So I'm thinking a lot about moving and am now situated to do so but I'm not sure where to move!
Raleigh, NC, where I currently reside, is kind of a weird place for me because I grew up here and then came back off and on throughout the 80's after college. The 80's were a really amazing time here. There was enough going on to stay busy and plenty of interesting people who were relatively easy to meet because the scenes were small enough that you'd see folks a lot.
The last twenty years has brought lots more people. Raleigh has become a destination for young people of all types (weird, that used to just happen with punks in the 80's). There are lots of places to go but, at the end of the day, it's not that interesting a city to me.
I am looking at Asheville because it seems small enough to get to know people and then see them again and it seems to have an interesting mix of older folks with varying levels of hippie-ness and younger people who look pretty cool and are not quite so easy to categorize though I see folks throwing around various labels in the comments sections of local media.
I'm also interested in places where folks know how to do things if there's a societal collapse within the next 50 years. I don't expect rapid collapse but there's no way to know and there are so many weird factors involved now that there's really, really no way to know but it's hard for me to convince myself that we're going to turn any of the major downward trends around.
I'm not saying we can't but I am saying there doesn't seem to be a willingness among Americans to actually do much except satisfy individual interests as expressed by groups that have consolidated those interests around an ideological stance. And that won't solve our problems.
So, even if Asheville isn't where I necessarily want to stay for all of the next 50 years, I wouldn't mind having some deep connections there because, when things get weird, I sure don't want to be in a larger urban setting or in a rural setting without strong connects.
But I still love cities and I hope to spend some more time in relatively big ones. Places that I'd go if I had plenty of money and could just go:
Vancouver, BC – I'm figuring out the best way to immigrate to Canada but there are some things I need to put together for that to be permanent. But a really cool city near a big island where you can fade into the woods if need be? That combines all my scenarios though I still have to look at global warming issues long term and how they'll affect NW rainforests.
Berlin – hotbed of arts activity at the moment.
Tokyo – alternate universe!
Ljubljana, Slovenia – i knew somebody from there and it seems to be under most people's radar but has a variety of attractions.
Chiang Mai in Thailand also has my attention but I now have heavy infrastructure needs. Wish I'd gone there as a young anarcho-hippy. Once you get past the old guys hitting the brothels, all the rest looks amazing.
Chiang Mai is actually doable now but that heat and humidity along with really expensive internet services if you go beyond the basics is keeping me away.
So Asheville feels like a combination of short term and long term and, maybe, a home from which to travel. We'll see.
I'm also looking at cheap storefronts in various parts of NC because I love cheap space and certain styles of storefronts strike me as very cool to do a live/work project. But that usually involves a place where not that much is happening (Wilson) or places where the opportunities are in higher crime neighborhoods (Greensboro).
One thing affecting all this is that my new project, College Textbook News, could be done from anywhere with internet access though it should be in the States, given the market focus. However, if that's a success I do have certain projects in mind that would require relocating to a major urban area. But that time is not now.
So, yeah, I'm thinking about moving, a lot!