I thought this might be amusing...I have lived in both New York and Texas...* Talk about contrast* ** I have definite opinions about each, and I thought others must have some interesting opinions about their place of residence?
Oh yeah, this might also be instructive to anyone seeking a good place to ER.

Disclaimer: This is a post-cabernet post thus I refuse any responsibility* *:P

Best state -- North Carolina. Worst -- all the others, except for VA and SC

HH

No question. Minnesota.

CT, feel free to step in:

* beautiful parks, from national forests to many lovely parks in the twin cities
* can't get health insurance anywhere else? You can get it in Minnesota and for a reasonable price
* good schools
* home of the good old fashioned liberal
* And I can live on the biggest beautiful lake in the world:

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.


No more lawyer stuff, no more political stuff, so no more CYA

Martha -- you forgot to mention easy access to the North Pole . . .

HH

wa? Is this the first picture of our Lady of Lourdes, Martha?

I dig these kinds of topics. *I like to read about different places. *Keep in mind I only like certain areas of the places below and will try to be specific.

Best:
Colorado (all, except maybe the eastern flat portion)
New Mexico (northern)

Worst:
W. Virginia (which is pretty but very rough)
Few other SE states I will not mention (don't wanna hurt feelings of posters)

Underrated:
Portions of Michigan & some other areas around Great Lakes (outside of the cities) are very pretty if you ask me
Central KY (beautiful horse farms/rolling hills & different from other areas of the state)

Overrated:
Florida
Austin, TX (very nice city but didn't live of to my city expectations -- more like big college town)

Have Lived:
Northern IL (Chicago burbs) --- my kind of city
New York (born New Yorker ha)
Kentucky
Missouri
Mississippi

Next place I will live:
Don't know yet but a new place in the next 2 months

Would like to see:
Pac NW (didn't make it this past summer *)
Cali (just to see it at least & to be in the presence of Greatness -- Laurence)
Montana (I would like to fish next to a Grizzly)
New England area (New Hamp, Vermont, etc.)

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"These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them"

British Columbia. Oh, wait. That's not a state (yet).

Best = Western Colorado, Northern NM, anywhere in the Sierra Nevadas, anywhere in the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone area.

Acceptable = parts of Nevada, western Arkansas, southern end of the Smoky Mtns, New Hampshire

Worst = anything flat or excessively wooded that you can't tell which direction anything is

Lived in OKC (talk about flat), South Texas (more flat and even more bland) and Northern Virginia (quite pretty once out of urban congestion).

P.S. Have visited 48 of the 50 states (yet to get to Wisconsin or Rhode Island) and I am not even an American.....

Texas and Texas... :P

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Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...

I really haven't been to enough places to figure all this out. I have enjoyed spending time in:

- Northern NM
- CO
- NY
- NJ
- PA
- parts of OH
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Toronto
- Birmingham, AL
- Louisville, KY
- NOLA
- Vieques, PR
- Ponce, PR

You can keep:

- Indiana
- Kansas
- Texas
- Detroit

But really, I suspect there are bits of every state I could enjoy.

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"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell

Ezekiel 23:20

Well it's all a matter of what you are use too. MN might very well be a pretty state, but too many cold months for me. I play golf with a MN transplant and he wouldn't go back to the cold. Also the liberal factor is a negative for me. I would like to visit sometime.

I like Colorado as a place to visit and maybe to live for a portion of the year. But I'll take the good old south as my home base. *

__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.

Southern Indiana, along the Ohio River either side of Louisville, is fairly scenic. Check out Clifty Falls SP in Madison, Wyandotte Cave around Corydon (the original state capital, Spring Mill Park near Mitchell, Cave River Valley near Campbellsburg...

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Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...

New Jersey.
























Now, is there anyone who honestly said to themselves "I wonder if he's nominating New Jersey for the best state or the worst state?"

Actually, I was wondering, Al. There are really horrible places in the state (Newark, Elizabeth, etc.) and some really nice places (alpine bits in NW, shore areas, some of the southern parts of the state). Like I said, there are probably nice and nasty places in every state.

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"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell

Ezekiel 23:20

Yes, I knew it was unfair. I remember going through New Jersey as a kid and saying "This is New Jersey?" and my Mom said "Yes, that's why they call it The Garden State."

When I decided I'd had nuff of my area and job, (kids were
pretty much raised), I set the following criteria for the spot
that i wanted to retire to: (Whatever state it happened to
be in was secondary).

l. No crowds, (freeway, or otherwise).
2. Live in mountains, (but under snow-line). (Had more than enough of that as a youth.
3. Live near, but not in small university town.
4. Plenty of available fly-streams near-by.
5. Golf courses nearby.
6. Low humidity, and lack of bugs during summer. (Also had more than enough of that as youth).
7. Lots of sun year round, and can play golf in the winter.

Point being, that above criteria could be had in a number of
states, so in my opinion, it's more important to match your interests
than to blanket out, (or in) any state.

I agree and that's a pretty damn good list if you ask me - golf.

__________________
"These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them"

Jar, What state did you find that in?

__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.

Has to be out west given the no humidity factor. SW?

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"These walls are kind of funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them"

Didn't matter, I was wincing either way.

Hawaii. *But if it couldn't be Hawaii, San Diego was nice. *I'm afraid to go back there because my mental image may no longer match the reality...

Spouse & I have been threatening to return to Monterey for years, but there's always something else we'd rather do first. *Again we probably shouldn't contaminate our memories.

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*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.