in ruidoso NM that i plan to build a cabin on.

my folks are now in SF,NM retired since 2000. they lover it there, and had been wanting to make the mover since we left NM in 1968.

family already had property there, they got to build on the upper half of lot. they split the original lot, with my uncle getting my grandparents original house on his half.
they used a contractor that already builds a couple different models that they use for bigger housing developments. they were able to customize a standard format to their needs. saved a ton overr going with custom builder & architect.
they have a very modest 3bed/2bath that suits their needs and allows room for guests when me and my sister visit over the holidays. next door neighbor was trying to sell their older very large home for $10 million for a few years but gave up long before the housing bust. decided to stay they liked the area too much to leave. so you can find something for any kind of budget out there.

some parts of living there are more expensive. but having come from Seattle they probably came out ahead considering the cost of living up here now.

this winter has been very mild. but two years ago:eek:

oh yea, my "utopia" has very lenient conceal carry laws...i'll be old, and slow. cant punch, or run....SHOOT!

Well Oregon's CC laws are pretty good. Pro-gun sheriff in my town.
Troy

Melbourne, Australia?

We love Seattle, and it meets many of your criteria. But yes, the winters can be quite rainy and gray. We had a few good snow falls this year, and it was nice actually.

I hear Australia and NZ are hard on immigration?

Eureka, CA

Several posts have mentioned Austin / San Antonio areas. Both great cities in the TX hill country with booming economies (or were anyway). Not in tornado alley or hurricane areas. Mild winters but summers can be brutal (hot / humid for weeks on end). Lots to do and many good places to eat but not sure about the ballet/opera bit ??

For fishing, a 3 hour drive to the coast for some of the best fishing there is.
Hunting: kabillions of deer in the hill country but very expensive to hunt. There is no public hunting land in TX for all intent and purposes. Want to hunt? Pay through the nose for a lease. Hunting is big business here.

No state income tax but highest homeowners insurance rates in the country, same for electricity. Also property and school taxes are high to make up for no income tax. Since our state idiots voted to deregulate electricity in 2002 we've gone from some of the least expensive to most expensive electric rates in the country. Home prices are very reasonable however.

Austin is relatively liberal politically. San Antonio leans to the conservative but nothing like Dallas or Houston.

No place else in TX to even consider.

Boca del vista

Flagstaff, AZ ?

Eugene, OR

Vash, I"ve lived in MI, WI, NH, WA , and NV by far Hills of Nevada come the closest.. no state income taxes, there is theatre in Reno ( ok the chicks have no teeth,, but work with me here), pretty good hunting, mild winters, world class biking, kayaking, skiing, boating..
You need to come on over and hang with me one if these weekends ( prefferably this fall and we'll chukar hunt)

What are you talking about? The hottest chicks I've ever seen are in Reno. Too bad they're all strippers.

Believe it or not.... Idaho Falls...budding downtown arts culture, four seasons and land. If you want small town and AWAY we a 4 acres in Ashton Idaho, 1200 people, 45 minutes from Yellowstone or Jackson Hole, and potato seed capitol of the world....winter are harsh though. Boise is really nice too.