You should listen to Mr. Cynical, but he forgot to mention:
hiking, biking, skiing, boating, small mountain towns, fishing, and great pay, due to the high unemployment.
**
We do still have a middle class, there’s 3 or 4 of them left I think.
I agree it is too expensive. But it’s a lifestyle choice. Do I live in a place that I think is one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in the world, where not only do I not need a car but, I can walk everywhere I need to go, yet pay outrageous prices for everything? Or do I live somewhere that isn’t quite as nice and be able to afford a normal existence.
My favorite thing about SF is the weather. Right now it’s 59 and foggy. I love it.
I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned Vancouver. Beautiful city with mountains and the ocean. Not to mention all the asian babes.
My favorite city? Any place that’s not Hartford. Seriously, Ottawa, Ont., is my favorite, with Duluth, Minnesota, a close second. They’re not for everyone, I’ll be the first to admit.
If it must be in New England, Portland, Maine, is nice enough, and surprisingly cosmpolitan. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is nice too, but it’s smaller and more expensive. Nashua and Derry are much too crowded for my taste. I don’t know Manchester well enough to comment.
bibliophage,
I’ve just recently discover just how much ass Portsmouth, NH actually kicks. I never would have suspected such a town to be so cool.
I comletely forgot about Vancouver. Yeah Adam. It’s a great place. I’ve been there a few times. Very international city. Creat skiing. Great weather. And it’s cheaper than SF.
I don’t have time for a long post. I am at the beach, and I had to buy 1/2 block of time to check my e-mail. I wandered over here, and was shocked to notice that while everyone is mentioning pretenders to the best city crown, nobody has mentioned the actual best city to live in, Baltimore!! You just can’t beat B-more. Crabs, Chesapeake, Inner Harbor, History, you name it, we got it. Some of the other cities mentioned don’t even come close. New York? Great place to have your civil rights violated by Fuhrer Gilluiani. Philly? Everything except the area around the art museum is falling down. Boston? Bunch of snobs with funny accents whose biggest hero is a guy who had to run for help! Washington DC? Don’t make me laugh. Nobody who is touting DC actually lives there, and if you wander off the Mall, better be wearing a bulletproof vest.If you want to be on the east coast, B-more is the shit. We got everything you want from a city, and the folks are generally small-town friendly. Cost of living is below the national average, but incomes are above. Walk around the Inner Harbor from Federal Hill to Canton, and tell me there is a prettier city anywhere.
Washington DC? Don’t make me laugh. Nobody who is touting DC actually lives there, and if you wander off the Mall, better be wearing a bulletproof vest.
You want to take this to the Pit, Davy Boy? I live in Zip Code 20009. Washington, D.C. Lived in NW, NE, SE during my EIGHT years here. Actually the Mall is one of the creepier places at night, being deserted. History, green parks, beautiful architecture, the river, FREE museums & cultural attractions, ethnic diversity, great movie theaters & restaurants, you can walk or take public transportation pretty much everywhere, close to cool place like Baltimore. DC has its good points and bad points, but we aren’t all NOVA Suburbanites.
Not to mention the City Tavern, Society Hill, the Mutter Museum, Mysterybooks, Elfreth’s Alley, and Dahlak’s.
Lsura may be on the right track with Providence. It’s closer to Boston than Hartford is and is superior in almost every comparison. In my humble opinion, it is a much nicer place than Hartford (I’ve been to both several times). In the interest of full disclose, I have to say I’d never consider living in either. I’m a country boy at heart. Check out the city comparison by Yahoo!. You may want to buy a copy of Places Rated Almanac which will give you a snapshot of weather, crime, economy, education, etc.
Hey listen up all you boosters for San Francisco, D.C., Vancouver, Denver, Baltimore, Philly, Chicago, New Orleans, Portland, and all the other jerk-water towns mentioned in the above posts…
David Letterman and Rudy Giuliani said it all when they unveiled NYC’s new (unofficial) slogan on the Late Show in 1995:
“WE CAN KICK YOUR CITY’S ASS.”
lolanthe –
What’s the “Mutter Museum?”
HEY! Zip code 20005 checking in here, and I should just mention that we’ll all be keeping a careful eye out for you, Dave, on your next visit into the city (grinds fist into open palm).
I’ve been fortunate to buy into a nice neighborhood that’s booming by leaps & bounds, but in general I think DC is a great place to live. Similar to NY but without the steaming fetid mounds of garbage on the sidewalks, and not as many random street lunatics. Almost everywhere I go, there is a nice mix of trees & pavement, as opposed to many major metros where you’re lucky to find a weed growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. My area in particular is heavily wooded & has the feel of a burb. Sidewalk diners & entertainment are blocks away in every direction. We also have powerful ANCs (advisory neighborhood commissions) where the police chief & faux-congressmen actually show up and listen to our concerns.
My only hesitation would be moving here with small children. Not that there’s a high incidence of crimes against children or anything, I’d just worry too much.
Hey, I love DC, and I live in Maryland. So NYAH! 
Haverhill, MA. It’s close to Boston, but it’s a much more reasonably priced. It’s close to NH liquor stores, and with no sales tax liquor is a steal!! It’s a short drive to the NH beaches, and close to Newburyport, and Ipswich, two of my favorite places in the world. It’s also on the last stop on the commuter rail, so if you work in Boston you don’t even have to drive!
So that everybody knows where I’m coming from, I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. Then when I became a teacher, I got a job in Tonopah Nevada…which is really B.F. E.—A street out in the middle of nowhere.
Then I moved to Reno, now I live in Sparks, Nevada.
I would always want to live west of the Rockies. I find people out here are more open minded…and less bigoted…maybe it was just my family in Toledo, but people there were very narrowminded…Please don’t flame me on this…It may just be my observation.
I like Reno and Sparks, lots of beautiful mountain views, we’re near Lake Tahoe, which is awesome.
Another place I’d like to live is Monterey, California–on the ocean–it never gets too hot or too cold…it’s beautiful.
I’ll back up what people have said about Providence. It’s got all the stuff that Hartford has going for it, and a lot more. It’s closer to Boston, and is a downright cool place in its own right. Hell, any place that could give the world The Talking Heads and The Farrelly Brothers can’t be all bad. Plus, the other cities in that area (Pawtucket RI, and Taunton & Attleboro Mass) are pretty nice too. Hell, I plug anywhere in New England. I love it all (except Bridgeport, Connecticut and Lawrence, Mass. Anyplace where the crime rate exceeds the population is a bit creepy for me).
I always liked Louisville best.
You forgot about Gwar and Mr Potato Head. remeber Rhode Island is the birthplace of fun!!
I grew up in a small town outside Burlington, Vt. While it is my hometown, I have always felt more at home in my parents’ hometown, New York. Hard to explain.
However, I’ve had an ongoing love affair with Savannah, GA for a long time. Nothing to do with “The Book,” I visited it with my parents on our way to Florida, and felt inexplicably at home. This is doubly strange because I am SUCH a yankee. But I’ll have to move there at some point.