Meca

It's interesting to think about how people wound up where they are. I'm speaking geographically, not professionally or spiritually or anything of that sense.
Part of it is the winds of fate, some people just take a job where they can get one, some bum around, some never truly settle. But what of those who actually decide, "this is where I want to be."?
I myself chose my undergraduate university by affordability, distance away from home, but still a quick drive back there. The town itself has been on a backwards downward spiral for decades, and had ceased as a true "college town" and has become culturally void (with some exceptions) and the peoples stupid. This is not a town I could ever settle down in. I need something big enough where there is something new everyday and people know who M.C. Escher was (so to speak)...
Unfortunately I still have grad school to go to and that I leave in part to fate, I can only narrow it to a few places... Some people love their college towns so much they stay (this is actually a widespread desire amongst colleges for economic reasons), but that is so foreign to me I couldn't imagine just staying put in a community like that.
But when people decide where they want to settle down, they research and contemplate what kind of community would satiate them for life. This is a personal decision based on many aspects:
-Where can I get a progressive career going?
-Where has a good school system?
-Where has a culture similar to my interests?(conservative, liberal, religious, intellectual, capitalistic, multi-cultural, academic, small, large, rural, urban...)
-Where has good property values?
-Taxes?
-Geological location (mountainous, ocean, desert...)?
And many more questions to be sure.
I myself think it's fun to think where I might want to wind out. The problem is I haven't visited that many areas, so my scope is fairly limited. To me I would like a suburban outfit close to a major metropolitan area. The only places I've ever been where this exists are the Seattle area, the Portland (Ore.) area, the San Fran and LA areas, ans that's about it.
I love my hometown of Boise, but it is a developing city and still lacks many of the trivial lifestyle wants I desire.
Saltlake City is about the same as Boise in almost all respects, except the surrounding area is disgusting in my opinion, and the local political, sociological, and economic climates are very hostile for someone like me (nothing like moving someplace and bitching every week about how all you want is a damn martini on a sunday...).
I don't like California too much, no. cal. isn't too bad, but it lacks the cities which I really want.
Portland is really nice, the only hitch is my wonderful significant other would need a masters degree to work in her particular field, as per state requirements. But the city had a good scene, something always going on, and I can still visit the folks in short order.

Seattle is also fabulous, just really rainy weather all the time. A little further from the folks, but the city is alive! Being a seaside town, it has a lot of diversity, growth, and culture to it. It's right above silicon valley, which could be advantageous for my given career.

But I don't know squat about anything east of Missoula, Mt. So maybe that's why twenty-somethings rarely ever settle down, there is so much to see in the world! So I'm hoping in my grad schooling I can get time to feel the older half of the country, so my decision on where I want to settle down can be better informed.
Now for something a little different: I want YOU the reader to make a list of what you want in your hometown of choice. Put it as a comment on this blog-post, in your journal, or wherever. I'm interested in how other people make this decision.

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