Website of the Month

This is somewhat out of left field, perhaps, but for years in the letter I send to clients I always include a "website of the month." Since it has proved popular, I have decided to blog about them here as well. These sites run the gamut from humorous to useful to ridiculous.

The cost of living in New York is nuts. This leads a lot of people to fantasize about living elsewhere. The line of thinking goes something like, if I sold my home and cashed in all my chips, I could live like a king in [fill in the blank].

Well, I had a friend who, a couple of years ago, followed through. He was tired of Wall Street, didn't like his prospective cost curve, and so he moved his family to Boulder, Colorado. Why Boulder? I asked. Friends? Relatives? None of the above. He went on a website called "Find Your Spot" that suggests where you might want to live based on your personal preferences:

http://www.findyourspot.com/

I went to the site to see where my "spot" is. They ask you dozens of question about your preferences on things like activities, culture, religion, climate, etc., and then - presto! - they rank the top 25 places in America where you should live. Here are my top five:

1. St. George, Utah (never heard of it, but now I want to know more)

2. Greenville, South Carolina (you can't go home again - or was that Ashville?)

3. Tulsa, Oklahoma (really?)

4. Clarksville, Tennessee (see: St. George, Utah)

5. Kent, Washington (a Seattle suburb - do they know I don't drink coffee?)

It's actually a fun exercise - try it yourself when you are looking to kill half an hour.