I am going to answer the thread title and not the OP. Where would you LIVE in North America.
Well since living is dependent on having a job my choices are pretty limited, at least for the time being. So people in my major got jobs in Houston, Anchorage, Bakersfield, LA, Tulsa, Midland TX, Louisiana, Bags/Casper WY, Minot ND, Western Slope CO, and Denver.
So out of that Anchorage would be cool for one summer maybe, the winter would be brutal so fuck that. LA would also be pretty cool but very expensive and crowded. So I would have to go with Denver, which is where I live now. I like Denver because is has a nice compact down town and good public transportation which is getting better. About 1-2 hrs from skiing but recently traffic has been so terrible that if I am going to ski I will go up the night before or leave Monday morning. Day trip skiing you run the risk of 3-5 hrs of traffic and I fucking hate it. I just bought a house in 5 points which when I was growing up was considered the worst area in Denver, but there is a pretty aggressive urban renewal program going on out there, which is another reason I like Denver, because it is constantly getting better and housing prices held during the recession. Plus it is beautiful and the weather is awesome.
If I could live anywhere in the US regardless of job situation I would live on Lake Austin, or Lake Havasu for the summer and I would live in Steamboat in the winter. If you exclude the US I would live in Playa Del Carmen Mexico in the summer and Whistler in the Winter. If I win the lottery this is what I will be doing.