which city would you live if you have the choice?

[Semidevil]

I'm currently looking for a job "all over the U.S," but it's a bit overwhelming to literally consider every state in the country, so I'm trying to narrow it down to a few.

Currently, I"m primarily looking at Seattle, Dallas, Austin, and maybe.....LA or San Francisco (still worried about the cost of living).

Dallas and Austin is my first choice because it seems to have the best balance of pay vs cost of living. But right now, the top 3 I listed, I'm getting some interviews, but nothing really set in stone. I want to see what other cities I can or should consider.

Here is what i"m looking for:
- reasonable cost of living vs pay. I.e, $700 to 1000 at most for a 1 bedroom apt, decent, safe, not run down.
- "Safe." I know everywhere has it's crime, so maybe something on the lower end of the crime rate scale.
- cultural diversity
- We are in our 30s, so we're not looking for a party place, but a place where we can settle for at least a couple years to work and get experience. I"m in the insurance industry, and she is in the graphic design industry, so a place where jobs can be available.
- I"m looking for the 'major cities,' so well known, modern, updated, has growth, and is more or less not stale. more on the urban side

Any cities come to mind?

 

[gotsmack]

Portland, OR

Too bad there are no jobs out there.

 

[MongGrel]

Honolulu, again.

Somewhere in HI at any rate.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Seattle would be high on the list for me.

Around Boston, you can live in Jamaica Plain, Allston, or Somerville the top end of your range.

Also consider Minneapolis. There's not much that I'd recommend seeing as a tourist, but as a place to live, it's really nice. Wide open city, lots of parks, active and friendly people, good theater scene.

I'm less of a city person, so I'd add smaller places like Burlington, VT and Madison WI, but those are probably less to your liking.

 

[jana519]

Boise, Idaho. They have some fine potatoes in Boise, Idaho.

 

[PliotronX]

Palo Alto, Mountain View, or San Diego in that order.

 

[maddogchen]

For me I would live in Paris...

 

[WiseUp216]

I'm partial to the New England area but the weather is a big turn off for most people.

I lived in Baltimore for a couple of years in my early twenties and absolutely loved it. I would move back if I was still single.

I can't recommend my current city (Cleveland) but the cost of living here is pretty much unbeatable.

 

[BeeBoop]

If I had a choice, it would be a city that had google fiber. Seriously! So maybe Austin.

 

[PlanetJosh]

Amsterdam without a doubt, I visited there for a week. I think money will not be the issue to move there and support myself. There are some social issues involved that to some degree are more important than money that make me choose to remain here in southern California. Including a point I need to make by staying here in San Diego. Which actually is a decent place to live anyway.

So I'm going off the thread title just a little. I wish to live in Amsterdam but I would not relocate there even though I'll probably have the money to do so.

 

[Malak]

San Antonio is where I am going to look. I would definitely shout NO to Seattle. Stay away.

 

[purbeast0]

US - kaanapali, maui

world - aruba or turks and caicos

 

[Leyawiin]

I lived in Baltimore for a couple of years in my early twenties and absolutely loved it. I would move back if I was still single.

I like Baltimore as well. Its a rough town in a lot of respects, but the nicer areas are hard to beat. Lovely old brick rowhouses, friendly people (for the East Coast), great sports town, great food, tons of history. In the bad areas it almost looks like Fallout 3 though.

I would choose Minneapolis/St. Paul. I love that metro area in spite of the cold winters. Its kind of like a Seattle on the Northern Plains. Lots of cultural attractions, amazing local music scene, clean and well kept for the most part, people are "Minnesota Nice", progressive without being stupid about it. Plus real estate is still within reach. I love the area and have often thought of moving there (just this past week was looking through want ads and real estate).

