Best Zip Code for Perfect Life

02156: 2 minute walk to lake, 4 minutes to great Italian restaurant at town center, with 12 minute rail/20 minute drive to Boston's Symphony and/or Jordan Halls (though parking's a bitch!). 10 minute walk to newly-"hot" town center. Great solid American "four-square" and victorian turn-of century homes (lots of cross-beamed ceilings and built-in bookcases result in less add-on acoutic treatment!) in a QUIET neighborhood withfine schools K-5. Cold 'n icy now, but a neighborhood of hardwoods whose color pallet's to die for in October....... (Yeah, the northern pioneer valley is nice 'n rural, but truly insufferably humid in that Connecticut River valley in the summer, no? (My kid summer-camps there...it's brutal!))............ (Got a sis in Chapel Hill with big new house--quite a deal, and she loves it. OTOH friends whose taste and mores I trust claim Raleigh/Durham's a mess of ugly strip-mall development: cheap, sweet and unidimensional. True?) We've friends farther out in the sticks, but it's awfully nice to be able to stroll by the lake and then be hearing world-class live music in any number of venues within a half-hour. Not sure I'll ever move away...except maybe to parts of France I continue to visit..........It's easy to envy the left coast this time of year, though. Can't find any well-travelled friends who could stand to live in the South, despite its great economic value. I know these can be fightin' words around here, but I keep being told about vapid culture. I understand the need to build a ref system is especially great if you live far from interesting live musical venues, but as I get older I find myself increasing the ratio of live/recorded music I partake of. Hence the geographical Catch 22, no? Finally...zip code, shmipcode--it's all about inner peace and the extent one can bring oneself to love others, no? A great millenial New Year to all!...wherever ya sit! Ernie

What about Portland? Anybody from there?

thanx john_l for your pitch for my town, denver,co. denver is, indeed, a haven for audiophiles. not only do we have close by the audio firms mentioned but several others, too: avalon acoustics, boulder amplifiers, inc., ayre, green mountain audio, among others. we also have some top-notch retailers who, together, carry a huge array of products. within 60 miles, we have numerous universities and colleges, public and private. the front range corridor is also a nationally prominent high tech center, with loads of high-paying jobs for those with the right mix of skills/experience. the number of live music venues has exploded in the past few years, from large to intimate; 'course we have as a city park the favorite venue among many performers: red rocks. it's hard to imagine a spot more geared toward outdoor pursuits. you can kayak, ice climb, ski, snow shoe, hike, fish, etc., etc. what's more you can drive or ride the roads used in tire commercials, which also serve as test grounds for nearly all the us and international auto manufacturers. we don't have the history of the east, of course. colo is the "centennial state" because it was admitted into the union in 1876. what we do have by way of historical buildings, we've preserved. those buildings surround our 2 newest and about-to-be completed 3rd major league venue. this town is a 4- league sports mecca; every avalanche game ever played here has been a sellout and every broncos game, too, since the early 70's. unfortunately, as john_l, notes, denver is no longer affordable in terms of housing (mean home price surpassed $265k this year). there are some affordable areas left if you're willing to commute or be an urban pioneer. on the whole, there are few places i'd rather call home. (i'd really like to live in london, but that's another story)

Cornfedboy -- delighted you like my town more than you like my posts. I think London is the new center of the global village and universe and I am devastated to now be moving back to NYC after many years there. Despite my devotion to London, however, I would say it fails in most if not all of the "perfect life" criteria. Very expensive real estate (easy to spend $500-1 MM USD in town on a 1-2 BR apartment), Italian food available but also very expensive, interesting cars available and popular but traffic moves at 3 MPH. And I haven't found any good audio dealers -- more or less everything but especially (!!) electronics cost in pounds what they would cost in dollars over here. This has led to a vibrant grey market in high end. (Still ridiculously overpriced.) But the access to Europe, the naughty, witty English girls and the pubs and Guiness make it all worth it and I would move back in a second!!!! Please let me know if I can help you if you are ever there.

[email protected]: don't wanna go off subject but must say i quite agree about london being the center of the social and cultural universe, at least for the nonce. also agree it's bloody awful expensive. interesting to hear your "italian food available" with no attached superlatives; i've had some of the best italian food ever in london (and, yes, i've traveled extensively in italy). i do feel sorry for your apparently involuntary move back to nyc. tho my wife, grown sons and their spouses disagree with me quite vehemently, i find nyc to be far outside the class of other "international" cities.