I love San Francisco for a bazillion reasons, and would probably live here even if I hadn't been born here and my family didn't live here, too. And with my mom getting on in years and in poor health, and the joy of watching my nephews grow up, I'm not planning on moving.
You might live somewhere you love just as much, or maybe you hate where you live but feel stuck there.
But love it or hate it, if you absolutely couldn't live where you currently live... where would you live?
Where would you live if lifestyle were all that mattered, and not money? In other words, I'd love to live in New York City, but it's even more expensive than San Francisco, so it's not on my "real world" list of places to live.
So... cost of living being equal, where would you like to live? Anywhere in the world, not just the country you live in now. When I waved my magic wand over the money thing, I took care of that pesky "immigration restrictions" thing, too.
Oh, but nothing but the cost of living is equalized. I haven't fixed the weather, for instance. ;)
Me, if I couldn't live in the Bay Area, I'd try New York City. Seattle is on the list, too. And Vancouver.
Your turn.
For me, let's see.
San Francisco, New York, Seattle, London, Edinburgh, the top of a mountain in the Rockies, Germany, Sydney.
Nothing too exotic. ;)
Posted by: Travis | 07 March 2009 at 02:30 PM
If money or citizenship weren't an object, I'd buy a gorgeous loft in New York City. I'd go see a show every week, explore every museum and art gallery, go for walks in Central Park and slurp expensive coffee from Starbucks...
You see, when you live in a small country like Belgium, even coffee from Starbucks sounds exotic. ;)
I don't have any other places on my list at the moment. I've been in a New York state of mind for a while now. :)
Posted by: Timy | 07 March 2009 at 02:37 PM
Well, if I couldn't live in New York -- the very idea makes me incredibly sad -- and neither money nor location of family were considerations, my next choice would absolutely be San Francisco. Beyond that, of the places I know, I'd be most willing to live in: Toronto, Montreal, Paris, New Orleans...
And while we're at it, as money is no object, I'd like secondary homes in Wellfleet, MA and Jerez de la Frontera, Spain too.
However, there are so many places I've never been that I'd love to visit, and who knows if any of those would then make the list.
Posted by: Suzie | 07 March 2009 at 02:47 PM
I would live in the remotest interior of the Canadian Rockies or even the Himalayas. Not that I am anti social, but I prefer the hardships of the clean wilderness than the grime of the cities. I have lived in Dallas, Phoenix, New York and close to DC (close as I want to get anyway).
I prefer the solitude of open spaces to the congestion of too many faces.
Posted by: Linda Kaim | 07 March 2009 at 03:02 PM
First on my list for now is Austin, TX. My bro and his family live there and my mom lives a little over 100 miles from him. I also have a few cousins down that way. I like Denver and own land in the mountains, so I'm sure I'd always want to live here at least part time. I would love to spend a few years in SF and NYC for all the creative, cultural, and gay things there are to do there. As for internationally, I would love to spend time in New Zealand. I would love to spend a summer in the UK and Ireland, but I don't think weather wise I could stand it full time.
Posted by: TheWeyrd1 | 07 March 2009 at 03:13 PM
Believe it or not, I love where I live (Boise, Idaho) from April to November. Ideally, that's when I would be here and on to a warmer climate for the other five months. However, if I couldn't live here, how about three months in San Francisco, three months in New York City, three months on any of the Hawaiian Islands and three months in Key West! Four of my favorite places to make up a perfect year!
Posted by: Cherie Forster | 07 March 2009 at 03:58 PM
This would make a good one of those Facebook virally things.. :)
I'd like a glass-fronted, stone and timber home on a rock overlooking Lake Superior. Maybe high on the Keweenaw Peninsula, so I could see Isle Royale. And I'd have a private helicopter to take me to Isle Royale, and we'd fly over the wolf packs and shoot... WHOA!! I was channeling for a second there. I'm better now.
Yeah, Lake Superior. Gitchee Gumi.
Posted by: Dan | 07 March 2009 at 05:21 PM
Seattle, Inverness or St. Johns, Newfoundland. See a thread here :-) Water - I currently live in the desert.
Posted by: Cheryl | 07 March 2009 at 05:32 PM
Deer Isle, Maine. Rome. Portland, OR. Edinburgh. Galway. Cambridge, MA.
And places I would like to spend 6 months or so - San Francisco, Paris, Seattle (never been there), Stockholm.
Nice to dream. Thanks.
Posted by: Cate | 07 March 2009 at 07:20 PM
Austin was a great place to live except..HOT. Ugh, so hot.
I love where I am now in Pennsylvania because it's just the right mixture of rural and urban, and NYC is only 1 1/2 hours away by train.
Dreams: Oxford, England or Cardiff, Wales (been to both and wanted to leave neither).
More realistic dream: Parker, Colorado. Someday I will.
Posted by: Lori | 09 March 2009 at 01:56 PM
Seattle, San Francisco, or London (maybe). New York I would visit, but I am a Pacific kind of girl.
Posted by: NA | 09 March 2009 at 05:47 PM
Cyprus, almost any place along the SoCal coastline, Mallorca, Rome, London, or, if I thought for a second that I could stand the humidity, New Orleans and Miami ;) I think my themes are warm and ocean. I do currently have one of them ... ungodly warmth ... I think I'd rather have ocean so the NorCal coastline as well!
Posted by: KT | 12 March 2009 at 11:41 AM
I grew up in the San Francisco area and still love it dearly. Whenever I visit my family up there, I feel so at home -- I miss fog and foghorns and green things so much now that I live in the desert.
But if I could choose to live anywhere in the world, it would have to be London. I felt at home there the minute I first stepped outside the tube from the airport, and the feeling never left. The history and art in the city is magnificent and there is so much to see and learn there. The green parks and areas are so comforting. I'd move there tomorrow if I thought I could afford it.
Posted by: Stellaluna | 12 March 2009 at 10:36 PM
Trick answer? I live in San Francisco. Ideal would be to live in a small town on either of the coasts, on a property with plenty of land buffer between house and outside world, and to have work that requires trips three-to-four times a year to big cities.
You mention family? In this vision, I could take several months if needed to be in NY with my family.
Posted by: Barbara Ruth Saunders | 15 March 2009 at 07:25 PM
Hmm...just remembered this. When I was 10 or 11, I saw a made-for-TV movie about a "bi-coastal" business woman who secretly had a spouse in each port. I thought that sounded pretty good!
Posted by: Barbara Ruth Saunders | 15 March 2009 at 07:28 PM
I would definitely live in New York. With all of the great fashion and nightlife, I'm sure it would be a blast.
Posted by: Erin | 16 March 2009 at 08:58 AM
hmm lets see new york or france or japan or michigan or like a desert civilization
Posted by: MAX | 16 June 2009 at 08:19 AM