Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514-27516. If God isn't a Tarheel, why is the sky Carolina Blue? Plenty of pre-war architecture (some pre civil-war). Bass fishin' was practically invented in the region. Big undergrad and reseacrh university town atmosphere means hippie and yuppie cyclists abound. Look a few miles oustide of town and you can practically buy your own nature preserve, and enlighten the wildlife with Dark Side of the Moon at your leisure. Sixty percent of UNC's approximately 25,000 students are women, and 75% of them are very attractive women in their early twenties. A few great audio dealers in Research Triangle Park area (home of Cary Audio). Lots of well paved windy country roads (and a Ferrari dealership two hours away in Greensboro). Again, big (liberal) college town atmosphere assures plenty of bookstores, music stores, restaurants, etc. PLUS you get to live in the national capital of college basketball, fantastic golf courses, great live music of all sorts (see big college town info above), a four season climate with none too drastic, an international airport nearby, and a beautiful but increasingly spoiled coastline within 2 1/2 hours drive. The downside is that you get Jesse Helms as a Senator, but no one in Chapel Hill votes for him anyway. He once said of Chapel Hill, "They ought to just put a big fence around it and call it a zoo." I grew up there and came to the city to make my fortune but will return ASAP.
Best Zip Code for Perfect Life
Two recent threads have inspired me. One was on persuading the wife for an audio shopping "romantic weekend" and the other on all of your hobbies outside of audio. Given that many of you seem interested in contemplative and creative things, fishing bicycling etc as well as quite a few car nuts, here is the ultimate question: Where can I chuck in the big city rat race and move that would offer: natural beauty, pre war architecture (at least some) and privacy where one could fish, cycle, enjoy nature etc and not worry about neighbors when playing MFSL Dark Side of the Moon at concert levels through subwoofers, drive 30-60 minutes maximum to check out some girls, visit a good audio dealer, book shop, music store and eat some decent Italian food, without spending a zillion bucks on real estate or living in an overpopulated or pre fab "McMansion" atmosphere. Extra Credit: roads ideally would be somewhat rural, bucolic, winding and not ruined by traffic or constant speed traps.(One for the car geeks, of which I am one.)Let's keep this gem to our forum, but WE can all move there and start an audio club and the best dealers will follow. Thanks for the tip and I will hope to see you in the village market and have you over for a drink and a demo!