Best city in America to live in?

[Fleshdancer]

My husband and I want to move but we can't figure out where to. We own our own business and we expect to be traveling a lot over the next several years so we want to be in a city with a major airport hub. We're in Austin, TX right now and although it's a wonderful town, traveling out of here is a pain...plus we're from here and we want a change. We have this incredible opportunity to pick a city without worrying about landing a job first so we want to pick a great place.

Of course we don't want a gigantic increase in cost of living although we expect an increase. I like big cities with lots of museums, theaters and other cultural attractions. I would prefer a good level of diversity and a good mass transportation system. NYC is my dream but the cost of living would be too much and my husband doesn't want to live there. :( So far, I have my eyes on Chicago but I've never actually been there...it looks good on paper though. Overall, I want a city with a good vibe to it. I want the ability to meet a lot of interesting people but to also feel anonymous when I want to.

My husband would prefer a city bigger than Austin but smaller than NYC. (How's that for a range, lol!) He loves to snow ski and hates Texas heat. We lived in Minnesota for 3 years so we have snow experience but we both agree we have no interest in moving back to the Twin Cities. We have a daughter so picking a place with a good public school system is essential...this shouldn't be too hard since everything is probably better than Texas schools. ;)

So if you were me, where would you go?

[tjdee]

1. What about one of the California cities or Phoenix...Denver....

I am not sure how big Austin is, LOL.

Seattle is very progressive I've heard, but it rains soooo much.

Wow, how lucky for you guys. I hope you end up somewhere good!

What kind of business do you guys have, if you don't mind my nosiness? Enough that neither of y'all have to worry about a job? How great!! Good luck.

[SiobhanClancy]

2. Boston..

It's expensive,but maybe a bit less than NYC. There are many cultural activities,good mass transit...and a quick trip to ski areas:)

[Fleshdancer]

8. Boston was the first city we considered

but the cost of living is very expensive from what I'm told. :(

[YankeyMCC]

30. Ah, but what is the real cost ?

The cost of housing is high no doubt.

But take a look at this LTTE that appeared in today's Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2006/01/22/i_wish_i_never_left/

[GreenPartyVoter]

29. Boston or Portland, ME

[Left Is Write]

3. My answer is moot...

because if I were you, I'd move to St. Paul. :)

[Fleshdancer]

7. St. Paul is great....

We just want something new and maybe a little less snow. :)

[NV Whino]

4. Denver or nearby

Good airport hub. Good museums. Good Symphony. Close to skiing. I haven't experienced public transportation, so don't know about that. I think theyr'e still dealing with a smog problem, but if you get out of Denver proper, you can probably get away from that. Besides, we need more liberals in Colorado.

[Fleshdancer]

6. My husband is leaning towards Denver

I've never been there before so I'm just now starting to research it. Sounds nice so far and I'm sure the smog can't be any worse than Houston. :)

[NV Whino]

20. I think that's a safe bet.

I forgot about the horrible smog in Houston. At least Denver is trying to do something about it.

I never lived in Denver myself. I lived in Colorado Springs as a kid and loved it. I loved the climate, too. Short rain showers every afternoon in the summer. Snow in the winter, but a dry cold. Not that bone-chilling damp cold of the northeast. In my childhood the air was crisp and clear. Green trees--pine, blue spruce, aspen; wonderful, huge granite boulders; sparkling streams with the best trout in the world. I say go for it.

[Arugula Latte]

22. Denver is sooooooo far from the ocean.

I used to have these daydreams there when I was driving that the plains seen in the distance were the ocean (wishful thinking). The dry air and the altitude are a little hard to take, IMO, and the weather is schizo (30 degrees and snowing one day, then 70 degrees the next, then 30 degrees and snowing again the next day). Plus, it can start snowing in frickin' SEPTEMBER. We lived in the mountains near Denver for a little while, and we just barely escaped in early September before the snow started. It's not my cup of tea, but we have family who migrated there and love it. They try to get us to move there but I tell them I'm a coastal girl and I won't be stuck and landlocked in the middle of the country!

[fishwax]

25. i think the smog has improved considerably in the last 20 years

it used to be absolutely horrible, but the last few times I've been there it wasn't bad.

