When my husband leaves the military we will have to choose where we want to live. It will be in the US and seeing as he has moved around for most of his life he doesn't have a place to move back to that he considers 'home'. I am from the UK so don't have any place in the US that I consider home either.

We don't want to stay here in Hawaii, (too resistant to outsiders, no seasons of the year, too far from the UK, no large cities and don't like the 'island fever') so how do we choose where to settle? We won't have any children at home by then, so schools are not a big consideration. We won't be rich but expect to be comfortable enough to choose somewhere that is not dictated by income (and we won't need a large house for just the two of us). I would like to be somewhere that is quite liberal (no bible belt areas!!), it would be nice to have warm summers and cold winters, and I whilst I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere I also want to be able to drive out of the city for day trips to countyside. Guess I am describing the UK to some extent!! Oh yes also want to be able to get cheap quick flights to the UK so east side of the county would be better.



My questions are:

Which state do you live in and what are the best/worse features?
Where, in the US, would you really like to live and why?

I think you might like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's a beautiful, vibrant city - modern but with lovely historical colonial buildings, lots of culture as it is a university city, lots of galleries, world-class museums, parks, theatre, sports, Chinatown and even daily flights to the UK with British Airways (and I think, US Airways).

It's an easy trip to New York City or to Baltimore and Washington DC, by car, bus or train (although you can fly too). Also not far from Philly (no more than a one hour drive) there is Amish country in the Lancaster area.

http://www.gophila.com

If you like skiing or just walking, cycling or driving through the mountains again it is an easy drive from Philly to the Poconos or the Appalachian trail:

http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/home.pa

I live about 70 miles north of Philly in the New Jersey suburbs (a bit like Tunbridge Wells...Stepford Wife country LOL!) and 18 miles west of NYC. If money was no object I'd move to San Francisco without a doubt, but unfortunately my husband's job is connected to the financial/banking sector so we are pretty much tied to living in NYC or major worldwide cities which are financial centres.

I used to live in Atlanta, GA. Great summers, mild winters, easy to get to the great outdoors.. plus direct flights to the UK!. My other advice, avoid bible belt Ohio.. (I live here - its hell!)

Nashville TN has a lot of what you are looking for. Yes, middle TN is in the Bible Belt, but my experience there was that people were genuinely very friendly, and that nashville was a lot more liberal than you'd expect for the BB. Also, cost of living is reasonable, you are close to some lovely countryside, plus close to much of the US (i.e., very central, population-wise). Nashville has most things you'd expect in a large city, but with a small-town feel.

Apart from the busy summers....Cape Cod in MA is just like living in Cornwall..!....no crime.....nice people......small town but with Boston only 70 miles away.....most of the time not to hot or cold.....
The down sides well the traffic in summer......but that was not so bad this year.....it can be very humid....the cost of housing but that not as bad as a lot of places now...not that many well paying jobs.........if I had to give the place marks out of 10 for bring up kids.....it would be a 10.....good schools your kids are safe out playing.....they have clean beaches for the weekend....
I will miss this place when and if I move more than anywhere else I've lived.......

erm...I think I'd like to live in Hawaii!! are you positive you want to move?

well if you don't want the heat I wouldn't go for the southern states...my husband is from Missouri and it's very pretty in the Fall..it actually has it's four seasons in the correct order

I agree with Englishmum, Philadelphia is one of the best cities I've ever been to in the USA. Much better than dirty old NYC and because its so old (it was the nations capitol originally) there is a lot more historically of interest and doens't look like it was built out of vinyl siding 5 minutes ago like a lot of places.
have you seen that Nicholas Cage film 'National Treasure?' a large chunk of the film was set in Philly.
From your post it sounds like you want to be nearer to home than the West Coast is, otherwise I'd say check out San Fran, Seattle and Portland, Orgeon.

Depends how cold the winters, but maine could fit the bill....Freeport is nice, it's 10 mins away from Portland, which has an airport that's a skip to Boston, there's plenty to do in Portland, it's quiet, it's on the coast...and the shopping is great

I realise that I'm in a pitiful minority here, but I LOVE Los Angeles. I'd happily spend the rest of my life here. The weather is perfect, it's spitting distance to the ocean, mountains and desert, it's politically and socially liberal, and has a good ethnic mix (always a plus in my book). The only down side is the cost of housing, which is, or course, an ENORMOUS downside and the only reason why I would ever consider leaving.

I live in nashville and its great. With my current income (I get a north-eastern salary) I'm not sure I would move to anywhere else in the USA - things are just too easy here!

not too cold in the winter, very little snow - very liberal - reasonable cost of living

its a $100, 1 hour flight to atlanta or chicago

downside is crappy public schools

Luverleeely
http://www.scorecard.org/env-release...nty_code=06037

Chicago. Multicultural, centrally located, and in a blue state.

Twinned with Vladivostock from a weather perspective

Great city though....

Air quality, air schmality! That's the Pacific Ocean you can see through the smog!

True but she said she did not mind cold winters.

LA has fake plastic trees and I'm dubious about being able to escape the Bible Belt whacking your butt in Nashville. But that's just me.