Every now and then I think about moving to San Francisco. I was there for a week on business in December 1999 and I was incredibly impressed - it turned out to be just as beautiful as everybody said. And the weather just can't be beat - incredibly moderate. Yesterday, for example, in New York City the high temperature was 91 degrees - in San Francisco it was 67 degrees. I would so much prefer to live in a place with cool summers than hot summers - I never seem to have the kinds of summer fun anymore that makes the heat worthwhile.
When I was out there I remember thinking about maybe moving to San Francisco when I retired, but why wait until retirement? There are plenty of jobs in San Francisco for technical writers, not to mention a vibrant theatre scene.
But then of course there are the earthquakes. I found this amazing web site, the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program and wow, do they have a lot of earthquakes in California. I knew they were a less-than-rare occurrence, but ye gods, I didn't realize just how less than rare. Like every day. There's even a Real-Time Earthquake map which indicates that there have been like 30 earthquakes in the San Francisco-Palo Alto region in the past 7 days. That's alot of earthquakes.
Seattle has pretty moderate temperatures too... and of course Microsoft.