My criteria in terms of where I would prefer to live largely revolve around outdoors activities. Basically, I want good and diverse fishing opportunities, lots of public land and protected wilderness areas, plenty of backpacking and mountain bike trails, and preferably a place that is not completely overrun with people. Cost of living can't be so high that I can't afford to take advantage of recreational opportunities, and there has to be sufficient work available in IT because that's what I do.
I like Colorado, but while the trout fishing is good, that's about it in terms of fishing diversity, and the public lands are full of people every weekend.
I like Minnesota, the fishing is top notch all the way around, there is a ton of public land in the northern half of the state, and northern Minnesota is in many ways even more beautiful than Colorado.
What is not to love about it?
Well there is one thing, the winters there are long and bitterly cold.
I would imagine I would like Oregon and Washington state a lot, but I have never been there. I would also imagine I would like Vermont and New Hampshire a lot, but the people there might would be a bit too "Yankee" for me.
My wife is from Texas, the fishing is good there but the problem with Texas is that much of the state is just plain ugly, there is surprisingly little public land and hardly any wilderness, and its so flippin hot there in the summers that from May through September about the only thing you can do is hang out on a lake.
I am from Arkansas. Arkansas has a lot going for it in terms of outdoor recreation opportunities. It has millions of acres of public land, the most wilderness of any state in the south east, excellent fishing that ranges from cypress bayous, to clear mountain rivers full of small mouth bass, and even some of the best trout fishing in the world (the world record brown trout was caught in Arkansas). Its a beautiful state.
The problem is that summers there are typically really hot and humid, and there is just not a lot of money in Arkansas.
On balance, I would say that my preferred places to live if I had the choice would be Eastern Tennessee / Western North Carolina, Minnesota, possibly Alaska, or Arkansas if the money was good enough.
