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I am lucky enough to be able to move anywhere to set up a new office for my company as long as it is a major city, even internationally. We are running a new trial that can be done from anywhere.
So I'd like to go somewhere that matches what I've always wanted from a city:
-Big, with a ton going on
-Great public transit
-Lots of educated young professionals
-High Jewish population
-Great weather (I don't like winters)
If you can choose where in the city to set up your office, then Los Angeles is a fantastic choice as there is a large area of Los Angeles with quite good (for the US) mass transit. If you can choose where in LA to set up your office and choose where to live then it's actually quite easy for you to have a life that's light to nil on car usage.
Further afield are options like Buenos Aires (which does have a large Jewish population, great transit, and fairly good weather though the summers sometimes get a bit hot, but you're going to have to speak Spanish as general English speaking abilities there are not all that high though there is a significant expat population) and Tel Aviv.
Also, in response to Carlite, the Bay Area actually does have a significant Jewish population (like one of the top 10 or 20 largest of all metro areas) and places like SF and parts of the East Bay have a lot of what you're looking for (though keep in mind that the western/Pacific side of SF can be chilly almost year round). Here's a link to a wiki articles with some references:
Seems like in the United States, Los Angeles is the closest match in all the categories... It fits every category but public transportation to a "T". While the PT is not "great" it is definitely above average and like Oycrumbler said, if you pick the right place (and there are countless versions / locations of "the right place") you can live car-free or car-light in LA with ease.
The Bay Area fits the public transit category slightly better, slightly worse on weather, and has a smaller Jewish population but as seen above there is a sizable community.
Really appreciate all the ideas and thoughts! This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to determine where I'm going to live, so thank you for your advice. Given what's been mentioned and internet research, how I feel so far...
Los Angeles: Does it feel like you're in a big city or is it too spread out? My desire to live in one (besides work requirement) comes from loving the busyness/culture in Chicago. Also, seems to be a lot of confusion over how good the public transit is, both here and elsewhere online. For me, there's two real questions (yes/no preferred... don't really need neighborhoods/examples yet):
1. If I live in an area that is nice/trendy with young professionals, will I be able to get to/home from bars late at night on weekends in less than 30 min for less than $15?
2. How centralized are companies? Is there an area I can work in (less than 45 min from a young professional trendy area) where I'll be able to get to most other business meetings in less than 30 min/$15?
Miami: I'm worried that the Jewish community there is older and there aren't many young professionals. Is this valid? Also worried that it may be more of a suburban v. urban city (is this the case?). Seems like the public transit may also be a concern.
San Diego: Seems to be close on all factors, but only really aces the weather test. A bit smaller city than I'd like (I imagine concerts, etc. often skip over it in favor of LA?), seems like public transit is only OK, and the Jewish community is a bit smaller than I'd prefer.
Melbourne/Sydney: Intriguing ideas... Similar to San Diego in that both are smaller cities than I'd like, seems like public transit is only OK, and the Jewish community is smaller than I'd prefer.
DC: Doesn't seem like it is year-round warm weather. What's it like in the winter? I have no concerns about it being too hot (I'll manage).
Tel Aviv: Seems like it may be a bit too small for me. Also the only place where cultural considerations come into play for me. I'm comfortable with Asian cities cause I've been there, but haven't spent time in Israel. Is it easy to get by not knowing the language? How does it compare with major US cities?
Cities not in the running but mentioned by others:
Montreal, NYC, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, London, Baltimore, SF (bad weather)
Singapore, Hong Kong, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Bangkok (small Jewish community)
Denver, Portland, Honolulu (too small)
Buenos Aires (Spanish speaking)
I question the validity of this wiki article. The first chart has LA at 4th in the entire world with Jewish population, then the second chart doesn't rank LA at all in the large Jewish populations outside of Israel. Chicago and Boston are also missing on the second chart. Less than a 10,000 difference between Philadelphia city and the entire Philadelphia metro, when there's more than 10,000 Jews in Cherry Hill alone, not even looking at Main Line, Delaware and Bucks Counties, and the rest of Camden County. San Fran/Bay Area has a similar discrepancy...
What I don't doubt is that the top 5 Jewish cities in America are New York, LA, Miami, Philly and San Fran, with nods to Boston and Chicago. I just question the numbers and accuracy of the charts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joshjacobson
DC: Doesn't seem like it is year-round warm weather. What's it like in the winter? I have no concerns about it being too hot (I'll manage).
Tel Aviv: Seems like it may be a bit too small for me. Also the only place where cultural considerations come into play for me. I'm comfortable with Asian cities cause I've been there, but haven't spent time in Israel. Is it easy to get by not knowing the language? How does it compare with major US cities?
First, DC has cold winter weather. It averages 2 degrees warmer than Philadelphia, which is 2 degrees warmer than Boston. In other words: cold.
Tel Aviv. I haven't been yet, but trust me, I intend to go. Two things about Tel Aviv that I know. 1. It's the largest metro in Israel and is an international. In the modern day in age, that basically makes it the largest city. It's a cultural hub of our tiny friends and is generally considered to be an World City. 2. The women are smooooooooooooooooooooookin hot. That's my primary reason for wanting to go. Israeli women really do it for me. Don't ask me about public transportation in Tel Aviv, I don't know.
Really appreciate all the ideas and thoughts! This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to determine where I'm going to live, so thank you for your advice. Given what's been mentioned and internet research, how I feel so far...
Los Angeles: Does it feel like you're in a big city or is it too spread out? My desire to live in one (besides work requirement) comes from loving the busyness/culture in Chicago. Also, seems to be a lot of confusion over how good the public transit is, both here and elsewhere online. For me, there's two real questions (yes/no preferred... don't really need neighborhoods/examples yet):
1. If I live in an area that is nice/trendy with young professionals, will I be able to get to/home from bars late at night on weekends in less than 30 min for less than $15?
2. How centralized are companies? Is there an area I can work in (less than 45 min from a young professional trendy area) where I'll be able to get to most other business meetings in less than 30 min/$15?
Miami: I'm worried that the Jewish community there is older and there aren't many young professionals. Is this valid? Also worried that it may be more of a suburban v. urban city (is this the case?). Seems like the public transit may also be a concern.
San Diego: Seems to be close on all factors, but only really aces the weather test. A bit smaller city than I'd like (I imagine concerts, etc. often skip over it in favor of LA?), seems like public transit is only OK, and the Jewish community is a bit smaller than I'd prefer.
Melbourne/Sydney: Intriguing ideas... Similar to San Diego in that both are smaller cities than I'd like, seems like public transit is only OK, and the Jewish community is smaller than I'd prefer.
DC: Doesn't seem like it is year-round warm weather. What's it like in the winter? I have no concerns about it being too hot (I'll manage).
Tel Aviv: Seems like it may be a bit too small for me. Also the only place where cultural considerations come into play for me. I'm comfortable with Asian cities cause I've been there, but haven't spent time in Israel. Is it easy to get by not knowing the language? How does it compare with major US cities?
Cities not in the running but mentioned by others:
Montreal, NYC, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, London, Baltimore, SF (bad weather)
Singapore, Hong Kong, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Bangkok (small Jewish community)
Denver, Portland, Honolulu (too small)
Buenos Aires (Spanish speaking)
Downtown Miami is pretty urban with tons of highrise condos haven't been there in years so dunno about the young professionals they do have light rail dunno how extensive it is though.
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