jennifer / November 20, 2005 6:44 PM

I tried living in the one other place I'd rather live other than Chicago, and I didn't like it. Therefore I'm exactly where I want to be.

Alex / November 20, 2005 6:45 PM

London, baby!

Baldeesh / November 20, 2005 6:45 PM

Chattanooga, TN.

But I would only live there if Chicago stopped existing.

girlwithaspirin / November 20, 2005 7:11 PM

Gotta be Portland or Vancouver. But then, I grew up here and haven't found a reason to leave in 36 years. Why start now?

Nick / November 20, 2005 7:27 PM

I used to say New Orleans, but now I'll go with Urbana-Champaign.

shechem / November 20, 2005 7:35 PM

Seattle. I'd move back there in a heartbeat.

Brittany / November 20, 2005 7:38 PM

New York City...simply because I think I need to live there, if only for a short period of time. I think I need to get this whole "New York City itch" out of my system to know if I wanna stay in Chicago after college. Also, London seems pretty cool.

Hal / November 20, 2005 7:47 PM

Dublin, Ireland. I was starting the job-hunting process, just at the beginning of their economic explosion of the '90's, when I started dating my (now) partner. So, it would have been pretty easy, job-wise. But touring their horrible animal quarantine facilities (he had a dog and cat) put the final kibosh on that idea.

Mike / November 20, 2005 7:56 PM

Portland, Maine : so different from Chicago that it wouldn't have to compete in my mind with this city (nor would I have to betray any sports allegiances)...

(an interview with Craig Thompson in the Comics Journal had a story about the Portland of Oregon having drunk rednecks driving into town on the weekends to cause trouble and that's enough for me to take it off the list)

chris / November 20, 2005 8:14 PM

In the South of France

Mac / November 20, 2005 8:49 PM

Seattle or NYC.

Until then, I'll remain stuck in the middle in Chicago.

Jason / November 20, 2005 9:12 PM

Vermont or New Hampshire or Massachusettes.
In five years, give or take, and forever.

Leah / November 20, 2005 9:36 PM

Not London--tried it, yuck. I never knew which way was North--one reason I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chicago.

Maybe, um...

Tokyo?

Andrew / November 20, 2005 9:37 PM

New Orleans. Even after the flood. We'll be going back down for vacation next June, and will be helping the clean-up for at least one day out of the trip.

Eamon / November 20, 2005 9:54 PM

Dublin, probably. Great town, decent public transit, wonderful people.

Lisa / November 20, 2005 10:26 PM

I don't live in Chicago, so, in this order: (1) New York; (2) Chicago; (3) Paris.

Slack-a-gogo / November 20, 2005 10:43 PM

New York City. But I'll need a lot more money before that happens.

selenium7 / November 20, 2005 11:33 PM

Timely question. I'm trying to decide whether I spend next year in Hawaii or in Japan.

I have never been to either place or spent more than 2 weeks outside of the US, but have been to London (loved it!) and South Africa, and Canada.

Feel free to weigh in on which you think I should choose, by the way. You may or may want to take into account that I do NOT tan and can't participate in any rugged sports or serious hiking.

Thanks.

nico / November 20, 2005 11:44 PM

i used to think new york city, but after visiting my friends there several times a year and coming home broke, reality set in and i know i could never afford the life i'd like there. then i thought paris, because it felt right when i was there -- but i know the visa/immigration process is very difficult . if not paris, then somewhere rural just to see what it's like -- but an urban (ish) setting would have to be close by.

MikeH / November 21, 2005 7:42 AM

I don't see myself ever leaving this city for good...

However, if I HAD to leave...

Here I come, Venice!

Stephen / November 21, 2005 7:54 AM

Some of you people have some pretty exotic answers, but I'll top them all: Madison, Wisconsin. If you wanna get really crazy with locations, maybe Minneapolis/St. Paul or Seattle for me? If pressed for an international city, I'd probably say Sydney, Australia.

But really, I love Chicago.

Craig / November 21, 2005 7:54 AM

New York. That's about it.

Robin / November 21, 2005 8:00 AM

Portland, Oregon. My hometown, my hero.

Craig Thompson doesn't know what he's talking about with the rednecks driving into town on the weekends. Although, somewhere I read an interview with him that gave away the area where he lives (near the airport) and that area is known for its strip (82nd Ave) of dive motels and redneck car lots.

And there are mountains! REAL mountains!

