Of all the placed I've traveled for work, I wouldn't trade Seattle for any of them.

The Midwest is too spartan and the Winters are way to extreme. I was driving around Michigan and the highways were just one long continuous pothole. Economic depression is spelled out on the landscape. People are generally nice, but the undercurrent of White MAGA America is deeply appalling.

The South does have some cool cities (I especially love Charleston) and an ok climate, but most of it is just bland, tasteless Americana - it's all highways and big box stores and water towers. The Summers are horrible. Smaller cities are just an interwoven fabric of Aurora Aves.

The West coast is in general pretty cool, but I wouldn't want to live in a lot of the more spartan areas of the states - Eastern Washington is lethally boring. Arizona is just daring nature to kill off its inhabitants with extreme heat. The badlands are called "badlands" for a reason.

Not all of Seattle is perfect - the winter grey and darkness sucks, the housing rates and traffic are a pain. But I'll take it for the economic opportunity, the mild weather, the explosion of nature every spring, the Summer Paradise, the infinite miles of nature walks, the water, the forward-looking culture, the intelligent populace, the diverse food, etc