Was there ever a discussion on this board about the best places to live in the US? If so, can someone please share the link to the thread with me?

I need clean air and more sunny days (both of which are extremely lacking in Pittsburgh, PA). Of course, my list of needs is longer than just clean air and sunny days. ;-)

If there isn't already a thread discussing places to live, I'd love to hear opinions.

Love,

Gypsy

I'm probably biased, but if you can deal with (or enjoy) the isolation from the rest of the US, I think that Hawaii (in particular Maui) is wonderful. It has been so easy to maintain and flourish in my raw foods lifestyle. There is always something in season and almost everything grows great here. It's warm during the day and cool at night. You can hike to waterfalls and surf all in the same day.

The downside is the cost of living. Gas is $3.89/gal, rents are through the roof. I make more money than I ever have, but I seem to have less to spend then when I was making half as much...good thing the beach is free!

Florida (my favorite). California is great - but expensive (as far as I know). Hawaii....even better.....and ridiculously expensive (as far as I know). I live here in Central Florida. You can get an acre of land for $10-15,000...and build a brand new 3/2 house for about $130,000. Not to shabby. Great raw scene...plenty of stuff to do......lots of sun and fun. Free Oranges & Coconuts. It's all good.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Hi David Z,

You're right about Hawaii being ridiculously expensive. As a comparison to your land/housing costs; last year the median price for a single family home on Maui was over 1 million dollars...and that would be a very modest home with no view and probably on 1/2 an acre (or less).
...thankfully the free oranges, coconuts, bananas, papayas, avos and passionfruit soften the pain a little.

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii. Land is more affordable here than most places in Hawaii, if you live on the East (Hilo) side. Away from the beach, you can still get a 3 acre lot for under $40,000, and prices are going down. It's good to stay under 1200 foot elevation - or not too much higher - if you want to get enough sunshine and lots of good fruit.

Building materials are expensive, but you really don't need that much of a house here. And you don't have to have heating or air conditioning.

There's not a great variety of jobs, but there's a university in Hilo.

And the people are eccentric and wonderful.

Plus there's a live volcano! And a great national park.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2007 04:03AM by suncloud.

Well, my family has already ruled out a few places (Hawaii and Florida being two of them--along with California) because of natural disasters. I'd probably love all three of the places if I was single and moving on my own, though!

My main interest is fresh air, followed by more sunny days than we get here in Pittsburgh (which isn't hard to beat, since Pittsburgh is toward the bottom with less than 50% of the days with any sun!). When I research clean air on the Net, Colorado keeps coming up (Fort Colins).

I need to make sure we find a place that is friendly to alternative living. My daughter is unschooled, we need to have access to quality health food stores (a co op is best), and a good group of raw foodists already living there would be ideal!

The US is so big that it's going to take some time to find the place that's best for us. That's why I was asking if this topic has ever come up before, so I could review what others have said about different locations.

Lots of love to all of you,

Gypsy

I feel for ya -
I live close by in Youngstown, OH and forgot what the sun looks like recently

i'm in southern california. it's raw friendly, but unfortunately expensive. there is tons of culture, but I suppose there is beauty everywhere you look..

I hear you Gypsy. NO place is going to be free of its 'natural disasters'. Year-round good local produce is going to be most prevalent in the tropical/sub-tropical zones along the Southern belt of the US. There are other areas that have great air...and great community. I have heard that Oregon & Washington have some great areas.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Hi, I'm new to posting on these forums, but I thought I'd jump in here since I live in Fort Collins. Colorado is absolutely beautiful- out of all the places I've lived I love the weather here the best! Most days a year are sunny (I read somewhere it was something like 355 days of sunshine on average- not sure if that's accurate), and while the winters are cold it's not a bone-chilling cold like it is on the east coast or in the midwest because the humidity out here is so low. The air here feels cleaner than it did to me in northern Virginia (I lived there for 14 years), and the air, sunshine and scenery is hard to beat up in the mountains!

There is a co-op in Ft Collins, it's not huge but a friend of mine works there and he tells me it's well stocked. In general, I think you'll find that Colorado is very alternative living friendly. Some small towns in centeral Colorado might not be, but Ft Collins, Denver, Boulder, Durango and any ski resort town tend to be open to all kinds of people.

