[Other] Pitch me your city!

[LittleKagsin]

So.

I'm 1000% in the market to move, or at least to start researching cities I could potentially move too. I want you guys to pitch me your cities. What do you like, housing, things to do, ins and outs, what you hate, jobs, etc etc.

I just feel so trapped in the bubble of my town, I'm curious what it's like outside of here and would love just general thoughts and opinions about other cities, other places.

And before you ask, I don't really know what I'm looking for - I just want a change and have dreamt of moving from my state since high school. I just want a new place. Nothing super rural since that's what I'm dealing with currently - I want more city. And my skill set is pretty sad, I'm unqualified for most things, still, I'm gonna just try at the very least. But yeah! Talk to me.

 

[Cheesy1]

Well then, stay away from my area. Often ranked highest in the country for car theft, is notorious for druggies, and housing and rent prices only slightly better than the San Fransisco Bay area which has some of the most expensive rates in the world.

But, you know, I'm here, so . . .

 

[DarkAudit]

I'm not going to try to sell any part of Morgantown except Yama, some of the best Japanese food around. If you're looking for a bigger city, I definitely pimp for Pittsburgh (quiet, @jwhouk. ) Starting with two of the nation's finest record stores in the country in Jerry's and Attic. A literal multitude of colleges and universities in the Oakland neighborhood. A kick-ass amusement park in Kennywood. A entry to the city hat has to be seen to be believed when you exit the Fort Pitt Tunnel. This view from the top of Mt. Washington...

 

[Dei]

I think living in Colorado is awesome, but the cost of living is... Not small.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Come to Halifax! The downtown area is like pub city, but we have an amazing arts scene. Lots of little locally owned shops, too. Local theatre productions, a cool science centre, etc. Plus, the biking trails are amazing (though I don't think you're into biking). Oh, and we have these awesome places called The Board Room Cafe. It's a cafe, but with a VAST selection of board games. It's awesome.

It's a bit of a pain getting around, but the transit system isn't TOO bad. Apartments are reasonably priced, too, from what I understand. There are some cheaper ones in not-so-nice neighbourhoods, but that's like any city, isn't it?

And um...there's also this super nerdy yoga guy that could show you around the city.

Oh! And we have a thing called a Harbour Hopper that gives you a tour around downtown and can convert into a water vehicle.

 

[Gared]

The cost of living here is awesome, which is part of why our dollar went so far down here, and therefore a large amount of why we live here now. That being said, it's not a city by any stretch of the imagination, and the nearest "city" is has 16k people and is 30 minutes away. The nearest "big city" is still under 100k and is an hour away, and we're about equidistant from Portland and San Francisco, so you're a long way from a Metro. On the whole though, if you were looking for a small town (2500), in a depressed economic area (very few job prospects not tied to one of the two major industries, lumber and healthcare), and in a recreationally legal state; you could do a whole lot worse than Myrtle Point. At least all of the people we've come in contact with have been friendly, there's very little obvious evidence of the meth and heroin epidemics (though we appear to have acquired some sketchy new neighbors squatting on a burnt out piece of property, in an RV, who appear to be overtly racist), and it's very quiet - except for all of the logging trucks compression braking on their way into town from the east.

 

[GasBandit]

Texas! We've got big cities, and we've got not-so-big communities right outside big cities, in easy driving distance. The cost of living is nice, unemployment is low, the winters are mild but the summers are DEFINITELY NOT. A/C is a must, both for your car and your home, no two ways about it.

But in my experience, there are few places as easy and lucrative to "start over" than Texas. The closer you get to Austin, the more LGBTQ-friendly you'll find people to be, though the cost of living also increases accordingly (and exponentially). So there is that tradeoff. But nowhere near as bad as I'd expect Utah to have been. And there's nightlife, if you're into that sort of thing. There's also really good internet, if you'd rather stay home, like me.

 

[blotsfan]

Forgetting the touristy stuff, why Amazon HQ2 should be in Buffalo, NY why LittleKagsin should move to Buffalo, NY.

Cost of living is insanely cheap. I'm in a 2 bedroom apartment in a pretty popular part of town that costs $850 a month.

If you're a drinker, we have a great bar scene. Last call is 4am.

If you're the kind of person that likes eating food, we have phenomenal food. Obviously wings, but the nicer dining scene has expanded in the area as well.

If you like nature and hiking and whatnot, we've got a lot of great scenery around us. Niagara falls, of course, but the gorge just downstream is beautiful as well. Letchwork park is a bit of a drive from the city but its beautiful.

