Carmen San Diego style

Growing up in the Tri-Cities, most of my classmates and I swore we would graduate high school and move to a town with excitement, glamor, or at least more concert tour stops. But as a look ahead to a potential future with Teach for America, I'm finding myself slightly stumped in answering what seems like such an easy question: what do you look for in a place to live?

My original plan, and probably still top choice, is the D.C. area. I've visited there three times in my life, and with the exception of one bitingly cold winter day, I love the city. It has plenty to do and see, a large majority of which is free to the public. I also enjoy its public transportation system, as well as diverse culture.

But beyond that, I really have no concrete reason of wanting to move there, or for that matter, not wanting to move somewhere else. I could, I suppose, take the advice of several articles and sites that offer "top places to live"-type lists. Take, for example, findyourspot.com, which offers a simple online quiz to determine your list of top cities. Questions focus on weather, cultivating culture, teachers and doctors, outdoor recreation, and regional preference. I was surprised at how many different way this quiz asked how important college or professional sporting events are to my happiness. According to my results, my top spots include Memphis, Little Rock, Honolulu, Norfolk Virginia, and most of Texas. Not exactly my ideal locations. Other lists include Money Magazine, which rates Plymouth, MN as the top city for 2008, based on its "Topnotch schools, good jobs, affordable housing, low crime, an active outdoor culture."

Then I could move on to look at lists geared toward specific genres, such as "30 great cities to start out in" (ranges from Atlanta to Seattle to Cleaveland). Criteria for this list included "major breadwinning," "social and recreational scene," "crib sheet," and "navigating."

But in searching through the lists and reading all the statistics, I'm realizing that no one asks the questions that have more significance than whether I can go clubbing on a Tuesday for only a $5 cover. Questions like "will I be able to fly home for Christmas affordably?" or "how likely is it I'll get so lost in the first week I'll never find my apartment again?" I still haven't really come up with any sort of criteria, or even a definition of what I consider a "good place to live." I would love any suggestions.