X Marks the Spot

One of my favorite things is to PLAN. (Think: binders full of ideas, multiple lists of to-do's in multiple places, and several books that recommend places to see all over the world.) Over the past couple of days, I've taken three different online quizzes that are designed to determine the best place for you to live. They ask all kinds of questions on climate, culture, hobbies, demographics, transportation, taxes, etc. and magically come up with a list. I would give you all of the websites, but don't waste your time.

By a landslide, my favorite website is Find Your Spot. It's very thorough, easy to use, and gives detailed information about the top 25 cities in your results. Yes, it does make you give your e-mail address, but it's only so you can log back in later if you'd like. I've taken it several times, and I've never had any spam as a result of giving them my e-mail. My only disclaimer is that just changing one answer can change your results. After I took it the first time, I thought there were too many cities in California, so I tried to change just a couple of answers at a time until I got the cities I wanted. Then, of course, I realized that this was ruining the whole point of the exercise. So, I'll just chalk it up to being cold that day, and take it for what it is.

I'll list the cities in the following format:

Name
Motto (Given by the site, not by me)
Population │ Average Home Price │ Precipitation │ Snow


Drum roll, please......



Sarah's Top 24 Cities

1. Chesapeake Bay-Virginia Beach, Virginia
The Southern Tidewater Region
624,000 │$252,000 │ 45" │ 1"

2. Oakland, California
East Bay Living
2,465,000 │ $450,000 │ 18" │ 0"

3. Norfolk, Virginia
Heart of the Hampton Roads
1,606,000 │ $182,000 │ 45" │ 1"

4. San Francisco, California
The Golden Gate City
751,000 │ $720,000 │21" │ 0"

5. Charleston, South Carolina
Cosmopolitan Southern City
603,000 │ $285,000 │ 52" │ 0"

6. Augusta, Georgia
Georgia's Garden City
500,000 │ $236,000 │ 42" │0"

7. San Diego, California
California's First City
1,266,0000 │ $607,000 │9" │0"

8. Orange County, California
Live the California Dream
2,958,000 │$685,000 │ 12" │ 0"

9. Long Island, New York
The Great Island
2,230,000 │ $495,000 │45" │ 27"

10. Atlanta, Georgia
The Best of the South
462,000 │ $291,000 │ 51" │ 2"

11. Tampa, Florida
Paradise on the Bay
2,500,000 │ $230,000 │ 49" │ 0"

12. Houston, Texas
City of Excitement
4,420,000 │ $180,000 │ 48" │ 0"

13. Long Beach, California
LA's Ocean Playground
475,000 │$500,000 │ 12" │0"

14. San Jose, California
The Silicon Capital
898,000 │$747,000 │ 16" │ 0"

15. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Cajun Capital
603,000 │$159,000 │ 61" │ 0"

16. Orlando, Florida
Florida's Entertainment Capital
1,650,000 │ $272,000 │50" │ 0"

17. Baltimore, Maryland
The Sparkling Harbor City
650,000 │$310,000 │40" │ 18"

18. Little Rock, Arkansas
Where America Comes Together
595,000 │ $177,000 │ 48" │ 5"

19. Los Angeles, California
The Dream Factory
3,820,000 │ $520,000 │ 12" │ 0"

20. New York City, New York
The City That Never Sleeps
8,086,000 │ $460,000 │ 41" │25"

21. Washington, D.C.
The World's Greatest Capital
572,000 │ $572,000 │ 39" │ 16"

22. Boston, Massachusetts
America's Walking City
3,400,000 │ $461,000 │ 43" │ 41"

23. Charlotte, North Carolina
The Queen City
1,335,000 │$232,000 │43" │ 6"

24. Jacksonville, Florida
Florida's First Coast
773,000 │ 291,000 │54" │0"


Don't worry, I have plenty of comments, but I'll add them tomorrow. Let me know what some of your cities are!