# The best place to live...



## Mmmm (Jul 6, 2012)

I took a survey on Best Places to Live | Compare cost of living, crime, cities, schools and more. Sperling's BestPlaces & these were my top choices. Which city is your favorite & why?


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## Alysaria (Jul 7, 2009)

None. I'm not a fan of cities.


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## TheProcrastinatingMaster (Jun 4, 2012)

As a non-American I'll start by saying it definitely wouldn't be Texas. I'll settle on Boston, that's quite distant from Dixie isn't it?


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## boo18920 (Mar 18, 2013)

I'd love to live in Munich, Germany


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## Hikikomori (Feb 14, 2013)

Anywhere in Germany.


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## Destiny Dawn (Nov 13, 2012)

TheProcrastinatingMaster said:


> As a non-American I'll start by saying it definitely wouldn't be Texas.


And why do you say that?

Personally, I'm not a big fan of cities, anywhere. If you make eye contact with someone, it will most likely be a creep (in my experience). All the crowds and pollution, ick.


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

I don't have enough experience with cities to tell for sure which I would dislike the least.

I absolutely hate Seattle, which is close to where I live right now with my wonderful Washingtonian husband. The nice people there are fake and sort of passive-aggressive. The mean people are dangerous. I've seen a lot of violence there, including a man beating another man with a large pipe. My husband was on a bus where there was a stabbing just a few days ago. Also, they put fluoride in their water, which is toxic. There are no places to pee for free, the streets are sloped at insane angles, and the buses cost more than one could reasonably afford on a regular basis. Seattle is hostile toward poor people. There is nothing I like about Seattle except for the vegan anarchist community, which seems pretty cool.

Portland was much friendlier, and the people were more helpful, from the young runaways to the screaming street preachers. However, I got perved on a lot by creepy strangers, touched inappropriately in public, and felt pretty much constantly sexually threatened, so I wouldn't want to live there again. Also, the cops there were scary. They beat up homeless people for fun, and they let the violent, dishonest meth-dealers get away with selling whatever they wanted, while they ruthlessly antagonized the harmless, peace-loving stoners. This selective policing left the public areas overrun with shady thieves instead of the artsy hippy drum circles that had been there before. I think Portland has potential. It would be a wonderful city if the meth problem were ever eliminated.


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## TheProcrastinatingMaster (Jun 4, 2012)

Destiny Dawn said:


> And why do you say that?
> 
> Personally, I'm not a big fan of cities, anywhere. If you make eye contact with someone, it will most likely be a creep (in my experience). All the crowds and pollution, ick.


Texas has a terrible reputation in the rest of the world. Home of gun totting, religious nuts, who execute more people each year then most countries put together. Doesn't matter if it's true or not, besides it would be hot there, I don't like the heat.


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## Destiny Dawn (Nov 13, 2012)

TheProcrastinatingMaster said:


> Texas has a terrible reputation in the rest of the world.


I was born and raised in Texas. I'm certainly not planning to live there after I graduate college, but that's mainly because of the heat. I never knew Texas was so infamous. It seems to be a very controversial state, but I've found it interesting to research the history of how Texas developed, and how it played a hand in the Texas mindset today. It is, how we say, a product of its raising. I find there are things to be proud of and ashamed of, just like other states or countries.


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## steev1durge (Apr 14, 2013)

Philadelphia, PA!


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## Uralian Hamster (May 13, 2011)

Not a big fan of cities. If I had to pick a city on the list it would be Seattle.


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## JackCoates (Mar 1, 2013)

I've lived in Scotland for many years now and it's a lovely place to be


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

JackCoates said:


> I've lived in Scotland for many years now and it's a lovely place to be


That is where I'd like to live someday! Just haven't figured out how to actually move to a completely different country yet...

I don't know where I'd say is the BEST place to live in the world, certianly no where I've actually lived. I really want to move to the UK because I really felt at home there the two times I've been. I like the landscape, weather, and history, among other things, I don't know precicely where I'd want to live over there, but I'm more drawn to Scotland. There's lots of beautiful places in the world though. For me the Ideal place has hills/mountains rather than being flat, has lots of trees, and lots of precipitation so that it's green, has deciduous trees and actual seasons, and has historical buildings that are still in use. Preferably more rural than city, although perhaps not way out in the middle of no where with hours to drive to buy anything.

Minneapolis, MN - My grandparents lived there for all of my childhood, I've spent summers and Christmasses there (not the best times to be there if you ask me). It's a big city, but it's got some pretty lakes and old houses, so I'd consider living there. I also like that when you fly over it you can see sooooooo many trees mixed with the buildings. I also appreciate that it's hilly. 

