Notions about the ideal place to live have long provided impetus for local and regional planning. However, little is known about how locational ideals correspond to perceived realities. This paper draws on Swedish survey data, in which respondents rate features of their current place of residence and compare their location with that of their ideals. The empirical results suggest that primary features of local environments are, unexpectedly, not more important for place satisfaction than secondary features. In addition, accounting for municipality-level qualities, findings indicate that more peripheral places in general are perceived as more proximate to Utopia.