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I've been thinking about where I want to raise a family so I began to wonder what city would provide the offerings that I need. The following criteria exists:
2m+ metro
Major sports
Diversified public, private and nonprofit sector
Proximity to something (national parks, other metros, water, mountains)
Niche (nationally recognized for something)
Liberal (non traditional interracial family)
*The only place I want to avoid is NY; been there and don't want to subject myself to parenting there by choice.
You have a pretty broad set of criteria, which is good. Some have their drawbacks such as high COL, extreme weather, poor schools, etc but for the most part most of those cities meet your criteria. It sounds like you prefer major metros, so I'd say SF Bay Area, DC & Seattle would be good places to start. I've personally found interracial families can live anywhere these days (as far as major metros go), but of course the most accepting/less judgmental areas tend to still be out West.
I've been thinking about where I want to raise a family so I began to wonder what city would provide the offerings that I need. The following criteria exists:
2m+ metro
Major sports
Diversified public, private and nonprofit sector
Proximity to something (national parks, other metros, water, mountains)
Niche (nationally recognized for something)
Liberal (non traditional interracial family)
*The only place I want to avoid is NY; been there and don't want to subject myself to parenting there by choice.
Sometimes when you live in a place, you want to experience other places before you go back. I feel that way about Chicago, NY and Atlanta. So many other super cool larger cities in the US that I feel I should try before I start duplicating.
Depends. Do you want suburbs or city itself? Every city has good suburbs with good schools (well not everyone). The states for education tend to be in New Jersey, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, PA, etc. As for city propers themselves... I would assume every city has good options for education your kids, but generally cities are not a good place to raise kids, although it can be done right just about anywhere.
Depends. Do you want suburbs or city itself? Every city has good suburbs with good schools (well not everyone). The states for education tend to be in New Jersey, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, PA, etc. As for city propers themselves... I would assume every city has good options for education your kids, but generally cities are not a good place to raise kids, although it can be done right just about anywhere.
I agree with everything you said. I should have been more specific. We desire a city center. Obviously, that would constitute within city limits for whatever that's worth. I've been hearing great things about Seattle. I really like the Bay, Boston, Philly and DC. She went to med school in DC so that may be a stretch to revisit. SD and LA is where she would choose because of whether. I feel like I would get bored in SD and LA is a wild card. All I know is decisions are looming and city data is en vogue!
I think a city not listed like Columbus OH would work.
Perhaps Pittsburgh's East Side, which has a more liberal vibe due to the University of Pittsburgh and supposedly Allderdice High in that area is pretty good. Squirrel Hill would probably be the specific neighborhood to look into and it has a good sized Asian population. Oakland and Shadyside are other neighborhoods nearby that would work. Carnegie Mellon is in that area as well.
Out of those listed, I agree with Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 01-15-2013 at 08:36 PM..
I agree with everything you said. I should have been more specific. We desire a city center. Obviously, that would constitute within city limits for whatever that's worth. I've been hearing great things about Seattle. I really like the Bay, Boston, Philly and DC. She went to med school in DC so that may be a stretch to revisit. SD and LA is where she would choose because of whether. I feel like I would get bored in SD and LA is a wild card. All I know is decisions are looming and city data is en vogue!
Can't speak on other cities since I don't live there but the core of Philadelphia is safe, clean, vibrant, tons of things to do, even for kids (Please Touch Museum, Franklin institute, tons of parks, playgrounds and skateparks, tons of museums). On top of that, the public schools in the core tend to be top notch (Mastermen, Meredith, etc.). There is also Penn Alexander which is a school system run by the University of Pennsylvania. Also, there are a ton of fantastic private schools in the area. Tons of great restaurants and bars, tons of highrises or lowrises/rowhomes to live in (whatever you prefer). Would assume most other cities are the same and raising a kid in all cities would be a similar experience.
Of course, as you may know, Philadelphia is certainly a top notch medical city and your wife would have a slew of great medical institutions within walking distance if you lived in the core. Penn Medicine, CHOP, Thomas Jefferson, Hahnemann, etc.
Can't speak on other cities since I don't live there but the core of Philadelphia is safe, clean, vibrant, tons of things to do, even for kids (Please Touch Museum, Franklin institute, tons of parks, playgrounds and skateparks, tons of museums). On top of that, the public schools in the core tend to be top notch (Mastermen, Meredith, etc.). There is also Penn Alexander which is a school system run by the University of Pennsylvania. Also, there are a ton of fantastic private schools in the area. Tons of great restaurants and bars, tons of highrises or lowrises/rowhomes to live in (whatever you prefer). Would assume most other cities are the same and raising a kid in all cities would be a similar experience.
Of course, as you may know, Philadelphia is certainly a top notch medical city and your wife would have a slew of great medical institutions within walking distance if you lived in the core. Penn Medicine, CHOP, Thomas Jefferson, Hahnemann, etc.
All these cities are a great option.
It's weird because I see people bashing Philadelphia on here often and I wonder do they realize that it's a top 30 world city? It's certainly in our top 7 cities. We have a good friend in Rittenhouse Square, family in NY, and close friends in DC. It wouldn't hurt us at all with the world class medical community and respectable nonprofit sector.
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