OT: If you were a graduating college kid, which city/state/region would you choose?

My kids are in Florida, Austin and Ohio.  The Ohio kid got the short straw.  The one in Austin was in Chicago and hated it and the taxes. 

I would recommend Austin and TN.  I think the volunteer state is a great place to be weather and biz wise.  You have Nashville, Knoxville or Chatanooga to pick from.  TN has good taxes, better climate and they are very friendly people there.        

When you’re young and your only responsibility is to yourself, NYC, if you can find a way to afford it. I did it for a year after undergrad, loved it, wish I was there longer. But it’d never be the place I wanted to raise my family. Not for any bad reasons, just pricing and space. 

I also hate the idea that if I need to let my dog out or if I want to take my son out for a game of catch, you just can’t do that very easily in NYC. Gotta go find the nearest park, which is god knows how far away. I love being able to walk into my big backyard here in Atlanta to do that. I love having my space. 

I love that my four bedroom two car garage house, which is only 30 mins from downtown Atlanta, is still cheaper than my old studio apartment in NYC. Even after taxes and homeowners insurance. 

A lot of good advice on this thread already. In general, I agree with the advice about thinking in terms of places to be at different points in your life (if you have that flexibility). A couple of other thoughts

1) Don’t just think domestically. I think that, especially after COVID, there are a lot of cities in Europe, Asia, and other places that are amazing to experience before settling down/kids.

2) There is a different vibe in what I call “capital cities”. What I mean is that for many industries (tech, politics, entertainment, medicine, etc) there are epicenters (NY, Bay Area, DC, Boston) that I have found to be attractive to some personality types and not others. 

Overseas. Before life catches up with you. I lived in London, Paris, Taipei, Moscow, Budapest, before settling in NYC. Thinking about retiring overseas too, soon. 

A big city when young and then Colorado. We moved to the Vail Valley, from Chicago 25 years ago. Best decision ever. Our son, who grew up here, moved straight to NYC as soon as he could, but I suspect he’ll end up back here.

Orlando Florida. No state income tax. Sunny most of the year. No masks at games when UM finally announced the end of masking when even NY and CAL stopped it.

Nothing wrong with Seattle though. Sure it's nice.

If I had a choice and could afford the taxes, San Diego. 

Columbus, Ohio, is the best place to move to.  Its a vibrant capital city that is also part of the Big Ten footprint.  It is completely unlike the rest of Ohio.  The folks there take a huge interest in Michigan athletics.  And I hear open defecation is being phased out.

Ukraine.

Seriously, if I was graduating, I'd go to serve there now. You'd have a lifetime to settle somewhere in the States.

Even now, at my age, we have the opportunity to go help in Poland, and might just do that for a while later this year.

Too subjective with too many factors that have to be prioritized.  
 

Family

Weather

Political Climate

Cost of Living

Thise are four crucial ones that all have varied amounts of importance to every person.

That being said, I’ve always wanted to move to the PNW (Seattle, specifically) for the mild (compared to the Midwest) weather, access to international and domestic travel, and 9 am start times for CFB in the fall.