If you could live anywhere in the USA, where would you live?

[steven1222]

Having lived in the same place for my whole life, I have an attachment to the area. If I could live anywhere in the country, I would probably just go upstate, possibly to eastern Columbia County.

The reasons why I would choose that:
-Low population density: Fewer annoying people, no excessive car traffic.
-Low cost: For example, real estate prices are less than half of what they are where I currently live.
-Beautiful scenery: Rolling hills and open fields. (dairy farming is dead)
-Good weather: It is not as snowy as the nearby mountains in the winter, and not as hot as the NYC area in the summer. It is also not as sunny as the southern and western parts of the USA. (I hate sunshine)
-Better air quality: Less air pollution, healthier air.

With all of those advantages, it would be worth while to go a long distance for food shopping or even work.

Of course, all of this could change in 50 years. What exists now will probably be lost forever.

[kavetta]

I would move to New Mexico. Towards the mountains. I live in Kansas and it is not very vegan friendly.

[coney]

I think I'd live Upstate NY. I'm in NYC right now, and have been for 13 years. I'm kinda tired of it, and we have a little daughter now, and we want a yard and a larger place.

If I can't move upstate, I'll live in Brooklyn, near Prospect Park.

[xjvoorheesx]

portland, oregon for me...i live in west palm beach and believe me when i say i hate the cold but portland is like the dream city for environmentalists and vegans and activists in general. there's free public transportation, its close to canada, close to california, diverse music scene, the whole city is bike-friendly, vegan-friendly, environmentally-friendly, etc...ok i'm moving to portland! i am after i finish school, seriously.

[herbwormwood]

I wouldn't live anywhere in the U.S.
I couldn't get medical insurance and I don't like the politics (either side).
Nothing against you lovely U.S.vegan forumers of course.

[Gorilla]

portland, oregon for me...

i've heard there are loads of vegans in Portland. i don't know much about it though. i like the look of San Fransisco, but i also like the idea of living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, with rescued animals and no people around for miles, and the US seems to be one of the few places where people can still live like that.

[xjvoorheesx]

Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Academic Heaven. Liberal. Beautiful!

i lived in ann arbor (worked at a health food store) and it was pretty vegan friendly but i have heard from friends it doesn't compare to portland. during football games that place is a meathead madhouse. frat parties, jock fights, drunken jumpings, date rapes, sexual harassment, etc...were the reason i moved...oh and the winter, brrrr.

they have a 10 cent refund policy on their cans and i used to collect them from the college dorms after the weekends and routinely make 3 to 4 hundred dollars in cans in an hour or two...good stuff. the move-out at the end of the semester at u of michigan is amazing for any vegan/freegans out there. the kids literally throw out everything that was just in their dorm rooms...tvs, lamps, books, couches, beds, futons, etc...and everything in their refrigerators and pantries (cabinets). ridiculous amounts of brand new stuff.

[MarkAnthony]

portland, oregon for me...i live in west palm beach and believe me when i say i hate the cold but portland is like the dream city for environmentalists and vegans and activists in general. there's free public transportation, its close to canada, close to california, diverse music scene, the whole city is bike-friendly, vegan-friendly, environmentally-friendly, etc...ok i'm moving to portland! i am after i finish school, seriously.

I've considered moving to Portland in the past. If I left the country I think I'd feel stupid for moving somewhere with equally crap weather mind, so it probably won't happen!

Well, maybe for a year or something, some day.

[junglist]

Boulder Colorado for the following reasons:

• Affordable
• Good economy
• Affordable higher ed
• Not too cold in the winter (you'll see people snowboarding in the sunny afternoons without jackets)
• Not too hot, due to the lack of humidity
• People are wonderful
• Lots o vegans, veg markets, co-ops, raw-foods markets, etc
• Very environmentalist area
• B E A U T I F U L !

[gogs67]

Boulder Colorado for the following reasons:

• Affordable
• Good economy
• Affordable higher ed
• Not too cold in the winter (you'll see people snowboarding in the sunny afternoons without jackets)
• Not too hot, due to the lack of humidity
• People are wonderful
• Lots o vegans, veg markets, co-ops, raw-foods markets, etc
• Very environmentalist area
• B E A U T I F U L !

AND....................that's where the 'good' survivors headed in Stephen King's 'The Stand', if i remember correctly!

[bradders]

I'm not from the us but I would ad that wasn't that where Mork and Mindy was set?

[junglist]

I'm not from the us but I would ad that wasn't that where Mork and Mindy was set?

That it is. And that's a weird thing to know off-hand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mork_&_Mindy

It's the most amazing place I've ever lived.

[bradders]

used to watch it all the time when I was younger

[Cherry.Chops]

If i had enough money, central manhatten!

or Somewhere like texas where i could have a big farm, live around horses and sun for the rest of my life !!!

[bradders]

If I were genuinely to move to the US I think it would have to be Manhattan for me, though I'd probably move out to Jersey when I got older and wanted some peace at night

[LuVegan15]

I'd live in Cali. Loads of vegans, loads of vegan resturants,.. and loads of hot guys walking around topless.

THE best place in the world.

[bradders]

I could also like SF but not LA

[aura]

Seattle!

I really do wish I could live there too. Sadly, amongst other issues, immigration laws mean it can never happen. But such a beautiful little city, and surrounded by the likes of Lake Washington, Mount Rainier, and the Puget Sound. It also has a lot of vegan suitable places, including an all-vegan pizza restaurant.

Maybe not the place to go if you want warm weather. It has the same sort of climate as England - ranging from 32° in winter to 80° in summer, more often than not cloudy, and does not rain as much as people think.