I'm new to raw, so I don't know anyone in Fort Collins who is raw. I have looked at meetup.com and there seems to be a pretty active raw community in Denver which isn't far (45 min).

Good luck finding a new place to live! I hope you find somewhere that's right for you and your family!

Meg

Well, I'm in Washington and dying to get out of here! Rain, rain and more rain! Of course, the other side of the state has more sunshine.... I live in the Puget Sound area. Washington State is lovely, but if you come here, be prepared to pay a price for the beauty. Our rainy, grey cloudy days are much more frequent than our sunny days.

I question how happy I would be living away from my children and grandchildren. That's why I'm still here. It doesn't matter where you live, if you have the people you love with you. And if I leave.... I most likely won't. So...... here I am.

You're lucky if you can relocate and take the whole family with you!

KathyT

Hey Gypsy
I live in Pittsburgh, too! Whereabouts are you?
Tammy

Nevada , where I am in the North outside of Reno in a small cute town is kinda nice.

Lake Tahoe is close by, It's not as expensive as California, Reno has some raw foodists and I believe has a really nice raw cafe, But it is bitter cold, we have sunshine all through the winter, I am from back east so I know the cold and grey you speak of! But it is still very very cold here..

the wind can be bone chilling horrid cold ..



Now I lived in Florida briefly and loved it, just loved it.

Arizona? Lotsa rawfooding going on there

Kansas - it's just like Hawaii except without those pesky volcanoes.

inspirit - aka coolkarma

davidzanemason, Do you have problems with insects there in Central Florida?

RawesomeButterfly:

-You mean...like insects eating the plants? LOL. No...no biggie. As to biggest pests? Drumroll please......

1) Fire Ants (I love all God's creations...but sheesh), 2) Palmetto Bugs (Roaches that fly!) 3) Mosquitoes (they've mostly been sprayed into extinction) and 4) Spiders (only a couple of poisonous ones...but you've never heard people screech like when a spider gets on em...

-The biggest problem for plants is fungus or bacteria from dampness. This is far less of an issue where I live. Citrus is a very hardy tree.....and you often see them on the sides of the road....or in parks...or just in people's front yards! Just ask around during the season....and my neighbors load me down! Ha! ha! Otherwise I become the orange ninja and hit the nearest grove.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I also live in Pittsburgh about 25 miles east.

I lived in Tennessee and the South for the first 32 years and have lived in Northern California since 1983. I don't buy the natural disaster fears about CA, FL and HI. I seem to remember that a lot more people die annually from lightning strikes and tornadoes than earthquakes and volcanoes. Also the 3 states your family ruled out grow most of our fruits and veggies.

California is a big diverse state. For instance, annual rainfall varies from less than 1 inch to in excess of 100 inches. In the course of a few hours I can drive from below sea level desert of Death Valley to the 8,000 foot above sea level trailhead of the tallest mountain in the lower 48, 14,495' Mount Whitney.

No place is perfect. Good luck finding the best fit for your needs.






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2007 04:23AM by uti.

davidzanemason Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 2) Palmetto Bugs (Roaches that fly!)



BIG roaches that fly!!! (Be sure and see the movie "Enchanted"

Deborah, who's from Tampa but lives in Alaska

Marin, ca

I live in Denver (too crowded, polluted and a big city) but I would live in Ft. Collins if it was a doable commute to Denver (I don't believe in a life of commuting). Its far enough to keep the masses from Denver away and that also keeps the cost of real estate down. It has a university, a very active "hometown" feel to it. Close to the mountains (the part not known by the tourists). A great place to raise kids. I think there is a great organic community. If all else fails www.denver.doortodoororganics.com delivers to Ft. Collins. Also, there is Vitamin Cottage which is a Colorado family owned organic grocer. Durango is nice too. My parents are there but the cost is way too high ($200-400/sq foot). Boulder is too crowded and the big money makes it a little too uppity at times (no offense to Bouderites but its changed too much). Lousiville, CO is nice with great schools, low crimes and democrats but it is too close to Boulder so the real estate is over priced and the commute to and from Denver to work is a nightmare (better if you can work in the area). As you get into mountain living it gets higher in elevation of course which means more cold days (shorter summers). Evergreen CO and Conifer are both nice but too high up and therefore too cold in my opinion.

