I live in north Alabama and have thought about moving.  Out of all 50 states if you wanted to move where would you go and why?  If you live in that perfect city or state what keeps you there besides family and friends? 

I have lived in Dallas, Texas for 19 yrs & just recently had to relocate back to my hometown in South Carolina due to my mother having a stroke in May 2007.  It has been very hard for me because I had to leave behind all of my friends at 45 yrs of age & a large metropolitan area to come back to a very, very small town with nothing to do.  I have been fighting depression and sadness for over a year due to the move & changes in lifestyle I have had to suffer through alone & of course, my family has no clue to my plight because they are just happy I am back but really do not seem to understand or empathize with my situation.  Do not get me wrong.  I love my family and my mother, but she has chosen to stay in the nursing home where she did her recovery & even though I offered she did not want to move in with me.  My mother seems to be the only one to acknowledge or recognize my sadness but until I get my RN degree there is no way I am moving again.  Sorry so long-winded.

As for the question I have considered moving back to Dallas - although the summers were getting unbearable. Chicago, NYC & Toronto come to mind, as well.  I have also considered becoming an expatriate nurse & relocate to Europe or S. America.

Ocracoke Island, NC

Paradise in the USA.  Small town, beautiful beaches, easy going lifestyle.  The place for me.

COLORADO...here come the Middletons!!!!   We have lived so many places in our life....Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, Florida, Georgia.....no hands down...we plan on moving to Colorado.  It is beautiful there.  We love the mountains and the snow!  We plan to own some horses and some land when we get there after I finish nursing school.  That  is our dream.  

North Dakota; way less jerks to deal with and a night sky that looks like it did 200 years ago. No place like it.

I adore Chicago, we live only 3 hours away and visit often.  I have frequently thought of living there.  On the other hand, I love Florida, the St, Pete area is so beautiful and the weather is awesome.  I know, two completely different climates, but if I could relocate it would be to one of those two places.

Chicago is a fantastic city. Just way too cold and very expensive. If I were a billioaire, I would pick Chicago and/or New York.

I love Alabama. Most of it. I hope if I can not get back to Georgia to get to Birmingham and teach at UAB. That is my goal.

I have been to London once. I could live there. Would also love to live in a castle in Scotland.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and I'm still here.  I plan to go to nursing school here too, but will probably move soon after.  I'm glad I grew up here because it's prepared me for anything, but at the same time the cost of living now is just ridiculous.  I would probably move some place warmer and/or more easy going.  I think just visiting NYC from time to time would be enough for me!  I'd love to experience life at a slower pace without so much noise, lol.

I think a person can find beauty in any part of the country if they chose to. Make the most of it and live life to the fullest. Find which place brings comfort and contentment to your heart.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but I think a person needs to travel the country to find what feels like "home" to them.

Oh YES! Hawaii - that would probably be the one state I would love to definitely relocate to!  Hmmm....but Alaska's taxes are really low...

Colorado!  WE have visited several times.  Gone skiing, honeymooned, taken our children there!  We love the mountains and the snow!  There is no place as beautiful as Colorado.  WE love the mountains, snow, hiking, waterfalls, sand dunes, etc.  That is our dream state!

I have lived all over the country. Throw a dart at the map of the United States and you could find good reasons to live there. We have it pretty good here. I could think of a hundred places that I would be happy, right here in the U.S.A. Good pay, good quality of life, familiar food and faces .... I say all that t say this: I would give it all up in a heartbeat to go live in the Philippines, where the love of my life resides. Home is where the heart is, and mine is 7500 miles away.

I'm from NJ originally but don't want to go back there because of the winters and the high cost of living.  Lived in Boston for a short time many years ago and loved it but it's too cold and too high-priced.  Lived in Houston, Texas for a couple of years, too hot, humid , flat and buggy.  then we moved to Washington State--Vancouver, WA, right across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.  the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful area in the country in my estimation.  Mountains, spectacular coastine.  affordable living, really friendly people.  The only thing is that the weather totally sucks.  too much rain and gray days.  we left Vancouver about 10 years ago ( I still can't believe we actually did that) and moved to Phoenix, AZ.  Phoenix is very different in so many ways, but as we were just talking about the other day, other than the summer heat (June, July and August is the worst) there is no adverse weather to deal with.  No hurricanes, no blizzards and ice storms, no flooding (except sometimes in the north country near rivers), no tornadoes or earthquakes.  The 6 months of winter are wonderful.  Phoenix, though, is a rather transient place and that can sometimes hurt your sense of "community".  After 10 years, I have finally stopped crying about leaving Washington State, weather and all.  Could I go back?  Probably.  I would just have to schedule more mini-vacations to someplace sunny and install those seasonal affective disorder lights in my home.  Tip:  Don't buy a home there under Douglas fir trees.