Best places to live in the US

[Utah]

Take everything into account. Taxes, cost of living, outdoors, how much you liked it. Where was your favorite place to live and why? 

[Tacoma Ute]

Lake Tapps, WA. Green everywhere you look, raccoons, deer and squirrels out the back door all the time, relatively mild climate and hundreds of things to do nearby.

[Utah]

I miss the NW. I thought I missed family and stuff here in Utah, but I’m getting the itch to move back. Not enough moss in my lungs here.

[Tacoma Ute]

I hear ya. The only thing I don’t miss is the dark winters. It would still be dark when I got to work at 7am and it would already be dark when I left.

[UtahUteGuy]

The problem wasn’t the winters.  The problem was you were working too long.

[Tacoma Ute]

Good point!

[Rick]

I lived up in Redmond for 3 years and the whole getting dark at 3 pm in the winter killed me.  Also all the spring rain, especially in June.  I also didn’t like how damn provincial the indiginous locals were.  Almost all of my friends were transplants because the locals made me sick.

[utefansince79]

Estes Park, Colorado.

Right near Rocky Mountain National Park.  Nice quiet friendly town with trophy elk running all over the place. 

 

 

[Puget Ute]

The tradeoff is the summers are SPECTACULAR, it is bright outside from 4:45 am until after 10 pm, and we don’t get very much rain. And we only have about 5-10 days that are uncomfortably hot, with most of the summer seeing highs in the upper 80s.

And we get to see the friendly guy in my avatar.

[RedUte]

As long as they don’t drain it, the lake looks great. 

[Ute Bc]

Las Vegas.  Hookers, blow and booze.  I always loved when the hookers would take the time to get to know me.

[Tacoma Ute]

If I could choose to live anywhere that I’ve personally visited I would probably pick the southern Oregon coast. The area they call “the banana belt of the Oregon Coast”.

[Utah]

I’ve actually been seriously looking down there (well, all up and down the Oregon coast). I do agree about the winters. They can be dark. But, the summers are just that much better. I’m just too much of a nomad. But, I do miss the rain, I miss the green, I miss the more moderate climate, I miss the forests, the banana slugs, the frogs, and the coast. 

My two years up there recently was a blast. I’m starting to think we made a mistake coming back. 

 

[PlainsUte]

My wife and I really love the mid- to southern-Oregon coast as well.  I must say if we lived there year ’round we’d like more sun, so I’d say a place more inland, in the Williamette Valley, like Corvallis ot Eugene.

I’ve never lived there but have had some work meetings in the Knoxville, TN area, and it seems like that would be a good place to retire to.

[AlohaUte]

Well, San Diego is the best place if you can handle the cost of living. It’s spectacular.

But I do mind my the cost of living, so I am likely leaving.

[Utah]

What makes the cost of living so bad? Is it just the home prices or everything there? 

[Tacoma Ute]

San Diego is really nice. I’ve only visited, never resided there.

[NavyUte]

I have lived in San Diego, great weather but it costs a lot to do anything besides eat tacos. Also lived in Anacortes WA which was awesome minus long gray spells. Currently in DC which blows more than I ever thought it would. Looking back west again, either Puget Sound or possibility of Roseburg, OR which I have never been to, so if any have been there let me know!

[leftyjace]

My dad went to Roseburg High School.
I was there on business in the last few years.
Great little community. Emblematic of everything that is supposedly good about Oregon.

[Tacoma Ute]

Anacortes is a great little town. I wish I could beam up there this instant!

[Rick]

For me in order:

San Diego

Laguna Beach

Atherton

Seattle

Atlanta

Denver

[leftyjace]

I have kicked around the idea of moving to Oregon.
You all are making me wonder if I shouldn’t think more seriously about it.
Why no Utah love, anyway?

[AZswayze]

Me too. Location wise, geography wise, climate wise, and politics wise it seems like a good fit.

[S.CarolinaUte]

If I take all of your criteria then it has to be Summerville SC.  Green, Warm, Close to beaches and Mtns. (Hills) Cheap and friendly.

BUT throw away the affordability aspect and it would be handsdown Santa Barbara. Has absolutely everything.

[iamthepreacher]

I second the Santa Barbara nomination. Spectacular city. But yes the cost of living is outrageous.

[Utemachine]

Born and raised in So-cal and there is no way I would ever move back. Been in Denver for a couple years and like it. We would jump at the chance to get back to Sandy or Draper. I hated Utah the first few years I lived there and grew to love it, wierdness and all.

[AZswayze]

Same here. My parents and sister are constantly trying to get me to move back down there. It’s only a five hour drive, so we cruise down there pretty regularly, but I can’t take more than 3-4 days of SoCal. I went to high school in Utah, and hated it at the time. Could not wait to get out. Now, I miss it quite a bit, especially the skiing.

[kazute]

I really liked living in the RTP area of North Carolina.  Decent weather. Lots of universities. Lots of events. Trees, both evergreen and deciduous. Rolling terrain. Golf. Reasonable cost of living.  Beach 2.5 hours away. OBX.  Lighthouses.  Ferries. History.  Mountains 3.5 hours away.  DC an easy weekend trip up 95.  Nice pace of life.  Good mix of north and south. Azaleas.

   

[Tony (admin)]

I would move to San Diego in a heartbeat, but I’d need to have a major fundraiser here, with recurring payments.

Otherwise Ashevill SC or Austin TX are next on my list.

I “deal” with living in SLC.  The good outweighs the bad, most of the time.

[PlainsUte]

Traffic sucks in Austin.  Like really bad.

Funny just last week I was talking to a friend who recently relocated from the Intermountain West to South Carolina in a Federal job transfer.  I was aksing him what he thought of the area as a retirement destination.  He is actually within 50 miles of NC, in Greer, and said Asheville, NC has become quite the hotspot retirement destination.

[Tony (admin)]

Haven’t been there since 1999. Not surprising. 

[Utahute72]

If I could afford it I’d move to Kauai Hawaii in a heartbeat.

[Stone]

For those that have not visited lately, you may not believe me, but I think Sacramento is a great location.

You are 90 minutes from San Francisco to the west and Tahoe to the east. The cost of living is much less than the bay area (although increasing), very mild winters (but you still get all four seasons), great outdoors opportunities (mountains, rivers, bike trails), great urban tree canopy, beautful core neighborhoods, huge park system, and the downtown is getting a makeover. And it’s big enough that there are things to do and lots of job opportunities. It’s not right on the coast, so hard to compete with those types of cities, but it is only 90 minutes to the coast and a lot less expensive than if you did live on the coast.

That said, if you can live in a fairly remote area and do not need to be near a city for your job, I would go to California’s central coast, San Luis Obispo area.

[Utahute72]

My son lives in the Sacto area, and I quite like it. Particularly Rancho, Folsom or El Dorado Hills.

[GameForAnyFuss]

Fun fact: El Dorado Hills (Oak Ridge HS) is the hometown of legendary former Utah WR Travis LaTendresse.

And yours truly.

[noneyadb]

MOAB then ESTES PARK as somebody mentioned above.

[leftyjace]

I grew up in Sacramento.

Loved it. Loved it like crazy.

I would move back there in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for property taxes and the like. Well, that and family in Utah, girlfriend in Utah, job in Utah… 🙂

[bopahull]

Hawaii, are you serious Clark?