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Cool, thanks. A couple of my friends really liked living in Ithaca. Sounds great. Love that it's near other cool cities too. However the main grad program I'm looking at is in Cambridge, Massachussetts. Have never heard Cambridge described as crunchy, holistic, outdoorsy, New Agey, green and some describe its natives (yet maybe not its many transplants?) as unfriendly and maybe racist...eek, really like warm friendliness...but no idea, never been there and only barely started reading about it. Any locals wanna chime in? It's quite liberal and educated and not too tiny so maybe could find enough of "my people" there atleast for a few years? I don't want to be only surrounded by people just like me by the way, just enough to have like-minded friends. Variety is great.
Providence is only an hour from there and sounds really artistic (RISD), smart (Brown), foodie...yay! Yet more crime and worse air quality than I want to live in but sounds great to visit a lot!
The other Northeast cities just don't know enough about yet but sounding great. Too far a commute from Cambridge but maybe could move again after grad school so still interested in them. Living within 8 hours of them could do roadtrips to check them out; love roadtrips. Being anywhere closer to my family in Maryland and North Carolina than California is would be great.
I love California and mild weather and think I'll love Oregon but that grad program sure sounds good and it'd be so nice to be nearer to family...
Some posts made Northampton/Amherst sound like it doesn't have many people in their 30s...?
Anyway I'm rambling
Last edited by NatureYogi; 08-05-2015 at 06:43 PM..
Am reviving my old thread cause it's several months later and I now am truly, officially about to move away from Berkeley, CA, area...as in my stuff is all pared down and boxed up in a Berkeley storage unit, ended housing rental, and basically quit my jobs (my dog and I are having a lovely time staying with friends and family for now but am eager to return to working and renting a home). My car is in Berkeley.
Have more clearly realized Austin, TX, is a really great fit for what I want in a city (as I know from living there several months; left mainly due to no-longer-relevant job reasons and heat but now thinking I could adapt to the heat).
BUT from a wonderful visit with close relatives in Montgomery County, Maryland, I see living within an 8-hour drive (or better yet 1-4 hour drive) of them would be beautiful, so much so that I'm willing to set my love of Northern California and Austin, and grumpiness about snow, aside and very strongly consider moving to the East Coast....embracing it with new eyes, snow and all!
So other than Austin (which I may drive through on my long car trip from Berkeley to East Coast, just to double-check if it's where I should move)...here is my current list of most likely cities.
My criteria is still basically same as my first post...Plenty of crunchy and holistic and artistic and progressive community around, within 30-minute drive of very major city but not too in the heart of crime and noise, very good yet diverse public or public charter schools (also interested in diverse Montessori, Waldorf, and maybe Friends schools...but need good public as back-up plan), fenced yard, the sorta family-friendly street with neighbor kids around to safely ride their bikes around, maybe block parties, overall friendly people, not overly conservative or statusy. Like 30-75% white! Some personality such as good food, local coffee shops, local bookstore or not every house the same...not too "Anywhere, USA" strip mallish. A place laid-back and open enough that people don't look at you weird if you dress quirky, dye your hair green, have a tattoo, climb a tree or whatnot....where somewhere within 40 minute drive there is hula-hooping or acroyoga going on (I do know places in DC and Baltimore atleast somewhat like that).
As for nature, that is HUGE to me...so within 4 hours of coast ideal. Closer the better to that Northern California style "lifestyle": swimming holes, hiking, kayaking, dog-friendly trails, campgrounds, rockclimbing community, bike-friendly, maybe even surfing. Ski/snowboard slopes not as important but optionally fun to have within 5 hours. Been happily surprised to find many swimming and camping spots in Maryland listed online and guessing most states have them!
Based on all that, top choices (other than MAYBE Austin) are now:
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1) North Baltimore city neighborhoods (like Mount Washington or Roland Park) or cities just west of Baltimore City (like Ellicot City or Catonsville, Maryland)
2) I did live in the crunchy Maryland cities just outside DC in past (Takoma Park and Mt. Rainier) so those could work maybe as back-up plan or if great DC job appears...but am more drawn to being by Baltimore than DC this time
3) Northampton, Massachusetts (further and more snow...but sounds promising and is within reasonable weekend roadtrip drive of some very, very appealing community things I won't mention here...including crunchy little Vermont/Maine/NY/RI cities on my original list and more liberal, diverse sections of the coast (in RI, NJ, NY, Maine) than there seems to be in Delaware and further South
4) Not sure if Ithaca, NY, pros would be enough for me to be happy in its extreme snow and being further from family and coast...but wanna visit and consider it just in case...as long as I have swimmable, chemical-free, pretty water spots and cool trails around I don't NEED nearby coast
5) Charlottesville, VA, is intriguing...based on some city-data info seems good for families, reasonably diverse and liberal, naturally beautiful, very high-quality public university (grad school?), hour from Richmond for jobs, 2.5 hours from coast...am so used to crunchy, liberal, free-spirited, quirky spots like Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Austin...and feel happy and at home in places like that...would I fit in enough in Virginia?
