Where do you live??????? Where should I live?
 

I grew up in Los Angeles my entire life with a short stint in the bay area. I have a love hate relationship with S Cal,,, I love the beach, the weather, and the lifestyle.

Overall though LA kinda sucks to be honest. Most people are pretty fake and generally dicks and in comparison to European and Asian cities you can hardly call LA a city, maybe more of an urban sprawl,

I've come to the conclusion that I cant live in LA any longer.

So where do you live? What cities are the most vibrant in the world?

So far tops on my list....

Prague
Bangkok
Barcelona


:thumbsup

Prague or Barcelona sounds about best :thumbsup

We've just made the best move of our lives, now living in Spain, south of Barcelona. It's beautiful with sea views from our apartment, warm clean air to breath, hmmm the med :)

You need to visit these places before packing up and moving there. What if you don't like it?

don't come in france

barcelona i would say :winkwink: prague is nice, but i think the speed and stress there may get boring very soon ... :2 cents:

Barcelona or Marbella has always been my choice for retirement. I've been in BKK for a month and loving it. It is a transient city so you meet people from EVERY country almost everyday. I was in Prague for 2 weeks and fell in love with he city and the people. Noted on the speed and stress of Prague - it's sort of like Vegas with real castles.

If you've been in Los Angeles your whole life and you're thinking about going to someplace like a Bangkok or Singapore, I would recommend going there for an extended stay before you pick up and move. I know you've traveled around but living somewhere is a whole different ballgame. I go for a couple of months and see what it feels like to have to live their day in day out. Just my two cents

Ive been in Bangkok for a month and have been coming for 15 years. I agree with you 100%

I've heard Budapest is amazing.....

Even to visit ? :(

Where do you live???????=Chicago :thumbsup

Where should I live?=Not a single fuck was given :winkwink:

have luck...

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

It depends on what you want to do in your city. You should tell us first what you would like to be your common activities, like what kind of cultural activities you expect to make, what kind of sports, what kind of transportation, what kind of weather, what kind of travelling, what kind of speech, what kind of repression from the government you can stand, what kind of corruption you can stand, what kind of women you like, what kind of proximity to others you expect.

I mean the good and bad questions, because every city has its pros and cons, so you have to be open to resist some government ultra stalking with the benefit of having the things that city offers. You seem to have to pay some price for the benefits you want.

In London the police inspects your internet, and the cams record everything you do in the streets, and also everything is expensive as gold... But you have the benefits of living in London, like... can someone name one?

In Paris you have excellent public transportation, amazing urban architecture -and I am not talking about the monuments, but about the commons looks of the streets, they are usually pretty even if they are unknown non famous streets-. But you have the disadvantage of having to speak french, which is a language with an ugly senseless orthography that any intelligent person simply can't stand.

So tell us what you want and what you can stand, and we can give you better advice.

Right back at ya.:321GFY

Very good point..... to answer:

1) I like transient cities like BKK as I love meeting new people from around the world.
2) Low cost of living
3) High quality of life
4) Either near or at beach. Must be at least driving distance for weekends.
5) People must be nice. In my travels I've found the friendliest cities to be - BKK, PRG, BCN Edinburgh. Unfriendliest - LA, London, NY
6) Must have good club scene with active music scene.
7) Cosmopoliton city with many choices for food.
8) Services must be up to par as in electricity, malls.... basically I want to be able to buy anything I need.

Does that help?

I live in Australia....

I hear nothing but good things, every Australian Ive met seems super happy and laid back.

I have done it twice. I am fine with it, but would not recommend it for most people. Definitely makes for an adventure.

I moved away from LA as well, a big fuck you to Jerry Brown and state taxes.

If you want to live cheaply as an expat the choices nowadays is basically either S America or Southeast Asia.

Unless you want to be an English teacher or willing to plunk down lots of cash BKK is no longer really an option. If you are old enough to retire and get a retirement visa maybe.

Rules changed in August and the military government there ain't getting any nicer.

South of Spain is nice. Tangier is nice. I hear New Zealand can be nice.

I moved to Tokyo from Los Angeles. LA has become a cesspool. Was a beautiful town when the Brown Derby still popped.

I already have a house in BKK. No problem.

Costa del Sol is amazing but pricey. Tangier is a new one.... I will put on my list as well as NZ.

Of course I would visit before moving - but all the options Ive chosen i have been to... thus the reason for this thread.

Your in Shanghai??? Nice. Is that expo still going on or is that in Ghonjio??? (sp)

Fuck LA and the whole mainstream entertainment industry fucks it breeds.

Excellent! A house? My new best friend. ;)

I lived in Tangier for some years. Quick jetfoil or cheap flights to EU. Women are "flexible."
Check out "The Mountain" if you ever go. Beautiful homes up there. Overlooks the Med and the Atlantic...

I live in Chicago right now. If I were to move, I'd become a digital nomad and probably not live in the same city/country for longer than a month at a time.

Our BKK house is 5 bedroom and my family owns a few condos and rice patties. ;-)

And very cheap here now. Yo can get a condo in Hua Hin fo 2-3 Million Baht (less than 100K USD). I was looking at one for 5 Million but dont know if I can justify for a few weeks a year as I dont want to move permanent there. Im thinking I can airbnb it to pay the mortgage though.

