Where would you live if you could?

[Merrill]

Let’s see, New Zealand, Hawaii, Panama, Belize, pretty much on the 20/20 program, warm weather by the water. The only problem is I would be by myself because my wife is very happy in Sonoma!

 

[wdolson]

Like the OP, I'm pretty much able to live where I want. But making up my mind was not easy, and I could end up changing my mind and moving. I live in Spokane, WA, because:

It's big enough to have the amenities of a city, including a good medical system, yet small enough that it's not suffocating. I don't like big cities with their smog and their endless expanses of concrete and their traffic. The air here is clean (mostly; this summer there was some really bad smoke from forest fires in the area, but we were not directly threatened by fire) and in ten or fifteen minutes I can be driving my Tesla through farmland, very pleasant when the weather is nice. Winters here are severe if you are used to living in the south, but moving here from North Dakota, our winters are mild.

What clinched it for me, however, was that Spokane is half a day's drive from the most spectacularly beautiful hiking areas I've ever been in: southeastern British Columbia, Canada. I considered moving there, but I'm not into winter sports, and the hiking season is short. From Spokane I can hop up the BC whenever I like, but I still have the Spokane international airport for other travel.

If I were to become unable to hike, my second choice would be Maui, HI. My second-favorite activity is warm-water kayaking. In Maui, not only is it no big deal if you fall in the water, more often than not you'll want to hop off the kayak for a while. I don't live in Maui because it's just too hard to get anywhere else from there, and as long as there are also other places I want to go Spokane is more convenient. If I were willing to deal with the hassle of having two homes and moving between them twice a year, Maui would be the other one.

These two places are opposites regarding cost of living. Home prices in Spokane are very low compared to the rest of the country. In Maui everything is expensive.

Have you hiked in the Columbia River Gorge? There are hiking trails everywhere. Most of the land around the Gorge is National Forest and I would not be surprised if there were over 1000 miles of hiking trails.

My SO loved Hood River, OR. It's a smaller town than Spokane, but the weather is in the transistion zone between the coastal zone west of the Cascades and the interior lava flows of the Scappoose (all of eastern Oregon and about 2/3 of eastern Washington were buried in heavy lava flows from SE Oregon for about a million years, this was the hotspot that is now Yellowstone, but it spewed lava like a Hawaiian volcano when it was in Oregon). Hood River is also only about an hour from all the amenities of Portland.

We're on the western end of the Gorge (about 40 minutes to Hood River) and we're about 40-50 minutes from downtown Portland and about 25 minutes to PDX. But we're rural enough deer are a common garden pest. They eat about half my roses.

 

[daniel]

Have you hiked in the Columbia River Gorge? <snip>.

No, I haven't. I can't carry a full backpack and I don't like to sleep on the ground, so I just do day hikes, generally based at any of several upscale wilderness hiking lodges up in BC, or occasionally with a private guide in the national parks up and down the Rockies in Alberta.

The area you described sounds wonderful, and if I was still looking for a place to live I'd definitely consider it. I was already familiar with BC so Spokane seemed like the best choice for me, and after a decade here I'm still happy with it.

 

[wdolson]

No, I haven't. I can't carry a full backpack and I don't like to sleep on the ground, so I just do day hikes, generally based at any of several upscale wilderness hiking lodges up in BC, or occasionally with a private guide in the national parks up and down the Rockies in Alberta.

The area you described sounds wonderful, and if I was still looking for a place to live I'd definitely consider it. I was already familiar with BC so Spokane seemed like the best choice for me, and after a decade here I'm still happy with it.

There are lots of options for day hikes in the Gorge. The waterfalls hikes are popular, those are on the Oregon side. I believe there are some trails that start at Skamainia Lodge on the Washington side which has several HPWC. They are very Tesla friendly and had a local gathering there late summer 2016. Bonnie had just moved to the Gorge a few days before.

 

[jbcarioca]

FWIW, I was just informed by my SO that we really need to have San Francisco, specifically Pacific Heights, on our #1 position. I, being obedient, advise you all of our change in priority. Luckily, real estate there is right in line with Alto Jardim Botânico. If 1031 survives as is, no problem. It would be nice to eliminate three country tax returns.

 

[cpa]

FWIW, I was just informed by my SO that we really need to have San Francisco, specifically Pacific Heights, on our #1 position. I, being obedient, advise you all of our change in priority. Luckily, real estate there is right in line with Alto Jardim Botânico. If 1031 survives as is, no problem. It would be nice to eliminate three country tax returns.

Code Section 1031? It has survived in the House version; however, they eliminated the benefit for exchanges for personal property after the putative effective date. There has never been a provision for swapping foreign real estate for domestic and vice versa for good reason. But eliminating tax returns from three countries might be problematic if one maintains nexus or other forms of presence, at least as far as Uncle Sugar is concerned. I have zero knowledge of other countries' rules. And that is probably a good thing!

