Need advice - where to go in the US?

[joyfulgirl]

Having lived in NYC for 15 years myself, I'd vote for that except that the weather there in the summers was always pure hell for me and I always wanted to leave in the summer. Still, it's my favorite city any time of year and who cares about the weather when you're just visiting for a summer.

I love Seattle and San Francisco as well. I always can't wait to leave Boston but others love it so you should consider that as well.

I live in the Southwest which is my favorite part of America. Summers in the high desert areas like Santa Fe are generally bliss except for a couple of wretchedly hot weeks in July. But for one summer in the US I'd pick a city on one coast or the other.

Good luck!

 

[anitram]

I love NYC, but I think it's stuffy after a while. Great for a couple of weeks and then I'm hurting for some wide open spaces where you feel like you're the last person on earth.

Around Boston there are also some really nice university campuses to see, and it's conveniently close to everything. Even Canada is not terribly far away.

But I still say there is nothing more beautiful than walking up one of San Francisco's old streets, full of flowers with a light breeze and the beautiful, beautiful view of the bay just dotted with dozens of sailboats. It's magnificent. And northern California is gorgeous. Napa and Sonoma, Big Sur, the Redwoods up north, the area around Lake Tahoe. I fell in love.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Easy: San Francisco. I promise you that you'll love it. Everyone does. It's the number one tourist destination in the world.

Downside: very expensive. SF has the highest cost of living of anywhere in the U.S. We also have the highest average salary, though, so it balances out.

Upside: progressive, modern, environmentally conscious, very liberal, forward-looking, beautiful physical geopgraphy, close to wine country / Napa / Sonoma, close to great skiing and mountains, and beaches. Third-most educated region in the U.S. (after DC and Boston) so you get lots of bright, interesting people living here.