Relocation Targets

Here are my top choices to live based on research, visits, and more. Check out www.findyourspot.com to see where some of my info comes from.


1. Portland, Oregon. Loved it when I was there. Great public transportation, beautiful city, thousands of parks and green spaces, just a delight to visit and I'm sure to live in as well. Expensiver than most places on my list (but cheap compared to many cities).
2. Boise, Idaho. In the foothills of the Rockies. Lots of outdoor space, activities, and more. Very nice. Cheaper than many cities.
3. Anchorage, Alaska. Tons of things to do. From hikes to Iditarod and more. Could do the Alaska adventure part of my life. Moving here is very expensive.
4. Roanoke, Virginia. Close to WV, which allows me to visit and vacation there when needed. Smaller city than the others above. In Appalachia, but barely, and people more identify with Virginia and east coast than Appalachia. Roanoke is also the gaming capital with dozens of major gaming events annually.
5. Rapid City, South Dakota (Spearfish as well). The Black Hills are beautiful and I want to visit someday. Rapid City is smaller than Roanoke, but the closeness to the beauty of the Black Hills cannot be underestimated. Beautiful scenery and major access to outdoor activities and visiting. Spearfish about 45 minutes away, with just 10k in city, but really in the Black Hills.
6. Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Colorado. Mountains and outdoor activities galoor! A bit too on the beaten path for my taste. Expensive living exceeds that of Portland.
7. Seattle, Washington. Tons of things to do, outdoor is just a few minutes away whether beach, mountains or forests. Very expensive.
8. Tacoma, Olympia, Spokane, Bellingham Washington. The other major cities in Washington give you less, but cost less.
9. Missoula, Montana. You are out there and way off the beaten path. Rockies. Tons of outdoor activities. About same size as Rapid City, and cheap.
10. Harrisburg, Carlisle, Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Central PA is in Appalachia, yay, but northern areas. Pretty. Tons to do.
11. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have always loved the town, probably more than most do.
12. Knoxville, Tennessee. There are only two major cities that have their entire metro area in Appalachia - Pittsburgh and Knoxville. I am not a Tennessee or Deep South guy, but Knoxville would probably work for me.
13. Flagstaff, Arizona. Up in the Mountains and away from the desert, this place has vegetation and outdoor activities. Not my top spot or anything, but I'd take a job here.
14. The Rest of Alaska. See Anchorage, but too off the beaten path for me, except for maybe Seward (which is only 3k big but on the path) or Fairbanks.
15. The Rest of Oregon. Pretty.
16. Honolulu, Hawaii. Pretty and tons and tons to do. Very expensive knocks it down down down the list.
17. Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. If I had to stay in the mid-west, this is where I'd move to. Mid-west = boring.


Here are some things you can take from this list.

Ideally, no mid west. No Great Plains. No Desert. No Eastern Sea-Board (No New England, Boston, eastern NY, MD, VA coast, NC coast, Delaware, DC, Eastern PA). New England would be alright if I had to. No California.

This leaves the following states as having one or all sections in my search area - Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, New York North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and perhaps some others I forgot. That's 22 states that have all or part of them eligible for my ideal place to live.

I like snow. Not every place on my list has a lot of snow (Portland doesn't, neither does Washington, Hawaii, Knoxville, or Rapid City actually.) but it helps. I like mountains, and if not mountains, than at least hills. If not hills, than at least water. Cities are built in valleys, so even Denver is not that mountainous itself, but on relatively flat land, but I want it accessible and in the horizon ideally. Even Portland has Mt. Hood. I like outdoor activities. Taking walks, hiking, canoeing, boating, fishing, going on a picnic, and so forth. Areas with these things for me to do score higher. I also like greenery, the greener and browner, the better. I like foresty planty areas. (Portland scores mega points here. As one of the most environmentally conscious cities on the planet (not kidding, check it out) it has things like trees on top of buildings in the downtown area. Pretty.)

So, that's my list. Enjoy!