The local football team, the Buffalo Bills are currently riding a relatively long streak of making the playoffs and its been pretty fun.

As a city built for a much larger population, traffic is incredibly light around here. People (me included) will complain about traffic, but it doesn't hold a candle to what big cities get.

The economy in the area has expanded a lot, geico specifically has a huge call center here that apparently pays pretty well and hires people with 0 skills.

We're really close to Canada, so if you haven't been and want to check a country off your bucket list, there you go.

The only real downside is snow. We can get a lot of it. If you hate snow, this isn't a good place for you. Other than that, its a great city.

 

[Dei]

What I will say about Colorado is that it's nerdy as fuck, and you might really like a place like Fort Collins. Denver has a pretty high attendance Comic Con, but it's still no where near as huge as SDCC in terms of content, mostly because it is run by a nerdy non profit that uses pop culture to teach literacy. I live in a smaller town, but it's right on the interstate and a 30 min drive from Denver.[DOUBLEPOST=1514957327,1514957264][/DOUBLEPOST]

Forgetting the touristy stuff, why Amazon HQ2 should be in Buffalo, NY why LittleKagsin should move to Buffalo, NY.

Cost of living is insanely cheap. I'm in a 2 bedroom apartment in a pretty popular part of town that costs $850 a month.

If you're a drinker, we have a great bar scene. Last call is 4am.

If you're the kind of person that likes eating food, we have phenomenal food. Obviously wings, but the nicer dining scene has expanded in the area as well.

If you like nature and hiking and whatnot, we've got a lot of great scenery around us. Niagara falls, of course, but the gorge just downstream is beautiful as well. Letchwork park is a bit of a drive from the city but its beautiful.

The local football team, the Buffalo Bills are currently riding a relatively long streak of making the playoffs and its been pretty fun.

As a city built for a much larger population, traffic is incredibly light around here. People (me included) will complain about traffic, but it doesn't hold a candle to what big cities get.

The economy in the area has expanded a lot, geico specifically has a huge call center here that apparently pays pretty well and hires people with 0 skills.

We're really close to Canada, so if you haven't been and want to check a country off your bucket list, there you go.

The only real downside is snow. We can get a lot of it. If you hate snow, this isn't a good place for you. Other than that, its a great city.

I still get really fucking confused by how nice Buffalo is now. It was such a shithole 15 years ago, and is recovering into such a pretty city now.

 

[blotsfan]

I still get really fucking confused by how nice Buffalo is now. It was such a shithole 15 years ago, and is recovering into such a pretty city now.

Its amazing. When I was in high school, North Park/Hertel was considered kind of a crap part of town. Now, I think I'd want to buy a house in this area.

 

[MindDetective]

Ashland, OR, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It is a quirky town, full of hippies, retirees, retired hippies, college students, and is a stone's throw from every conceivable ideology on the political spectrum. Due to the tourists coming for the festival, there are a hundred (more, probably) great restaurants and there is tons of outdoor activities to do here: hiking, climbing, rafting, skiing, biking, etc. Let me just give you some pros and cons:

Pros:
- You like making costumes? I don't doubt you could land a job doing just that for the plays. I don't know what it pays, but I bet you can see all of the plays pretty cheaply if you work on them!
- It isn't the big city but it has a lot of the culture of a big city.
- Mountains, lakes, rivers, forests are all 20 minutes away or less. The beach pacific ocean is 2.5 hours away too.
- San Francisco is 6 hours away, Portland is 4 hours away, and Seattle is 8 hours away. They are all great for getting away for the weekend.
- The Britt Festival sees a ton of great music come through during the summer.
- We have four glorious seasons, each about 3 months long. My wife loves fall and spring the best and things the summer gets too hot. I don't mind the hear, personally.

Cons:
- It isn't a big city, so it doesn't have the robust employment opportunities you might find there.
- The smoke from the forest fires in August can hang in the valley. It is a great time to get away.
- Extreme liberals (the mumps epidemic will start in Ashland, I bet) surrounded by conservatives. Everyone wears their politics right on their sleeves here.
- Ashland, OR is ridiculously expensive. You will need to leave in Talent, Phoenix, or Medford to make ends meet, most likely. It isn't a huge deal, since everything is so close, but Talent and Phoenix are very small and Medford is the farthest away and also the most urban sprawled of the lot.

If Ashland, OR piques your interest, inquire within!

