kajarainbow | Living areas

I find the suburbs of Philadelphia, particularly Bucks County, to be very beautiful. Of course, that's if you like trees and green leafy things. If not, then you might not find it so attractive. However, people seem to be moving here in droves, so there must be something good about it. And we are still are able to conserve our history and land. Prices are moderate. Not cheap, but not too expensive, either.

While traveling, I also found that the suburban areas outside Austin, Texas are also quite charming. Of course, this is if you like more of a desert scenery than forested one. It's still very nice and there's a lot to do and see, just like in Philly.

The mid coastal areas of California are very nice (Bay Area), but also extremely expensive. If you don't pull a really good income, you won't survive. Stray too far south to LA and it's a mess, and the northern areas like Sacramento are a mix of ghetto and hick country. San Francisco is the only truly good part of Cali, in my opinion. Perhaps one of the nicest places to live. But.. do you pull six figures?

Baltimore, Maryland is also a very nice port town, if you like the water. The Harbor Front is beautiful and one of my favourite places to spend time when I get to travel. However, other parts of the city are a tad run down. There's a decent amount of poverty. But I'm sure there are some quite stunning areas in the suburbs.

Indianapolis isn't too bad, in my opinion. But it's probably bottom on my list. I couldn't find a lot to do there, really. The area is decent and the people seem so, too. And if you like small cities that are more friendly than most, this may be an idea. But if you want something extremely charming and not so quaint, you might want to look elsewhere.

For the history buff in you, there's Virginia. Very nice place with many things to do and learn. Areas surrounding Williamsburg seem to be the nicest I've seen, but I'm sure it's not cheap. It's one of the most visited vacation spots aside from Orlando (see below).

Lastly.. Florida. Everyone's favourite place to grow old and die. If you like entertainment, there's always Orlando. Lots to do, but extremely crowded and full of tourists. If you like the party scene and lots of people, it's an idea. But otherwise, probably not. It's also probably a little expensive.

And that's about all I can think of right now. Hope it provides a bit of information for you.

Boulder, CO. San Diego, CA.

Home. Seriously.

Oh...WHERE would home be? ;) For me, the best place for home is somewhere around this latitude. Too much further north and it gets too cold for me in the winter; too far south and it gets too hot in the summer. I know this because the summers are NEARLY too hot and the winters NEARLY too cold for me here--in the mild, marine climate of western Washington.

Best bet for moving is either go south and find a higher elevation...or proink to Canada and buy lots of warm clothes and heating devices.

I won't bore you with details about why I've lived in these areas, but...

Chicago, IL: fun if you are a social person, and if you are either making a lot of money, or have a lot of free time on your hands. It's a horrible place to live if you don't meet those three requirements.

Indianapolis, IN: higher traffic problems then you'd ever expect to find. Has lots of things that most big/modern cities have - but it didn't always, and could easily slip back into the abyss. Still slow to pick up on new trends in the world - but it does eventually. Lots of rednecks mixed in. Good living and good fun are there and affordable if you know where to look (it's all very spread out).

Columbus, OH: college city - LOTS of colleges. Very heavy student population - hard to start a career there as a result of high competition from all the new graduates each year. But the kids bring the fun with them. Great stores, great eating, affordable, concerts, imports of all kinds, mixed populations, just... lots of fun to be had. Watch out for riots when daylight savings time switch and the bars shut up an hour early.

Dayton, OH: No.

Cincinnati, OH: neat in many ways. Kind of beautiful in certain areas. Like Indianapolis, you have to know your way around to enjoy the place - more so since the hills and roads are a navigation nightmare. Make damn sure to find a good neighborhood - they've had some race riot problems. Frankly, if you find anything ugly there, it will be because of the people that live there - Cincinnati is the most racially segregated city in the nation.

Twin Cities, MN: Very nice. Affordable, very modern in spots, very rural in others - easy to live around the two. Clean!- you don't often see clean cities. I've never lived around so many open and interesting people with stores and cultures to match. Try to live in St. Paul, the traffic is a nightmare in Minneapolis, as are the twisting roads. Winters are harsh though, sometimes they shut the place down, but not often. You adjust easily so long as the snow plows don't impound your car for blocking their routes.

Bottom line, I've always found it easier to live in the downtown areas. It requires some research and some planning, but it's usually like having the best of all worlds compacted into one place.

Actually Houston, TX is pretty nice.

bad: HOT. Texas. stupid people in govt. constant construction on roads. stoopid tollways. When it rains, it's a freaking hurricane, when it doesn't, it's a drought. crazy street naming. I don't think theres a deaf-people community thing. I dun think it matters, though. Still in the south. not deep south, mind you, but still. mustard in almost all 'whatever' salads. Like potato salad.

good: mild winter (well, mild for you crazy yankees), good weather besides the rain, low taxes. good bus system. cheap housing. Montrose section has a good not-straight people community thing. lots of good, and/or cheap restaurants. nice people. good downtown, with an awesome skyline. Mexican food. Tex-Mex food. foodstands. access to Ren Fair. close to beach, even if it's galveston beach, which is downsream from the mississipi outlet. Fairly democrat. less crazy people than other Texas places. Cornbread.

also: ha! I found you! there is no escape!

Yeah, I found out some intriguing stuff, actually. Someone did a mapping out of political leanings by county and all. Wanna know the really interesting part? Apparently it doesn't matter what part of the country it's. All it really matters is urban vs. rural. O.o

The blue states? They're blue because they have a lot of urban areas with a lot of people. The red states're red because they're thinly populated, mostly rural. Weird, huh?

Well, it's not a completely consistent pattern. Some cities're mixed, and there're a number of blueish cities surrounded by redish suburbs and such. And Salt Lake City is pretty redish (but that's a freaky exception, as it's a city founded and still inhabited by religioooous folks, heh). But for the most part, it's a pretty strong pattern, with heavy population density inclining Democratic and light population density Republican.

not really. the less people a person is around, the less views a person can meet, the more narrow (and usually rediculus) their worldview is.

also: we have wee little foodvans!

Very good point! In cities, you tend to have more cultures and viewpoints and so on to deal with...

:D yaycompliments! *does the 'I got Attention' Dance!*

Living areas

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