[distantearlywarning]

31. I posted below about Pittsburgh, but wanted to say something about Denver

I spent 3 very long, very unhappy years in Colorado Springs, which is about 45 minutes south of Denver. Knowing what I do now, I would never, ever, EVER live in that part of Colorado ever again, even if you paid me. It's cold and windy in the winter without much snow, dry to the point of everything being brown and dead all summer long (no green trees anywhere!), and full of pollution and traffic and soul-sucking anonymity. And worst of all, the whole area is completely overrun with mindless Stepford Fundie zombies who are taking urban sprawl to new extremes with endless miles of cloned houses with cloned SUVs in the driveways and cloned children playing in the cloned yards. That part of Colorado is home to Focus on the Family and other mega-churches, and they pretty much rule the roost (when I left Colorado Springs, the entire city council was chock-full of those people, all voted in by the faithful zombie clones from the suburbs). Yuck. I would never live in Colorado Springs or Denver, ever. No culture, no soul, just praise the Lord and pass the gasoline for our 1.5 hour daily commute into the city from our beautiful new home in Lakeview Estates.

Just thought I'd give you fair warning (and apologies to those of you who live in Denver and think it's fabulous - it wasn't my cup of tea).

[GOPisEvil]

13. Denver is really nice.

I'd consider moving there for the right opportunity myself. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. But traffic in Denver is horrendously awful

If I lived there, I would want to be very close to where I worked.

[maveric]

5. San Diego CA.

Best weather, low unemployment, low crime rate. Cost of living is high but lower than Boston, SF, LA, NYC and other desireable cities.
Live here for a year and you'll agree.

[Capn Sunshine]

10. second that

All's you need is a job, because the job market is pretty thin.
SanDiego has some infrastructure issue due to republican corruption, but don't we all.

[Taverner]

9. California will cost you

However, I'm BBQing in the middle of winter, so its worth it ;)

If I didn't care about cold or something to do, Des Moines, IA has always been one of my favorite cities (good schools, nice people, progressive minded) HOWEVER, everyone I've known from Iowa couldn't wait to leave.

If thinking CA however, you can move to Sac area and get a much more affordable experience (and Elk Grove has top rated schools.)

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

11. Pittsburgh...we're going to the Superbowl. We really are a great city.

Great, gorgeous affordable housing. World class museums (including the Carnegie), cosmopolitan yet family/cost friendly.

Okay, we get snow...but that means you can ski at local resorts. The steel industry died decades ago so we are no longer the smoky city.

Sorry, I'm proud of my city.

[Taverner]

12. But did you build your city on rock and roll?

;)

[distantearlywarning]

24. A second vote for Pittsburgh.

I moved here from Colorado, and I love it, love it, love it!!! It's not nearly as dirty as it's reputation, and has everything that's great about a big city without a high cost of living. It's a quirky city with a ton of character, great architecture, cultural activities including some of the finest museums in the US, lots of cute little neighborhoods with different ethnic vibes, and several major research universities. And we have an amazingly beautiful skyline and a winning football team (GO STEELERS!!!)

It's also incredibly cheap to live here. I live in a very nice 3 bedroom apartment in an upscale neighborhood and I pay less than $800 a month in rent. I think the median home price is about $135K, and it is not uncommon to see beautiful old 5-6 bedroom Victorians in nice neighborhoods sell for less than $100K. Although traffic and parking can be an annoyance on Pittsburgh's small, winding streets, public transportation here is cheap, mostly reliable, and goes absolutely everywhere. I have a car, but I never have to drive it (unlike when I lived out west and couldn't even get to a convenience store without driving several miles).

And the best part? It's a very blue city - my neighborhood went over 80% for Kerry in 04 and that's fairly typical within the city limits.

I honestly can't recommend Pittsburgh enough. It's very underrated and most people are surprised when they visit what a neat, fun city it really is. And it's my favorite place I've ever lived. I'm going to be very sad when I have to leave Pittsburgh after grad school is done!

[Burma Jones]

14. DC, although pricey, you have a lot of free stuff to do......

If you shop wisely, and aren't worried about living next to -shudder- persons of color :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: you can still find reasonably priced housing......

[Fleshdancer]

17. *shudder*

:rofl:

The more diversity the better. I like not looking like everyone around me...not everyone feels that way though.