 

[PatrThom]

Not even going to recommend anything (except for one wild stab) until some questions get answered.

-Are you interested in inside the US only? My assumption is that you are only looking for lower 48 but want to be sure.
-What is your preferred climate? Weather is going to be a BIG make-or-break if you can't abide heat/cold, or get depressed when it's too cloudy. Even something as dumb as the scenery will take a big hit, and determine whether you're surrounded by pine trees, poplars, or palms.
-Residence or regroup? Are you looking for a place to live, or do you just want somewhere you can stay 5 years or so and grind some XP and fame?
-School? Is being too close to/far away from a school/university going to make a difference?

I only really feel confident talking about the area where I've spent most of my life, which is between I-96 and I-80 (N of Fort Wayne/South Bend IN, Toledo OH, S of Grand Rapids/Lansing/Flint MI) but just as a wild guess, I would look at Sioux City, IA. I've never been there (and maybe @Dave can speak more to it?) so have no actual experience with it. The stats look good (climate, employment, population, access to state parks, waterfront, and airport), but it doesn't exactly scream "Bohemia." I look forward to hearing more about it from anyone who's lived (near?) there.

Also I re-upped my Facebook friend request since it looks like I got purged in the last round.

--Patrick

 

[drifter]

Buy/retrofit a camper van and live dat road trip life until you find a place that makes you happy.

 

[bhamv3]

For a brief time, from around 2004 or so, we had the tallest building in the world.

 

[Bubble181]

Yeah, do non-US areas need to apply? I have an apartment I'm renting out 2 hours from London, 3 hours from Paris, and 30 minutes from me :-P Brussels definitely has a lot going for it, and it's ownset of downsides...but it's definitely something very different from small-town USA.

 

[WasabiPoptart]

Hawaii is expensive and jobs are going to be hard to find since the employment rate is low. Oh I can't forgot that some despot wants to shoot missiles at us which we'd have about 10 minutes to prepare for. But the weather's not bad.

 

[bhamv3]

Oh I can't forgot that some despot wants to shoot missiles at us which we'd have about 10 minutes to prepare for.

We also have this.

But the weather's not bad.

But we don't have this.

 

[Tinwhistler]

Texas! We've got big cities, and we've got not-so-big communities right outside big cities, in easy driving distance. The cost of living is nice, unemployment is low, the winters are mild but the summers are DEFINITELY NOT. A/C is a must, both for your car and your home, no two ways about it.

But in my experience, there are few places as easy and lucrative to "start over" than Texas. The closer you get to Austin, the more LGBTQ-friendly you'll find people to be, though the cost of living also increases accordingly (and exponentially). So there is that tradeoff. But nowhere near as bad as I'd expect Utah to have been. And there's nightlife, if you're into that sort of thing. There's also really good internet, if you'd rather stay home, like me.

I agree with the above, with the caveat: Avoid houston. Every time I come home for a visit, I say to my myself "God, what a shithole".

I can't really recommend my town. It's got 1600 people in it

I can't really recommend the DC metro area. It's insanely expensive. When we first moved up here (Leesburg, VA), a 3 bedroom 974 sq foot apartment was $2000/month. My 4 bedroom 3000sq foot house in Texas was $950/month, and I was renting, so it was costing the owners less. It's hard to live up here without multiple incomes in the household, or a high paying government or tech job. That said, there's plenty of culture if you're into museums, history and stuff.

 

[phil]

My 4 bedroom 3000sq foot house in Texas was $950/month, and I was renting, so it was costing the owners less.

Where was this? Best I can find right now is like ~1200 sqft up by Sherman for 1,000 ish.

 

[Yoshimickster]

Philadelphia, a BRILLIANT bar scene, restaurants of all shapes and sizes, one guy on 20th and Sansom who makes REALLY good Gyro platters(but does not have forks, do not ask), great comic book stores, and more museums and libraries than you can shake a stick at! One of which has the Rocky statue.

 

[Emrys]

Saskatoon - It's cold and we have weasels.

 

[Tinwhistler]

Where was this? Best I can find right now is like ~1200 sqft up by Sherman for 1,000 ish.

Denton. Of course, it was nearly 8 years ago. A quick scan of Zillow, Trulia and Rent.com shows prices that are $500-1000 higher now. You can still get 3bed/2bath 1200ish sq ft in the area for around 900 though.

 

[drawn_inward]

Vancouver.

 

[PatrThom]

Vancouver.

Might as well just say Duluth. Almost the same, but no visa required.

