I’m a West Coast girl at heart. I was born in East Los Angeles and raised in Southern California, and there’s no other place I’d rather live.
Tupac Shakur, the late rapper, said it best in his song “To Live and Die in L.A.”
“To live and die in L.A., it’s the place to be. You’ve got to be there to know it, everybody wanna see” (although, he also said that “L.A. can’t get no stranger, full of drama like a soap opera” but we’ll just ignore that, shall we?) Go L.A.!
But let’s say you’re not me, and you’re getting tired of representin’ the Westside.
Findyourspot.com is a website that can help you find the perfect place to live, based on your individual tastes and preferences.
You choose if you strongly agree, are neutral or strongly disagree with statements that range from the weather (I like a thick blanket of snow in the winter), to culture (I enjoy going to a local theater — and I don’t mean the movieplex), to education (I prefer public schools to private schools).
The website even takes into account your love for croquet and other outdoor sports, your National Rifle Association affiliation and your love for hitting the clubs (I like the nightlife. I like to boogie. I need a town that doesn’t close at dusk).
Findyourspot.com is based on the idea that those “Best Places to Live” lists in magazines, books and on the Internet are baloney, as there can’t really be one best place for everyone to live, considering how many kinds of people there are. Finding your best hometown has as much to do with you as it does with the town, according to the website.
Not only does the website help you figure out the city of your dreams, but it also provides you job information about the area, access to homes for sale or rental properties, and a list of city-specific books so you can read more before you think about moving.
Being pretty sure that Findyourspot.com would reveal that — surprise! — I should live in Los Angeles, I took the quiz myself.
After answering all of the questions (I strongly agree that I need to have lots of bright, sunny days; I’m neutral when it comes to living in a community with lots of Spanish-speakers; I strongly agree that I would like to be able to play tennis outside all year long), I clicked on the button that ensured it would “find my spot,” and saw that Findyourspot.com thinks I should live in …
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS?!
What the …? That’s quite a shock. No offense to Little Rockers, but I think if I had to live there, I would probably cry myself to sleep every night. And then when I woke up, I’d cry into my breakfast cereal, making my Rice Krispies soggy before the milk had a chance to touch them. And every chance I’d get, when I’m not crying, I’d be planning on how to get out of Little Rock, Arkansas.
But that’s just me.
Fortunately, though, if your ideal city according to Findyourspot.com doesn’t sit well with you (as in, makes you want to throw up), you can take the quiz again. The second time around, it said I should live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now that’s more like it! Bright lights, warm weather, loose slots, legal prostitution … where do I sign up?