Just looked up an old link, and it seems it comes second on PETA's list of most vegetarian friendly cities. First was Portland, which is only a few hours down the I-5 from there. And Vancouver, an even shorter distance in the opposite direction, tops the list for Canada. It must be a vegan utopia around there!

Michael.

ahh, i wish to live in Seattle as well.

[bradders]

but seattle is soooo small not much bigger than a london borough or a largish English town

[fondducoeur]

Seattle for me also. I fell in love with it this summer.

[bradders]

the other problem (sorry this is turning into me dissing people's choices now) is that seattly is so, so so far away from anywhere else

[Roxy]

San Francisco. For the following reasons:

It's a vegan paradise.
It's so cosmopolitan.
There's so much to do.
There's some great neighbourhoods.
The people are very friendly.
I love the way communities love to support small business.
It's still got it's hippy flavour.
And I generally just love it so much that I'm going there twice in 12 months (last September, and again next June)

[bradders]

SF sounds like a great place, one day I'll get there

[Pearl]

A small town in Maine. Where else would a Stephen King fan live?.....

[bradders]

ha ha, it's all about the big old wooden houses with a turret, maybe a mad dog in the town, with a witch, a girl whose parents were experimented on in the sixties, a big corrupt prison and maybe a coma patient too...

[Pearl]

*books two tickets to Castle Rock*

[bradders]

ha ha ah ha ha ha- the thing with Maine and New England is that it's really just England but with wooden houses, less public transport and snow in winter

[Pearl]

Shhhh! youre spoiling it!

[bradders]

ha ha ha

[Linus]

The Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for the setting of "The Shining" is actually in Estes Park, Colorado. Very nice little mountain town... kind of touristy, but nice.

[Pearl]

Oh Id like to see that!

[bradders]

conditions for a place for me to live:
reasonably low polution
good public transport
within 100m of the sea
city life
open minded people
strong homosexual and bisexual community
good healthcare
does not literally freeze solid in winter

[Linus]

The "not freezing" rule is a good one. I currently live in Wyoming - the Siberia of the Americas - so somewhere warm is definitely the next order of business after I finish my Masters.

[bradders]

at the same time I don't want to live somewhere too hot like LA, I like a mix of weather to moan about

[Linus]

I lived in Southern California during my high school years - it was lovely. It does get hot sometimes, but if you go toward the beach the temp drops about 10-15 degrees, so it's never really terrible.

[osric]

ha ha ah ha ha ha- the thing with Maine and New England is that it's really just England but with wooden houses, less public transport and snow in winter

I've lived in New England all my life and couldn't agree more. Even the main airport in Boston is like Heathrow! But I'd move to London in a heartbeat (if I could find work).

I've been thinking about packing up and leaving Boston for San Francisco, since I spent a lot of time there on business over the years and really like the city. Bad things about it: 1) poor public transport, 2) lots of homelessness, and 3) people drive everywhere (due to #1).

But I'd probably end up in Portland or Seattle since I'd miss the bad weather.

[bradders]

I wouldn't have said that the public transport's all that poor (not that I have any real experience of SF)
I've said this before about Seattle, it's an odd one for me, nice architecture, quite intellectual, reasonable vegan friendly and great cultural aspects but it is a tiny city, only public transport are buses and the tourist attraction that is the monorail, spectacularly high suicide rate and is so incredibly far from anywhere

[snivelingchild]

or Somewhere like texas where i could have a big farm, live around horses and sun for the rest of my life !!!

Better make it Austin. It's the only bearable place in Texas.

Worst state in the US: here. Lowest scoring schools, worst politics, no vegan food, lots of dog and cock fighting (it's legal here), federal min. wage, and there's only 4 pastimes:
hunting
fishing
crawfishing/crabbing/shrimp boils
drinking
I'm so serious about the last one it's not even funny. Imagine that person you know who gets toasted EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Now imagine a state full of them, and they're thought of as upstanding citizens. We have the highest level of underage drinking, drunk driving deaths, and people here love it because it's so easy for kids to go to bars. Kids get seriously pissed off if refused alcohol, because that never happens.

[bradders]

yikes, that sounds as bad as Mayo.
on the min wage it could be worse, you could live in Wyoming ($5.15 there and not linked to federal)

[bradders]

just seen something really awful, Massachusetts it's just $1.60 for agricultural employees

[jonnie falafel]

Just a little tip..... I lived in Texas for two years. I'd avoid that chunk if I were you!

[aura]

but seattle is soooo small not much bigger than a london borough or a largish English town

I don't need big. I need wet and dark. I dislike the sun and the affects of it, such as tanning and hot air, which equals less clothing. bleh. I prefer long sleeves,jeans, and knee-high snow boots. hooray!

[bryzee86]

Now imagine a state full of them, and they're thought of as upstanding citizens.

and they end up as president.

[bradders]

how to solve a problem like texas. that should be the next bbc reality show

[gogs67]

The "not freezing" rule is a good one. I currently live in Wyoming - the Siberia of the Americas - so somewhere warm is definitely the next order of business after I finish my Masters.

I love Vermont but, jeez, the COLD in the winter, lol!!!!!!

[Dylan Mulenburg]

I really want to move to Colorado. Ski in the mountains every weekend all winter. I am hopefully going to convince my parents to move there within a few years. Otherwise I will move there when I get the money to buy a house.

[Buddha Belly]

Me and my gf would like to live in Portland, Or, as it seems so Vegan friendly.

[DiaShel]

Oh it absolutely is. The problem for me is that just going on vacation there I instantly gained 10 pounds because the food was too damn good. As much as I love the city I think I need to stay around, for my health.

[Roxy]

I'm sure I've said it before, but I'll say it again.....San Francisco.

[Mahk]

Roxy, I know you were there recently. Is there air pollution/ smog? I here there is in LA, you can even see it, but I have no idea about SF.

Thanks in advance.