--Patrick

 

[MindDetective]

No way. Vancouver is a sauna compared to Duluth.

 

[LittleKagsin]

And um...there's also this super nerdy yoga guy that could show you around the city.

I'm not so sneakily asking you guys about your cities so if I moved there I could meet you and could hopefully already have a friend where ever I moved. LETS BE FRIENDS!

Forgetting the touristy stuff, why Amazon HQ2 should be in Buffalo, NY why LittleKagsin should move to Buffalo, NY.

Cost of living is insanely cheap. I'm in a 2 bedroom apartment in a pretty popular part of town that costs $850 a month.

If you're a drinker, we have a great bar scene. Last call is 4am.

If you're the kind of person that likes eating food, we have phenomenal food. Obviously wings, but the nicer dining scene has expanded in the area as well.

If you like nature and hiking and whatnot, we've got a lot of great scenery around us. Niagara falls, of course, but the gorge just downstream is beautiful as well. Letchwork park is a bit of a drive from the city but its beautiful.

The local football team, the Buffalo Bills are currently riding a relatively long streak of making the playoffs and its been pretty fun.

As a city built for a much larger population, traffic is incredibly light around here. People (me included) will complain about traffic, but it doesn't hold a candle to what big cities get.

The economy in the area has expanded a lot, geico specifically has a huge call center here that apparently pays pretty well and hires people with 0 skills.

We're really close to Canada, so if you haven't been and want to check a country off your bucket list, there you go.

The only real downside is snow. We can get a lot of it. If you hate snow, this isn't a good place for you. Other than that, its a great city.

Last call is at 4 am??? Holy shit!! I was hoping/thinking that where I moved to, I would try to get a job at a bar/restaurant - I'm still learning, but I can bar tend and waitress, I would enjoy a more social working atmosphere too. So, lots of food place and bars sounds like it would be pretty perfect!

Not even going to recommend anything (except for one wild stab) until some questions get answered.

-Are you interested in inside the US only? My assumption is that you are only looking for lower 48 but want to be sure.
-What is your preferred climate? Weather is going to be a BIG make-or-break if you can't abide heat/cold, or get depressed when it's too cloudy. Even something as dumb as the scenery will take a big hit, and determine whether you're surrounded by pine trees, poplars, or palms.
-Residence or regroup? Are you looking for a place to live, or do you just want somewhere you can stay 5 years or so and grind some XP and fame?
-School? Is being too close to/far away from a school/university going to make a difference?

I only really feel confident talking about the area where I've spent most of my life, which is between I-96 and I-80 (N of Fort Wayne/South Bend IN, Toledo OH, S of Grand Rapids/Lansing/Flint MI) but just as a wild guess, I would look at Sioux City, IA. I've never been there (and maybe @Dave can speak more to it?) so have no actual experience with it. The stats look good (climate, employment, population, access to state parks, waterfront, and airport), but it doesn't exactly scream "Bohemia." I look forward to hearing more about it from anyone who's lived (near?) there.

Also I re-upped my Facebook friend request since it looks like I got purged in the last round.

--Patrick

I mean, yes inside the US please - though if the opportunity presented itself, moving to a foreign place would be pretty badass, but I'm not ready for that. And you're correct in your lower 48 assumptions.

Honestly, no preferred climate. I can do anything. Where I live now is pretty damn cold and we normally get feet and feet of snow - no major storm this year, but it'll come this month, I'm sure. It's regularly below zero, as far as temp goes, and then hangs out in the 90's in the summer. So. I'm used to all of it. I would like sunshine at some point, so I probably wouldn't do Seattle. :/ I like pine trees? But, really, the world is pretty and I don't care what kind of foliage I'm surrounded by.

I'm not looking for a permanent place, nope. Just a place I can start over, have some fun, meet some new people, have an adventure, and then move again in a few years.

Nope, no difference there. I'm not going to be going to school - if I was, I already have my two schools picked out and that would inform my living situation pretty much, but I'm not. I wouldn't mind a college town? I could meet people my age, well, sort of, I'm older, but still. It wouldn't bother me. And it would't bother me if there wasn't one nearby either.

Yeah, do non-US areas need to apply? I have an apartment I'm renting out 2 hours from London, 3 hours from Paris, and 30 minutes from me :-P Brussels definitely has a lot going for it, and it's ownset of downsides...but it's definitely something very different from small-town USA.

DONT TEMPT ME LIKE THIS!!

