Moving to the USA, where is the place to be?

[viggen]

The last 12 years my main in come is in US dollar but my expenses are in Euro, which makes me seriously consider moving to the USA. Now there are two things to consider,

web-business friendly
quality of life

west coast no thanks too scared of earth quakes
south no thanks to tornados, hurricans and crazy christians
northern parts, got damm blizzards

so in my naive way of cheching those places i settled to

Virginia
West Virginia
Maryland
North Carolina
Kentucky
Tennesse

which one would you pick, or is there a state i missed?

[dibbern2]

Forget the mega cityplexs and look at second tier cities. I'm in the midwest, so around here that would be Indianapolis, Madison, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, etc., but each state has it own. You'll probably find great culture & arts, good dining, reasonable prices, AND you can be in beautiful countryside 20 minutes from downtown.

Oregon and Washington: only if you hate sun light. Texas: take a look at what's been coming out of the state legislature. The wingnuts have taken over.

[viggen]

first thanks to all the replies, really fun and helpful,

Ignore all advice containing the word "taxes". No matter where you live, both income tax and sales tax (we don't call it VAT) will be vastly lower than what you are used to.

Oh, i am already a good american taxpayer (since 2003), and as a foreign share holder i get taxed highest rate which is not really lower than here, however the once a year cheque (sigh, when will you stopt that crap?)from the IRS is fat (well in dollar terms at least)...

I have been to Pennsylvania (Allentown) for almost a year back in the 1990, i have been to Philadelphia (was a dump back than), New York (awesome but creepy west side back than, got lost at battery park and walked all the west side up to port authority, was one of the scariest few hours of my life)

Baltimore was nice, Virginia and North Carolina struck me as the most beautiful from what i have seen...

I am aware that there is no best place to be, and my girlfriend mentioned, why not move to her hometown (Rio de Janeiro) but thats a whole different thread...

thanks again! :)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

south no thanks to tornados, hurricans and crazy christians

5 killed in tornadoes in Springfield, MA last week.

[WesleyC]

I'd put in a vote for the Kansas City area, specifically on the west side near Overland Park. There are more programmers per capita here than there are in most of the well-known "tech" towns. The people are friendly, and while there is an occasional tornado nearby the natural terrain formation generally keeps them away from the heavily populated areas in northeastern Kansas. Those are also the only natural disasters most of Kansas is particularly prone to.

Plus, with Google choosing KC as the site of its first foray into high-speed fiberoptic internet service, you can bet the tech industry here will be booming even more than it already is--I had no less than 3 job offers when I started looking for work after graduating college.

It's a very urbanized, cultured area--very few crazies, though of course you'll run into a few of them no matter where you go in the world.

One possible downside is the weather. We have a huge temperature range; it can go below 0 degrees F in the winter quite easily, and usually breaks 100 degrees F in the summer with at least 60% relative humidity. We do get hail and severe rainstorms, but insurance takes care of any damage from them.

The living's cheap and good, the people are friendly, and it's definitely great for the tech industry. I've been all over the country, but thus far northeast Kansas is by far and away my favorite area.

[lucy24]

Now that you've reminded everyone of this thread's existence...

Have you settled on a place? Any closer to making a decision? Filtered out any "You couldn't pay me to live there" areas?