<p>I’ve lived in and near Santa Cruz, California my whole life. There are lots of nice things about Santa Cruz. The climate can’t be beat, of course. The natural beauty. The high percentage of folks with a college education and beyond. The politics. I’m ready for a new adventure.</p>
<p>I’m partial to the Northwest because I like the climate and physical beauty there, too. I don’t want to be too terribly far from my parents as they aren’t getting any younger and might need my help someday. </p>
<p>I’d picked out Vancouver, WA but in talking to folks who have recently moved there, I’m afraid I may have underestimated the hideousness of the traffic getting to and from Portland. If its considered awful from former Silicon Valley residents, then it must be pretty bad. </p>
<p>My wish list:</p>
<p>West or Northwest, preferably. I have my eye on Canada, too, especially after seeing Michael Moore’s new movie!</p>
<p>Fairly moderate weather. Rarely above 85 degrees. Cold is okay.</p>
<p>At least a couple of well-run hospitals very nearby, both for employment and to avoid waiting many hours if I needed to visit an ER.</p>
<p>Housing prices more like twice the national average rather than 4-5x as in this area of CA.</p>
<p>A healthy dose of liberals and Democrats</p>
<p>Population less than 50,000, with a city not too painful to reach by car when big city things are necessary. </p>
<p>Cultural events, decent schools, clean air. Murders less than 200 annually. (ha)</p>
<p>The Canadian health care system is not what it seems to Americans. People wait months to see a specialist (say cancer when they’re very ill) or get an MRI. It’s the last place I would want to be old and sick.</p>
<p>That said, I love Vancouver Canada and there are great towns on Vancouver Island.</p>
<p>We moved from Santa Cruz to Olympia in 1991. We aren’t leaving. 'nuf said.</p>
<p>Having said that, here HMOs pay docs bonuses not to make referrals to specialists. You are likely to find time from identification of specialist need to actually seeing one longer here than across the boarder (or at least we have). </p>
<p>We are the state next to the border. 85% of BC residents, given the choice between their health system and theirs, choose theirs (wait times and all). 70% of Washington residents, given the choice between our health system and theirs, choose theirs (wait times and all.)</p>
<p>What’s wrong with Portland itself, rather than Vancouver, WA? It has a lot of neighborhoods that don’t feel like cities. Really. I’d suggest you visit Ladd’s Addition, for example, the neighborhood my D and I agree is beautiful–and very centrally located.</p>
<p>I also think you would want the Portland area rather than Vancouver WA. I have relatives in Portland and they love it there. Very accessible downtown, nice weather, nice neighborhoods. The climate and gardening is better in Portland than in the Seattle area. Easier to get to downtown too.</p>
<p>Prescott, AZ or Flagstaff, AZ. Prescott is smaller, 2 hours from Phoenix, a little warmer than you want on some summer days. Prescott College and an aeronautical university, Embry Riddle, are in town. Flagstaff is larger, on a main HWY, state university town.</p>
<p>If you are talking about inland areas, take a look at Boise or Spokane. There’s lots of growth in the inland PNW – and Boise might be the center of it.</p>
<p>UCgradmary, the first sentence of your post #3 couldn’t be more true! And it’s proven by the rest of that paragraph. :)</p>
<p>sushi, Canada is a great place to live but the immigration process to become a permanent resident is not an easy one. Here’s a link to the CIC site which will give you some more information:</p>