[crystalk]

Needed to wake up sleepy FR day. Flame suit on.

Read em and weep.

[Paul Atreides]

Alabama [Better in Mobile/coast area; or in/near sizable cities, or N/NE area.]

Heh heh, I live in North Alabama.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Too bad about Ioway. As a grad of one of its schools, I'd have to agree, tho.

[billhilly]

What research led to these conclusions? What criteria?

[BufordP]

Toaplan [All your base are belong to us, Take off every 'zig', For great justice]

[Uncle Miltie]

It's sunny, 75 degrees and low humidity, here in Fargo. My commute (the longest in the city) took 15 minutes through farm fields. Best SAT scores in the nation. Bums don't venture this far north. My 3,600 sq. ft. house cost well under $200K. Garbage bill is $7.00 a month. Neighborhood empties Sunday morning for services. "Cultural Conservatism" is mentioned regularly and favorably. Among the lowest tax rates in the nation. All levels of government have avoided tax hikes this year.

I'm a recent transplant from Seattle, one of several West Coast cess pools of humanity, and I'm loving it.

[Kozak]

You tell them! Wisconsin bad. Very bad. Stay away! Awful!
Especially all you F.I.B's who are up here all summer (BOTH weekends) and crowd the best spots. Just leave us to our safety, clean air and water, open spaces, hunting, fishing, lack of "diversity" and Cows. (This of course excludes Madison and Milwaukee which you are cordially invited to, they're not really part of Wisconsin anyway).

[austingirl]

I grew up in Chicago #43 (yuck) and now live in Austin (God bless Texas) #7. Spent a miserable 3 years in Mass #48. Lived in Arlington VA #3 for a time - best place to live if you're stuck with DC. So, from my personal experience I tend to agree with the ratings, although I would rate Texas #1.

[Gurn]

but, but, but, I thought the south was nothing but a bunch of backward hillbilly hicks. But, but, but, I thought northerners were enlightened.

Sorta confirms what a lot of us have known for a long time.

[Mr. Jeeves]

California is still #1 by a mile. No amount of left wing loons can tarnish the natural superiority of our state's climate and terrain. Once you've lived here a while, it's nearly impossible to move anywhere else.

And the counterrevolution is coming...

[hoosierboy]

Vermont as far a guns go, it is the only state where one can carry a handgun open or concealed without going through the red tape of getting a handgun permit. So in my opinion being a one issue voter, I would kick vermont up a little bit.

[Lady Jag]

Plain Talk posts Best Cities to Live from MSNBC.

Boston, Massachusetts. If you move to Boston, you'll find an outstanding level of arts and culture. A city rich in history and tradition, Boston offers sites of historical interest, picturesque architecture, and beautiful parks and scenery. Job growth is good, due to a boom in the high-tech and electronic industries, and the unemployment rate is low. The city boasts excellent libraries, museums, theaters, galleries, and performing arts groups. A major center of higher education, Boston has more than 65 colleges and universities in its metropolitan area.

[PhiKapMom]

That is hilarious for Oklahoma -- SE OK is considered Little Dixie and not some place I would want to raise my kids. Norman is the best city in Oklahoma to live in IMHO! We have reasonable house prices, great shopping, great restaurants, rolling hills, a really nice lake at Lake Thunderbird, good schools, and are home to The University of Oklahoma Sooners.

Of course, if you take this literally I guess you could count us in the 60% of the state in the SE since we are in the South Center of OK and there is 50% of the State west of us where I wouldn't want to live by the way!

[Sloth]

10. Arkansas [Best in NW; avoid SE 44% of state.]

Man, you sure got us pegged. NW half is splendid, SE half is awful (I live right on the dividing line).

[Sloth]

Florida [Best areas are in NE, NW, or SW.

Btw, isn't SW Florida also known as the Gulf of Mexico? :)

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

not too bad from my experience...I would have to say that Vermont is actually a nice place with many nice people. Their politics would drive any good FReeper crazy though...

also, don't tell people that you like North Florida...we already have enough people moving here!

[PatrickHenry]

Florida is number one? Well, it has a few things going for it besides a lack of snow. There are no personal income taxes, the gun laws are probably the best in the country, and it's a right-to-work state. The legislature is Republican, both houses. Unreliable Supreme Court, as all the world now knows, and it's the home of Janet Reno.

[discostu]

New Mexico and AZ have nearly identical weather. The big difference is that the bigger cities in AZ are in the south and in NM they're in the north. I see you like humidity. Glad that AZ made the top of your list for places that are dry.

[mykej]

If you enjoy doing anything other than watching grass grow, this list will be pretty useless to you.

Sorry, I can't live anyplace that doesn't have critical mass for culture (i.e., it can support museums, concerts, foreign films, bands in a variety of clubs). I figure the cutoff to be about 3 million. Any smaller than that is gonna be dull.

[Desdemona]

"33. Missouri [Better in S half; avoid StL or KC city limits absolutely; their areas if possible.]"

Staying out of KC is perfectly understandable. Better in S half? How? No baseball, hockey, art museums, symphonies, decent Italian food...

Maybe this means the transients and fair-weather crowd will stay away. Now if we could just get the overpasses replaced.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Well it looks like our yankee friends took a beating on this one.