I want to get out of the midwest, and the western half of the US doesn't really appeal to me at this point. I used to live in Norfolk, VA so I'm not too interested in the coastal region from about Baltimore south to Charleston either. Ideally I'm looking for: a milder winter than Chicago, cheap-ish to medium cost of living, decent vegan food options, good housing stock and interesting architecture (ie the whole downtown hasn't been razed for malls and parking lots), somewhat progressive (or at least not backwards) atmosphere, availability of organic produce and/or good health food store(s), good neighborhoods to walk and spend time in, the less interstates and strip malls the better, proximity to some good scenery, availability of cute, hip girls around my age (I'm 29), and having other scooter folks around. I realize I can't have it all, but the more of those things the better.

I haven't decided where I'm moving to yet, but several places appealed to me for different reasons. I'm also interested in hearing people's opinions for "write-in" suggestions, there are certainly other places I'd consider, but the following stood out to me as making the most sense right now. There's a good chance I'll only be moving for a year or two, so this doesn't have to be a place where I "settle," just liveable and interesting enough to call home for a time. I'd like to get people's feedback on the most likely contenders at this point (in no particular order):

Philadelphia, PA
The biggest city that I'm seriously considering, Philadelphia has great architecture, cool neighborhoods and housing stock, fairly diverse population, a healthy local scooter scene, tasty vegan food, close proximity to NYC, Washington DC and other mid-east cities, not to mention the beautiful pine barrens of New Jersey. Downsides: the weather probably wouldn't be much of an improvement over Chicago, and people say that it's not a very "friendly" city, plus higher cost of living than most of the others on my list.

Nashville or Knoxville, TN
I just love the climate and scenery in this part of the country...still a little taste of winter, but mild compared to the midwest. Nashville is the biggest city in the state and has a great little scooter community (though no local scooter shop). Nashville is centrally-located and offers reasonable flight prices to other places, though it is a bit lacking in cool neighborhoods and architecture. Knoxville is smaller but has some good things going for it, especially Yee-Haw Industries, cost of living and its proximity to the mountains. Memphis has gotten too bland for me to consider moving there, and while Chattanooga has some great scooter folks and a pretty setting, it didn't make a strong impression on me as a city. So as far as TN is concerned, I would move to Knoxville if I could work with YHI, otherwise Nashville looks like my top choice.

Louisville, KY
Louisville has a lot of the same appeal as the TN cities, weather- and scenery-wise, and a low cost of living. Lots of great architecture and cheap housing stock, a decent amount of hip young people, and seems fairly vegan-friendly. Close to Cincinatti, which is a great scooter town and nice place to visit. The downsides are its proximity to the state of Indiana, and the fact that I'd have to drive across the length of Indiana to get back to either Chicago or my hometown in Michigan, and that's 5 or 6 hours of punishment each way in a car. It also has no real scooter scene that I could see, and like Norfolk, has a silly, syllable-swallowing local pronounciation for its name that sounds trashy and would be hard for me to go along with...not to mention all of the "hillbilly" jokes you'd get for living in Kentucky.

Southern Louisiana
New Orleans made quite an impression on me, I was shocked at the destruction still present in so many areas. I got a great tour from a local guy named Chris and had a great talk with him about the state of affairs there. Simply put, New Orleans needs help, badly. They've only got 1/3 of their population and a LOT of work that needs to be done. Since there are so many houses still uninhabitable the housing market is probably tough, and I'm not sure where I would fit in there job-wise...I've been wanting to do something besides graphic design full-time, so maybe I could swing a hammer or something and pick up some new skills. A move to New Orleans would be more for the charity of helping it recover in some small way, but the very hot weather, roads, crime and food would probably be tough. Moreover, it seems that they've only applied a band-aid solution to the levee problem that destroyed the city last year, and with the yearly hurricanes and the oceans rising from global warming, who's to say that the city won't be underwater again soon? It really is a magical place and it would be a shame for it not to be rebuilt, but if it is to be, there needs to be more done to protect it in this vulnerable spot. I also really loved Lafayette, LA, a small city a couple of hours to the west. Really great people and the heart of Cajun/Zydeco music; Lafayette is a cool small city in the heart of Cajun country. I'm probably not seriously considering a move to Lafayette at this point, but it was a very special place and I can't wait to visit again.

Other cities I'd love to live in, but am not considering too seriously right now:

Toronto, Canada and New York City
Both are world-class, liberal enough, super-diverse and have so much to offer culturally, with great food and scooter scenes. On the other hand both have a cold winter and I'm not sure if I have the money and/or ambition to tackle either right now, Toronto offers the additional hurdle of being in another country so there'd be issues with having a legitimate job there. New York blows my mind every time I visit, it's just expensive and almost overwhelming. Hopefully someday.

Portland, Oregon
My friend Aaron Draplin is sure that I'd love Portland, I've never been there but from most everything I've heard it sounds like I probably would. A lot of the same things I loved about Minneapolis, with better weather and scenery. But after this epic journey around the east and south, I feel like my next move should be somewhere I've just been...I'm sure Portland will still be amazing in 2-3 years, maybe I'll move there then.

I've been doing some reading at bestplaces.net and other similar comparative websites. Please post your comments here or e-mail me directly at pjchmiel {at] yahoo [dot} com. Thanks for any feedback you may have!