I used to live in Burlington, VT. It sounds like just what you are looking for. I would move back there if I could.

The Bay area, for sure. Or even Seattle if you can deal with the rain.

Portland, Maine or Portsmouth, NH.

Maybe western Massachusetts.

san diego or san francisco

i would consider chicago, charlottesville, austin, or almost any college town, really. what about a place like madison, WI?
i get it, OP. we are thinking of leaving for some of the same reasons. good luck with your decision!

Somewhere in Connecticut or Rhode Island. Providence is a great place these days and the proximity to the ocean is like constant prozac.

San Diego would be my choice. If you want a college town, I recommend Chapel Hill or somewhere else in RTP. I wouldn't think you'd have a hard time finding jobs there. Great quality of life, very affordable, very liberal. Not so much on the economic/class diversity, but a very nice place to live. Lots of displaced Yankees in the Triangle.

Definitely San Fran. I wish.

Portland or Bend, Oregon

Boulder, Portland or San Diego

Just read your whole post. Go to a suburb of pittsburgh north hills, fox chapel
It's an overgrown town and affordable

Usvi
Miami
Calabassas ( yes next to K&BJ)

Marin, CA or a suburb of Boston like DUxbury or Hingham or Boulder, CO or Burlington, VT. I also like Charleston, SC, but you may feel odd being a democrat.

I enjoy the mid-atlantic for the most part, so I probably wouldn't go far. We discussed maybe Raleigh area since I have friends there. We came within months of moving to Austin, which is lovely, but...it's still in Texas, and their politicians and school board people are effing nuts.

The one town that fascinates me is Portland, although I have never been. Sounds like a progressive and outdoorsy place.

We've been in upper NW DC for 4 years and while it's been good and we've made great friends, it's not the best fit for our family (2 young kids). We're both from much less intense areas and the go-go-go, competitive nature of upper NW is just not us. We can talk the talk and play the game but we long for a slower pace of life. We miss living in an area with a greater degree of economic, educational and class diversity. I really miss living the midst of a community that includes both blue collar and white collar families. If we had to move to DC again, we should have moved to Silver Spring or Rockville. Alas, I'm not sure that at this point that sort of move makes much sense.

So if you could move anywhere in the US to raise your family, where would you go? We don't have strong family ties anywhere (several of our parents are deceased and siblings/cousins are spread across the US). We are democrats and value cultural experiences but what I'm really looking for is a low key area of friendly people where it might be possible to move knowing no one in advance (so not a totally insular community). Our jobs (medicine, nursing) should allow us to find work anywhere. Perhaps a college town?

thanks for any thoughts!