What are some of your favorite parts of your country? Why? Are there any places you wouldn't go even if they paid you?

I visited Seattle for the first time last year, and I absolutely loved it, even though the weather was incredibly bad. I’m going to San Francisco next, and I’m sure it will be great as well.

I think the only places I would have a hard time living would be southern states, like Texas (mainly eastern Texas. Like Houston.) and Alabama. I don’t think I would say that I would never live there; if the opportunity arose, and it was a good opportunity, I couldn’t say no. Those places just don’t seem to suit me; too many trucks and giant American and confederate flags.
As for places that I would love to live: Top of the list is Chicago, of course (my hometown), closely followed by Seattle, San Fransisco, Portland and I have heard I would really like Baltimore. I live in the wild wild west now and I love it, but I need just a few more people and shorter commute times. I don’t like packing survival gear just to go to Target (I’m not kidding. The closest Target is 40 miles away, and there “ain’t nothing” along the way.) Winters here can be really miserable, especially when they have to close all the roads in and out of Laramie due to white-out conditions. It makes getting home for the holidays really tough. But, I do live really close to some amazing scenery, and I do appreciate that.

Suburban sprawl kills me. Such a rat race of materialism and denial. Glued together by one shopping center after another.

Makes my head hurt. Everything, manicured plastic, stucco, and concrete.

I really do love this country, but I have vowed never to set foot in the state of Mississippi, until they (those in political power) decide to treat their black citizens with total equality and respect.

And to quote Gawd: “It won’t happen during MY lifetime!”

August 25, 2008, 11:47 AM EDT

Oh, I’d visit almost anywhere. I can’t think of place I wouldn’t visit—even Detroit. :^> Almost everywhere has some great scenery or something nice about it. There are very few places I’d live, though. I moved to Seattle a little more than a year and a half ago, and I could stay here for the rest of my life. There are a lot of great things about it up here, but mainly it’s the fact that I moved up here from Tucson. You see in Seattle there’s this stuff called water. :^>

The White Mountains of New Hampshire are astonishingly beautiful and relatively unspoiled. I recommend the Cog Railway up Mount Washington (if you can afford it, it’s pricy), the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail (it starts just past some house-like buildings behind the main Cog Railway building), Polly’s Pancake Parlor (don’t miss the bacon), the Cannon Mountain Tramway (once you’re at the top, take the Rim Trail to the observation platform – it’s not too far), the two roadside cascades on route 302, the Flume, Lost River, the Basin, and Kinsmen’s Falls – among others.

But bring boots and water shoes with good traction. I didn’t, and now I’m typing one-handed as a result.

Bring extra batteries and memory for your camera, too. You never know what you’ll find unexpectedly. We got great footage of a mother moose and her calf grazing not 20 feet away on the roadside. Drive around, be ready to stop at scenic vistas.

There are also a bunch of tourist-type places: Storyland, Six-Gun City, Santa’s Village, Clarke’s Trading Post. They’re mostly okay, but you can see a lot of that sort of stuff anywhere. See the nature stuff first.

Oh, and the foliage in late Sept through late Oct is incredible. But that’s when it costs most to go there. If I could, I’d rent a cheap cottage there for a week in summer, probably just about now (August).

As for places to avoid? Father Panic Village, Bridgeport CT. They did pay me to go there, and I quit that same day.

I can find the good in almost anywhere: to wit, Florida. Most areas have things to recommend them. Generally, I prefer the West to the East, because of the fewer people.

I love the Pacific Northwest with its towering mountains and forests, the majesty of the Pacific. Couple that with salmon, raspberries, marionberries, blackberries. Yum.

I love redwood country in Northern California all the way to the Siskiyou Mountains near the Oregon border.

I love Maine. Mt. Desert Island and Schoodick Point are incomparable in their spare beauty. The towns and lakes are so charming even inland. Boothbay Harbor is very touristy, but so cute it gets away with it. Add to all that natural beauty, blueberry pancakes, haddock chowder, whoopie pies, and lobster (not to mention lobster rolls), and it’s a bit of heaven.

My favorite cities are San Francisco (unmatched), Boston, and New York City in that order.

Two of the most scenically beautiful states in my mind are Pennsylvania and Maryland. Harper’s Ferry in Maryland is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. Pennsylvania’s farms, fields and fall woods are breathtaking.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge is extraordinary.

Tennessee has incredible stone, mountains, valleys, waterways. The Cumberland Gap, the Great Smokies, the Cumberland Plateau with its crab orchard stone. Lovely.

I left out the majesty of the desert in Arizona, which I like very much. All of the cacti, the fragile desert ecosystem, the red rocks, the Navajo, Zuni and Hopi cultures. Los Olivos in Scottsdale, my all-time favorite Tex Mex restaurant.

