Phoenix is, of course, totally doable for me. I would have a van, although I make no promises about being able to actually drive anyone anywhere. I have very strong memories of driving around and around in circles at the Phoenix airport hoping that eventually I'd escape its gravitational pull.

I cannot freaking wait to get back to arid and high altitude. I'm drowning down here.

I am nodding madly at Nicole, because I want temperate. I can do tropical, but there's got to be a large usable ocean or sea nearby. And I require trade winds.

I don't like hyper-humid, either; I spent seven years living in NYC, and was sick - on a couple of occasions, actually hospitalised - during high summer. Spring and autumn, yes indeed - good climate.

Also, hyperhot is now an issue I can't shrug off. Multiple sclerosis doesn't argue, it just does what it wants.

kicks MS

Kick it again!

t kick kick kick kick

t stomp

Yup, yup with Deb and Nicole. I'm all for nominating more cities (and I'm all for looking at the glass as half full, even with Phoenix), but I lived in Arizona for three years and hated all of them. Sure, the winters were bearable, but Phoenix in May? NFW.

The fog and such in SF eventually ends up sending me into a depression. Same thing used to hit me when I lived in the Northwest. I do love SF but can't spend too long there or I end up in a funk. It's kind of a bummer. Too much overcast and I'm just a big surly beast to be around.

Aw, poor surly Drew. LA sounds like your ideal climate.

Though, of course, the SF Badness totally depends on what neighborhood you're in--right down to which block. Where I work? Mostly foggy, 3-4 hours of direct sunlight a day if we're lucky. Where I live, 1 block east and 1 block north? Same fog, but 5-10 degrees warmer, generally. Exactly 4 blocks east of where I work is Cole Valley, also generally warmer and with an extra 2-3 hours of sunlight. The Mission? Markedly more sun than fog. Downtown/SOMA, right by the new baseball stadium and all the now-empty housing built right before the dotcom bust? Temperate, warm, bright and lovely.

And three blocks west of me, where I used to live, you can go days or weeks at a time all year long without seeing the sun full-on. One of my best friends lived out at the beach for 6 years, and exactly twice, ever, when I went out to visit her was it warm and sunny.

SF weather = generally craxy, and can be very depressing, and trying to keep track of the microclimates can make your head spin.

and trying to keep track of the microclimates can make your head spin.

For those of us who don't live there, though, it's actually part of the charm of visiting. However, I love SF so completely I'd live anywhere in it no matter what microclimate I was subject to.

Aw, poor surly Drew. LA sounds like your ideal climate.

Yeah, San Diego is a bit better for me climate-wise, but I like the energy in LA more. Also, this is where there's more work for me.