Hi Everyone.
I and my wife need your help to find out the best city to live in the USA. We are planning to move to San Diego and I'm 31 and my wife is 26 so, would you think that San Diego be the best city to live in or you have any better suggestion.
let's vote, would you?
Thank you for putting your idea down.........

St. Augustine, Florida

Okay Mitch, how do you define "best"? You can't! It's VERY subjective. San Diego is nice, so enjoy.

Houston.

Boston is a great, fun, young city!!! Check it out!

If you wanted answers that mean anything, you should have asked for the best city, but included the phrase "other than the one you live in".
Then you wouldn't get answers like Houston.

I'd vote for San Francisco, if you don't have kids and just want to have a great life for a few years. Hubby and I took the cable cars home from work on nice nights, ate great food constantly, had a short, public transit commute, and got plenty of exercise. Then the kids came, and we couldn't afford SF and moved. But those were wonderful times!

New York City, if you have cash.

OK -- All these votes are for great cities, but they are SO expensive to live in! (New York, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco ... by the time you pay your bills, there is not much left over to enjoy the city!)

What about a great city to live in that has a relatively reasonable cost of living?

The best price/value combo in terms of city living is Vancouver, WA. You get all the benefits of living close to Portland, OR, one of the country's most attractive cities, and still reasonable housing costs (we like the Cascade Park area best) in Clark County. And your wallet benefits in other ways--Washington state has no income tax; Oregon no sales tax (yet)--so if you live in WA and shop in Oregon, you get the best of both worlds. Not to mention the pleasures of being an hour from the gorgeous Cascades and just over an hour to the beautiful beaches.
Of course, if you can afford it, the Pearl District, NW and SE areas of Portland are fabulous places to live...
BTilke

I recall past editions of the Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac and Money Magazine ranking each of the following as the 'best city in the US' at different times: Pittsburgh, Burlington VT, Rochester MN, Seattle. Now there's a diverse bunch for you.
I think San Diego lacks energy and character, but then I'm a traditional easterner, and love the unique qualities of New England.
Mitch, each person has to define his/her own tastes.
If you like SD, doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

Depends on what you are looking for. If money is no object, NYC with a winter place in Key West. If you like to see the sun set on the water, San Francisco.

Now if you have other priorities, like making a living or raising children, then you'll have to consider other factors.

Seattle. If you hate steamy heat and icy winds, this is your town. If you like breathtaking scenery and want to see it more than once or twice a year, this is your town. In the Seattle area, if you can afford to live in close proximity to where you work or have a reverse commute, go for it!

Be prepared for high real estate prices and rental rates in San Diego. I just went and looked at a house last weekend in San Diego that was 1,200 sq ft and was listed for $479,000. Granted it had a view, but wasn't in the best neighborhood. And as far as apartments, plan on putting your name on a waiting list.

The "best" city would depend on many factors. A major one would be what you and your wife like to do in your spare time. What's your income? Profession? Do you plan on having children? Do you like long commutes? Urban living? Country living?

Other considerations? How old are your parents? Their health? Do you have siblings closer to home that can get to them faster if there's a problem. At your age now, that's probably not an issue. Give yourself 10 - 20 years.

If you have children, how far will they be from grandparents. I'm not an advocate of living next door to your parents by any means. But if they are only 1-3 hours away, visits are day trips. More than that become weekend visits.

Dont come to the San Francisco Bay area. We are trying to get rid of some people. We are by far the nations most expensive housing market.

Here are some reasons to avoid San Francisco and the 10 counties that surround it:

1. TOO EXPENSIVE-coldwellbanker.com just released figures on housing sale prices and San Francisco ranked 3rd at $911,000 for a typical 4-bd/ 2-bth home. By the way 1st was Palo Alto( $1.2M) and 2nd was San Mateo( $993K), both suburban areas of the Bay area. We pay about $2 a gallon for gas and its a known fact in CA that we pay through the nose for everything. The Bay area has the highest average income west of manhattan but it also has the highest cost of living west of manhattan.

2. OVERCROWDED-The 2000 census counted 7,037,000 people in the Bay area ranking it 5th in the Nation-demographics.com estimates the Bay to surpass Chicago and DC within 15 years. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose will be the nations 3rd Metro to surpass the 10 million mark in population, Do you really want that? Didnt think so.

3. TERRIBLE TRAFFIC-We have 4.3 million cars,ranking 3rd ahead of Chicagoland. The San Francisco Bay area is home to the second most congested highways in the nation according to the Texas Institute of Transportation( meaning the most cars on the road per lane on average). LA is 1st( but thats not a surprise). The Bay Bridge in Oakland is the widest freeway in the world-with 30 lanes-22 westbound and 8 eastbound( its in the Guiness Book)and its backed up solid for miles every workday and many weekends. There is a 25-mile long line of traffic between Oakland and San Jose every day.
The list of Traffic jams goes on and on.
We also have 250,000 commuters from the inland valleys outside the bay metro boundries who commute into the area everyday.

4. NATURES FURY-Earthquakes, Floods, Massive Fires, mudslides etc. You can do better than that. Try Arizona or Colorado. I hear its nice there.


See? dont come here, life sucks-wink

Well B2B,
youve certainly convinced me...Im not gonna move to your area any time soon. But I do love San Francisco and the bay.

Now, having said that, I would like to suggest that you consider moving to Portland, Oregon. Its really nice and I think youd love it.

I live in Las Vegas having moved here from Portland 8 months ago. It was not worth the trip in my estimation. Just not a great place for tree-lovers and cool weather lovers-what were we thinking?

Phoenix is the best place to live! I couldnt stomach california any longer so I moved here and havent looked back since!

We have more fun things to do and Phoenix is more exciting than San Francisco-what a dreary place. We have sports teams and cheap homes. Youll love the sunshine and our restaurants are better than anywhere Ive been.

Kathy - I live in Las Vegas as well and would move back to the Pacific Northwest in a minute if I had the opportunity. Unfortunately I'm having no luck finding a job up there. In the meantime, I guess I'll just be stuck out here in the desert.

Boise, Idaho.

What a great place to live. Plenty of recreational resources all around you (snow skiing, water skiing, rivers, hiking, camping, fishing, you name it), plus a surprisingly developed fine arts scene. Sun Valley is just 2.5 hours away.

For the cost of our home here in the Bay Area, my sister owns a nice home in Boise and a cabin on a river an hour out of Boise.

Good luck whatever you do!
Shel