6) Asheville, Carrboro and Durham in North Carolina worth a visit but skeptical if Asheville would have enough good jobs and variety with me being used to being near major big cities. And if I'd be happy enough in overall North Carolina culture...some make it sound even in those more liberal parts of it the strongly or pushily Christian, church-centric, Southern culture may be strong still. NOT meant offensive! I have many Christian friends and family and respect them...just super strongly dislike feeling religious or church pressure and I'm not Christian.
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In case anyone actually was interested to read this long-winded post, any info/opinions on these 6 choices for me welcome!!! Happy 2016, everyone!!!
Last edited by NatureYogi; 01-01-2016 at 10:47 AM..
LIBERAL CENTRAL. In Northampton/Amherst, you can bet your money that you will see at least Obama/Biden bumper stickers. BTW, people can't drive. All the cities above are very heavy liberal.
So you are saying they are ALL great places to live.
My criteria is still basically same as my first post...Plenty of crunchy and holistic and artistic and progressive community around, within 30-minute drive of very major city but not too in the heart of crime and noise, very good yet diverse public or public schools schools (also interested in diverse Montessori, Waldorf, and maybe Friends schools...but need good public as back-up plan), fenced yard, the sorta family-friendly street with neighbor kids around to safely ride their bikes around, maybe block parties, overall friendly people, not overly conservative or statusy. Like 30-75% white! Some personality such as good food, local coffee shops, local bookstore or not every house the same...not too "Anywhere, USA" strip mallish.
Sounds like you're looking for some personal utopia that does not exist. You do realize that virtually everywhere in the US that has a low percentage of whites tends toward high crime and poor schools?
Sounds like you're looking for some personal utopia that does not exist. You do realize that virtually everywhere in the US that has a low percentage of whites tends toward high crime and poor schools?
Not necessarily true and there are threads on C-D showing examples.
Am reviving my old thread cause it's several months later and I now am truly, officially about to move away from Berkeley, CA, area...as in my stuff is all pared down and boxed up in a Berkeley storage unit, ended housing rental, and basically quit my jobs (my dog and I are having a lovely time staying with friends and family for now but am eager to return to working and renting a home). My car is in Berkeley.
Have more clearly realized Austin, TX, is a really great fit for what I want in a city (as I know from living there several months; left mainly due to no-longer-relevant job reasons and heat but now thinking I could adapt to the heat).
BUT from a wonderful visit with close relatives in Montgomery County, Maryland, I see living within an 8-hour drive (or better yet 1-4 hour drive) of them would be beautiful, so much so that I'm willing to set my love of Northern California and Austin, and grumpiness about snow, aside and very strongly consider moving to the East Coast....embracing it with new eyes, snow and all!
So other than Austin (which I may drive through on my long car trip from Berkeley to East Coast, just to double-check if it's where I should move)...here is my current list of most likely cities.
My criteria is still basically same as my first post...Plenty of crunchy and holistic and artistic and progressive community around, within 30-minute drive of very major city but not too in the heart of crime and noise, very good yet diverse public or public charter schools (also interested in diverse Montessori, Waldorf, and maybe Friends schools...but need good public as back-up plan), fenced yard, the sorta family-friendly street with neighbor kids around to safely ride their bikes around, maybe block parties, overall friendly people, not overly conservative or statusy. Like 30-75% white! Some personality such as good food, local coffee shops, local bookstore or not every house the same...not too "Anywhere, USA" strip mallish. A place laid-back and open enough that people don't look at you weird if you dress quirky, dye your hair green, have a tattoo, climb a tree or whatnot....where somewhere within 40 minute drive there is hula-hooping or acroyoga going on (I do know places in DC and Baltimore atleast somewhat like that).
As for nature, that is HUGE to me...so within 4 hours of coast ideal. Closer the better to that Northern California style "lifestyle": swimming holes, hiking, kayaking, dog-friendly trails, campgrounds, rockclimbing community, bike-friendly, maybe even surfing. Ski/snowboard slopes not as important but optionally fun to have within 5 hours. Been happily surprised to find many swimming and camping spots in Maryland listed online and guessing most states have them!
