projectMalamute wrote:

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:

242sumner wrote:Finland is a highly democratic welfare state with low levels of corruption, consistently ranking at or near the top in international comparisons of national performance.

Finland is eleventh on the United Nations' Human Development Index and ranked as the sixth happiest nation in the world.

According to the World Audit Democracy profile, Finland is the freest nation in the world in terms of civil liberties, freedom of the press, low corruption levels and high levels of political rights.

Finland is rated the sixth most peaceful country in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and since 1945, Finland has been at peace, adopting neutrality in wartime.

Finland was rated the best country to live in by a study released in October 2007, which looked at issues such as quality of drinking water and greenhouse gas emissions as well as factors such as education and income.
According to UNICEF, Finland ranks fourth in child well-being

Good choice.
I've thought long and hard about moving there.
To be fair, I've thought about moving to every Scandinavian at some point or another.
I would probably pick Norway over Finland though.

Where do these places rank in terms of cultural diversity? They strike me as pretty fucking boring really. As fucked up as the United States is, it is still one of the most, if not the most, diverse places on earth.

Bradley could achieve a Finish citizenship and then become some kind of cultural agitator, creating a new musical scene and providing cultural insights and trend direction to lead the Finns.

In Gainesville, you can dig in your yard and find shark teeth.

Barbo wrote:Boiled peanuts as far as the eye can see.

Boiled? What's a boiled peanut like? I mean, I imagine it's still pretty peanutty, but how does it differ from a roasted nut?

(Sigh) Just when you think you have the nut world tamed, you discover people been boiling them all along.

Meet me out east, BRW. Catskills, VT, Western Mass, you name it and I will meet you there with a bunch of songs and some beers.

Smitty Yeagermanjensen wrote:In Gainesville, you can dig in your yard and find shark teeth.

That's it. I'm moving!

Why not move to this gated community in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan?

This question is to be considered deliberately rhetorical.

Brad,

You have received many swell answers.

Here are my answers, in no order. I will try not to provide you with a laundry list of my own favorite places. Based solely on these criteria:

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:I have a young family.
I like rock music, sports and the social aspects associated with them.
I can get by in the business world or with manual labor.
I am impervious to the elements.
I could survive as a survivalist, but I enjoy community.

I don't know what is so wrong with Chicago, IL, given your concerns.

But my second choice city in the US is Austin, TX. If you didn't leave Austin, TX and go very far into the rest of TX, it might fit the bill in most respects.

Missoula, MT, as you know, is my hometown, and I find it to remain a charming place. They have a very good college football team and Pioneer League baseball. But that's it. And not so much rock music.

Brad, I think Finland is an inspired choice. Denmark, similarly. Denmark has some good rock music.

As you know, I return often to Italy. Rock music...not so much, except for the obvious exceptions. You would need to learn to enjoy soccer. Politically, it is famously screwed. But you can eat the greatest food in the world every day, and you would be in Italy.

Sicily, it is the most politically screwed place in Italy. And it has the best food in Italy, which means it has the best food in the world. Life is cruel.

Places I've been and to where I have threatened off to fuck when things get bad (in order of preference):

New Zealand
Italy
Montana
Iceland

If you think Idaho isn't leave me the fuck aloneish enough, I'd be surprised if you though Montana was much better, but it is a question of degree after all.

We have spoken about Alaska, and while it would make training for the Iditarod more convenient, and you could grow a marijuana bush without care, I can't think of much more to recommend it unless you take up big game hunting with a passion.

Canada has the friendliest, most "live and let live" citizens of any country I've ever visited.

What are people telling you to do?