 

[DrPizza]

Personally, I hate noise, I hate traffic, I hate crowds. Thus, my choice of city is no city - rural. Up the road from me, I have "neighbors" who vacation on my road - a couple from Buffalo, a couple from Rochester, and one guy from Albany. They leave the city to "relax and unwind." I prefer that I remain in that state.j

But, if forced to live in a city, and I could afford the cost of living for that particular city, Seattle or San Diego.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm fairly happy where I am, but if I was to move I would love a place where I own a large parcel of land, like maybe a few acres surrounded by bush, and where there are zero by laws or any rules on how I live. I just want to build what I want how I want, and do what I want. I'd also want it to be near a lake so I can have a boat and go fishing and stuff. Also would be ideal if it's not that far from a town so I can have an address or PO box there at least so I can get stuff delivered to.

I would want to live fairly self sufficient but still go in town for luxeries. I'd have some solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy sources to power all my stuff and have an indoor heated greenhouse for food etc... Since lot of that stuff I can't exactly build myself in the middle of the woods, plenty of spare parts for everything too. Basically be self sufficient but also have some luxeries. I'd also run fibre so I can have internet, perhaps even have a small data center there to host servers, which is what would give me a reoccurring income.

Of course, I may as well be asking for a unicorn too as no such place exists.

 

[Ichinisan]

which city would you live if you have the choice?

I would live all cities.

 

[gotsmack]

I would definitely shout NO to Seattle. Stay away.

Why? I'm thinking of moving there in the spring, where I plan on settleimg down so my next move is the most important. It's either there or San Diego and SD has a water shortage that isn't going to get better.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Portland, OR

Too bad there are no jobs out there.

Definitely a good city for living, and that's coming from a resident; pity the job market is so competitive and the housing market sucks (unless you're rich). Although if I had my druthers and could live anywhere, I'd probably go for San Diego or Hawaii just for the weather. Then again, if I had an unlimited bank account, having my "home" in Portland and spending all my time traveling the world would be basically perfect.

 

[deadlyapp]

For nearly all the places you are asking about, you will not find a 1br for that price within the city. I've lived (or dabbled with living) in most of those locations and you're not going to find it. If you're willing to live outside the city, then maybe.

For SF and LA, definitely look at 1400+ for a decent 1Br in a decent area. Seattle within the city will be about the same, but there are lots of suburbs that aren't as bad.

Dallas and Austin are good choices. Austin will feel "younger" and quite a bit more trendier - similar to Seattle, Portland, and SF. Dallas is a bit more grown up and has quite a bit of the large city feel that you would get in Seattle, SF, LA.

Think long and hard about weather though - are you willing to deal with the monsoons, extreme heat, and potential tornadoes in Texas? On the west coast you really only have to deal with earthquakes, which are rare. Seattle obviously you have to deal with the rain and overcast, and for some people they can't adjust.

 

[Fenixgoon]

probably austin,TX. i'd also look at places in the carolinas and georgia.

 

[squarecut1]

If you are thinking Dallas, then might as well look into Houston

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Bat Area is fantastic but your not getting anything for $1000/month here, lucky to find a 1-bedroom under $1750 on the peninsula and $2500 in SF.

I think Dallas sucks. Austin or San Antonio in Texas would be OK.

Tucson we like, Denver is cool.

Portland sucks - too much rain & fog & cold.

San Diego is fantastic but spendy as well.

 

[Jay5]

"all over the us"

haha,your better off moving to a different country.considering the future of america aint lookin to good for the ones who actually want to work for a living

 

[RossMAN]

Paducah, KY

 

[Ruptga]

Kansas City? It's a little boring but not as much as you might think, and it meets your criteria, the climate is more moderate than anything on your short list, and there's Google Fiber.

If I were choosing from your short list I'd take Seattle, because its cost of living isn't horrible and it's not in Texas, which eliminates the other four. I do hear good things about Austin though, primarily that it's completely unlike the rest of the state (keep Austin weird).

If I could live anywhere in the US I'd probably go for a city in Colorado; I really like the climate/geography, and there's a lot of diverse people there to keep things interesting.