Esme

You-can't-be, is that really you Enuf?? Leave her alone, decisons like this require input from as many people as you feel you need to listen to, until you hear the answer you were looking for all along and never even told yourself! xx

I must

Beth, if the school in Hunstville are so great, to whom should we credit your "Westpoint" instead of West Point? <BR> <BR>I'd been to Huntsville and it's all one long, commercial strip. Nothing to brag about....

nancy

Eva, <BR>Not Vermont! <BR>(Too many are doing so already!) <BR>But Boston is a very cool place. <BR>nancy

hans

I have lived in four places. <BR> <BR>Norfolk, VA <BR>Northern VA outside of Washington DC <BR>Huntsville, AL <BR>suburbs outside of Atlanta GA <BR> <BR>For a family, the best of small town living and big city amenities, plus reasonable cost of housing, I would recommend Huntsville, AL . It is an island of hi-tech professionals in a sea of deep south culture. Not much night life though. <BR> <BR>For four season climate, beach nearby, water sports, reasonable cost of living, try the Norfolk, Virginia Beach , basically southeast corner of Virginia. <BR> <BR>Northern Virginia has expensive housing but there is plenty to do there. <BR> <BR>Atlanta where we currently live has a reasonable cost of living, a great economy, but is not a terribly exciting place to live. Of course we are old fart suburbanites now, there are sections of atlanta where gen x and gen y 's hang out. <BR>

Steven

Chicago is too damn cold. <BR> <BR>NYC is an incredible place to live. It, too, can get awfully cold, but not as bad as Chicago, and not for nearly as long. <BR> <BR>Washington, D.C., (where I live) is simply a spectacular city, particularly if you have enough sense not to live in the suburbs. The only people I know who live around here and don't like D.C. stupidly live in the outer suburbs. So of course their lives are miserable. The job market here is amazing, and the presence of the federal government does make the D.C. area somewhat recession proof. Housing prices are high, but really not any more so than any other major city (and not anywhere near as bad as San Francisco). <BR> <BR>I would also vote for St. Paul, Minnesota, if it also weren't so damn cold.