There are no gaming or comic stores here in this part of Southeast Georgia (Brunswick/St. Simons Is./Jekyll Is.) and it is difficult/impossible to play Heroclix here so I usually travel about an hour north to Savannah, GA or an hour south to Jacksonville, Florida to play HC and purchase comics.
I was thinking about this and started to wonder in what part of the USA is Heroclix the "healthiest" or has the "highest participation" or the "most cut-throat/competitive environment". I don't know the best word but I think players will understand if they have played in a variety of venues.

I may be biased but I really enjoy playing in the Northwest. Tacoma/Olympia WA, has a great group of guys that were loyal all through the year long break. If you ever in that part of the country look up Comic Book Ink in Tacoma, or Olympic Cards and Comics in Olympia.

I really wish the area I live in had more of a Heroclix presence but even the comic shops around Buffalo don't sell heroclix. Borders has them but rarely. I usually end up ordering a case online to get my clix. If I wanted to play in a tournament I'd have to take a 2-3 hour drive to Rochester in central New York to play. I only know one other person in Buffalo that plays and he's my roommate. We play so often that we basically know what the other person is gonna do for every game.

Chicago has always had a lot of places to play.

-- In the heyday, you could play almost any day (though you might drive a while to do so)
-- In the hiatus, there were still a lot of active venues
-- Since the return, the venue I run on Tuesday nights has gone back to weekly games and has 9-10 people turing out.
-- We also just had a new venue start and a lot of players there turning onto clix

Some of the previous venues have not bounced back, but the new one + my own venue's record turnouts (we previously had 3-4 before the hiatus) makes me think we're a good spot for clix.