 

[jbcarioca]

Code Section 1031? It has survived in the House version; however, they eliminated the benefit for exchanges for personal property after the putative effective date. There has never been a provision for swapping foreign real estate for domestic and vice versa for good reason. But eliminating tax returns from three countries might be problematic if one maintains nexus or other forms of presence, at least as far as Uncle Sugar is concerned. I have zero knowledge of other countries' rules. And that is probably a good thing!

No problem. Decades of multiple countries helps one to be prepared. 1031 is all about corporate exchanges. Long story. We have found a solution, assuming we do it.

 

[Deeppurple]

Colorado:
$5K EV tax credit
One of the most active EV markets,
One of the lowest unemployment rates in the US
Solar friendly state

 

[gigglehertz]

I go back and forth between wanting to get away from it all, and wanting to be in the middle of everything. If money was no object I'd have to say either a small traditional village in Bavaria or Switzerland or a sleek modern condo in downtown Vancouver BC. The land of soft pretzels and good beer is my family's ancestral home (as far back as we can trace) and felt eerily like home when I visited. Then again I wouldn't mind being surrounded by Asian women who mostly speak English in a place that is modern and progressive AND not tropical hot.

 

[jbcarioca]

@gigglehertz

I go back and forth between wanting to get away from it all, and wanting to be in the middle of everything. If money was no object I'd have to say either a small traditional village in Bavaria or Switzerland or a sleek modern condo in downtown Vancouver BC. The land of soft pretzels and good beer is my family's ancestral home (as far back as we can trace) and felt eerily like home when I visited. Then again I wouldn't mind being surrounded by Asian women who mostly speak English in a place that is modern and progressive AND not tropical hot.

My closest friends live in a Munich suburb that is a small town, perfectly walkable, but minutes from the center city. Ski stations nicely accessible too. Were the weather different that would be on our list.

BTW, Vancouver BC and your last sentence are redundant, aren’t they?

 

[Uncle Paul]

One of the considerations is not only the city you will live in, but also the opportunities surrounding it.

San Diego has most of the benefits of a larger city, as California's 2nd largest city, but also lives like a bunch of small towns. They have pretty good employment opportunities, a diverse population, a nice blend of liberal and conseverative policies, but housing costs and taxes are higher than other places.

A magical place for day trips, you can snow ski in the mornings on the mountain and water ski in the afternoon in the ocean. Great surfing, diverse food offerings and a huge variety of living options.

A short day trip to Mexico, pine covered mountains, beautiful beaches, desert open space for off roading and wildflowers. Fun loving population, good schools.

Comic-con, Universities, Observatories, Biotech, Trolly system, Pedicabs and vibrant down town life with Gas Lamp restaurants, downtown Wharf with museum, submarine, old classic sailing ships, Midway aircraft carrier tours and fine Urban living.

Great weather, few bugs, low humidity, wonderful sunsets, Cruise Ship Terminal, Good curlture, International airport, Modern convention center, great hiking, lots of water sports, and plenty of cool things to do when visitors come into town like Sea World, La Jolla seaside, hand gliding, Coronado island with the classic Hotel Del Coronado. Gondola rides, Scuba diving, surfing, wind surfing, Scripps institute & Aquarium good housing appreciation for owners, (but raising rents for tenants

Tons of local EV charging spots, but local SuperCharge (Quslcomm) constantly filled up by locals, commercial limo and rental services. Essential to have access to your own charging system, at least until Tesla can open up some more. On a positive note, their service center is top notch and there is a highly regarded Tesla approved repair shop.

Active local Tesla Club, and you can also tag along with the Orange county and LA clubs, so lots of Tesla centric things to do.

Certaintly worth checking out.

 

[cpa]

One of the considerations is not only the city you will live in, but also the opportunities surrounding it.

San Diego has most of the benefits of a larger city, as California's 2nd largest city, but also lives like a bunch of small towns. They have pretty good employment opportunities, a diverse population, a nice blend of liberal and conseverative policies, but housing costs and taxes are higher than other places.

A magical place for day trips, you can snow ski in the mornings on the mountain and water ski in the afternoon in the ocean. Great surfing, diverse food offerings and a huge variety of living options.

A short day trip to Mexico, pine covered mountains, beautiful beaches, desert open space for off roading and wildflowers. Fun loving population, good schools.

Comic-con, Universities, Observatories, Biotech, Trolly system, Pedicabs and vibrant down town life with Gas Lamp restaurants, downtown Wharf with museum, submarine, old classic sailing ships, Midway aircraft carrier tours and fine Urban living.

