wHETHER OR NOT THE RESEARCH BIT IS TRUE, WHO CARES? whY ARE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY SO UPSET THAT THEY MIGHT BE USED FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES? DON'T ANSWER IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE TOPIC!!

Believe it or not, Dothan, Alabama could fit the bill nicely. It's in the southeast corner of Alabama. Just far enough from any cities >100,000 that it has become quite self-sufficient. The drawing capacity for that area has become remarkable, especially for people in the health care industry. It has a university. Montgomery, Mobile, Tallahassee, Columbus, and Atlanta are all within an easy driving distance. Good people. Clean tidy neighborhoods. Mild climate. The shopping has become pretty good, since the big cities are at least an hour away. Culture? Progressive? They are actively working on that from what I can tell. Lots of college educated, professional? I really don't know. The demand was enough that one of the state universities has taken their extension program from an old hotel in the downtown area to a new facility on the outskirts of town. Lots of military retirees with it's proximity to Ft. Rucker.

Try findyourspot.com

Fill out a small quiz and it lists your top 24 cities to live in.

I vote Lexington, KY. Cincinnati and Louisville are about an hour away. Good climate, UK is here, pretty horse farms and hills, nice people and good restaurants and decent shopping.

Stillwater, MN.

A beautiful old river town with friendly people, a vibrant downtown, natural beauty. Close enough to Mpls/St. Paul to be considered part of the metro area, but Stillwater is definitely not a suburb!

Good luck. Life is an adventure -- have fun!

http://www.ci.stillwater.mn.us/

I can relate to your quest! We moved, by choice, to Alaska 5 years ago, and love it. Anchorage is a city of over 200,000 -- HOWEVER, the city limits stretch along a 40 (?) mile corridor, following mountains and sea. Very little traffic, laid back, and this is considered the "Banana Belt," weather-wise. There is an acute shortage of nurses, and the pay scale is higher than average. Educated populace, as most folks are here by choice, not birthright. As a consequence, we have quite a diverse population. Our winters are long, but summers are like perpetual spring-time and the rivers run turquoise.....I'm on a roll, so I'd better stop! Good luck with your journey, wherever it may lead.

Whats wrong with Tallahassee? If I could find a decent job there I would go in a heatbeat. You have rolling hills and forests, the environment of great universities and the state capitol. And there is a nice seasonal change there between the sometimes chilly winter and hot summers, but always the Florida sun. And no state income tax.

To the last poster:

My complaint re Tallahassee: North Tallahassee is fine but the south side of town has to many rednecks who drive their car onto their lawns. Town needs tougher zoning standards! Also, the huge black population causes Tally to have a huge crime problem. It seems like Tallahassee is out in the middle of nowhere- 260 miles from Tampa or Atlanta, nothing but cut over pine forests for a s far as you can see. The amount of logging of Florida's once beautiful forests outside of Tallahassse is shocking. My final complaint: to many stips of ugly fast food and big box retail areas have been built up in the last 20 years.

SANTA CRUZ, CA.
--although I should be keeping it a secret.