From what I've gathered, California is pretty blind friendly. I use to live in Fl with my blind gf and use to get panic attacks every time she went out. The social safety nets aren't as good in Fl, either. We just moved to Cal, which is where she grew up. There's places that assist you in getting on disability, better funded social programs. Where we are, the traffic isn't crazy like central fl.

Before she moved to fl with me, she lived in sanata rosa, which is about where they have a guide dogs for the blind facility. The crosswalks chirped/talked to you or vibrated. I know sonoma county is all on fire right now... but the general attitude towards the blind is better in cal from what we gathered.

edit: Another thing is that public transit in cal allows you to ride the bus for free with a friend/family member to assist you, while in fl your asist would have to pay. Also, it was a little more of a pain in the ass to get your disabled bus card in fl. You had to first register for a blind card, then bus pass, which sucks if you don't drive. With Cal, it was more straightforward. I think you only needed the bus pass.

What I can't ever figure out is a lot of good places for visually impaired to live where there are a lot of things in walking distance or good transportation, while having low crime. And then cost of living would come into play too. Most places I know of, which are known for good public transportation, have high cost of living.

What exactly are you looking for? If you're looking for life style and amazing technology used. San Diego is by far the first state I would say is up to par as blind friendly city. CSUN is also the largest blind conference in the country which is hosted in San Diego.

Texas, definitely. Lots of accommodation and services.

Texas, specifically north Austin.

If you're working and can afford it, Chicago isn't bad. It's pretty close to Wisconsin weatherwise though which you might hate. But the sidewalks are usually cleared of snow by 9am and there's plenty of public transportation and delivery options (and Uber and Lyft when those fail.) I'm legally blind and commute to work by train. The music scene is fantastic - it's what I miss most since the pandemic hit.

I am not blind, but I do have vision issues. I live in Utah, and it isn’t terrible. Boise, Idaho was pretty nice when I visited. Much better than what Utah offers.

I am legally blind and grew up in Wisco. Please move! I find that it is not very accessible or interesting. Metro areas are the way to go, but like others said, it depends on your financial situation. I've lived in several other places now, and SF area was probably the most accessible but also the most expensive. Chicago was great, but obvi it's still cold. Albuquerque is sooo affordable, but less accessible...manageable if you can ride a bike, at least. I haven't lived in NYC, but when I visited, I found it accessible.

I would avoid asking about states because states are huge and let's face it, we have awful out of city mass transit when compared to many other countries. Perhaps a better question to ask would be what cities...not what states.

My top three after moving around a bunch are the New York city area, Boston MA, and Austin TX. Yes, certain places in California seem great from what I've heard but I've never been there so I'm not including them on my list.

The main issue I've found is cost of living. I had a really good situation in Boston and outside of New York city in Westchester county. Trains and subways galore, lots of things to walk to and all of that. the main issue is cost though. Looking at both of those options, it's just so freaking expensive! Since I've lived in those places, it looks like the cost of either renting or buying has gone up even more. If you are on SSI, or, have a job that brings in say two grand a month or less, you'd have a rough time in either place. I think this is a topic that isn't discussed enough in the blind community. I know it sucks but you have to be realistic. If you make two grand a month, you're not going to be living in a one bedroom apartment that costs $1400 a month without utilities.

Now Austin TX on the other hand was far more affordable. While that was certainly a plus, it was just too freaking hot for me and the city is too spread out for my liking. If their lite rail took off, that would be great but who really knows on that front.

I lived in the DC area and found it to be very blind friendly. Also, if you’re looking for cheap and affordable and good public transit, Baltimore is pretty decent. The only problem though... crime...

Northern Virginia is very good. We have a very good metro system which is easy to learn, several nice areas where people of all walks of life can live, some of the best restaurants around, we are near DC, and there is a housing boom which is sayed to double and or tripple the market in the next 5 to 10 years.

I loved from west TN to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s much better. I’m not totally blind but they seem more disability friendly here. Bus fare is only .35¢ per ride or $12 per month. The bus routes suck but the city is small for a metro and is easy to navigate because it’s set up like a grid. I’ve seen many blind/visually impaired people here.
One big perk is that since I can’t drive, my commute depends upon the weather and it rains like once a month here.

Massachusetts Boston area