ok, well I must be at 9.5 then :D

My area scores a 9 out of 10. The -1 point thanks to the clowns in SAC town. I have travelled (1M+ miles) most of my life and can't imagine living anywhere else. YMMV.

I think Baz wins.

Not even close with ALL those people packed on that island...and I've seen "the waves" in FL (used to live there)...there aren't any to speak of :D. Although the "Outer Banks" of NC has been "ruined" by development in recent decades...for east coast beaches/surfing...it doesn't get much better and is not a fustercluck of people (yet)...particularly off season (my favorite time).

Plenty of Porsches and great country back roads are a few miles from my house.
Have a wonderful group of neighbors, all with plenty of extra beer in the garage fridge.
Beach is 2 hour drive, mountains about 4.
70 MPH speed limit on the highway I take to work.
A lot less stressful vs. living on Long Island.
When we do get a significant snowfall, most folks understand it may take a few days before a plow shows up and just deal with it without whining.

Negatives.
School system has some issues (like most states)-Teachers have not have a raise in 3 to 4 years and the state/county keep trimming back on the school budget.
Ice Storms
NJ Drivers migrating down here ;-)

I would rather live in Brooklyn or NYC again, maybe 2014.

Boston pros:
very high quality of life, lot of interesting things to learn, explore, do
no one bothers you much
very low crime
clean
close to NH mountains
strong economy
no riff raff, very few morons
overall great weather from April to November
best or second best schools/education in the country

Cons:
poor BBQ

LOL....thanks Bill. I didn't know this was a contest!

Just because I love where I am - doesn't mean it's a good fit for others and vice-versa.

For me it's a perfect fit.

As for the surf here, KC......we have WARM WATER and plenty of good surf year round. Not necessarily what one would call "world class" but then again we don't have the "world class" crowds in the water either. :)

BTW I have surfed many times in the Outer Banks and for power it cannot be equaled anywhere on the East Coast. I was fortunate enough to go there a lot in the 70's before it was 'ruined' by development as you stated. It's like that all over pretty much - even here we have those stupid condos at The Inlet which stick out like a sore thumb.

I gotta tell you though I can go surfing and be by myself a lot of the days here. And we can drive on the beach too - which is a real advantage in going surfing. The best break though (The Inlet) is a 15 minute walk........

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...788_2097_n.jpg

:p

I give Denver a 7.5

Pro's:
Close to the mountains.
Great drives.
Great off-roading.
Great hiking, skiing, fishing and many other outdoor activities.
Great microbreweries.
All the economic and cultural amenities of any city.

Con's:
Too much traffic.
Too many people.
Too far from a beach.
Relatively expensive.

Of course I was just funnin' witcha :D. It's just dang depressing when I see an OBX sticker on a SUV these daze...at least "we" have our memories of how it once was. Walk for miles in either direction and "maybe" see a lone fisherman or two..."our" version of paradise...gone forever :rolleyes:

Imho a burger from the Cherry Cricket would easily help to round that up to an 8. :D

Ian

Miserable, but I made it slightly more tolerable by moving out of the city (Ottawa) and into a small town just south where I could have some land and privacy. Much friendlier area but I still have to make the trek into rude-city every day for work.

British Columbia is home and Eastern Ontario is a personal hell.

Only 17 more years 'til retirement...

I have to say a 4 for Austin. While there are many things to do for entertainment, but the politics of the City largely ruin it.

Pros:
F1
Live Music
West Austin Scenery
Friendly People
Fresh Crop of Freshman Girls Yearly

Cons:
City Management
Traffic and Lack of Highway Infrastructure
Dopers on Bicycles
Monopolized Utility Service
Terrible Drivers

MD is generally a good place to be. Water is a big part of my life and it's in my backyard. I can be in the mountains (east coast mountains) in ~2hrs and at the ocean in 1.5hrs. Annapolis has good food, music, boats.... Traffic is a bear but there is tons of work here, especially IT and govt. Good mountain biking is 30 min away, several good paved bike paths...

Open space is getting scarce and traffic, hard to believe it can get worse but I know it will.
8/10

KC - no worries I know you were kidding. We do have some great memories and those are important.

Double exposure pic (I was experimenting with photography at that time) of me in front of the lighthouse.

This was mid-70's before they moved it further inland.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto..._8074718_n.jpg

4 of 10 here in SW O-Hi-O. Positives are a nice quiet neighborhood and proximity to family. But I'm hating my job, winters, and it's waaaay too conservative for us.

Next year we're moving to...

Other than winter (i.e. 9 months of rain and gray), I think the weather is just about perfect (mild, temperate climate). And so much green and out door life. Plus the proximity to great hikes, beaches, vineyards...all kinds of great stuff.

I think that climate is a pretty big deal, along with natural beauty/lack thereof and proximity to large cities/financial centers for most people. Los Angeles has either the best or worst combination of these depending on whether you can tolerate the number of people. I'm a big city guy, so it's not a problem for me. People who like big cities figure out how to carve out a *micro life* for themselves amongst millions of other people. My circle of close friends and the number of places I go on a normal day is the same as if I lived in a much smaller town, but there are also world-class activities and destinations close by if and when I choose.

Some of the place mentioned sound pretty appealing. I've always been intrigued by the Carolinas and that part of the SE seaboard. It just seems very nice. I have to explore it sometime. Colorado is probably my second favorite state after CA., the combination of beauty/lifestyle/western attitudes and large urban center has always hit me just right. It's a little bit of a romanticized place because we always ski vacationed there in the '70s when I was a kid, but I still get the exact same vibe every time I cross the state on I-70. :cool:

I bought a place on an acre here in Scottsdale in Sept., '10.
The winter is pure Paradise (mid 70s yesterday) & I mostly stay indoors in the Summer (retired). I just bring my projects indoors in the hot Summer months - 2,600 sq. ft. house.
Really, only natural nasty is the Monsoon season.
I'd say 8/10, overall...but the heat gets old after a few months.
.
ps I think a low-humidity locale in SW Texas may be the place to live in the future if the country continues to be destroyed.

Been in NC all my life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

My wife and I (she's NC native too) tried to travel as much as we could afford to before we had kids...and the more we saw, the more we grew to appreciate what we had here.

Queensland, Aust. came close, I gotta admit (spent a couple of months there due to school), but we love it here (central NC).

Small town, about an hour from Raleigh/Charlotte should we need something from "town"...(and since we just got an oyster bar, I see no reason to head to Raleigh :) )

Years ago did some house shopping in Austin, seemed a nice enough place.
Lake Travis was a little low and there was a drought and talk of water rationing.
I thought that might be a concern, if I had a half acre that relied on a water well.
Is water use an issue in Austin?

I'd give our area a 7-8/10. We've talked extensively about other places we'd like to live, and we can't think of anywhere better, all things considered.

Pros: affordable cost of living, not overly crowded, convenient, very high quality of living, Toronto is 45 min away and, while it's not the "world-class city" it proclaims itself to be, it's still pretty cool, the Bruce Trail is 1km from our house, my wife has a great job with good pay and benefits (necessary because I'm self-employed with no benefits of my own), great place to raise kids, very low crime. Summers are beautiful, an Ontario autumn is as beautiful as any place on earth.

Cons: winter, not the most exciting place to live.

For us, the big things are cost of living, crime/safety, proximity to a big city and weather. There's no place on earth that has everything we want, that we know of, so I don't think there's any place that's a 10.

Places that we've considered are NYC (too expensive but maybe when kids are grown), California (wife is terrified of natural disasters), Savannah (one of my favourite cities in the world, but impractical for us), south of France (likely will when kids are grown), Paris (also likely later in life).