Thurston / November 21, 2005 8:14 AM

Within the US, I'd likely move to Seattle.
Outside the US, I'd choose Mexico City, Sao Paulo or Barcelona.

slb / November 21, 2005 8:41 AM

i haven't really lived anywhere else, but i would guess that i'd like new york or san francisco, even though i've never been to either place. i also think i'd like dublin, from what friends have said. but chicago is #1 in my heart. i was born here and i'll never really leave.

selenium7- go to japan. hawaii isn't that interesting. the weather is amazing, but everything is really expensive. and the tourists are super super annoying. though i have to say, all the locals i met were extremely nice. still, i would think that japan would lend itself to a lot more interesting experiences...

Paula / November 21, 2005 9:07 AM

I'd probably move to Milwaukee. I like being near the Lake, the cost of living is pretty inexpensive, there's a bunch of cool old architecture, the new art museum is amazing, and the people are nice. If I had to go rural I'd choose somewhere in southwestern Wisconsin.

If I'm going for a fantasy move I'd move to Munich.

Y A J / November 21, 2005 9:08 AM

Like slb I've never lived anywhere else, but
I've thought about this one before. When I'm ready to escape the city - Madison, WI and then we'll retire in Central France, Loire Valley.

robin.. / November 21, 2005 9:18 AM

uhm, chicago.

Roni / November 21, 2005 9:19 AM

DC, Seattle, San Antonio/Austin

jen / November 21, 2005 9:25 AM

san francisco, key west or amsterdam.

bam / November 21, 2005 9:25 AM

Homer, Alaska has always been nice to me. Montana got a little too slick after I last lived in Yellowstone.

But the Traverse City area of Michigan is pretty fine too, winter's a little easier to manage than Alaska. Lots of good local foodstuffs sprouting up in those parts. Blue water, green hills, winter sports, summer sports...a good bistro and decent local vineyards -- about all I need.

waleeta / November 21, 2005 9:28 AM

New York, DC, Boston, or Toronto.
One day, if all was settled, the Nineveh Plains in Iraq.
I need Assyrians around me!!

Ramsin / November 21, 2005 9:32 AM

Oak Park, Evanston, Cicero, or Oak Lawn. Or Lincolnwood. Get the pattern?

paul / November 21, 2005 9:34 AM

If the question is "If you didn't live in Chicago where would be living?" the answer would be New Jersey.

If the question is "where would I like to live?" the answer is Auckland NZ.

Pat / November 21, 2005 9:35 AM

Toronto... Probably because it's so similar to Chicago... But with a heaping help of that Canada Nice.

If not Canadathen , perhaps the UK in London.

e_five / November 21, 2005 9:36 AM

I've lived in Los Angeles; Richmond, VA; San Francisco; Charlottesville, VA; DC; Oklahoma City; Seattle; and Little Rock, AR.

San Francisco is a distant second favorite to Chicago. Would also consider Boston, DC, Toronto, Vancouver BC and Minneapolis.

e_five / November 21, 2005 9:38 AM

Observation: warm winter weather tends to attract an inordinate percentage of JERKS.

Baltimore / November 21, 2005 9:45 AM

Lagos

Carrie / November 21, 2005 9:51 AM

Nowhere else in the States. Outside the US: Istanbul or Glasgow.

Naz / November 21, 2005 10:23 AM

I couldn't honestly say. I'm more of the mind that if I haven't been to a place yet, then how can I decide where I want to be now? But that's just being picky.

Of the places I have been, I'm most enamoured by San Francisco and while I've already lived in London, I'd like to go back at some point for a bit.

New York holds no appeal to me to live, despite the oddness that a lot of factors hint that I should move there.

I'd also like to live in Seattle for a bit, maybe two years max, it's a nice place.

The one place I'd want to give a serious shot would be New Zealand (and no, not because of Lord of the Rings).

D / November 21, 2005 10:33 AM

US: Boston.

Wonderful people, history, character. Crazy expensive real estate, though.

Ex-US: Another vote for Venice.

Ditto the Boston wonderfulness...and no cars! Even better!

julie / November 21, 2005 10:35 AM

minneapolis, here i come!

eep / November 21, 2005 10:42 AM

I love Paris, but I don't speak the language, so that would make things a bit difficult for me.

Honestly, if I had to choose any other city to live in/near, I'd have to go with Toronto. It's the only other big city I've ever visited where I didn't feel like a tourist.

joshua / November 21, 2005 11:09 AM

without a doubt: queenstown, new zealand.
it's an adrenaline park disguised as a city, dropped in the middle of the Remarkable mountain range, bordering lake Wakatipu.
it's got skiing, whitewater rafting and sledging, biking, skydiving, bungy jumping and backpackers from all over the world.

