Moving to the USA - where has the best quality of life?

[AveEldon]

If you could live anywhere in the US, where would you go?

Las Vegas - love it there & can 100% imagine living there

Texas

None of it, while Donald Trump's in power, and while they still have guns and no NHS.

It's one of those places to me that's nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

Florida, we visited last year and it was lovely. So much to do, great employment opportunities (in my industry at least) & great weather.

I live in the Los Angeles area and find the quality of life where I live amazing, great schools, walking distance to shops and restaurants and the beach, weather allows you to do stuff outside all year. The obvious downside is the cost and the fact that in these sort of areas the houses are close together and you don't get much of a garden (just a deck). I don't find traffic an issue but we kind of have to plan our lives around it and just accept it may be bad at times.

Portland Oregon, or San Diego.

Not American and as a big city loving Londoner I’d probably say NYC, but that’s not for everyone...

In my youth I worked and lived for a while in the Bay Area and it was a very nice lifestyle (if you can afford it...not necessarily a cheap place to live). Perfect mix of city life (Sam Francisco), the ocean and lovely walks nearby, hot summers but moderate weather otherwise, people seemed to be quite outdoorsy. Wine country on your doorstep, too .

I live in Chicago and the standard of living is pretty good- I found it easy to find a job, salaried are high compared to the UK, housing is cheap (coming from London and compared to friends in NY or San Fran) and there’s so much to do. I could do without the artic winters and high property taxes.

If I could move anywhere, and we can’t as we are tied to Chicago for DH’s job, it would hands down be Denver.

I lived for a year in Riverside, California. As a child it was a great place to grow up- haven’t been there for years mind so who knows what it’s like now?!

Houston, TX

We live in LA as well (and have a garden), it’s a pretty good quality of life helped by the weather, proximity to the ocean and mountains, healthy lifestyle and friendly people but it’s expensive and very far from the rest of the world

San Diego my parents used to live there in the 70s and they had a brilliant time there

Yeah, nope. I like sending my kid to school knowing an active shooter showing up is a tad unlikely.

Vermont

Outskirts of Denver. Good employment opportunities, great weather if you like blue sky, fluffy snow in winter and blue sky, heat in summer. The mountains are amazing. Good people too. It’s a ‘purple’ state so more balanced less extreme

It’ll be different for everyone. What are your feelings about weather, both day to day and extreme events? What sort of income would you have? No point moving to NYC or SF with no money. What are your politics? Are you happy to live in a state with very limited abortion access?

South Carolina - Charlottesville

I live in coastal Maine, but I always say that eventually the winters will drive me away and I'll end up in one of the Carolinas.

But other than the winters I think Maine is pretty much unbeatable.

I live in SE Michigan. Standard of living high compared to when we lived in the UK. The winters are Baltic though.
Actually pretty left wing and liberal where we are. I work long hours but feel more respected as a teacher.

Love living here in western Washington on the beach. My husband is the most wonderful person, we have a nice home, very comfortable lifestyle, good community spirit where we live. I couldn’t be happier. Also we have no state income tax and I’m always shocked at how little tax I pay on my salary and how much more of my earnings I keep to spend on us.

We’ve travelled around a lot of the country. Could not live in the south.

I want to go to Albuquerque because of Breaking Bad. Love those desert colours.

Canada.

I've been to Charlottesville, Virginia a lot, and the quality of life there does seem really good. House prices are reasonable, beautiful surroundings, great food, excellent university etc.

I love the vibe in Portland, but the weather is a bit miserable, and the same for Boston

But if I had to choose, San Diego - La Jolla to be precise so I could ocean swim. Love it there.

We live on Cape Cod, about 50 miles south of Boston. I love living in the north east - 4 proper seasons, hot summers and almost guaranteed snow in the winter (with roads cleared and treated so it never generally stops us getting around)
It’s honestly what I would call ‘picture perfect’ America - the houses remind me of a movie sometimes - even after 14 years! One of the best education systems in the US in Massachusetts and definitely mostly anti-Trump/guns from my experience. Short drive up to NH/VT for skiing and at the same time we can drive to NYC in about 4 hours if we want to visit. The downside is MA does live up to its nickname ‘Taxachusetts’ but higher taxes do generally mean better schools, roads, town facilities.
Also, I’ll never come to terms with the US health system of insurance- I honestly cannot understand how such a developed country can accept the cost of healthcare here (even with good insurance which we are fortunate to have!)
I love to holiday in FL but wouldn’t want to live there - too hot/humid and no proper winter! Love the west coast also but the cost of living is often very high.
I love living here. It also has lots of history (for the US!) and that’s something I miss from the U.K.!

Arizona (Scottsdale) hands down.
San Diego if you can afford it.

Either of the Carolinas are great.
Oregon if you're super outdoorsy but don't like the desert heat.

I've lived in all of those so far.