Best place for an audiophile or videophile to live?

[amirm]

Guys, I am teasing a bit. I have lived in 4 different places (South Florida, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle) and in general, see the pros and cons of each. The only "perfect" solution in my opinion is what the wealthy do: have multiple homes for different times of the year and occasions and a private jet to take you to each one as needed . In the middle of winter here with very short days, it is hard to brag that we live in the best place compared to my old hometown, Florida. Fast forward a couple of months and you would not catch me dead in Florida. Spring is very nice in Bay Area with the green hills and such and little takes away from beauty of Big Sur anytime of the year. Napa valley in the fall (with the right rain amount) is to die for. Hawaii is of course magnificent. The list of pros goes on and on for other places.

I have been to Austin and consider it one of the top places to live. Food is great. The hills a nice change over Florida. There is nice music and such. Good school, etc. Unfortunately, summers can be incredibly hot and uncomfortable. I was there when it was near 100 degrees and I thought it was even more uncomfortable than when I lived in Florida (near water).

I consider Seattle a good compromise for all-year living if you can't alternate per above. Housing is cheaper and value much higher than CA. People are very, very friendly compared to anywhere else I have lived in US. Something about Northwest culture. You can have a linen of cars going 2-3 miles and anyone would let you in ahead of the entire line!!! They won't even hunk at you as compared to other places I have lived where they run you off the road. Summers are green and gorgeous -- dare I say even Hawaii doesn't hold a candle to it (try going to 300+ islands of your choosing, most of which you can have to yourself!). The rain that people talk about in reality is no issue at all. It is a sprinkle compared to the shower you get in Florida. It is the darkness in winter which is problematic. Seattle itself is like a mini-San Fransisco. All the same characteristics of a beach city but in a smaller, much more manageable scale. Mark talked about the beauty of the surroundings. I have not lived anywhere else which gives you as much varied choices for day trips. And during summer, when days are nearly 20 hours(!), you can actually go to two different day trips!!!

 

[Gregadd]

Let's put NY City there, Abundance of stereo stores and live music. Philadelphia has a stereo store that is devoted to two channel audio. Overture Delaware is right outside Philadelphia.

 

[ack]

My dream has always been to live in the CA wine country. It'll probably never happen.

 

[The Smokester]

...90 minutes from Seattle is Mt. Rainier, the premier Everest training spot in North America...

Pulleeeeez. That would be a winter ascent of Shasta just a few hours out of San Francisco (so obviously the best place for an audiophile that it requires no further mention ) followed by one of Denali.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Let's put NY City there, Abundance of stereo stores and live music. Philadelphia has a stereo store that is devoted to two channel audio. Overture Delaware is right outside Philadelphia.

What qualifies as an abundance of stereo stores? Live music, no argument. Record stores, no more. Even Princeton Record Exchange is a shell of what it had once been.

 

[Gregadd]

What qualifies as an abundance of stereo stores? Live music, no argument. Record stores, no more. Even Princeton Record Exchange is a shell of what it had once been.

Lyric Hifi, Stereo Exchange, and Sound by Singer. Just a hop skip and a jump to Jersey and Connecticut.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Lyric Hifi, Stereo Exchange, and Sound by Singer. Just a hop skip and a jump to Jersey and Connecticut.

Yeah there's a couple more in the five boroughs too. There's also Innovative Audio and In Living Stereo in Manhattan. There's a new stores whose name escapes me in Brooklyn that carries cj and some other appt. only stores such as Audio Loft on the West Side and Joshua's store on E.84th. St. Then there's Audio Nexus, Audio Connection, and CSA among others in NJ and a couple of others in Long Island.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Pulleeeeez. That would be a winter ascent of Shasta just a few hours out of San Francisco (so obviously the best place for an audiophile that it requires no further mention ) followed by one of Denali.

gosh, if you look at a roster of prominent American Everest personalities the commonality is being a guide on Mt. Rainier. the reason it's the best training is it's accessability to a major city and airport (60 miles away) as well as the amount and type of Glaciers. check it out.

i'm not dissing Shasta; but it's small potatoes to Rainier. i certainly agree about Denali but it's remotness and danger reduce it's attractiveness as a training site.

of course; i grew up in north Seattle with a bedroom window looking directly at Mt. Rainier (weather permitting, of course). try doing that from any other cities mentioned in this thread. i can't see it out the window of my audio barn; but from the top of the 4000 foot ridge a 1/4 mile behind my house it is spectacular.

the bay area certainly has many serious audiophiles. but i'd say per capita Seattle can match it both in quantity and style....and if you are including the whole bay area then Vancouver B.C. needs to be grouped with Seattle as it's only 125 miles away. lots and lots of audiophiles in B.C.

