I think I would have liked growing up around the bay area better than any other place I've lived. Skate parks are everywhere (I would have killed for a decent skate park when I was a kid), there's an ocean an hour drive away, mountains not much further, a big and really interesting city is an hour train ride away, the weather is nice enough to go outside almost year round (it's maybe a little chilly for me now, since I spent 10+ years in Texas, but I would have loved it when I was a kid growing up on the east coast), there's a reasonable music and arts scene (mainly in the city, but near enough to feel it and take part), the small towns around here are extremely walkable/bikeable, and there's good mass transit for the places you can't get on foot or bike. Palo Alto is not a suburban wasteland, and yet, there are lots of places where it's quiet and low traffic.
I think I would have liked growing up around the bay area better than any other place I've lived. Skate parks are everywhere (I would have killed for a decent skate park when I was a kid), there's an ocean an hour drive away, mountains not much further, a big and really interesting city is an hour train ride away, the weather is nice enough to go outside almost year round (it's maybe a little chilly for me now, since I spent 10+ years in Texas, but I would have loved it when I was a kid growing up on the east coast), there's a reasonable music and arts scene (mainly in the city, but near enough to feel it and take part), the small towns around here are extremely walkable/bikeable, and there's good mass transit for the places you can't get on foot or bike. Palo Alto is not a suburban wasteland, and yet, there are lots of places where it's quiet and low traffic.