Every county in America, ranked by scenery and climate

The Washington Post ^ | August 17, 2015 | Christopher Ingraham

[EveningStar]

... I've mapped all the counties above according to where they rank on the natural amenities index -- mouse over to check out how desirable (or not) your own county is. You'll see that Sun Belt counties fare pretty well -- especially ones in California and Colorado. In fact, every single one of the 10 highest-ranked counties is located in California. After Ventura County, Humboldt, Santa Barbara, Mendocino and Del Norte counties round out the top five ...

[doorgunner69]

Good choice avoiding California. I would guess you are in a high tech job, and those are clustered in the most expensive areas.

Once upon a time, it was possibly worth the effort to move there, but that was likely over in the sixties. The place has spiraled out of control in most every metric such that quality of living is the pits unless you like gridlock, taxes, and rampant liberalism intruding on all aspects of your life.

I lived in the alleged #1 area for most of my adult life, and it had become a shell of what it was due to development. Eventually Prop 13 will be modified or repealed and property taxes will skyrocket. Too much money sitting out there the liberals slaver over.

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

...and I believe SD County is highly overrated.

So do I, yet I choose to live here. Mostly because of memories from my youth and being near family.

[Seruzawa]

You got me. I love Utah. I hate the Kalifornians who move here and then try to turn Utah into another crime ridden hellhole. Thus my policy of turning them away at any opportunity.

[South40]

Mrs.40 has roots here or I would have left long ago.

[samtheman]

I detect a certain bias to the methodology and to the results.

And the source.

[BRL]

I have friends in union county. Heck dublin oh borders it. Union is way down there. But if you had to live off the land you could do worse. Now if poison ivy is a factor then I get it

[CityCenter]

With the exception of La Jolla.

[Mariner]

"Richest and most productive farmland in California? How many tons of water do they have to import again?"

While SoCal gets what is left over from the dregs of the Colorado, their farming is insignificant in comparison to what's done in the north.

And all NorCal water is indigenous.

[Arlis]

Double Dittoes.....

[TTFlyer]

San Diego County was paradise up until about 1975. Been all down hill ever since.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

#2 Humboldt County is not looking so good today. A bit smoky.

[laker_dad]

Whata buncha pussies. You can’t fully appreciate a summer at the beach until you make it thru a West Michigan winter.

[Ann de IL]

HA The place I love the most is in the lowest 15 counties. That is fine by me. It has all I need to be happy.

[wyowolf]

I see lots of Wyo/Mt/Co out there... beautiful country.
God I miss it out there... I cant wait to go back.
Kali probably IS beautiful... but no.

[uglybiker]

...and I can take a leak off the back deck without offending anyone but the wife.

And that's only 'cause she's jealous, right? ;-)

[Claud]

Ah. Didn’t know that about the north...thanks for the info.

[Prospero]

Some well kept secrets hidden away on that map. The humidity and winter "preferability" skews some incredible places, Door County in Wisconsin, Beaufort County in North Carolina, for example. Brewster County in Texas, and on and on. These arbitrary tastes shouldn't be ranked with resources necessary to development of simple survival. It makes the map useless for obtaining new information. It blurs its illusion of information granularity.

Why is Miami-Dade County in Florida, with a lower ranking than Washington County in Maine, rated "very high" while the latter is just "high." WTAB?

[terycarl]

Oh please, I pointed out many counties that are virtual utopias....none in the far west,and all were declared disaster areas....pathetic.

[truth_seeker]

San Luis Obispo County is the secret spot, if you want the benefits of the Central California coastal climate, lifestyle without the crowds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Obispo_County,_California

Locals say the thing which saves the place is, it is too distant to commute to either the Lost Angeles, or the San Francisco Bay areas.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Clicked the link but don’t see the list