Kevin / November 21, 2005 11:11 AM

Praha.

dan / November 21, 2005 11:12 AM

I live in Buenos Aires right now, but I didn't leave Chicago because I didn't like it. I love(d) it dearly. And as soon as my time's up here, I'm heading right back to Chicago. Although, I'd try to make sure my arrival fell May-October. No sense needlessly exposing myself to winter.

NotSoHealthy / November 21, 2005 11:16 AM

Berrrrrrwyn

redliner / November 21, 2005 11:27 AM

There are lots of great places to live! At this point in my life, I think I would choose St. Louis.

winediva / November 21, 2005 11:28 AM

Sonoma, California or any small village in Southern Tuscany.

Moon / November 21, 2005 11:34 AM

London, Melbourne, Sydney, Miami.

Spence / November 21, 2005 12:10 PM

You wouldn't want to live in Venice unless you like traveling 20-30 miles to the mainland for EVERYTHING and having 2.5 trillion tourist on you doorstep everyday.

My pick:

US: Pittsburg

North America: Montreal

World: No idea, maybe somewhere in Germany.

jen / November 21, 2005 12:13 PM

new york i always thought would be fun, but only for a short period of time (a year or two). i could definitely see myself living in toronto long-term, though, also.

Don Hall / November 21, 2005 12:21 PM

I'd live in Scotland - either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Love that country, love the people.

Emerson Dameron / November 21, 2005 12:28 PM

Short list: Amsterdam, Vancouver or Jersey City. I'm not inclined to retrace my steps, but Asheville, NC and Athens, GA were both great places to live, and I wouldn't dissuade someone else from moving there. Don't move to Atlanta.

elena / November 21, 2005 12:47 PM

Hey Baltimore, would you prefer Lagos, Portugal or Lagos, Nigeria? I hear the new mayor of Lagos, Nigeria is a graduate of the City Colleges of Chicago, so maybe you could make a connection there. But Lagos in Portugal is very pleasant, though touristy.

I've lived in:

Middletown, CT,
St Louis, MO,
Heidelberg, Munich, Cologne, and Berlin, Germany
and next year I'm going to live in Caen, France.
I enjoyed living in Munich quite a lot -- I can recommend it. It is possible to live cheaply there (though it isn't a cheap city), there are mountains nearby, and you can enjoy a great deal of wonderful music and see an endless quantity of fantastic art (http://www.lenbachhaus.de).
I still think I'd prefer to live in Berlin, if I could, though I couldn't say exactly why. It is a combination of the music, museums, politics, diverse neighborhoods, and conviviality. It is so much easier there to get together with friends for a beer or a coffee, and I miss that.
In an ideal world, someone would offer me a job in St Louis, Senegal or in Fez, Morocco and I'd move there. In a less ideal world, someone would offer me a job in St Louis, MO and I'd move back there.

Bill / November 21, 2005 12:56 PM

i am so proud that no one is saying los angeles.

Yawnie / November 21, 2005 1:04 PM

Portland, OR! Every winter it looks more and more attractive; though ideally I'd be able to split my time between the two!

Veronica / November 21, 2005 1:17 PM

Probably northern California. I want to live in a city, but can't see myself in New York (although I thought about it for the two seconds that I also thought about going to grad school).

sky / November 21, 2005 1:20 PM

I L-O-V-E Durban, South Africa. LIved there for about 5 months and tried to find a job there post graduation and could not.

I've heard amazing things about Spain and Portugal....would love to give that a try.....

In america, I love washington DC

Gary Cooper / November 21, 2005 1:41 PM

Hollywood!

Marc / November 21, 2005 1:47 PM

Seattle - I miss it.
Toronto - would be fun... might make it easier to connect with family more often.
Oxford, England - again with the family.
Maybe somewhere in NC?

vit / November 21, 2005 1:57 PM

Realistic answer.

Boston, hands down (but damn is it expensive). I tried to move there 3 years ago and it didn't work out so I'm still here (I like it here though, so I'm not complaining too much). I love nyc as much as the next person, but I'm not sure I want to live there, however I wouldn't mind being closer than I currently am for visits.

I have no desire to live in the west-coast.

Big Mac / November 21, 2005 2:07 PM

Barcelona

ragnar / November 21, 2005 2:38 PM

i moved from chicago a year ago and i cannot get it out of my system. i currently live in san francisco, and i spend most of my time comparing the cities and concluding that chicago is far better home.