Then there are Alaska (glaciers, moose, bears, islands, bays, king crab) and Hawaii (volcanoes, blowholes, protea farms, incredible surf, observatories). Each unique. Each lovely beyond bearing.

Finally, while I have my issues with Florida, naturally it is breathtaking. I particularly love the West Coast side from Sarasota, a charming small city to Cedar Key, unspoiled in a way most of Florida is not. Amazingly, you can wander in parks on beaches and not meet any other people. Manatees, sea turtles. An incredible state park system.

I have to append one place on my list of beautiful places: Hawai’i. There is something so amazing about that place. Even aside from the obvious beaches, it is truly one of the most breathtaking places I have been to. I’d never want to live there, though. But I can definitely see myself going back again and again.

It’s interesting that most people seem to focus on natural aspects of their favorite area. Is anyone drawn to, or repelled from an area due to it’s people, or population density, or economic sector, or anything like that?

any place that still has racism around.

@ninja: So, um… you wouldn’t live anywhere?

If you avoid racism you can’t help fix the problem. One reason racism exists is that people fled the neighborhoods of the inner cities rather than staying and fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with their ethnic neighbors to keep the cities livable. Once you move away, it’s easy to blame all for the blight rather than focusing on the few who cause it.

I love living in the city of Milwaukee. We are always placed on the most racially divided list (we are also the most gay-friendly place, the best drinking place) but to live it is to see through it and understand that it isn’t a hopeless situation. Wisconsin is one of my most favorite places I have ever lived.

I think there are very few places in the US I would actually want to live permanently. I would live:
Bay Area, Seattle, very selective parts of so cal, Portland, OR, Burlington, VT, NYC (well probably not for long), Chicago, Philadelphia, Madison, Wisconsin

But now that I have lived at the ocean for 6 years I think I would feel claustraphobic anywhere that wasn’t on a significant body of water.

My criteria: city with a relative amount of diversity, bike culture, good food, access to the outdoors, good food, progressive politically

I’ve lived all over, and over seas. I’m one of those people who go somewhere and say, “I could live here.”

‘Except, Missouri. I wouldn’t go back. And I prefer cool over hot….when I win the lottery I plan on having a flat in San Francisco, NYC, New England, and Scotland. tee hee

I wouldn’t live in the South if someone paid me. I’m a coast, girl. I’ll stick with the East and the West.

Spargett, I couldn’t have said it better. Even greater than my regional preferences/opinions is my overwhelming distain of suburban life.

NYC & LA never. In Seattle area now, love it.

I love the undiscovered part of North Florida where I bought my house. It is Florida still in it’‘s natural state, and there are few areas left where you will be able to escape the urban sprawl. It is also the are where you will find original Floridians, not transplants from other states who want to change things to make it more like ” back home.”

It’s a simpler way of life there, and people are much friendlier, and less stressed. You can still buy vegetables on the honor system. Pick out what you like, and leave your money in the bucket. That’s if you don’t want to pick your own from a neighbors field. the farmers in the area always leave a section of their crops for the community. When they have finished harvesting, they throw open the gates, and anyone that wants can come in and pick what they like. In fifteen years of living there, I never paid for a watermelon. Harvest time is in June, and you can see convoys of trucks hauling melons to market. Just show a little interest, and they will toss one down to you.

If you want to beat the summer heat, just dive into one of the many crystal clear springs in the area. Water that is 30 feet deep looks very shallow because of it’s claiity. It is 72 degrees year round, and very refreshing to swim in. Or you could tube down the Ichetucknee River and watch otters play as you float by.

Don’t worry about locking your doors, or taking your keys out of the car when you go to the store. Nobody will bother it. But be prepared to stay awhile even if you are only going to grab a couple of things, because there is someone in every aisle to shoot the breeze with.

If you start to miss the “city convieniences,” they are only 20 minutes away. It may seem like a long drive at first, but it is such a scenic one, it’s a pleasurable journey. I make the trip twice amonth when I am there, stock up, then head back home to the front porch swing to relax and enjoy the sounds of nature, far from the concrete and exhaust fumes.

les
I live in SF Bay Area and I think everyone is pretty open minded to this melting pot.

Ecuador has wonderful places to visit, lakes, volcanoes, the galapagos, but… the south side of any major city is a place you should not visit (financially depressed & dangerous)

Places that are different are cool. I live in Louisiana so I love mountains and snow therefore Yellowstone, Alaska, Grand Canyon in winter.

I’m originally from New Zealand, but have lived in the US for the last 15 years. I loved living Los Angeles the most! then Austin (here currently), Hated living in Bakersfield, New York was Ok… Next stop for me is Sarasota Florida is need some sun :)