[Wcross]

18. I lived in the area during the mid to late 80's.....

Traffic was a real problem. I spent a LOT of time on my off days at the Smithsonian and the Zoo. They had an ape at the time that was funny as hell. I spent whole days in one museum really looking at things.
You have the shore a short drive away and many historical sites within a couple of hours drive. Baltimore is a short drive north and Philly is a little farther.
If I ever wanted to live in any city again it would be D.C. over any others. (in the U.S. of course)

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Here's a good place to start looking

http://www.city-data.com/

[Sanity Claws]

16. Chicago is bitter cold in the winter

Is the weather a factor for you?

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

23. Not this winter. We had a bad cold snap in December

about two weeks before Christmas, but since then it's been positively balmy.

The only requirement that Chicago doesn't have is good skiing. You can go up to Wisconsin or over to Michigan, but the decent skiing areas are at least 4 hours from Chicago.

[Sanity Claws]

26. Yes, but that's just this year

Usually your winters are terrible. I used to live in NYC and a friend, who still lives there, told me about Dec. 2004 that the winters are not so bad anymore, global warning, y'know. Well, he and the city got socked with lots of snow later on in that winter.
So you may have just jinxed yourself and the entire city with your remark. ;)

[Orangepeel]

19. Baltimore?

apparently, it used to suck, but I hear it's gone through a successful revitalization in the past few years (for example, it was just named America's "fittest" city by some Men's magazine because of all the park space). It is close to everything and has all the big city accoutrements.

The (Democratic) mayor is supposed to be really good and Maryland has been doing some very good things lately (minimum wage increase, making Wal-mart pay for health care, striking down a gay marriage ban).

[hyphenate]

27. There are still a few here in New England

that are not as expensive as Boston.

Providence is one; Hartford is another. Springfield, MA is a good place--Hartford is the closest airport. It's also not as expensive.

Most of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine are also pretty good. There is Albany, NY, or even down to Pittsburgh, PA. Most of upstate NY is relatively great in terms of housing, culture, and much, much more.

It depends on your ages, stamina, and your tolerance to cold and seasons. But the Northeast has some things that other parts of the country don't have, and that's good for some people and bad for others.

Of course there is Seattle, Portland, and other Northwest cities as well. Personally, I need water around me someplace, so I could not live anywhere without a really good sized body of water, so I personally could not reside many places inland. But that's just me. Whatever floats your boat, really.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

32. Hey, our 3-rivers "float boats"...only Dade County, FL has more boat reg's

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) has more registered boat owners than anywhere in the US except Dade County, Florida.

But, I do travel to the shore every summer...can't really beat the ocean.

[northzax]

28. well, where will the travelling be?

if you will be mostly on one coast, then move there, you don't want to be hopping red-eyes all the time to get somewhere you need to be.

[Fleshdancer]

34. we're going be all over the place

Cities on both coasts and many in between. This is another reason why Chicago appealed to me since it's sort of in the middle and it's a huge hub. I just found out that my husband isn't big on Chicago though. We're not city compatible. :)

[mvd]

33. Of the cities I've been too, I like Chicago the most

It's big, has a positive feel, and just seems awesome, if you know what I mean.

Philly is a little too impersonal and negative, and the school system still has a lot of room for improvement. I didn't like the look of the Pittsburgh area, and could still smell the steel mills. Washington is awfully crowded and high priced, and Baltimore has high crime. NY is nice, but HUGE. I liked Boston, but not sure I'd want that far north.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

35. How could you not love this?

Pittsburgh's skyline:


Heinz Field: Home to the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers

[mvd]

36. Sorry, I wouldn't live there

I know you love your city, but it's not for me. I love the Philly skyline. If I had my way, I wouldn't live in either one of the two large PA cities, though.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

37. I worked at UPenn for a while, and I really grew to love Philly.

Not very friendly at first but once you got to know people, it was a great time (lot's of cool Irish bars and St Patrick's day was celebrated for weeks with the people I knew).

World class restaurants too. Didn't like the ugly approach to the city, though, coming from the airport.

[mvd]

38. I live in the Philly suburbs

I'm more of a suburban person. Some Philly people are great and have a distinct character certainly. Both Pittsburgh and Philly have their good points, and are both quite liveable. I like being near the shore, and Pittsburgh has a close community feel for its size. I don't really have a choice right now. I would move back to between Washington and Baltimore if I could.