LeahW / November 21, 2005 2:54 PM

Portland, OR (gorgeous); Vancouver, BC (even more gorgeous); Austin, TX (like my hometown, but way better); or C-U downstate (yay cheap high-quality grad school).

kt / November 21, 2005 2:55 PM

memphis.

coolest people ever.

kelly / November 21, 2005 3:10 PM

i just bailed before the snow storms and moved to:

santa barbara, ca

Cinnamon / November 21, 2005 4:22 PM

Despite the disaster and the risk of it getting destroyed again, I'd say New Orleans. Aside from Chicago, it's the only place that felt right the first time I walked into it. It's like half of my personality is at a Chicago pace and the other half is at a New Orleans pace, and yes I know it's hot. I've only visited during the summer. My hair and skin have never looked so good as they do when I'm there.

Otherwise I've never been to Italy but part of me would love to take a few months to live a in a quiet little town somewhere in the mountains. I think this is a highly romanticized vision though.

But it's going to take a lot to get me to leave this city that felt like home long before I ever moved here.

Brandy / November 21, 2005 5:13 PM

Oh, this question pains me. I can't imagine *not* living here. I am really in love with Chicago.

My second favorite US city (but Chicago has a ginormous lead) is Boston.

Virginia / November 21, 2005 6:58 PM

Although I plan on never leaving Chicago, I suppose that I could live in France for a while.... which is coincidentally what I'll be leaving to do in a few months. But I'll be back. I can't be away from this city for too long.

Erica / November 21, 2005 7:03 PM

If Chicago didn't exist, I'd live in the country somewhere. I'm sort of bipolar in that way. If not a big, bustling, yet beautiful and hard-working city like Chicago, then a farm or a log cabin or something remote and desolate and simple.

tony / November 21, 2005 7:52 PM

New York. Toronto doesn't seem too bad, but I haven't explored enough of it to have an opinion one way or another.

I could answer the question "where wouldn't I be living?" much easier: Los Angeles/Orange County, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and Rochester.

Leelah / November 21, 2005 8:03 PM

London for sure.
I went to school there 15 years ago, and I've never gotten over it... I can't stop visiting even though it's ridiculously expensive.
Actually, I'd settle for England.

Somebody find an English man to marry me!

Or Deia, Mallorca. If I ever quit teaching and become an archaeologist, you'll find me in Deia.

Dutch / November 21, 2005 8:48 PM

I think that I would move back to Seattle someday (I lived in Tacoma for a spell).

I have heard that Portland ME is really nice too.

Internationally, maybe Germany or Norway or someplace like that.

printdude / November 21, 2005 8:56 PM

I'm a born-and-raised-er, but I have tried other places, I just keep getting pulled back by unexplained forces.

If I didn't live here, I might could be found in Vancouver, BC; Paris, France; or perhaps some backwater town in Mexico near the coast, fishing and painting with nearly zero dollars and being happy as the twenty clams I eat for dinner.

SR / November 21, 2005 9:05 PM

if I HAD to live somewhere else, it'd be Seattle.

RS / November 21, 2005 10:57 PM

I lived in Chicago for 30 years and now live in San Francisco. No contest - I can't wait for the next opportunity to come back home for good.

1. I miss the cold weather and the change of seasons (even though Fall and Spring last all of two weeks). It's 60 degrees here right now and I can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving and get back to some cold weather. I walk around in a t-shirt and people walk around here with goose-down jackets - it's ridiculous.

2. I need to drive on the freeway for 20 minutes if I want to go to the closest Target.

3. Average price of a home in SF is $735,000.

Katy / November 21, 2005 11:46 PM

I'd have to say Iowa City, Iowa or Napa, CA. How's that for divergent tastes?

lacey / November 22, 2005 12:07 AM

It it touching to see that more than one person cited places in my home state of Tennessee. It is a beautiful state, for sure. I hope you guys weren't kidding.

That being said, there are many places I would love to live: Haifa, Israel; San Jose, CA; San Diego, CA; NYC; Florence, Italy; Madrid, Spain; Sydney, Australia; Athens, GA; and Nashville, TN.

mike / November 22, 2005 12:48 AM

New York City, for all the stereotypical reasons, and I have family there.

Ecuador, have family there too.

The island of Capri, Roman emperors partied there people.

But I love Chitown like no other.

Stacey / November 22, 2005 9:09 AM

Somewhere with hills - or an ocean - or both.

Libby / November 22, 2005 10:05 AM

It depends on how pragmatic I'm being.

If not pragmatic at all, then probably London.

If I'm being slightly more pragmatic, Seattle or possibly Chapel Hill, NC.

If I'm being very pragamatic, Philadelphia (it's really not the hole that folks make it out to be, and it's a nice distance from my family).

But like so many others on this list, I love Chicago. I bought a house this year and don't see myself making a move anytime soon, especially not before I've got little kiddies to worry about.

sus / November 29, 2005 11:22 AM

mexico city, mx (but without the sexism, poverty, corruption or smog)
paris, france