"No, I Don't Want to Live On The Moon." What Places Have You Considered Living or Things You Wanted to Buy -- Until You Realized...?

[seoulsearch]

Same here. Trees are a must. The more the better.

A friend was going to be relocated to Arizona for work. They nearly refused the promotion because they aren't fond of batten deserts. They're a tree lover like us.

He did the research first and found out there actually are forests in Arizona.
View attachment 292002

I looked it up for this post.

"Arizona is home to over 18 million acres of forest and woodlands. It even boasts the world's largest continuous stand of Ponderosa pine trees, stretching across the high-elevation Mogollon Rim."

Stephen was transferred to Flagstaff.

Flagstaff is inside the Coconino National Forest, which boasts the world's largest continuous stand of Ponderosa pine trees.


He was given a company apartment upon arrival. Now he lives in a nicely appointed log cabin in the forest there.

What a unique State. Part desert,which gets all the publicity,especially Sedona, and then millions of acres of trees.

Arizona has amazing diversity! I knew some people who lived in some areas of the state where it snowed and had 4 seasons, just like in the midwest.

My family lived in a part of AZ that looked like this:




Amazingly, one of the businesses in that area was growing sod grass to sell to the wealthy areas, like Phoenix.

So in the midst of all the rocks and sand, there would be expanses of what looked like green "carpet" -- the lushest and greenest grass I had ever seen in my life, despite growing up in northern states, where green yards were nearly mandatory.

 

[Bible_Locket]

Arizona has amazing diversity! I knew some people who lived in some areas of the state where it snowed and had 4 seasons, just like in the midwest.

My family lived in a part of AZ that looked like this:

View attachment 292005


Amazingly, one of the businesses in that area was growing sod grass to sell to the wealthy areas, like Phoenix.

So in the midst of all the rocks and sand, there would be expanses of what looked like green "carpet" -- the lushest and greenest grass I had ever seen in my life, despite growing up in northern states, where green yards were nearly mandatory.

View attachment 292006

Grass is another must. I like sand at the beach only.

I agree,the diversity in Arizona is glorious. To visit.

If you love mountains and trees, visit Montana.

 

[Lanolin]

I live in Auckland right. I used to work in local govt - the council (public libraries) and it was going through some restructuring. The tag line they wanted everyone to get on board with is making Auckland the world's most livable city.

It wanted to copy Melbourne, Australia because they held the original title.

I don't really know where we are at now but I'm not dead yet, however I don't have a paying job and I'm not at retirement age. So...? We have clean(ish) water and we can still breathe the air...though we had a once in a 100 year flood that wiped out a lot of houses 2 years ago. We still deal with leaky homes. We have now overheated townhouses. Traffic can be congested and public transport always needs improvement.

So yea. I don't know anywhere that is perfect though this side of heaven.

 

[Lanolin]

For the record, my city doesn't even get in the top 10

This is from the EIU Global livability Index.

The top 10 most liveable cities in the world for 2026 are:

1. • Copenhagen, Denmark
   • Vienna, Austria
   • Melbourne, Australia
   • Sydney, Australia
   • Zurich, Switzerland
   • Geneva, Switzerland
   • Osaka, Japan
   • Adelaide, Australia
   • Vancouver, Canada
   • Tokyo, Japan

 

[seoulsearch]

For the record, my city doesn't even get in the top 10

This is from the EIU Global livability Index.

The top 10 most liveable cities in the world for 2026 are:

1. • Copenhagen, Denmark
   • Vienna, Austria
   • Melbourne, Australia
   • Sydney, Australia
   • Zurich, Switzerland
   • Geneva, Switzerland
   • Osaka, Japan
   • Adelaide, Australia
   • Vancouver, Canada
   • Tokyo, Japan

This is an interesting list.

I wonder how/if they figured in costs (I don't see how they could make a list of "most liveable" cities without that consideration?)

I'm just surprised because, for example, Sydney, Australia, according to Google, "is considered one of the most expensive cities to live in globally, with the average person needing around AU $3974 per month to live."

Also according to Google, the average wage in Sydney is $5900 - $6500 (after taxes,) but notes that this number can be highly skewed due to large outliers from high-paying tech jobs.

But maybe this list was made without any consideration to cost, or whether the average person could actually afford to live there. Hmm.

 

[Lanolin]

This is an interesting list.

I wonder how/if they figured in costs (I don't see how they could make a list of "most liveable" cities without that consideration?)

I'm just surprised because, for example, Sydney, Australia, according to Google, "is considered one of the most expensive cities to live in globally, with the average person needing around AU $3974 per month to live."

Also according to Google, the average wage in Sydney is $5900 - $6500 (after taxes,) but notes that this number can be highly skewed due to large outliers from high-paying tech jobs.

But maybe this list was made without any consideration to cost, or whether the average person could actually afford to live there. Hmm.

yea I don't know how these peeps come up with these lists, or who they even are ---the elite 1% who can afford to move city to city with boltholes in each?