 

[cjfrbw]

I can see the wagging contest is afoot. Hmm, should I just sit back and enjoy the chauvinist carnage, or should I fan the flames.
Well, Seattle is lovely about 8 months of the year, but makes you want to commit suicide for four months of the year. At least, San Francisco only makes you want to commit suicide two months of the year. Plus our audiophiles can beat up your audiophiles any day.
Does that help?

 

[amirm]

Yes .

BTW, there is an unsaid benefit for most colder places: change of seasons. When I chat with my other CA friends who have moved away, we all notice how we were active all year in CA. In colder climates, you slow down during winter, and get off the squirrel cage of life for part of the year. You notice time more and cherish the better times of the year.

Locals also have good advice for dealing with the worst. For example, you buy big homes with lots of light and windows and keep the colors happy and/or light. Doesn't make the winter day any longer but does deal with the side-effects of winter some. Or do as Microsoft does. Keep their employees at work day during winter until odd hours since it is dark no matter when you go home!

 

[Steve Williams]

There is just something about winter and living in cold and snow that for me is a huge turn off. In fact I moved from Toronto in 1978 to Southern California to escape all of that. As an obgyn there was nothing worse than getting a stat call to the labor room at 0200 hours and look out to see 6-8" of fresh snow on the streets and that the street cleaners have ploughed the streets and your driveway is all snowed in.

There may be many great places for audiophiles to live but IMHO it just doesn't get any better than California. if I never see snow or cold again it will be too soon. I love the Bay Area but we are exploring moving back to Southern California to be closer to the beaches

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Lyric Hifi, Stereo Exchange, and Sound by Singer. Just a hop skip and a jump to Jersey and Connecticut.

Innovative Audio, In Living Stereo, Ears Nova, Cosmophoninc, Park Ave. Audio..... (and that's still just in Manhattan).

 

[MylesBAstor]

Innovative Audio, In Living Stereo, Ears Nova, Cosmophoninc, Park Ave. Audio..... (and that's still just in Manhattan).

You can nix Cosmophonic from that list. They moved to a smaller space and have basically nothing but HT stuff and mid-fi at that.

Forgot about Park Ave, a store that many audiophiles frequently in the golden years. Also couldn't remember Joshua's Ears Nova, a transplant of his LI store

 

[Mike Lavigne]

There is just something about winter and living in cold and snow that for me is a huge turn off. In fact I moved from Toronto in 1978 to Southern California to escape all of that. As an obgyn there was nothing worse than getting a stat call to the labor room at 0200 hours and look out to see 6-8" of fresh snow on the streets and that the street cleaners have ploughed the streets and your driveway is all snowed in.

There may be many great places for audiophiles to live but IMHO it just doesn't get any better than California. if I never see snow or cold again it will be too soon. I love the Bay Area but we are exploring moving back to Southern California to be closer to the beaches

i can see the attraction of California, whether north or south. it has everything.....in fact, that's also the biggest problem, there is too much of everything (especially too many people). and personally; unless i was retired i could not handle all the sunshine. i like a summer for 3-4 months and fall and spring too. 6 months of dreary, grey fall-winter-spring is perfect music listening time....very cozy.

i like the fact that Seattle is always green. all that brown in California is a bit too much. and where i live we get just enough snow (a big snowfall once every two or three years or so) to be fun.

 

[Steve Williams]

One mans passion is another mans poison Mike.

I loved Seattle when I visited you but Im just not a fan of snow and cold weather.

As for California you are right on. Too many people trying to live the dream. I'm glad I got in when I did as I wouldn't be able to afford it now even with the downturn in the economy. At the end of the day however this is where I love to call home.

BTW, if I did want to ski or be by the snow it is less than a three hour drive to some of the finest. There really are four seasons in California some locations toward the Oregon border that get weather like you do

 

[Ron Party]

BTW, if I did want to ski or be by the snow it is less than a three hour drive to some of the finest.

Indeed the 1960 Winter Olympics were held about 3 hours from the Bay Area. I think that qualifies.

