Where would you live if you could?

[kavyboy]

My wife and I find ourselves in the enviable position of being able to settle virtually anywhere in the world. That's a lot of possibilities! Although the members of this forum are a diverse group of people, we're still more alike than we are different. So, I ask you all, if you could live anywhere, where would it be? And, what places would you avoid based on personal experiences?

Now, I'm not asking where you think I should live, since you really don't know me. Instead, I want your experiences and aspirations about "home". If you could live anywhere, even if you had to give up your Tesla, where would it be?

 

[Lloyd]

Exactly where I am!

 

[jbcarioca]

My spouse and I have had this issue to resolve for decades. Our closest friends reside in Malaysia, England, Germany and Brazil. We have lived in 16 countries.

We are trying to decide now where we’ll move to, if we do.

We seem now to have a short list. Subject to change it seems we’ll move to either Brisbane, Queensland or back to Saint Paul de Vence (where we had a house for 25 years).

Frankly no place is quite perfect. So far we keep living in multiple places to try to have it all.

Good luck.

When we can’t decide we quote Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg’s husband “it’s time to go to New Zealand.”

 

[NovemberXray]

Portland, Oregon. Food, culture, outdoors, climate, politics, I love it here.

 

[Esme Es Mejor]

I’d really like to live in New Zealand.

 

[AudubonB]

You Kiwi-Fanciers might want...or not want...to learn that the nation prohibited non-citizens from purchasing real estate about ten days ago.*
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Paxson, Alaska has a lot going for it.

* NO Real Estate taxes. One of the few places in the nation where you really and truly do own your own home - not rented from the town, county or state, and thereupon subject to eviction and expropriation if you don't pay your rent, aka real estate tax.

* NO unpleasant neighbors no neighbors of any other kind, either

* IN THE SHADOW of the continent's highest mountains. Purest water, air and soil to be found.

* A Mild-mannered Mayor Now, I wonder who that could be? Formal title is "President, Paxson Community Affairs"

* Highest per-capita ratio of Teslas on the planet: 1 per adult in the downtown region; scheduled to rise to 1.5/pp

* Highest per-capita ratio of education degrees in the nation: Los Alamos NM, etc., eat your heart out. A full 100% of downtown adults have at least a Master's degree; 50% have either a PhD or similar; annnndddd.... most precious of all, an unbeatable ==>0%<=== have JD or LLB degrees.

* On edit Feb 20: that's not exactly correct: it's neither in place nor will it immediately apply to real estate that neither is coastline nor otherwise of significant national interest. However, it's also true that the Peter Thiels of the world are hyper-unlikely from now on to be able to buy their ways into citizenship via either influence-peddling or other ways seemingly underhanded.
All this fide my New Zealand family.

 

[KarenRei]

I grew up in the US. I moved to the country I want to be in (Iceland), and wouldn't want to move anywhere else. Am preparing to build an underground cave house on the side of the canyon on my land.

 

[gavine]

Hawaii. I have never been there but it seems like a place where I would like to live.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

I agree that there is no perfect place. We would and will live in two places. We have seen a lot of the world, speak 4 languages comfortably and fit in in many cultures. But from what we have seen our choices would be

1. Okanagan valley British Columbia Canada from April to October (where we moved back to and presently live)
2. Andalucia region of Spain the rest of the year. Probably Malaga area.

A close second for a summer destination would be St Sebastian in Northern Spain.

Both countries have affordable available health care and cost of living and Real Estate is reasonable. Low crime, great cultures, great places to experience life.

We currently have a winter property in Palm Springs which we have enjoyed for the last 12 years. We will keep it until we retire in 4 years. Then we'll sell it and move to Spain for winters.

Lots of places out there. My recommendation would be to learn the language of any place you move or you will always be looking from the outside in at the culture.

 

[TaoJones]

I moved onboard a long-range cruising trawler yacht 15 years ago in search of prezactly such a place.

Added long-distance meandering Model S road trips (11,000 miles, 9,000 miles, 7,000 miles and so forth) starting 3 years ago in the same spirit.

I'm still looking.

With advances in solar and housing options in general, I continue to hold out hope for a one-location solution, but concede that 2 places would make the solution easier. I grew up in rurality; as a preference, neighbors I can/must see or hear, I do not want. Beyond that, one would think it would not be so difficult to avoid oppressive humidity, snow that sticks, abject/overt political malaise, and limiting to one and only one type of annual natural disaster.

Au contraire.

Short list now includes coastal Uruguay, a couple of coastal US options (Washington/Oregon border, Central (CA) Coast) as well as Baja (del Norte), and some curiosity about the Dalmatian Coast, certain parts of Hawaii, and Costa Rica.

After all of this, if I end up in, say, Arkansas, I'm going to be... quite peeved. Highly pissed, actually.