 

[Lanolin]

I have been to Melbourne. It's a city that was founded on the goldrush. I mean seriously wealthy people live there. They have a free tram/public transport service.
Popular aussie tv shows are filmed and set there - Neighbours, Kath and Kim - in the suburbs, which are mostly affluent, they have decent size sections.
Kylie Minogue and Dame Edna Everage hail from there, as did The Seekers
The original architecture was Victorian - stone buldings made to last at least a century
The climate isn't as intense as other parts of Australia but can be brutally hot in summer. However most places have air co and they haven't cut down ALL their trees.
Cruise ships dock there and it has an international airport (a must to qualify as a 'world city')
People say its like the most European city in Australia. I don't mean that everyone is white (although Australia did actually hadve a somewhat 'Keep Australia White' immigration policy) but in terms of layout and design.
Cafe culture is huge there.

The COL - cost of living - is skyrocketing though.
Personally what I liked most about it when I visited was the Puffing Billy train. This is a train that originially went through the Australian bush but became disused as other forms of transport got popular. It is s now run by volunteers to keep it going and is a big tourist attraction. It's like a real life Thomas the Tank Engine Island of Sodor experience. Kids and railway enthusiasts love it.

I don't mean to bang on about Melbourne but it made the top 10 (the highest in Australia) not for no reason. 5 million people live there. (which is equal to the entire population of New Zealand)

 

[Churchgoer]

Northeast of America, the good old new England area, is very nice to live in. Beautiful climate, not too cold or too hot. Great food and scenery, from mountains to oceans, every beauty is here.

Still have good faithful churches.

 

[dkontner]

Blue Ridge Mountains

 

[Lanolin]

Went to an Anglican church just to see what it was like in Melbourne
The architecture alone is gorgeous. I mean when you went up to receive communion, they had GOLD rails, the pews were like mahogany, with velvet knee cushions and the shared cup was gold as well.
It didn't have the smells, but definitely had the bells.

It possibly had an organ as well...

 

[Lanolin]

If you want the smells, they have them in the Orthodox church, they have all the psalms being chanted, or sung by dedicated choristers, candles you can light, the icons of church fathers and saints, (instead of stained glass windows) and incense.

And after all that luxury, you need to fast.
But the people are quite friendly. I mean most churches are, but some are friendlier than others.

 

[seoulsearch]

yea I don't know how these peeps come up with these lists, or who they even are ---the elite 1% who can afford to move city to city with boltholes in each?

I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here in the USA, politicians are creating yet another interesting problem.

There's always the outcry to "Tax The Rich!", but I always wonder why no one seems to have the foresight to remember that this is what keeps the rich ahead of everyone else in the first place -- they have options the rest of us don't have.

If they raise taxes on the rich in one place -- they just pick up and move to another city, state, or country. It's happening right now where I live, as they just passed what somebody apparently thought was another genius tax on the wealthy -- and so all the businesses and successful people are leaving.

The mayors wind up begging them not to leave (especially the big corporations,) but it's obviously too late, because in the end, these people take a good portion of the jobs -- and framework holding up local economies -- with them.

 

[Lanolin]

Has anyone read Bill Bryson
Notes from a small Island
He was an American Travel writer. Anyway he wrote a book called A walk in the Woods.
The walk was a bit of a hike for him! He wasn't that fit. It was in the Blue ridge Mountains

He also wrote some hilarious travel accounts, one called Down Under about visiting Australia, And another one about trying to find the perfect town in the USA. He concluded it was Asheville.

??

 

[seoulsearch]

Blue Ridge Mountains
View attachment 292056

This is gorgeous, thank you so much for posting!!

I was blessed to have driven past a small portion of this range during autumn a few years ago.

 

[Lanolin]

I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here in the USA, politicians are creating yet another interesting problem.

There's always the outcry to "Tax The Rich!", but I always wonder why no one seems to have the foresight to remember that this is what keeps the rich ahead of everyone else in the first place -- they have options the rest of us don't have.

If they raise taxes on the rich in one place -- they just pick up and move to another city, state, or country. It's happening right now where I live, as they just passed what somebody apparently thought was another genius tax on the wealthy -- and so all the businesses and successful people are leaving.

The mayors wind up begging them not to leave (especially the big corporations,) but it's obviously too late, because in the end, these people take a good portion of the jobs -- and framework holding up local economies -- with them.

Swiss bank accounts...there is a reason why Zurich and Geneva made the list...

 

[Churchgoer]

Anyone suffering from the Canadian wild ?
Very smoking last 2 days, whew...

That makes me counting God's blessings on blue skies can't take anything granted.

 

[cinder]

yep, I've driven to work under a gray sky and orange sun the past couple days. Today seems some but not completely better.

 

[Churchgoer]

Now down pouring rain, praise God washing down the smoke dust.

 

[Lanolin]

I know several people who tried to live in Canada, but they didn't like the cold so they came here (Auckland) where it doesn't snow, or at most, a light frost.

Jacques Cousteau tried to live underwater for a while, but the pressure go too much...

 

[NightTwister]

At one time my plan was to retire in Italy.