where should i live?

Texas!
Lots of variety in terrain and temperature but nothing extreme aside from heat lol! More or less central (if you're north) to other places and within a 4 hour plane trip of anywhere in the cont USA. The cost of living is WONDERFUL...real estate is affordable and the lots are BIG with most houses...even the newer ones. You don't feel you are living in rabbit hutches here.
 
Most importantly the people here are friendly and the climate is quite conducive to being dog friendly and not likely to go BSL without a huge fight!
 
There's always something to do whether you like dancing and clubbing or wine tasting...
 
There's my plug! The cost of living and real estate market alone make it a great place for me!

I like living in Knoxville sometimes.  Other times I don't. 

The winters are very mild here, but it's not much different than Lexington.  Unfortunately, summers are a pain here.  Temps soar into the 90s and the humidity is miserable.  You either have to do outdoor activities very early or very late, or you'll feel like shooting yourself.

I'd love to live in Arizona or New Mexico.  A very good friend of mine lives in New Mexico, and the summers are great.  No humidity or anything.  Arid heat is awesome.  However, his city has water restrictions.  I've never dealt with that in my life, but we do have TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) here.

There are good and bad things about living in any state or city; you just have to decide what works best for your lifestyle and tolerances (like weather).

New Mexico is a great place to own horses. There are plenty of ranches around here and the vets are well skilled in large animals. There are moutains all around and plently of trails to go riding. Arguraculture is big around the state with plenty of land, yet drout can be a problem from time to time. NM is stong on culture and we have many Native American reservations. The cost of living is low, however, the pay in this area is low as well (unless you live in Santa Fe). Rasing a family may not be a good place either, we fall somwere on the bottem of the list when it come to education in public schools. We do have beautiful sunsets and clear night skys, very beautiful place to live. Summers can be a bit hot and very dry. Depending on where in the state you live you may never get snow or you may get more snow then you know what to do with in the winter.


So there you have it, the good and bad about my state.[]

However, his city has water restrictions.  I've never dealt with that in my life,

It's not really somthing I think about much, it just mean if you have grass on your yard you can only water on the days they allow you to water, most people now prefer to xeroscape (have a rock yard). I have a small patch of grass in my back yard that I grow drout resestand grass and it does fine. All houses must be built with low-flow tolets[] and for farmers they are requiered to get special permits to use the water for their land. At restaurants you have to ask for water if you want it, they don't automaticly bring it to you. I think if moving here the water restricions should be one of the last things to be concerned about.

ORIGINAL: Xebby

However, his city has water restrictions.  I've never dealt with that in my life,

It's not really somthing I think about much, it just mean if you have grass on your yard you can only water on the days they allow you to water, most people now prefer to xeroscape (have a rock yard). I have a small patch of grass in my back yard that I grow drout resestand grass and it does fine. All houses must be built with low-flow tolets[] and for farmers they are requiered to get special permits to use the water for their land. At restaurants you have to ask for water if you want it, they don't automaticly bring it to you. I think if moving here the water restricions should be one of the last things to be concerned about.

Oh, it doesn't bother me a bit.  That's why I'd be fine with living in your state or Arizona.  The area has too many positives to be worried about water restrictions.

What area in California are you interested in?

California has a TON of BSL, and breeder limits in place and more seem to pop up daily.  If you possibly want to show a dog someday, own more than 4-5 dogs,...or breed I'd pick someplace else. Also the price of land is laughable.
 
Make SURE you know the dog owner climate of anyplace you decide to move...some can suprise you with how prohibitive or expensive they make pet ownership.

You said you're obsessed with Colorado. I grew up there and can tell you it's a pretty good place to live as far as climate. The seasons are really great. Winter can be pretty cold and snowy, but if you live on the Front Range (any of the big cities east of the mountains), the snow melts almost immediately. You can have days in the 80s all the way through the winter. So it's really only bad during the storm. I went to school in Fort Collins, which is about 125,000 people (I think). It's a college town, but it was voted one of the top cities to retire in. It's clean, safe and a wonderful city to raise kids in. And it's just an hour north of Denver, so very convenient as far as concerts, sporting events, and the airport. Anyway, there's my plug for Colorado. I've lived in Colorado, California (SoCal), Kentucky, Texas and Washington state and can tell you out of all of those, we'll be returning to Colorado when DH is out of the Army.

I've got to tell you though, as far as weather, I'd move to San Diego in a second if there weren't so many people there. It's just way too overcrowded. But fantastic weather!

i lived in atlanta for a while. housing costs were outrageous (at least for the southeast). rent for a small one bedroom apartment cost about what we are now paying for our mortgage here. and that was living out in the suburbs.

it was a fun place though. i think it would have been a lot more fun if i would have been single. lots of night life and what not. i did really enjoy being close enough to turner field that we could go to week night games fairly regularly. i do miss that.

i like where we live in sc now. enough of the bigger city ecoutremonts, but less hassle. plus we are closer to the mountains.

but georgia and sc both have high humidity. if you are an outdoorsy person, you get kinda used to it after a while. but like roxie said, being outside at the edges of the day are more enjoyable. actually, the only three places i can think of that i would move to if given a chance have as bad, if not worse humidity than here: charleston, sc; asheville, nc; or southern florida. right now we live close enough to asheville that i can partake in the excellent mountain biking terrain available there on a regular basis. we visit charleston regularly, and i really still love it there. but it is changing and may not be a place i would like to live in several years. the biggest draw to southern florida for me is the warm weather. miami is still in the mid-70's almost everyday. would be cool to go to the beach in december and be able to enjoy it. of course i have been surfing in charleston as late as thanksgiving weekend with just a spring suit on.

I like texas! i've considered it. I spent a week in Houston and i really enjoyed it. My aunt lives in fort collins...i do really like it there. As far as california goes i was hoping to get close to san diego...
 
I guess this gives me a great excuse to do a little traveling! I don't like the thought of California being big on BSL...especially considering my love of GSDs and dobes.

i become less tolerant of winter

 
what winter? i will take your "winter" anyday [8D]

i become less tolerant of winter

d'Oh! I was going to suggest WI so you could be my neighbor and Rupert would have some buddies! (and I could steal Wyatt [sm=devil.gif] )

Well Houston is the HUMIDITY capital of Texas lol! Up North is nicer...San Antone is also nice but touristy, think we have some people that could tell you more about the coastline, Corpus and such.
 
Austin is the most California like place in Texas as far as atmosphere, people, and cosmopolitan factors. The Hill Country is lovely tho...parts of Austin have mandatory s/n in place I think.

(and I could steal Wyatt )

ORIGINAL: janobonano

Hey, come get him! He's been a little turd lately.
 
Gina, austin sounds nice. I haven't been, but my friend's family is from there and they love it. I'll definitely check it out. I want at least 50 acres...the more the better though.