View from condo - beach 200 yards down the path.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...7dcc1f5488a699

Moving out of LA over 10 years ago = best fucking decision of my life.

I cannot stand Socal. There is nothing there worth the hassle - smog, crime, cost of living, traffic.....

I live in NorCal. Nice mild weather, no issues.

We are moving to Hawaii in about five years.

You should move to Florida or Texas.

Just stay in BKK longer. I liked Kuala Lumpur also.
I didn't like LA when i was there on vacation.
Maybe Santa Barbara could be nice.
I like BKK for some weeks and than i want to leave.
But i like beaches more, not the city live with tourist.

Maybe you can stay near Pattaya, there are beaches, club life, shopping mall.
And within 2 hours you can be in he center of BKK.

Prague is nice, a lot of people like BRNO. But the winters must be not so nice and i hate cold winters. Budapest was also nice, but the winters... Best is to just move around i think, till you find the spot that makes you feel like coming home.

Haha that is what i have been doing for 2 months.

Airbnb, laptop, money. No problem

Cmon dont you love the LA gossip crew.... lol

I believe you and am right there myself. Took 2 months away to never want to go back.

Cost of living insane. I lived in Sausalito for a bit. Its great people are laid back, but hella expensive to qoute you norcal folk.

Whats the upside - executions and cows? Miami maybe but it has an LA feel of plasticity.

I believe you are right sir. Last paragraph/

Prague .It can be indeed sometime boring,but it have good geographical connections,so you can always go somewhere temporally else if you feel like it.And since it have lower cost of life,money which is saved can be spend on travels and other thingies.

Barcelona is not cheap anymore.

i live online, no better place then that. always live...

I believe you have the idea. :thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

tuscalootchahatchee, alabama OP

I consider Brno my home, living here for 8 years now.

but with 400k people it's not for someone who WANTS to live in a big city - for me it's just right.

and yes, winters can be cold, that's why in the long run i'll be needing a place in Thailand for those times ;)

Definitely have a look at New Zealand - Not easy to get a residents visa though - I have an NZ passport so you could marry me :)...

Up the coast from Sydney in Byron Bay or Airlie beach is pretty amazing as well - Very laid back and very 'cool'.....

:thumbsup

Juno, Ive been hearing a lot of good things about Buenos Aires (Argentina). The property prices have crashed over there and the streets and architecture are beautiful..... its like a kind of paris style.

Anyone know what prices are for apartments these days in say Recoleta, Buenos Aires?

3 of 4 Argentinians i know don't even want to live in Argentina...

Spain is great. Besides Barcelona you should consider Malaga. Very cheap to live there. If you want the best climate in the world and very clean air and healthy lifestyle, you should also consider Canary islands.

Sure but its very different for a foreigner living there (holding foreign currency). You can live very comfortably and on very little considering the peso is now half.

Somewhere where:

1. Fiber internet is available
2. A good standard of living can be had
3. You can speak the local language well
4. You can reside and do business legally
5. The tax burden is reasonable (Remember the foreign earnings may be taxable)
6. There is first world healthcare affordable to you

I can find all these things in the USA ...

If I ever decide to move, Spain would probably be on the top of my list

I lived in Malta for one year in 09/10 and it was great. Island in the middle of the Med, 400,000 people growing to 1 million in summer time, tons of things to do, food is fresh and great, low cost of living, diverse people from all over EU who come to Malta to learn English and party. EU is on your doorstep, you can get cheap flights to almost every EU country, every weekend you can be in a new place for under $100 flight, living it up and partying or just sightseeing. I highly recommend a visit to Malta to check it out, I loved my time there. Climate can be crazy in summer tho, some days it gets hot as hell but most of the year it's excellent.

I know there are a few industry people in Malta as well, you'd have a blast.

If I think about moving, id be thinking about the long term.
Where would I want to be with all of the above plus:

(1) Growing GDP
(2) Creditor Nation (high FX reserves & low debt country)
(3) Relatively clean air and water
(4) Good infrastructure
(5) Relative political stability
(6) Food/Power independence
(7) Few enemies

USA fails on (2)
USA fails on (7) BIG TIME

Spain is a part of a the wider European disaster and I don't see anything good happening in that region if we talk about the longer term. However, if youre holding FX and particularly USD, RMB etc then I would imagine you could be comfortable over there.

Argentina is interesting for me because property prices could be very cheap next year. Peso has fallen against USD from around 4.5 to 8.5 and the latest projections is that it could fall as much as to 11.5 by next year. Although the USD is now pricing everything so you may not get much gains over there esp with inflation - I don't know enough about this country to really comment so I may be talking complete bullshit but a lot of people are looking into Argentina.

Worth mentioning that whether or not they meet your criteria: Canada, Australia and New Zealand always have cities featuring in the reports of most liveable cities. Every year they seem to come tops....

no, to visit it's ok

I'm in Chi town as well. Wonder if we have met at any of the shows.

Chris, come to Chicago. ;) Yea, I know there are more glamorous places, I just want to have you and family as neighbors again. :thumbsup