Better places to live Portland, Oregon

Better places to live

Portland, Oregon

Unusually again for the US, cycle and walk without abuse: the most bike- and foot-friendly city in the country, packed with proper cycle routes (15 minutes to downtown from the northside). You may use the car. Occasionally. Perhaps for a surf trip to the coast, or a ski trip to the mountains (both 60-100 minutes). A food cart: all the rage or, for the indulgent, Grand Central Bakery, in an old scrap metal yard. Artisan, innit. The area is full of 1910s and 1920s bungalows that the local real estate guys call "craftsman style", with handsome stoops and carved wood decoration. There are a fair few vacant lots, too, for the brave, plus 1960s and 1970s infill apartment blocks that, with a zuzz, could be nice. Look off the main drags, like Mississippi and Interstate regeneration projects. Huge detacheds, £415,000-£575,000; four-bed-plus detacheds, £225,000-£415,000; two- or three-bed detacheds, £140,000-£215,000. Condos below this.

St Paulini, Hamburg

Those Beatles were on to something, you know, with their pre-fame escape to the fleshpots of Hamburg. Fifty years on, modern-day beatniks are all Berlin, Berlin, Berlin. Boring! The truly adventurous should spurn the obvious for Germany's second city. For a start, it's almost on the Baltic and, with Noma, Sarah Lund and all, you know how very now anything Hanseatic League is these days. Plus it's home to HafenCity, the biggest spot of urban regeneration in Europe, bigger even than our own paltry Olympics. Despite stellar architecture and some community-minded planning, I wouldn't recommend moving to HafenCity itself, not till 2023 or so: not unless you like cranes and high-vis jackets. But the old red-light district, St Pauli, just along the Elbe, and to the north around Karolinenstrasse and Schanzenstrasse, have been quietly simmering with revival. This was the hotbed of radicals in the 1970s and 1980s, and it still hums with alternative living. Only there's better coffee. That's progress. It's still seedy, and you may have to bob and weave around the stag parties, but tucked among the porn are artists' studios in old slaughterhouses, experimental theatre companies and, call me a capitalist, some great, and often odd, shops. Like Holy Bikes (holybikes.de). It's more expensive than Berlin, but then Hamburg has the great advantage of a vibrant economy and jobs. You'll need them, when all that alternative living palls.

The case against Ooh, when the wind whistles in from the North Sea: Hamburg in January – nippy. A few too many advertising agencies. For the hardcore beatniks among you, the area may have already "gone".

Well connected? Hamburg is incredibly bike-friendly: Elbchaussee, along the river, is perfect for Sunday cycle rides, and the centre is only five to 10 minutes away; HafenCity just beyond, maybe 15 minutes.

Hang out at… Strandpauli beach bar, with one of their "special" mojitos, or Rote Flora for some improv theatre.

Property A great line in 19th-century apartment blocks and nice higgledy streets. Small flats in old buildings (60-100 sq m), £60,000-£120,000; larger flats (100-220 sq m), £120,000-£230,000. Modern blocks command higher prices: maybe £1,600 a square metre.

Bargain of the week A small flat for renovation, 75 sq m, £70,000, with grossmann-berger.de.

Northern coast, Hawaii

I am not known for my surfing. But if I were, this would be the place for me. I am not known for my ability to relax. But if I were, this would be the place for me. The northern coast of Maui is where you go utterly to detach from reality. This place is so laid-back, much of it has a 15mph speed limit. Don't even think about pineapples and grass skirts (but do think about surfboards; this is where it all began). Much of Hawaii is overloaded with kitsch. Here, there is none. OK, a very light dusting. But, mostly, the northern coast comprises a series of tumbledown, laid-back bars, waterfalls, surf spots like Ho'okipa Beach and Kapalua Bay, lush jungle, and communities of writers, artists and what my gran would have called layabouts. Avocados and guavas are as common as nettles here. As are whales. Everyone will soon know your name (the place is exceedingly friendly and community-minded). But the clincher? This is where the Japanese go on holiday. And if a place can get the Japanese to relax and try surfing, it might even work on me.

The case against A long way away from anywhere else. Don't know about you, but I'd miss good old British squally showers and snow. A bit. A volcano! Dormant, but call me nervous…

Well connected? You'll need a car, though with those 15mph limits all over the shop, it's not worth investing in a Lotus. The main airport at Kahului

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