Funny question, this. I just relocated internationally for the second time in twelve months! We realized after we moved away that there's no other place that we'd rather live at this time in our lives than Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. At least for the money we make. If we had the ducats, I suppose we'd take a year or two and move to Christchurch, London, Berlin, Belgrade, Rome, or my personal fave, Barcelona.
What makes Chapel Hill so good for us is that the lifestyle is really as closely aligned to our own as we can imagine. It also doesn't hurt that we've made lifelong friends here. We thought we wanted to shake things up, so when work opportunities presented themselves to move abroad (back to Brazil), we leaped at the chance. To our dismay, it was not a good fit this time around. We hustled back north of the equator as quickly as we could.
My work is international (back to Brazil/Argentina in a month, then off to Germany and Croatia later on this summer), so I am lucky enough to get to try other places on for size, but be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. For now.

1. I'd stay in Seattle. I love it here. This is a real discussion that my husband and I have on occasion, as he has retired and eventually I might too.

2. Well, if I couldn't live in the U.S., I'd be tempted by northern Italy, the Dorgogne or Burgundy areas of France, and the South African coast. Because all three are gorgeous and I felt a real sense of connection when I've traveled there.

Oh, and I love Seattle for a zillion reasons, not least of which are the gorgeousness of the place, the great local food, the access to wonderful cultural and outdoors options, the moderate politics, the absence of the extreme rich/extreme poor income divide I have experience in many other areas of the U.S., and my rather deep roots here at this point.

I think I would stay in New York but move into an ultra-luxurious building.

Anywhere in the world? Probably Japan.

1. I'd actually stay here in Pittsburgh, I've never been in a city in the US that I like better and it's cheap enough that we can have a lifestyle that we couldn't afford in a lot of other cities. I actually like the weather here for the most part, I don't mind the rain and bright sunshine gives me headaches. I hate hot weather so I could never move anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon and my wife hates cold weather so we can't move farther north. I could imagine Seattle or Portland but there's not really that much of a tech industry in Portland and Seattle's so expensive. I want to be able to live downtown and walk to stuff, plus I love the rust-belt aesthetic. Also just basic inertia, I've been here for 23 years and just don't have the stomach to try to build a life elsewhere.

2. Elsewhere in the world, I'm not sure. With unlimited funds I'd love to live in Paris or Prague but I'm sure we'd be stuffed into a tiny apartment.

Every time I am in NYC, I think that I would love it there, if I could afford a nice place and had a/c.

But then every time I am in the San Juan Islands, I also feel that way.

San Francisco, ditto, if I had a nice place in a decent neighborhood.

Bainbridge Island, where one of my best friends bought a place before property values jumped, would be really nice also.

Portland, with a nice house in Ladd's Addition, lovely.

So our little house in Eugene is very sweet and it's fine to stay here.

There's so much of the world I haven't yet seen. We're (USians) living here in the UK's east midlands, and we love it here and will gladly stay as long as my employer permits it. In fact, I have some nebulous proto-plans to stay here even after my current employer pulls the D-ring on us.

We're all quite taken with small village life in the UK, but if we were able to find something on the coast where we could ply our respective trades, that might be nice. I honestly think I'd like to spend some time in one of the eastern European capitals - maybe Prague or Budapest.

I spent about 14 months in South Korea, and while Seoul's a fine place for a single guy of modest aspiration, I don't know that I'd take my family there... or maybe I would, given the chance. I'd also do Australia - maybe Adelaide, Canberra or Sydney. The world's a mighty big place; it's hard to choose.

As for returning to the US, my thinking is that it's a nice place to visit, but currently I'd rather not live there.

I would be happy to stay here on the Gold Coast, although I would love to move closer to the water, preferably right on the water. Why? Great climate, not too big, not too small, relaxed lifestyle, clean environment. Within an easy drive, you have pretty much anything you could want - rainforest to beach, bikini to ballroom. There are a couple of 'tourist trap' areas to stay away from, but it's generally a great place to live. The only thing lacking (as with almost all of Australia) is lakes. I love the beach, but I really miss all that fresh water that places like New Zealand take for granted. Well, that and actual seasons.

When I lived in New Zealand, I always dreamed of building a house on the shores of Lake Rotoiti (the one in the Bay of Plenty - the South Island is far too cold and, anyway, I prefer the mainland), although it seems to have lost some of its beauty to environmental damage.

Can I have both? New Zealand in the summer, Australia in the winter?

After being 9+ hours from my family for years, I can't see moving much further than I already am. That said, I really really wanted to move to the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area and ended up in central Virginia instead. I do like it here though -- the weather's relatively nice, there's a lot to do (if I wasn't a complete homebody), etc.

Now if we had transporters, I wouldn't mind living in Wales, Ireland, the Caribbean, or Hawaii for a bit. There are other places I'd like to visit (Spain, Italy, etc) but I would never want to move there.

Last summer, I was really taken with the area around Joshua Tree, and I sorta daydreamed about having enough $$ that I could spend as much time as I wanted there. A reasonable house, with a pool of course. Lots of space around me. It felt GOOD there.

I also really, really enjoyed my time in Portland, too. Great hosts can help a city impress, but I really liked the feel of that place. I can see why so many love it.

