Well, it's only due to requiring a high paying technology job.
If I were independently wealthy, I'd live all over the place. ;^) I was perfectly happy to idly waste my days in Costa Rica when I was there. Even Beacon would be pleasant if I didn't have to commute or work.
My criteria really come down to the reality of my career and income requirements.
I'm not sure I could really live ANYWHERE, but I do have a broad range. Apart from the current impediment of not speaking Spanish, I'd enjoy Costa Rica quite a bit. I could live in New York, but I couldn't have before - England kinda inured me to the cold and nasty weather with worse than NYC could throw at me. I couldn't live in London, It's nice enough to visit, but the place doesn't sit right with me.
I suppose if I was idly rich enough to live essentially in a slow transit between one place and another, I could manage that. Failing that, I have a long list of places I could live, and I know where I probably can't. Admittedly, I do better in tropical-type places than the torturous cold.
Actually, if you live in Los Angeles proper (downtown LA), like Alex Leavitt does, then public transit + bike works pretty well. If you live anywhere else in the City of Los Angeles (for example, Northridge, where I live), then you need a car.
On the plus side, though, having a car outside of LA proper is pretty good. There isn't much traffic even during hour, lots of fun roads like Box Canyon, easy access to fun facilities that require a lot of space (like gun ranges and go kart tracks), there's always free parking, and your range and times of travel isn't limited by public transit. I drive to LA all the time for events like Anime Expo, the LA Auto Show, and just hanging out with Alex and Ashley for board games. I went to Anaheim earlier this month for Equestria LA. First weekend of January I'm going to Anime LA at LAX. Also, all the movies, obviously, are released here first.
Is it the BEST city? Who knows, but it's pretty fucking sweet.
The "not needing to own a car" thing also applies to San Francisco. Public transit goes everywhere and everything is so squished together that it's not an absurd notion to just walk across the city. Plus, nicer weather than NYC and a gorgeous view of the bay.
US city? Out of the ones I've been to, I liked San Diego.
I mis-read, but the LMGTFY still applies. Check the third link down and onward and add some quotations to that search if you still can't find an answer.
More importantly, it's not 24/7. How the fuck can you rely on mass transit that isn't 24/7? I am often out somewhere in New York after midnight.
London doesn't have a 24/7 underground. In fact hardly anywhere in Britain has 24/7 public transport, only one I can think of is Edinburgh during the festival.
Anyway in my limited experience of U.S cities, I really liked Boston but then again I'm really into history and that place has it in bucket loads, well at least for a U.S city. It also has a very European feel to it and it gets bonus points for the friendly transport worker at the airport station that helped us with ticket machine.
This is all from a tourist point of view of course.
I must represent Atlanta! Atlanta is okay but not the best. You have to have a car to get around, and everything is fairly spread out (compared to cities like NY) and Marta is a joke. Not only is it useless, but it super sketchy, and I wouldn't feel comfortable using it alone. The car thing is the biggest negative to me. Even though I grew up being used to needing cars, I still hate driving and never want to drive again if I can help it. Atl has great food and parties and a lot going on, though! Also it has Dragon*Con, plus at least a couple other good nerdy conventions. I like that the people of Atlanta are so diverse and forward thinking. Its like an oasis of good things. As soon as you leave the bounds though you are in deep south super religious redneckville. I really wish Atl wasn't in GA, GA really sucks sometimes. >.<
I like spending a lot of time driving from place to place, enjoying the scenery, listening to music, and chain smoking. No cops, no traffic, no noise, no light pollution, no pedestrians, just long roads, farmers, truckers and drug dealers.
I am a naturally anxious person, so driving makes me go crazy. There is always someone trying to kill me. Too many people do not understand they are driving huge metal death machines and drive like selfish idiots. At least in Atl anyway. I am a super cautious and paranoid driver (though I've gotten much better over the years) due to my mom (also paranoid and overly cautious) teaching me how to drive. As a result of being submissive and overly cautious, I've managed to avoid every attempt on my life while driving, so far at least. However Andrew really hates my driving and makes fun of me. ;-; So yeah, it would be awesome for me to never have to drive again.
Any Boston forumites care to comment on the Hubway bike rental system thing? It seems good on paper as a way to have total pedestrian freedom in the city (with the possible caveat of traffic due to tourist scum). I find Boston very walkable, but I've been wrong before.
What's funny is that as much as I don't want to have to use a car in my day-to-day living, I love driving.
Same, I'd have 3 or 4 cars if it wasn't a hassle and still take the metro to work. But to do that I'd have to be stupid rich (even richer than you are now Rym). Dealing with multiple cars is a hassle unless you live out in the boonies.
Driving is such second nature to me that it's barely a conscious action.
I actually think a lot about driving, even when I'm not driving. It's a craft I endeavor to master totally.
Comments
I suppose if I was idly rich enough to live essentially in a slow transit between one place and another, I could manage that. Failing that, I have a long list of places I could live, and I know where I probably can't. Admittedly, I do better in tropical-type places than the torturous cold.
On the plus side, though, having a car outside of LA proper is pretty good. There isn't much traffic even during hour, lots of fun roads like Box Canyon, easy access to fun facilities that require a lot of space (like gun ranges and go kart tracks), there's always free parking, and your range and times of travel isn't limited by public transit. I drive to LA all the time for events like Anime Expo, the LA Auto Show, and just hanging out with Alex and Ashley for board games. I went to Anaheim earlier this month for Equestria LA. First weekend of January I'm going to Anime LA at LAX.
Also, all the movies, obviously, are released here first.
Is it the BEST city? Who knows, but it's pretty fucking sweet.
New York Metro area
Tokyo/Yokohama
Chicago
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Boston
Los Angeles
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Houston
Detroit
Here are the top 10 cities in the world based on crowding:
Mumbai
Kolkata
Karachi
Lagos
Shenzhen
Seoul/Incheon
Taipei
Chennai
Bogota
Shanghai
Moral of the story, we got space in the US and we like to use it
Anyway in my limited experience of U.S cities, I really liked Boston but then again I'm really into history and that place has it in bucket loads, well at least for a U.S city. It also has a very European feel to it and it gets bonus points for the friendly transport worker at the airport station that helped us with ticket machine.
This is all from a tourist point of view of course.
EDIT: Ah fuck it
Atl has great food and parties and a lot going on, though! Also it has Dragon*Con, plus at least a couple other good nerdy conventions. I like that the people of Atlanta are so diverse and forward thinking. Its like an oasis of good things. As soon as you leave the bounds though you are in deep south super religious redneckville. I really wish Atl wasn't in GA, GA really sucks sometimes. >.<
2) Everywhere not mentioned on this list
3) DC and Baltimore
4) Boston