So, I have been in Colorado since 1982 and watched it grow and change. I like the way Ft. Collins has turned out. You will have 4 wonderful seasons (hiking, fishing, camping, skiing, kayaking, biking road and mountain, and lakes). Great place for a little family to grow.

Gina

If you can choose a place that has an ocean you can utilize just about year round, that has large healthy seaweed patches in the deeper parts so you care bathing in natural environment of what is curative to our bodies, then to me that would be ideal. I love the idea of Hawaii but have never been there, so I don't know the downside. I did live in SoCal for many years, and was the healthiest when I actually went into the ocean for a swim or even wading when it was cooler, it was when I loved inland and quit going into the ocean my health started going downhill rapidly. I've learned recently that off the coast where I lived was one of the largest kelp beds on the West coast, and I lived in Oceanside.

I wonder what the Bahamas are like? I'm inclined to try Hawaii though and I think Maui would be very nice to start with. There used to be raw food communities you can go visit and do a trade in work for shelter and food, but I think on the big island.

I'm gearing up to be 'island girl' with my fake blonde hair now its own natural color of dark brown, growing slowly but I want long flowing tresses, so I can go au natural with out the upkeep on the beach if I ever get there!

Love,
Prism

The Boston area is pretty good for raw (I live in Cambridge, right next-door). We have lots of small farms in Massachusetts, the ocean, beautiful wetlands, good rainfall, the environment here is quite clean, the political climate is progressive, and there haven't been any big weather or climate change problems here.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Hi all! I had somewhat of a realization today on the subject:
I live in Wisconsin... its very very cold out right now. When I put that into perspective with the philosophy of raw food; going back to what Adam and Eve ate and all other creatures> if we aren't 'meant' to eat cooked warm food, are we meant to live in icy cold climates? If we didn't have all the unnatural equipment (heaters, cars with heaters, insulated houses, coats, boats, etc) to get us through the 6 months of chilliness, could we survive? Wisconsin is a beautiful place to live, but what kind of food sources (besides pine needles and animals) survive outside? There are times when I feel that I should live like the Robinson's in a tree house, where I wouldn't have to depend on imported goods.
If that's not a big deal to you, Madison Wisconsin is an absolutely wonderful place to live. There's tons of nature right outside of the city- go 10 miles in any direction and there's forest. Madison is a very enviromentally aware city too; with Recycling, bike paths everywhere, a Whole foods market, Trader Joes, and a Co-op and we just got hybrid city buses.
peace, love and happiness,
ann
www.nikken.net/happinessiscontagious

Thanks for all of the comments, everyone! We will sit down to make a list of everything each of us desires and then go from there. I've read all of your comments to my family. No place is perfect, yes, but I'd like to find the next best thing, if possible, for our family. ;-)

Radomeag and Coloradogal, thanks for all of the info on Colorado. If we want to look at that state even further, I'd love to be able to ask you both some questions.

Daisyduke, I'm in the South Hills (Brentwood). Where are you? I haven't made it to any of the raw food meetups, yet. In the beginning of going raw I wanted to just be on my own, following my inner voice. Then later I went through some intense emotional detox, ended friendships, and didn't want to make any new friends. I'm all healed from the emotional stuff, so we will be joining one of the potlucks, soon. We were all prepared for the last one at the cacao restaurant, but our puppy became available for adoption at that time and we opted to pick her up and miss the potluck. ;-) Maybe I'll meet you sometime soon.

Love,

Gypsy

Boulder, Colorado is great. Tons of sunshine. Very health consciuous. Hiking. Biking, Walking. Yoga. Dancing. Martial arts. Three Wild Oats. One Vitamin Cottage. One Whole Foods all within a three mile radius. Organic restaurants (Sunflower, The Leaf, Anjou, Organic Dish). It is a beautiful place with a lot of lovely people.