TVSF - The Very Special Forum!

If i moved to USA, where to live?

California?
New York?
Chicago?

Is New York a better place then LA to live in for exemple?

Is it big differences to live in the different states?

I think a place like Denver sounds pretty good, lots of wilderness and mountains.

I like the Pacific Northwest (including Northern California). If you like temperate rainforests and cool weather, you can live near the coast. If you like mountains and wild rivers, you may want to live further live inland.

Some places, like Sacramento County where I live, are within driving range of day-hikes all year long. You can enjoy Point Reyes National Seashore any time. When there's too much snow for hiking in the high country, you can explore the river canyons in the foothills.

Thanks for your answer Larry.

California seems to be a great part of USA to live in. Lots of variation. Besides great nature you have lots of famous stuff over there, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, etc.

Many citynames sounds very mexican, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco.

The full name of LA is, El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula. Looooong name.

I grew up mostly in the LA area. To me, it's an open-air insane asylum. Too much pollution. Too many people. And not very many good Nature spots within reasonable driving distance. The old saying about New York City also applies to LA:

It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Sacramento is just the opposite, by the way.

It's enought for me to visit Stockholm or Gothenburg to feel that way. I wouldn't want to live in any of those cities. Nature is very close where i live now. Sacramento seems to have a good balance between things, quite a big city, yet close to nature.

Sounds great. In that case i understand why you moved to Sacramento.

You also mentioned Denver. I lived there once upon a time. Not bad for a big city. The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains is not far from there. Colorado Springs is a smaller city, and Boulder is a small university town. Both of these cities are a bit closer to the mountains than Denver, and like Denver, are on the high plains just East of the mountains.

Disadvantages of this area. During the Winter, there's not much opportunity to enjoy Nature, unless you're a gung-ho skier. More rain during the Summer in these mountains than in the California mountains. And Denver has a fair amount of air pollution, roughly comparable to that of Sacramento, but not nearly as bad as LA.

All things considered, the Rocky Mountains would be my second choice for a nice area to live in the U.S., after the Pacific Northwest.

Hmm.. I got 2 recommendations for you.. neither of which you'd probably expect

First up, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Good music scene, good nordic-esque roots in the people, and weather that's probably pretty similar to Sweden. In other words, not too much of a shock to the system. It's also one of the cleanest and safest cities of significant size in the USA.. It's not terribly far from Big cities like Chicago, nor is it all that far from the middle of nowhere, if you just want to get away from the humans.

Second.. If you're not so much of a "Big City" type of person... Bloomington, Indiana. University town, but not huge... Bloomington is one of those towns where it's hard to say exactly why I recommend it. The main reason, I guess, is that if you like *interesting* people, you will find them in Bloomington. Honestly... it's got a higher per-capita concentration of "interesting folk" than even San Francisco or Sedona. Another benefit to the Bloomington, Indiana area... About oh, a half-hour or 40 minute drive east of Bloomington is this little town called Nashville, Indiana.. Nashville is this bizarre ass little town midway between "Bean Blossom" and "Bone Gnaw"... that's kinda this weird little artist community. Dudes that do wood carving, leather working... there was a glassblower guy last time I was there... little shops that sell odd bits to tourists... Kinda a neat place.. and good vibe. Plus, it's right near the Brown County State Park, which is some lovely hiking ground.

Honestly though.. I'd stay the hell away from the real "Major City" places.. LA is insane, Chicago is um... a psychic cesspool... and New York is the world's biggest terrorist target.. They're interesting places to visit every now and then when you feel brave.. but jeebus, you don't wanna live there.

Thanks for your answers Larry and Druegan. There's so much you can't read about or watch on TV, you have to talk to someone who really lives there to get an answer. Minnesota is kind of swedish area in the states, i know that, but i didn't knew much about the city. My knowledge about Bloomington was, not good. I have just heard the name.

You have to be a bit nuts to live in cities like NY and LA and like it. It's enought to see some new yorkers on TV to understand that. In fact, it's enought to be in Stockholm one day, you'll meet all kinds of weirdos.

Then we have at least 4 places that would be good places to live. Denver, Sacramento, Bloomington and Minnesota.

Speaking of the devil. Al Franken had a piece of great advice for visitors to NYC, who have wristwatch malfunctions at the worst possible moment. You walk up to a person on the street, and say

Excuse me. Do you have the correct time? Or should I just go f**k myself?

Ha ha ha

That's New York.