Phoenix, AZ: Decent job market and low COL. Schools are a major problem which is why we don't live there now.

Tucson, AZ: LOVE. But limited job market. Best for students and retirees.

Denver, CO: LOVE. Especially now, as it's a legit big city. Plenty to do and a great place to raise kids. Schools are somewhat problematic but navigable, there are options.

Rural Wisconsin: There are some nice things about it. Though right now, you couldn't pay me to go to Wisconsin.

Berlin: LOVED.

Rural Italy: Beautiful, but dealing with the bureaucracy to do even the smallest task made me swear off ever living there again.

Charlotte: Vapid, soulless, hyper-segregated cesspool surrounded by open white supremacists.

Chicago, Virginia Beach, Charleston, SC, DC, and a few other places

Chicago, Charleston, and DC are all great but for totally different reasons. Chicago for the down to earth practical people, Charleston for the over the top friendly people, and DC for the people who actually know something about current events.

Virginia Beach is the pits.

Best: Vienna, Austria
Nairobi

Meh: Tel Aviv
Pretoria, South Africa

I grew up in Texas and have lived all over the state. I hate the weather so I don't really want to move back, but Houston would be my #1. Dallas is super pretentious. I lived in Austin in the '90's and it was cool. I don't know about going back now.

Milan. Loved a lot about it, disliked some things. I loved the location most of all, with so much easy travel potential. Hop on a train and take a day trip to Venice, Bologna, or any number of European cities and towns. Spend every winter weekend skiing in the alps. Pop in to see The Last Supper over a lunch break. Excellent food, cutting edge design. A lot to like.

this all comes down to weather, diversity/politics, recreation (beach, mountains, lake preferences), and whether you can afford the nice walkable good school area of the metro. (All metros have nicer areas)

Personally I've enjoyed Indianapolis Boise and Kansas City the most

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Born and raised in DC. Moved to Iowa, Ohio and now Arizona. Love AZ and will stay here forever. I hated every second that I was in Ohio, it truly is the armpit of America. Iowa was lovely and people were so nice. These days, the best parts of the DMV are nostalgia, memories, and my 3 SIL's are still there and I miss them.

Can you tell us more about what you like about AZ?

Warm weather, low humidity, lots of hiking trails, constitutional carry state, native Arizonians are really nice people, plenty of good jobs, best Mexican food in the world (and lots of other great restaurants), schools are terrible but that is not something we need right now. I absolutely would not move here if you need schools.

Anonymous wrote:Born and raised in DC. Moved to Iowa, Ohio and now Arizona. Love AZ and will stay here forever. I hated every second that I was in Ohio, it truly is the armpit of America. Iowa was lovely and people were so nice. These days, the best parts of the DMV are nostalgia, memories, and my 3 SIL's are still there and I miss them.

Same about Arizona. Currently living in Scottsdale and absolutely love it. The summer's are hot, but I don't find them unbearable. The weather the rest of the year more than makes up for it. I also love the hiking, the scenery, the cost of living. I moved here from DC just over 3 years ago and only wish I'd done it sooner.

Cape Town for 2 years. Beautiful, obviously, and the diversity of the area makes for an exciting cultural scene.

Saginaw Michigan would be nice if I went back when I was retired with a modest pension and a cabin up in the woods.

I liked things about living in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the Pioneer Valley of MA. I don't know that I like them more than DC--certainly the job opportunities, public transit, and winters are better here--but they were nice places to live.

I like certain things about living on Long Island too, but would not be likely to move back. Too much property taxes, too little transit.

Grew up in DC. Lived in Toronto and Cleveland and loved both, for very different reasons. Toronto speaks for itself, but Cleveland was so pretty, so livable, so affordable! Gorgeous architecture like you'd find in Chevy Chase or similar here, but affordable by middle class families. (Really middle class. Teachers, social workers, municipal workers.) Fantastic symphony and art museum, easy to get out into the countryside or nearby small towns. DC is home, but if I were going to pick a place I've lived to move back to, it would be Cleveland.

NYC-was the greatest city when I was there in the late 90s after college. Probably wouldn't go back now.

Ponte Vedra Fl-beautiful, great weather, beaches. Will probably retire there.

I love DC and have lived in the city for 31 years (honestly though, I am from MD).

I left 2x.

-Atlanta - NOPE. Too pretentious and the people are dumb
-Charlotte - lovely, but it's a company town and full of stepford wives.

I love DC b/c people are smart here. They are not just into being skinny (Charlotte) and driving fancy cars (Atlanta).

There is literally nowhere that I've lived I haven't loved for some reason.

London
Hamburg
Manhattan
Los Angeles
Washington DC

London: plenty to do, great minibreaks, lots of friends/family there. Great variety. But downsides were schools are hypercompetitive, bad weather, expensive/crowded.