Philadelphia, a BRILLIANT bar scene, restaurants of all shapes and sizes, one guy on 20th and Sansom who makes REALLY good Gyro platters(but does not have forks, do not ask), great comic book stores, and more museums and libraries than you can shake a stick at! One of which has the Rocky statue.

Philly was on my short list!

 

[sixpackshaker]

Huntsville,
It is a Micro-Plex dominated by two industries, Prison and Higher Education.
Nearly all cultural activities revolve around the college.
Very low cost of living. But it is changing now. Exxon opened an office about 45 miles from here, and home prices are starting to go up.
It is like a small Austin, a dash of weird in the middle of the Bible Belt.
Small town living just a short drive from the madness of one of the largest cities in the world.

 

[PatrThom]

I'm not so sneakily asking you guys about your cities so if I moved there I could meet you and could hopefully already have a friend where ever I moved. LETS BE FRIENDS!

Oh, I wish I had the time. And that I were a go somewhere, do stuff, have fun - kinda guy.
But Grand Rapids, MI might still be worth checking out (art galleries and microbreweries galore!), unless you don't want to live so close to one of the most Conservative places in the USA...in which case Kalamazoo might be a better alternative (but there are more students in K'zoo, and therefore fewer waitstaff jobs).

Huntsville,
It is a Micro-Plex dominated by two industries, Prison and Higher Education.
Nearly all cultural activities revolve around the college.
Very low cost of living. But it is changing now. Exxon opened an office about 45 miles from here, and home prices are starting to go up.
It is like a small Austin, a dash of weird in the middle of the Bible Belt.
Small town living just a short drive from the madness of one of the largest cities in the world.

Cranky spent a dozen years living there, if you want any details. Mostly what he remembers is aerospace.

--Patrick

 

[Bubble181]

Last call is at 4 am??? Holy shit!! I was hoping/thinking that where I moved to, I would try to get a job at a bar/restaurant - I'm still learning, but I can bar tend and waitress, I would enjoy a more social working atmosphere too. So, lots of food place and bars sounds like it would be pretty perfect!


DONT TEMPT ME LIKE THIS!!

...Did you know most of Belgium doesn't have such a thing as "last call" laws? A bar or club closes when the owner wants to close and/or there's no reason to keep open (no patrons).

 

[jwhouk]

Mesa, Arizona. (What, you think I was going to curse you with MERRILL, WISCONSIN????)

PROS: Relatively cheap cost of living, good employment market, close enough to PHX for a nightlife scene, pretty livable if you have a car, mountains are wonderful. Lots of recreational opportunities, especially for hiking and climbing.

CONS: 100F+ temps pretty much from May to October. July can be horrid. Dust storms. A *lot* of older people, especially from October to April. The heat. Crime rate is hit-or-miss based on where you live. HOT. Some redneckish behavior. Not sure about LGBQT population. OMG The HEAT.

 

[LittleKagsin]

...Did you know most of Belgium doesn't have such a thing as "last call" laws? A bar or club closes when the owner wants to close and/or there's no reason to keep open (no patrons).

Gonna teach me the language? Cause....all I could do is smile and slide people a beer?

Also, you guys are the sweetest thinking about my LGBTQ status, it thrills me.

 

[PatrThom]

you guys are the sweetest thinking about my LGBTQ status, it thrills me.

Well then you definitely need to take a second look at Grand Rapids.

...

You know, this must be (on a smaller scale) how it must feel for all those communities that are courting Amazon HQ2.

--Patrick

 

[drawn_inward]

Santa Fe is a nice town. I think it has a bustling LB community. The food is great too. I don't know much about jobs or such, but I had a great time there.

 

[GasBandit]

Santa Fe is a nice town. I think it has a bustling LB community. The food is great too. I don't know much about jobs or such, but I had a great time there.

It's probably the most expensive place to live in New Mexico, which is a slight contradiction in terms, but you definitely get more bang for your buck in Albuquerque. Thing is, ABQ seems to be having a dramatic upswing in violent/property crime.

But the climate there is uh MAY zing. Comfy year round, pretty much.

 

[Bubble181]

Gonna teach me the language? Cause....all I could do is smile and slide people a beer?

Also, you guys are the sweetest thinking about my LGBTQ status, it thrills me.

There's plenty of bartenders and barkeeps who only communicate in English...the European capital, after all. And there's for official languages and addressing people in the wrong one makes them all frowny.
Plus, huge expat LGBTQI scene here. The climate...is better than London. Heh.