 

[Steve Williams]

The only time I spent any real time in the snow since coming to California was thanksgiving 10 years ago when we rented a 10 bedroom house for the entire family for 3 days at the base of Heavenly. It was fun but brought back too many memories

 

[RUR]

The only time I spent any real time in the snow since coming to California was thanksgiving 10 years ago when we rented a 10 bedroom house for the entire family for 3 days at the base of Heavenly. It was fun but brought back too many memories

Some of us have homes near the beach and near Heavenly.

 

[The Smokester]

i'm not dissing Shasta; but it's small potatoes to Rainier. i certainly agree about Denali but it's remotness and danger reduce it's attractiveness as a training site...

Okay. Then I won't diss Ranier. I don't know what your experience level is for mountaineering. There's climbing on Rainier for sure, but from here it is just a speed bump in the way to Denali and then South America, Central Asia and the famous epic climbs of the world. Sure, most people from California will do it and Hood if they're up there on a quick business trip because it's convenient and to rack up hours at higher altitudes in the lower 48. But be realistic. Look at the book "50 Classic Climbs of North America". How many are in the whole state of WA compared with California, BC or Alaska? Do I hear silence? Time to turn on the stereo. And yes, I am considering Yosemite as a day trip from the SF Bay Area. Do you really want to compare the climbing community in Seattle with Yosemite? Or Boulder, CO for that matter. Or the European Alps? What is Seattle's contribution to climbing, anyway? I don't know of any specialized equipment that has come out of it. From CA, CO and Europe come gear such as the nut, "friends", glacier and technical rock, ice climbing apparatus and techniques. Maybe there are some things from WA that I don't know about. (Oh yeah, MSR is in WA making equipment so you can stay hunkered down in a snow cave for days on end.) Really, not the reason to stay in Seattle unless you add a lot of particular qualifiers.

And what about mountain biking?...Invented in the SF Bay Area. What about technical sea kayacking?...The rock gardens and caves accessible here are incomparable with anywhere else in the world. Submarine life...Nothing like it. Sailing...Again, internationally regarded.

What about wine making? I'll concede you Quilceda Creek but after that you need to go fishing. And with vineyards comes lots of musical and comedic entertainment and there is much in the hills, valleys and canyons surrounding SF.

Let's face it, being in Seattle seems like a good excuse to stay indoors and listen to music. We need all sunshine we can get down here because there are so many world-class things to do.

Mike: I hope you appreciate that this is posted in an attempt at humor.

 

[Steve Williams]

Okay. Then I won't diss Ranier. I don't know what your experience level is for mountaineering. There's climbing on Rainier for sure, but from here it is just a speed bump in the way to Denali and then South America, Central Asia and the famous epic climbs of the world. Sure, most people from California will do it and Hood if they're up there on a quick business trip because it's convenient and to rack up hours at higher altitudes in the lower 48. But be realistic. Look at the book "50 Classic Climbs of North America". How many are in the whole state of WA compared with California, BC or Alaska? Do I hear silence? Time to turn on the stereo. And yes, I am considering Yosemite as a day trip from the SF Bay Area. Do you really want to compare the climbing community in Seattle with Yosemite? Or Boulder, CO for that matter. Or the European Alps? What is Seattle's contribution to climbing, anyway? I don't know of any specialized equipment that has come out of it. From CA, CO and Europe come gear such as the nut, "friends", glacier and technical rock, ice climbing apparatus and techniques. Maybe there are some things from WA that I don't know about. (Oh yeah, MSR is in WA making equipment so you can stay hunkered down in a snow cave for days on end.) Really, not the reason to stay in Seattle unless you add a lot of particular qualifiers.

And what about mountain biking?...Invented in the SF Bay Area. What about technical sea kayacking?...The rock gardens and caves accessible here are incomparable with anywhere else in the world. Submarine life...Nothing like it. Sailing...Again, internationally regarded.

What about wine making? I'll concede you Quilceda Creek but after that you need to go fishing. And with vineyards comes lots of musical and comedic entertainment and there is much in the hills, valleys and canyons surrounding SF.

Let's face it, being in Seattle seems like a good excuse to stay indoors and listen to music. We need all sunshine we can get down here because there are so many world-class things to do.

Mike: I hope you appreciate that this is posted in an attempt at humor.

FWIW the Smokester is another exCanuck.