Portland, OR - I live here, it's pretty good for a city. I love the arboretum and the rainy weather. The city itself has some nice old houses and stuff, but it also has a bit of a dirty/gritty-ness (though most cities do) which makes me not feel safe walking around at night, lots of homeless crazies to dodge too. The public transport system is pretty good. And I like that you can find lots of organic food and stuff. The saturday market is fun to go to, lots of skilled crafters. And it has lots of trees, I really appreciate that. There's only snow a couple of days in the winter, generally, which.... I think I'd like a little more than we get, but it's also nice to not have cazy blizards and such. I wish we got more thunderstorms amidst all the rain though. 

San Diego, CA - been there a number of times, it's not bad, my mom wants to retire there, felt pretty similar to where I grew up in Orange County anyways, but then I try to tune out my surroundings most of the time so I'm not a good judge of places. I like the 'old-town' area. Stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast there once, went for a horse and carriage ride. And there's sea-world, the zoo, and the wild-animal park, all places I like. I'm not really a beach person, though the view of the ocean can be nice. It's southern california, so still more hot and deserty than I like, even though being close to the sea makes it a bit less gross than inland would be. 

Places I know I wouldn't want to live:
Salt Lake City, UT - definitely not where I'd choose to live, been there, it's pretty bland if you ask me, there are some nice places not too far from it, but the city itself, ug. It's also really hot in summer, and just not my type of landscape. 

Dallas, TX - I haven't been here but I don't think I'd ever choose to live in texas, just.... not my kind of landscape or culture from what I can tell.


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## JackCoates (Mar 1, 2013)

Aelthwyn said:


> That is where I'd like to live someday! Just haven't figured out how to actually move to a completely different country yet...
> 
> I don't know where I'd say is the BEST place to live in the world, certianly no where I've actually lived. I really want to move to the UK because I really felt at home there the two times I've been. I like the landscape, weather, and history, among other things, I don't know precicely where I'd want to live over there, but I'm more drawn to Scotland. There's lots of beautiful places in the world though. For me the Ideal place has hills/mountains rather than being flat, has lots of trees, and lots of precipitation so that it's green, has deciduous trees and actual seasons, and has historical buildings that are still in use. Preferably more rural than city, although perhaps not way out in the middle of no where with hours to drive to buy anything.
> 
> ...


Scotland really is a lovely place to live. This is Dundee, the city where I live.


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## kindaconfused (Apr 30, 2010)

Aelthwyn said:


> Portland, OR - I live here, it's pretty good for a city. I love the arboretum and the rainy weather. The city itself has some nice old houses and stuff, but it also has a bit of a dirty/gritty-ness (though most cities do) which makes me not feel safe walking around at night, lots of homeless crazies to dodge too. The public transport system is pretty good. And I like that you can find lots of organic food and stuff. The saturday market is fun to go to, lots of skilled crafters. And it has lots of trees, I really appreciate that. There's only snow a couple of days in the winter, generally, which.... I think I'd like a little more than we get, but it's also nice to not have cazy blizards and such. I wish we got more thunderstorms amidst all the rain though.


I could definitely live in Portland. Much different than Phoenix. I miss rain. But Phoenix has some good things going for it, I guess.


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## kindaconfused (Apr 30, 2010)

TheProcrastinatingMaster said:


> I'll settle on Boston, that's quite distant from Dixie isn't it?


In more ways than one.


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## Devrim (Jan 26, 2013)

In America?
I'd want to try living in Chicago,
Then Portland or Seattle.

My ultimate dream is to live in a small American town,
Like those movies :O
I want to see how it really is 
There's a town in VA that's caught my eye haha!

Outside of America,
Then I'd have to say I loved living in Damascus,
And had there not been war I'd be back there!

I also love Cape Town,
And Pretoria 
My type of lifestyle!

And lastly I'd love to live in Phnom Penh or Jakarta,
They feel like the real "Asia",
Not like the more modernized Bangkok,
And I've been to both and fell in love with them 

TAKE YOUR PICK! xD


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## Pyromaniac (Apr 2, 2013)

snail said:


> I don't have enough experience with cities to tell for sure which I would dislike the least.
> 
> I absolutely hate Seattle, which is close to where I live right now with my wonderful Washingtonian husband. The nice people there are fake and sort of passive-aggressive. The mean people are dangerous. I've seen a lot of violence there, including a man beating another man with a large pipe. My husband was on a bus where there was a stabbing just a few days ago. Also, they put fluoride in their water, which is toxic. There are no places to pee for free, the streets are sloped at insane angles, and the buses cost more than one could reasonably afford on a regular basis. Seattle is hostile toward poor people. There is nothing I like about Seattle except for the vegan anarchist community, which seems pretty cool.
> 
> Portland was much friendlier, and the people were more helpful, from the young runaways to the screaming street preachers. However, I got perved on a lot by creepy strangers, touched inappropriately in public, and felt pretty much constantly sexually threatened, so I wouldn't want to live there again. Also, the cops there were scary. They beat up homeless people for fun, and they let the violent, dishonest meth-dealers get away with selling whatever they wanted, while they ruthlessly antagonized the harmless, peace-loving stoners. This selective policing left the public areas overrun with shady thieves instead of the artsy hippy drum circles that had been there before. I think Portland has potential. It would be a wonderful city if the meth problem were ever eliminated.