Great weather, few bugs, low humidity, wonderful sunsets, Cruise Ship Terminal, Good curlture, International airport, Modern convention center, great hiking, lots of water sports, and plenty of cool things to do when visitors come into town like Sea World, La Jolla seaside, hand gliding, Coronado island with the classic Hotel Del Coronado. Gondola rides, Scuba diving, surfing, wind surfing, Scripps institute & Aquarium good housing appreciation for owners, (but raising rents for tenants

Tons of local EV charging spots, but local SuperCharge (Quslcomm) constantly filled up by locals, commercial limo and rental services. Essential to have access to your own charging system, at least until Tesla can open up some more. On a positive note, their service center is top notch and there is a highly regarded Tesla approved repair shop.

Active local Tesla Club, and you can also tag along with the Orange county and LA clubs, so lots of Tesla centric things to do.

Certaintly worth checking out.

Unfortunately the Padres are not competitive these days. Time will tell if the front office's draft picks will pan out in a couple years.

 

[daniel]

As recently as November I posted here that I'm quite happy living in Spokane. After eleven years here I'm starting to change my mind. I may end up moving to Maui. I moved here because it's close to hiking, but the hiking season is limited, and in Maui the kayaking/canoeing season is all year long. I'd probably come back for a month each year for hiking.

 

[wws]

A private island off the coast of Tahiti. Like Brando.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Best Place: West Coast of Costa Rica, spent 16 years outside the USA. Too many places to list, but loved CR, the people, the food, the culture and the expats. Also love Croatia for the same reasons. As a service disabled veteran, I can live like a King pretty much tax free then add in my savings and it greats crazy nice.

Worst place - Khartoum Sudan (intersection of the White Nile and the Blue Nile) - intersection of two open sewers #1 White Nile, and #2 Blue Nile (not sure why the call it the blue nile, when the water was brown)..has all the undesirable conditions you could imagine; war, famine, poverty, dictators, etc... runner up for second worse place - Afghanistan and pretty much any place than ends in ISTAN.

 

[AudubonB]

Feb. 20 update.

If anyone seriously is looking for a true change in life, that site mentioned in post #6 (q.v.) is for sale. Its current owner would not swap the three decades there for any other experience on this planet (Mars, now...well, that's different), but There Is A Time For Everything.

Posting this for a friend. You know how to reach me.

 

[Blissedout]

Colorado:
$5K EV tax credit
One of the most active EV markets,
One of the lowest unemployment rates in the US
Solar friendly state
View attachment 259833

An here I thought I was just mean enough

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

One of the considerations is not only the city you will live in, but also the opportunities surrounding it.

San Diego has most of the benefits of a larger city, as California's 2nd largest city, but also lives like a bunch of small towns. They have pretty good employment opportunities, a diverse population, a nice blend of liberal and conseverative policies, but housing costs and taxes are higher than other places.

A magical place for day trips, you can snow ski in the mornings on the mountain and water ski in the afternoon in the ocean. Great surfing, diverse food offerings and a huge variety of living options.

A short day trip to Mexico, pine covered mountains, beautiful beaches, desert open space for off roading and wildflowers. Fun loving population, good schools.

Comic-con, Universities, Observatories, Biotech, Trolly system, Pedicabs and vibrant down town life with Gas Lamp restaurants, downtown Wharf with museum, submarine, old classic sailing ships, Midway aircraft carrier tours and fine Urban living.

Great weather, few bugs, low humidity, wonderful sunsets, Cruise Ship Terminal, Good curlture, International airport, Modern convention center, great hiking, lots of water sports, and plenty of cool things to do when visitors come into town like Sea World, La Jolla seaside, hand gliding, Coronado island with the classic Hotel Del Coronado. Gondola rides, Scuba diving, surfing, wind surfing, Scripps institute & Aquarium good housing appreciation for owners, (but raising rents for tenants

Tons of local EV charging spots, but local SuperCharge (Quslcomm) constantly filled up by locals, commercial limo and rental services. Essential to have access to your own charging system, at least until Tesla can open up some more. On a positive note, their service center is top notch and there is a highly regarded Tesla approved repair shop.

Active local Tesla Club, and you can also tag along with the Orange county and LA clubs, so lots of Tesla centric things to do.

Certaintly worth checking out.

I'm sold, but if Mexico launches a ground attack we'll be the first to go down.

 

[McRat]

Like above:

San Diego is perhaps the best, La Jolla area.
Never hot, never cold, seldom rainy, lots to do, great parks, great museums, world's best zoo, Mission Bay, etc, etc. Hop skip and a jump to Mexico. <2hr from LA. Tidbit - many houses have no A/C. They don't need it. People put on a jacket when it's 68°F outside.

Might move back someday. Still like to visit now and then. I'm just over an hour out.

 

[McRat]

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

It's not like TV, at least not the Big Island. It's almost a 3rd world country. Has one of the largest cattle ranches. Roads are ... interesting. Especially that one blocked by lava. Lots of rain. And then more. And some more. Actually watch lava flowing into the ocean.