Foo - What is the best place for me to live on the West coast?

Seriously, I'm not trying to be a troll by asking such a broad/loaded question. I live in the mid-Atlantic and have had limited success trying to get contracts abroad so I can travel some while working. The amount of effort I have put into it vs. payoff is very skewed. So I though, hey, why don't I just travel around the US if I can. I work in I.T. as a business analyst and a technical writer. WHere I Live out in the southeast there have been fairly plentiful contracts (knock on wood).

But enough about that - HYPOTHETICALLY, let's say - if I were to relocate to the West coast for the sheer pleasure of traveling, where should I go? I would be there for 1-2 years. It is just me. I am 30. I work in I.T. I like mountains. That's it.

I know jack **** about California, Oregon, or Washington, which is why I want to go there. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Obviously, cycling is a big consideration for me.

Toledo

(you did mean the West coast of Lake Erie didn't you?)

Coos Bay

Toledo

(you did mean the West coast of Lake Erie didn't you?)

Take your Toledo crap out of here! Monroe is much better!

Serious answer? Not California unless you are independently weathy and enjoy giving away your money for nothing (I am trying my best to get out of this state).

Frankly my favorite western states are Utah and Idaho - especially if you are sports minded. Cycling in either state is absolutely magnificent. Oregon would be the only coastal state - especially around Eugene. Total cycle community - cool place to live. Best to live in those states and then travel to California for vacation.

Weehawken.

Seattle or Everett.

East L.A., tell them Chingito sent you to pick up the package.

Portland.

Bc :)

Vancouver BC. :thumb:

Kamloops, BC, Burnaby, BC, Richmond, BC or Langley, BC.

only reason is because those places have NCIX stores, which are by far the best computer stores in Canada.

SoCAL.

Portland.

Portland.

Portland is beautiful but doesn't it have the highest unemployment rate on the west coast?

[edit] sorry...it's around 14%...which is really high. still a great city if you have a job lined up.

SoCAL.

Like the Bay area, SoCal is full. Sorry, you'll have to wait until Pamestique leaves before there's an available vacancy. And then you'll have to get on the waiting list. You'll also have to pay a security deposit and monthly maintenance fee for occuplancy on that waiting list. After Pamestique leaves there will be a short period while we paint and refurb so that you'll have a nice new SoCal experience to enjoy. Meanwhile, please enjoy your wait in purgatory.

An alternative exists. Try Florida. Yes, definitely, Florida. Or New York. I hear Pcad has space to rent in his loft.

Portland is beautiful but doesn't it have the highest unemployment rate on the west coast?

[edit] sorry...it's around 14%...which is really high. still a great city if you have a job lined up.

They even give you free needles to shoot up.

Best city evar.

Eureka.

San Jose, CA
4 hours to skiing in the Sierras. 45 minutes to San Francisco. 30 minutes to Santa Cruz (on the coast). 1 hour to Monterrey (on the coast). 2 hours to Napa wine country. SJ Sharks, SF Giants, Oakland A's, SF 49'ers, Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors, and SJ Earthquakes are all major league teams within an hour. Sailing on SF Bay, bicycling everywhere. Great weather year round. Expensive housing. Several major universities closeby.

Eugene, OR
1 hour to the coast. skiing ~2 hours. bicycle friendly. Univ of Oregon. A little to rainy for my tastes (its my hometown), but pretty cheap housing.

x136 will laugh, but Sacramento isn't bad. The issue with California taxes is we need to drastically reduce - actually eliminate - the huge and overgenerous social "safety net" in this state that sucks away the taxes of working people and awards fraud and people who refuse to work.

Dutch Harbor

San Diego. You work in IT, my company is hiring.

We had an exceptionally harsh winter day today, it was 70 degrees. The low tonight will be 50.