Question stolen from
aleeceh: If I could move anywhere, and the people I care about most (
rfrench) would come with me, where would I live? I have the assets and skills I have today.
I have been thinking about this. I don't know the answer, but I have narrowed down some of my criteria.
1. Must allow general aviation and have a small airport nearby (for Rob to teach). Would be nice if it's uncrowded enough to have hangars available (for the nice aerobatic airplane I'd like to own).
2. Salary to cost-of-living ratio must be better than Silicon Valley.
3. Physically beautiful landscape. I will not be happy in an area that appears to me to be ugly. This probably implies uncrowded. Finland looks awfully lovely in the fall. So does New Hampshire.
4. Climate not beastly hot. Phoenix or Austin probably wouldn't agree with me. Winters are fine, though. I grew up with them and I miss them.
5. If outside the US, resident alien status must not suck or (Rob and?) I must qualify for citizenship. (I am willing to and would consider it my duty to learn the language. Rob might not enjoy it, though, so that effort would have to be taken into account.)
6. The laws of the state or country must not be personally abhorrent to me. I won't be happy in an area where what I perceive as the wrong things are supported and rewarded, while what I perceive as good and valuable things are penalized. Widespread and accepted corruption would bother me.
7. The local prejudices of the area must not be major limiting factors for me. I can't be in the closet about being an intelligent and capable woman. I probably can't be closeted about coming from the USA or having lived in California. I won't be happy any place I'm barred from driving a car because of my sex. I won't be happy living anywhere that's likely to be at war with the US, not only because that's a really bad situation to be in, but because there are many people here I care about.
I'm not sure I've caught them all here. It's a start.