USA: Where should I live?

[Oso]

Eh anybody can beat up women & children...

LOL, true.

it was the only thing I could think of...and I'm certainly not a ****yankee

[Indestructible]

CALIFORNIA!

Northern Cal that is. Overpriced and all the small cities are becoming large but it's still better than any place else.

[fa_jing]

I'm going to vote for small towns in the Perkiomen valley NW of Philadelphia. Very picturesque, historic yet diverse. Example: Schwenksville. Not too far from the Poconos and not too far from the Jersey Shore.

[Chief Fox]

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I think it's a great place to live and it meets a lot of your requirements too.

1. A little plains, a little mountains, a little watery surfaces, lovely nature, that would be great. (YES!)

2. a smaller city not too far from a larger city. (YES) Denver is only 1 hour away. I wouldn't exactly call Denver a BIG city like on the east or west coast but it's not bad.

3. I want a low (or at least acceptable) crime rate. I'm not sure what the crime rate is but I'd say it's acceptable. So (YES)

4. I want a diversified and rich community (in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, etc). And tolerant and open-minded, too. Colorado has had a boom of people moving into the state over the last 5 to 10 years so I would say the community is somewhat diverse. I would say that most people are open minded but there are some big religious organizations here so sometimes we get a bad rap for that.

5. I need all four seasons. (YES) A lot of people think of Colorado and they think winter but the hidden secret of Colorado is, the climate on the front range is awesome. How does over 300 sunny days a year sound?

6. And, of course, I want a decent kung fu school (preferrably wing chun). (YES) The school I attend is a decent kung fu school. There are couple Wing Chun options in town including an EBMAS school. Also, if you're willing to make the drive, there are more options in Denver.

I've lived in Colorado Springs for the past 12 years and it's been great. I do miss the ocean sometimes having spent a large part of my life at the Jersey shore but the mountains are awesome and there is a lot to do and there are a lot of lakes and resevoirs. If you like camping then Colorado is great. If you like Mtn. Biking then Colorado is great. If you like trail running then Colorado is great. If you'd like to have an outdoor life style then Colorado is great. Oh and if you like to ski or snowboard than Colorado is FREAKIN' AWESOME!

Here are some links:
http://www.coloradosprings.com/
http://www.gazette.com/
http://www.pikes-peak.com/
http://www.gardenofgods.com/
http://www.blacklotuskungfu.com/
http://www.wtcolorado.com/
http://www.selfcarearts.com

Other places I would consider if I were you.
New England is really nice.
Many places in California are really nice too but also very expensive.
Atlanta is nice but you have to get used to telling people what "flavor" of coke you want. "Can I get you something to drink? Sure I'll take a Coke. What kind?"

Anyway, good luck in your search.

[sean_stonehart]

There's only one flavor of Co'Cola. Anything else is just a coke.

[David Jamieson]

Everything is better in Baltimore.



Seriously though, If I was to move south into the states, there's only a few places I would be interested in living.

#1. New York City NY - Need anyone say anything more? I mean, come on!

#2. Los Angeles CA - It's a west coast new york thing. Pretty dang big with a bajillion opportunities...like new york.

#3. San Francisco CA - Oh man, look at all the kungfu dudes there with the for real.

#4. Atlanta GA - It's big, it's a cool city, It's got a coca cola museum! And you can endlessly ride the Marta round and round and round. It's also warm there most of the time.

#5. Taos NM - No weather, big arts community and the desert is lovely.

#6. Scottsdale AZ - see taos, but without the artists.

#7 Freemont CA - Opportunity to moon Gene and the KFM peeps on a regular basis while you panhandle for kungfu tips outside their offices.

#8 Seattle WA - If it's half as nice as Vancouver, it's a great place to be. Also, if you like your coffee, it's probably the only place in the USA where you are going to get anything approaching a "good cup of coffeee"


Other worthy mentions:

Boston MA - good place to go to school apparently.
Chicago IL - High crime rate is dulled by wicked Blues music scene.
Detroit MI - Motor city madness, pretty happening place and right across the river from canada where you can start drinking 2 years earlier!

[brothernumber9]

Takoma Park, Maryland is where you wanna go

[Oso]

maybe but I got lost as hell trying to find Sueng ga faat that one time.

[quiet man]

Thanks, guys. Some very good responses here.

Vermont, Maine, New England - based on my own research, yes, they were my favorites too. Especially love the scenery there. But I always thought they were like this predominantly WASP, upper-class-caucasian, stiff-upper-lip sort of place, something like that... must have confused them with Connecticut .

Colorado - like CF says, I always thought Colorado had winters only. The way he describes it here, it sounds much better now...

Georgia - thanks, but I think I'll pass. I'm a little wary about the South (but not when it comes to southern belles though)...

NC - sounds interesting, have to look into it more.

[Oso]

if you get serious about the NC mountains, just hollar at me.

I've lived in the only two 'cities' in the mountains and will give you the scoop.

I've also lived in the RTP area and have some experience in Charlotte and Wilmington.

[GreenCloudCLF]

#5. Taos NM - No weather, big arts community and the desert is lovely.

Man, my wife and I plan to move there from NY after law school...good call David...smart man...eh.

[MasterKiller]

Dallas has the hottest chicks in the country, possibly the world.

[SanHeChuan]

TEXAS is the greatest place on earth! To hell with those seasons, it gets cold here and it snows in the hill country about every 7 years.

my vote is for san Marcos or Buda anyplace between Austin and san Antonio or if you prefer east Texas Victoria maybe.

both Austin and san Antonio have WC schools, plus they have the added bonus of being in TEXAS

TEXAS ROCKS! Don't the teach kids anything in school now a days?

Sorry my brainwashing kicked in

TEXAS RULES!

Talking trash about Texas...

[Donkwoon]

Seacoast NH has everything that you list but there is not much Kung Fu. There was a mma school that included jkd among it's curriculum but I think that it closed a while ago.
I will teach the kung fu forms and drills that I know but I only include some intermediate wing chung (spelling?) as an adjunct to the training.
Around here the towns of Portsmouth, Dover and Seabrook come to mind for what you want. The town that I live in, Barrington, is more rural but much more pretty, spaceous and allmost %100 crime free. I'm about 30min from Portsmouth and about 1hr30min from Boston. Pm me if you want more details.

[Ou Ji]

TEXAS is the greatest place on earth!(

Dude, don't you live in Cherry Point, NC?

Texas is the only state I know that thinks it's another country.