One important part of "how to live" is "where to live". To help you with this decision, Money Magazine publishes an annual list of the best places to live, and the newest list was just released. They look only at U.S. cities, but it's a big planet, so don't limit your search to just one country. Also, since everyone has different criteria for where to live (just as everyone has different criteria for how to live), don't rely too much on their data. (They do offer some ability to customize the list based on your criteria, but this functionality is extremely rudimentary.) Of course, quantitative data only tells you part of what a city is really like, but can be used to make a short list of places you plan to visit in the next few years to see if you'd like to spend more time.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/besttowns06.html