Melbourne, Victoria. It seems sort of San Francisco-like, as compared to Sydney, which is more Los Angeles-like (in my imagination). If within the US, then Portland, Seattle or Honolulu. It has to be a place with good weather and liberal politics. That eliminates most of the rest of the US, since I’ve lived in both Northern and Southern California and therefore can’t choose those places.
Cape May, NJ
If the hypothetical can be trusted to find comparable housing and handle all the moving logistics, I’m trusting it to find me a job that I’m comparatively competent at and allows me a comparable financial lifestyle with comparable opportunities for advancement. It’s a really resourceful hypothetical.
First answer, Venice. After that, Dunedin (New Zealand) or Seoul. If I were to stay in the US, probably San Diego.
We did this; moved to Austin TX. Nobody paid our moving expenses though. Sigh.
Let’s see… It should be a cool/cold spot with a Major League Baseball team. Some culture would be nice, too.
Toronto, Boston and Seattle all appeal to me.
Port Sanilac, MI. right on the water, and with a population of 623 I wouldn’t have to worry about being around people.
by which you surely mean “some culture different than what I’m used to,” right?
Its a tough call between New Orleans, Pahrump, Nevada, or any of the small towns along the Outer Banks.
New Orleans was my first pick,I’ve always liked the city. I like the Outer Banks a lot, when I’ve visited. Pahrump, because it appeals to the part of me that likes the desert, the Area 51 connection, and I saw a house (similarly sized to what I live in now, but on 600 acres for sale not long ago. OP stated comparable house…not comparable land.)
Its a tough call between New Orleans, Pahrump, Nevada, or any of the small towns along the Outer Banks.
New Orleans was my first pick,I’ve always liked the city. I like the Outer Banks a lot, when I’ve visited. Pahrump, because it appeals to the part of me that likes the desert, the Area 51 connection, and I saw a house (similarly sized to what I live in now, but on 600 acres for sale not long ago. OP stated comparable house…not comparable land.)
Love New York City and Tokyo. Those would make the cut.
Santa Fe, New Mexico would be another contender. I’ve lived in Albuquerque but not Santa Fe. Spent many wonderful hours in Santa Fe.
I don’t want to live in a city, so I guess I would try to choose the most un-city-like city I could find. Any suggestions?
London. somewhere the equivalent of where I live now would be a 5 bed semi-detached house within 3 miles of the city centre, easy access to trains and close to the Uni, with a bohemian kind of flavour.
I haven’t been yet, but L.A. is often described as just sprawl with no city at its core.
That’s kinda how i moved to Seattle. i had visited for business, my family had never visited Seattle nor ever lived in the US before
Tokyo makes me think of Kyoto. That would be a pleasant choice too.
OK. Stockholm, I think
If this happened in my real life, I expect we’d pick the Tampa MSA. For the past 17 years, we’ve lived in the DC exurbs, up near my folks, and part of the deal was that anytime she wanted to jump on a plane and visit her family, she could.
So I figure that if the gods forced us to move out of the DC area, she’d say it’s her turn, and we’d move near her folks in eastern Hillsborough County, and I’d be the one with carte blanche to hop on a plane and visit my folks. The main reason we’ve never considered it is that we’d have a tough time finding comparable jobs down there, and the schools aren’t nearly as good, so we’d have to pay for private schooling for the Firebug. But since the OP assumes the former, we could handle the latter.
The hypothetical could skip all the annoying red tape and simply give me $5 million.
What the hell. Make it $10 million.
How far up the coast from San Diego do I have to go before I’m outside of the metropolitan statistical area? 
One of the towns in Surrey, England, will do nicely. (Hey, I have to meet my well-to-do husband-to-be somewhere.)
I need a condo with washer/dryer, please. Also lots of sunny windows. And covered parking/garage for my car.
Bonus: just move my job to my employer’s London Office.
Ugh. Thanks, but not the kind of un-city-ness I really meant. I really want something that has the feel of a leafy village, so, yeah, I think I’m going to say Stockholm, or something like that.