Thing is, though, anytime I'm too far away from the lakes and forests of Northern Ontario, I sure do long for the place. So, I always come back. I have a hard time imagining living anywhere else.

p.s. I'd still really like to see Hawaii one day, or at least something south pacific-y.

p.p.s I also really loved the feeling of Paris. I spent one very long day there, and enjoyed imagining setting up a life there.

Yeah richat. My buddy wants me to retire to Kona, and it is actually doable, if I sold my house here. But my wife thinks that she would get island fever, and actually the traffic on the Big Island is horrendous (and you need a car to get anywhere, really.)

Seattle is still fresh that I am not itching to move yet.

Berlin, cuz it's Berlin.

In the United States, I would want to live on the Northern California Coast. Not right on the ocean, but inland a bit. By Northern California, I mean anywhere from Santa Barbara north. If money wasn't an object, I'd live closer to San Francisco, but on the north side. Part of it has to do with nostalgia since I grew up in Davis, but also it has to do with climate, and things I enjoy. The moderated climate of the Napa Valley, or most of the coastal valleys are awesome, and you can have great gardens there. I do love Colorado, and I love the neighborhood we're in, but there's no ocean here, and you just can't grow great tomatoes here. The California coastal range is to me my favorite place on earth (that I've spent any time at).

As far as the rest of the world, I dunno. As far as places I've been, I still like Northern CA for a permanent residence. I would consider Central America. I do like the tropical climate there. I've never been to New Zealand, but I hear good things from people that I know and trust. I'm not much of one to want to be on an island in the Caribbean or South Pacific, though I do love visiting there. Europe is great to visit too, but again, not sure I'd want to live there. Maybe if I could afford a farmhouse in Italy where I could have a big garden, and lease the land out to a farmer, but I still really love my roots in Northern California.

Boringly, I'd like to keep living in London. I think with an unlimited budget I'd probably live in Hampstead though, it would be great to be able to go for a walk on Hampstead Heath any time. Bit easier to get back after a late night too.

Basically I'm a city guy, I like plays and restaurants and pubs and museums more than I like outdoor stuff, so the biggest city in Western Europe is a pretty good place for me. New York and San Francisco are pretty good, but they're a bit isolated: in London you can easily hop to lots of interesting places in Europe. Don't think I'd really fit in in Paris or Rome or Edinburgh.

I think if I had a holiday home though, it might be in Kerala in South India, somewhere by the sea. Beautiful lush countryside, nice people, great food. Be so nice to escape the glum British winter there.

If money were no object, I'd probably also go and live in Hampstead for the reasons TE gives... but given that money is an object, I'd like to stay where I am, which is a non-pretty, affordable, friendly town with all the amenities I need, a mortgage we could afford to pay even if only one of us were earning, good rail links to London and an international airport nearby.

I've been here 6 years now and I'm not sure I've put down very deep roots here (those are probably further south, if anywhere - I have several friends who are in London seemingly for good), but it is a good convenient place to be.

A holiday home in rural France wouldn't go amiss, though.

Southern Australia coast.

If I have to keep working: Washington, DC.

If I get to be a gentleman of leisure: Key West.

Outside the US: probably Paris.

1. (US) Florida or the southwest, where it's warm. The rest of the year, maybe beautiful rural Maine or western NY state.

2. (international) Queensland, where it's warm all year.

Well, I have a whole list of long international trips we'd take if I suddenly became independently wealthy, but for living? I think we'd always come back to Maine. I love the weather, I love the relative quiet, our families are here. I even love our neighborhood.

I suppose I'd buy an entire house rather than confining us to a tiny apartment, but I don't think I'd stray more than a few blocks from here. (Actually, there are two recently refurbished houses right around the corner I've got my hypothetical independently-wealthy eye on.)

If I had to relocate within the U.S., I think I'd choose Chicago. I lived there briefly and loved it. I'd love to revisit all the museums and sights and neighborhoods at leisure. I even have friends there --- not many, but very dear.

If I relocated outside the U.S., maybe London. I've never been, but have wanted to visit since I was a tiny kid.

Maui. Never been, but it looks beautiful. If we were rich, I'd love to check into one of those Maui resorts for a year (or two), and then go from there. Melbourne, Australia, looks fun, too. And Patagonia. I could spend a year there.

I wouldn't mind a year in a trailer (air conditioned) in the Nevada desert. I love the soft brown tones and star-filled sky. I don't think I'd need much money for that, but there are other considerations, like work/health insurance. I don't know how much Jon would like being cooped up in a trailer with me. (Yikes!)

I do also love Key West. I've fantasized about renting a place there for the summer. If only Jon had the summer off, too. It wouldn't be any fun without him.

Of course, we live in NYC. Anyplace else just seems so small.

I don't think I've travelled enough to say. To end up, I want mountains, landscape, something other than this flat desert. So probably New Mexico. Internationally, I can't even think of it. No idea.

Sometimes it freaks me out how close my opinions are to Elsa's. I don't live in ME now but if I could relocate to any US city it'd likely be Portland. Though lately I fantasize more often about returning to the Jersey Shore to be closer to my family and, of course, the beach. And I also could see Chicago, though the lack of ocean would bother me in short order. I do like the idea of doing a couple-year stint in the UK, not impossible given my career. And I wouldn't mind living in NYC as long as I had the income to do it without a lot of ridiculous compromise. I could tolerate Philadelphia lived there before) or DC but wouldn't run around looking for chances to relocate to 'em.