Based on all that, top choices (other than MAYBE Austin) are now:
========
1) North Baltimore city neighborhoods (like Mount Washington or Roland Park) or cities just west of Baltimore City (like Ellicot City or Catonsville, Maryland)
2) I did live in the crunchy Maryland cities just outside DC in past (Takoma Park and Mt. Rainier) so those could work maybe as back-up plan or if great DC job appears...but am more drawn to being by Baltimore than DC this time
3) Northampton, Massachusetts (further and more snow...but sounds promising and is within reasonable weekend roadtrip drive of some very, very appealing community things I won't mention here...including crunchy little Vermont/Maine/NY/RI cities on my original list and more liberal, diverse sections of the coast (in RI, NJ, NY, Maine) than there seems to be in Delaware and further South
4) Not sure if Ithaca, NY, pros would be enough for me to be happy in its extreme snow and being further from family and coast...but wanna visit and consider it just in case...as long as I have swimmable, chemical-free, pretty water spots and cool trails around I don't NEED nearby coast
5) Charlottesville, VA, is intriguing...based on some city-data info seems good for families, reasonably diverse and liberal, naturally beautiful, very high-quality public university (grad school?), hour from Richmond for jobs, 2.5 hours from coast...am so used to crunchy, liberal, free-spirited, quirky spots like Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Austin...and feel happy and at home in places like that...would I fit in enough in Virginia?
6) Asheville, Carrboro and Durham in North Carolina worth a visit but skeptical if Asheville would have enough good jobs and variety with me being used to being near major big cities. And if I'd be happy enough in overall North Carolina culture...some make it sound even in those more liberal parts of it the strongly or pushily Christian, church-centric, Southern culture may be strong still. NOT meant offensive! I have many Christian friends and family and respect them...just super strongly dislike feeling religious or church pressure and I'm not Christian.
===========
In case anyone actually was interested to read this long-winded post, any info/opinions on these 6 choices for me welcome!!! Happy 2016, everyone!!!
What may help Ithaca is that it is within the Finger Lakes Region. So, there are multiple long lakes, let alone smaller lakes and the nearby Great Lakes.
You'd probably love Charlottesville. You might even like Richmond quite a bit, it's a fit for you in many ways. Or Asheville. NC is a bit more conservative the Virginia, which is pretty moderate, but in all of those cities you can find your own group.
Your possible issues with Asheville apply double to Northampton. Its smaller in feel than Asheville. Nice place, but you better like small and cold. If you are lesbian special circumstances apply, but you'd know about it
Baltimore, some love it, but you have to be comfortable with crime issues. Think living in Oakland.
Thanks, everyone!! Found this cool article today...top 10 most enlightened U.S. cities.
Ithaca is #1. #3 is Durham. A few would be weekend roadtrip distance from Northampton (I like roadtrips). #10 is a place I've never heard much about: Chattanooga (which is roadtrip distance from like Asheville, Knoxville, Nashville, which could be fun). Every city I just mentioned here I've never been to.
I barely know about Catonsville, MD, area and isn't like it appears on these "cool, enlightened, crunchy, trendy" type city lists (though DC and say Baltimore's Hampden do sometimes kinda sorta...and I've had many fun, crunchy or artsy adventures there). But was thinking suburban safety/schools near big nature park, short drive from big city fun, etc., so reading through CD posts stumbled on Catonsville and Mount Washington area. Yes, Bmore parts appear crazy unsafe like Oakland, but every big city seems to have bad areas to avoid. Low crime is awesome...but seems like I just have to put up with certain amount of crime since I really want to live near a major enough city to have lots of urban social/cultural/work/progressive options.
It is fun to consider cities that do appear on "crunchy, enlightened" type lists though... guess I'm trying to mix artsy bohemian with safe enough and good schools and diverse...with...this part might be hardest...an outdoorsy culture. Where friends and families tend to (more than an average area) hike, camp, swim, camp, jog, bike, be artsy, garden, etc., more than just go to mall and eat fast food and watch TV and sit indoors. That big park by Catonsville sounds like it has lots of great activities but no clue really what overall culture is around there. Hear there are dog-friendly restauraunts in nearby Frederick and atleast some crunchy businesses around. I like the Austin-Berkeley-Portland-Bend kinda lifestyle...
(When I get my car out to East Coast can roadtrip around to some of those places.)
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Moving this month!!!