No offense to Arkansas.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

I moved onboard a long-range cruising trawler yacht 15 years ago in search of prezactly such a place.

Added long-distance meandering Model S road trips (11,000 miles, 9,000 miles, 7,000 miles and so forth) starting 3 years ago in the same spirit.

I'm still looking.

With advances in solar and housing options in general, I continue to hold out hope for a one-location solution, but concede that 2 places would make the solution easier. I grew up in rurality; as a preference, neighbors I can/must see or hear, I do not want. Beyond that, one would think it would not be so difficult to avoid oppressive humidity, snow that sticks, abject/overt political malaise, and limiting to one and only one type of annual natural disaster.

Au contraire.

Short list now includes coastal Uruguay, a couple of coastal US options (Washington/Oregon border, Central (CA) Coast) as well as Baja (del Norte), and some curiosity about the Dalmatian Coast, certain parts of Hawaii, and Costa Rica.

After all of this, if I end up in, say, Arkansas, I'm going to be... quite peeved. Highly pissed, actually.

No offense to Arkansas.

Cost Rica is one of our favorite countries on earth. BUT...the surrounding countries have less interest to us. Where as Spain is surrounded by Europe sooooo....

 

[TaoJones]

Cost Rica is one of our favorite countries on earth. BUT...the surrounding countries have less interest to us. Where as Spain is surrounded by Europe sooooo....

A very good point, that.

 

[redan]

Hawaii Island (commonly referred to as the Big Island). Particularly the Kohala Coast, one of the sunniest places in the world. We have a vacation home there and every time we leave we count the days until we can return.

 

[buttershrimp]

Austin

 

[buttershrimp]

A very good point, that.

Well, @TaoJones just flipped this on it's head... no one said, large naval vessels capable of supporting my S was an option....

I'm surprised you don't want to live in Arkansas, after all, it's the only state that God mentions by name in the Bible. "And verily, Noah looked out the Ark and saw an abundance of water." I think it was in Corinthians Part Deux or something... the one with Charlie Sheen. Anyway, maybe there will be a place for the yacht in Hot Springs.... which is very pretty I must say.

 

[AudubonB]

Are you sure that's the only state? I could have sworn He said something like "Alas, Kain has slewn Abel" .

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Does it have to be this world?

I'm hitchhiking on the intergalactic highway, but no one is picking me up. Apparently they have something against earthlings.

 

[Canuck]

If you could live anywhere, even if you had to give up your Tesla, where would it be?

Now that just plain silly. No one here want to live anywhere they'd have to give up their Tesla...

I’d really like to live in New Zealand.

It's a great place to visit. Been there lots and going again next week. I wouldn't want to live there, though, since the whole country fits in just 1/3 of of my Province -- so it's kind of claustrophobic to me plus it's isolated down there and a long flight out. I like being able to drive to Alaska or Florida.

My answer to the OP's question is I don't really care where I live as long as it's within driving distance of wherever my three daughters live so my wife and I can be an integral part of our grandchildren's lives (my girls are 20, 18 and 16) so no time soon! So my answer resolves around my family, not the place, since that is what makes me most happy -- not the scenery or other things -- but fortunately for me that's BC (and NZ - for my wife) two of the more beautiful places in the world. But if I can't drive to my grandchildren's events, it's not a place I'd want to live at. I do realize my kids may move away -- we just discussed that recently when NZ brought in the "no foreign buyers rule" -- which we really need here too because the real estate market in the lower mainland of BC is priced out of most people's range who work here and pay taxes at our rates. It's not fair that we have to compete with people coming from countries who don't pay nearly the tax we pay, among other inequities. It's a not a level playing field and it's too bad what has happened in NZ likely won't ever happen here.

1. Okanagan valley British Columbia Canada from April to October (where we moved back to and presently live)

It's nice year round -- if you're into winter activities. I drove from my cabin in Tulameen to Kamloops today. It was -25C at the coldest when I left early this morning. Two of my daughters are at UBCO in Kelowna and I keep telling them it's a great place to live -- trying to plant the seed since real estate prices are reasonable compared to the Lower Mainland.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Western Scotland. I spent a year in Glasgow, and absolutely fell in love with that part of the country. I enjoy temperate and cloudy. Unfortunately, it'll have to be a retirement prospect for the foreseeable future.

 

[ohmman]

I've moved a few times. @buttershrimp has it right - Austin's great. If you're young. And have the skin of a lizard. And of a polar bear. But mostly the lizard. Lived there for 20 years and I always say, "It's a great place to live out your 20s."

Everyone's different, and that's why the earth is populated the way it is. We wound up here in Sonoma. It's a really neat place - small town near a big city and it has good grocery. Really, that's the criteria for me. Good food. If I can eat well and be around my family, I can handle most of what the weather throws at me.

Of course, since I can eat well and have great weather, I'll just stay here in Sonoma for now.