In very, very high levels. Otherwise, it's only effects are positive.

How do you know how the police there deal with meth dealers? I wouldn't expect the usual citizen to recall such a knowledge, and have such an extensive experience of the police in an area where they don't live. Don't take my tone to be as aggressive as it appears.


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## Maru the Gingerhead (Apr 25, 2013)

I lived in Detroit, MI before. While I dislike the weather fluctuations during winter, I would still say this is my favourite cities.

Too bad this is restricted to United States cities, otherwise I would've listed Barcelona (my hometown) and Ottawa as well.


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## b90 (Aug 15, 2011)

Objectively, the best place to live is Norway, So I'd go for Oslo.
Also, it's far enough north that we don't have to worry about huge bugs and spiders.


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

Pyromaniac said:


> In very, very high levels. Otherwise, it's only effects are positive.
> 
> How do you know how the police there deal with meth dealers? I wouldn't expect the usual citizen to recall such a knowledge, and have such an extensive experience of the police in an area where they don't live. Don't take my tone to be as aggressive as it appears.


When I lived in Portland, I hung out on the waterfront, where the pot dealers happened to do most of their selling at the time, although things changed a lot while I was there. The meth dealers once hung out mostly at "paranoia" park and sometimes along Stark street, but as the stoners disappeared from the waterfront due to police intimidation, meth and other harder drugs became more common on the waterfront as well as in the usual places, driving out the creative hippie types who used to be there. I heard from friends which of the regulars were getting arrested and which ones weren't, and I was generally aware of who was selling what. They didn't really try to hide it. They would ask anyone passing by if we wanted to buy whatever it was they had. Many of my friends were homeless, and were in the know about such local issues. I had a tendency to invite homeless people to stay with me until they could thrive, and as such, got to hear a lot about the police harassing people who didn't deserve it. I also found out the hard way that meth makes thieves out of otherwise decent people, while pot generally just makes people friendlier and more relaxed. I'm sorry if you feel defensive at my saying meth is a problem, or that the police were going after the wrong people by arresting harmless stoners instead spending their time going after violent, thieving meth dealers.


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

kindaconfused said:


> I could definitely live in Portland. Much different than Phoenix. I miss rain. But Phoenix has some good things going for it, I guess.


My dad used to live in Phoenix so I visited there a few times, can't say I'd ever want to live there - much too hot and dry for me. 



b90 said:


> Objectively, the best place to live is Norway, So I'd go for Oslo.
> Also, it's far enough north that we don't have to worry about huge bugs and spiders.


I've got an online friend who lives in Norway and I must say she's constantly posting pictures of places that just look gorgeous! I would certainly put it high on the list of desireable places to live  



JackCoates said:


> Scotland really is a lovely place to live. This is Dundee, the city where I live.


Beautiful!  
I stayed in Stirling and Montrose when I was there. We got lost while driving to visit Loch Ness and I really loved all the countryside that I saw along the way.


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## Pyromaniac (Apr 2, 2013)

snail said:


> When I lived in Portland, I hung out on the waterfront, where the pot dealers happened to do most of their selling at the time, although things changed a lot while I was there. The meth dealers once hung out mostly at "paranoia" park and sometimes along Stark street, but as the stoners disappeared from the waterfront due to police intimidation, meth and other harder drugs became more common on the waterfront as well as in the usual places, driving out the creative hippie types who used to be there. I heard from friends which of the regulars were getting arrested and which ones weren't, and I was generally aware of who was selling what. They didn't really try to hide it. They would ask anyone passing by if we wanted to buy whatever it was they had. Many of my friends were homeless, and were in the know about such local issues. I had a tendency to invite homeless people to stay with me until they could thrive, and as such, got to hear a lot about the police harassing people who didn't deserve it. I also found out the hard way that meth makes thieves out of otherwise decent people, while pot generally just makes people friendlier and more relaxed. I'm sorry if you feel defensive at my saying meth is a problem, or that the police were going after the wrong people by arresting harmless stoners instead spending their time going after violent, thieving meth dealers.


Not at all, I was just curious. Totally agreed.


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## axemonk (Apr 26, 2013)

How did Dallas not win? Glad to see it was on the list though!


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## RainyAutumnTwilight (Sep 28, 2012)

Portland!


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