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Where would you choose to live..and using some of these factors in your consideration
Weather
Economy
Safety (crime-lower the better obviously)
Job market
Future growth
Amenities
Urban lifestyle
Metro area (burbs)
Access to nearby cities
Nature and landscape (mountains, oceans, hills, lakes, rivers etc)
Food
Is the city have energy or is it pretty dull
Architecture
Things to do (museums, zoos, etc)
Sports
The people
Traffic
New construction/population growth
Affordability
Taxes
Home buying (costs)
Schools
Last edited by JMT; 06-18-2014 at 06:43 PM..
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You're right but it makes it more interesting to me lol. I am quite happy at my move to austin...these are all great cities though and its interesting to see what others value in an area and what places people find the best place to live.
The most random list I've seen with a combination of large metros and small ones.
San Diego stands out for me. Fantastic weather. Small area with reasonable traffic. Lots of people. Beach.
Weather A solid 4 season year, which I prefer to the same thing year round. Economy Strong for high-tech and educated fields. Safety (crime-lower the better obviously) Relatively safe for a big city. Job market Refer to 2. Future growth It will continue to grow like most other major cities in the US in the near future. Amenities Plenty of everything. Urban lifestyle Its the only city on this list besides Chicago that really offers a true urban lifestyle. The rest are basically "new-age", overgrown suburban cities. Metro area (burbs) Many nice, well-off but expensive suburbs. The T extends into parts of the suburbs for a easy commute into the city. Access to nearby cities Its kind of the outlier of the East Coast cities. About 4 hours by car to New York, 6 to Philadelphia, and 7.5-8 from Washington. Nature and landscape (mountains, oceans, hills, lakes, rivers etc) Sits right on the Atlantic, and is close to some very nice, more rural areas not far from the city limits. Cape Cod is an awesome place. Food Nice mix of everything, although I think it still lags behind others. Is the city have energy or is it pretty dull The city has energy like every other high density area, but its no New York. Architecture Lots of beautiful, old world architecture that reminds me of Europe in some ways. Things to do (museums, zoos, etc) Plenty of top notch museums in the city. Sports Boston sports fans are second to none, but I may be biased as I am one. The people The people are for the most part straight up and don't BS around. I like the up-frontness of Northeasterners when compared to the more "behind your back" style thats a stereotype of the South, Midwest, West, etc. Traffic Like any other city, traffic can be very bad at rush hour, especially on I-93. New construction/population growth Boston is growing again like other cities, and a strong high-tech economy I think will help fuel continued future growth. Affordability Very much on the high-price range, but this is the Northeast after all. Taxes Its a liberal city in a liberal state. Home buying (costs) Again, expensive when compared to many of the other places listed. Schools The city schools aren't great, but there are many top-notch private schools, and some very good suburban districts.
All in all, Boston would definitely not be my first choice of cities to live in. I grew up in the area and was never overly impressed with Boston. Its a nice city that has a lot to offer, but just wasn't for me. But to me its the only truly urban city on the list besides Chicago, and I prefer the high-density, fast paced environment the Northeast offers. The rest of those cities are too suburban in character to attract me, but to each their own.
MB...so in your view then what I'd s truly urban city?
Chicago
Boston
NYC
LA?
San Francisco?
Philly?
DC?
Because I can make a case for the cities above in comparasion to those...NYC obviously not but that's a different story.
I'm going to butt in here and digress:
It's a bit counterintuitive to establish Boston as an urban city without question but question Philadelphia and San Francisco's status as urban cities. Anyway, here's my list (using the aforementioned locations):
NYC
Chicago
SF
Boston/Philly
DC
LA
I only ousted DC from being on the same tier as Boston and Philadelphia because its vibrancy isn't consistent throughout. As a whole, though, it is very urban, especially for an American city.
To me at least there seems to be a pretty sizeable drop off in terms of urban living and or "feel" after NYC and Chicago. Could just be me...I know there are other cities that fit the bill though.
But to be honest most people, unless younger and typically single, don't want or need to live downtown in a super urban area. I put it on the list because its good for discussion and for me living in the burbs and visiting the city is much more preferable so it would be nice that that said city be urban and actually feel like a city.
MB...so in your view then what I'd s truly urban city?
Chicago
Boston
NYC
LA?
San Francisco?
Philly?
DC?
Because I can make a case for the cities above in comparasion to those...NYC obviously not but that's a different story.
I'm a little confused in what you are asking. Do you want me to rank those cities based on how urban they feel to me?
If so,
1.) New York (obviously)
2.) Chicago
3.) San Francisco
4.) Philadelphia (pretty close between 3&4 in my opinion)
5.) Boston
6.) DC
7.) LA (although definitely has some urban parts, it gets quite sprawl-ish in many ares, though not as bad as it used to be).
To me, there are no truly urban cities in the US outside the Northeast Corridor, Chicago, and California. The other cities to me just seem like overgrown suburbs with some tall buildings thrown in the middle. To me, almost all of the cities you listed don't have a basic urban fabric: dense downtowns, strong public transit, high density, rowhouse/high-rise majority housing, etc.
*Awaits the onslaught from people who live in cities outside aforementioned areas*
To me at least there seems to be a pretty sizeable drop off in terms of urban living and or "feel" after NYC and Chicago. Could just be me...I know there are other cities that fit the bill though.
But to be honest most people, unless younger and typically single, don't want or need to live downtown in a super urban area. I put it on the list because its good for discussion and for me living in the burbs and visiting the city is much more preferable so it would be nice that that said city be urban and actually feel like a city.
I disagree. Places like Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, DC, etc. all have a very strong and obvious urban fabric and feel to them. I live in South Philadelphia, and it has a very urban neighborhood feel to it. Its not as overwhelmingly urban as New York, but it would definitely qualify as urban in any definition IMO, as would most of the city. I can walk to everything I need, and theres a bus stop right outside my door and a subway stop a block away. The entire neighborhood is row homes and row house style businesses (except for that stupid Acme ) with very little interruption in its urban fabric. There are many kinds of those neighborhoods in cities outside New York and Chicago. I would argue that Center City has a "super-urban" feel to it similar to New York or Chicago.
But lets be honest here, it isn't exactly fair to compare any city's urbanity to Manhattan's.
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To me, almost all of the cities you listed don't have a basic urban fabric: dense downtowns, strong public transit, high density, rowhouse/high-rise majority housing, etc. 
