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OP I have similarities in that I live in the Seattle metro and have been to where he lives Boise.
I have been to Austin and Raleigh area. After everything I had heard I was kind of disappointed with the Raleigh area when I got there (when I say Raleigh area I mean that whole metro area Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, etc...). I thought it was fairly bland. One thing that is hard to get used to if you are from the West Coast or a mountainous region of the U.S. is how flat a lot of the Southeast is. Raleigh area may have some small hills, but most of what you see all day and everyday is trees, trees, trees. There aren't a ton of vistas, large open spaces, etc... that you get in the west. It is hard to realize how much you miss this until you don't have it. When you go about your day and drive to work, go to the store, take walks...you generally see views in the distance in a lot of the west. Not the case in much of the SE. I felt a little claustrophobic in a lot of North Carolina due to the views consisting mostly of just the trees directly in front of you. I also just thought the area was generally uninspiring or interesting. I think it is nice that you can drive to the Carolina coast and the Appalachians, but neither are really that close.
Austin is a place I don't think the OP would like. The same forces that IMO ruined SF, Portland, Denver, Seattle over the past 20-30 yrs have ruined Austin (liberal elitist mono-culture echo chamber, RE prices jacking up, traffic jacking up, all the interesting quirky people leaving town). I spent time in Austin in 2005 on a project, and then went back in 2015 and thought it changed much for the worse. Austin used to be a really cool funky, quirky town (like Portland, Seattle, SF, etc.. were at one time), then the population exploded, traffic exploded, rents shot up, house prices shot up.
If you are used to the Pac NW beauty, Austin will be a disappointment. It is not bad with some hills, Barton Springs, etc... - but you have to get in a plane or a REALLY long drive to hit any what I would call world class type outdoor beauty. Austin does still have some cool unique local institutions like Amy's Ice Cream, Alamo theaters, certain restaurants, BBQ joints, food trucks, etc.... And I still would love Austin's live music scene. Overall I would probably prefer Austin over the Raleigh metro proper. But being able to drive to the Carolina coast and the Appalachians is a nice plus Austin doesn't have. Both places have pretty brutal summers (especially from someone from the Pac NW).
Tampa area has the same issue with being flat as a pancake. The only views you will get would be going over a large bridge or being on the beach. I have explored the whole state and I am not a fan of FL as a whole. It does not have a lot of character in general. I like St. Pete a lot more than Tampa. Tampa was super bland and suburban. Never been in summer, I'm sure it is near uninhabitable due to the heat and humidity. I thought St. Augustine, Jax Beach, Ponte Vedra, beach, Amelia Island was OK. Up that way they do have some large stretches of the beach that are state parks and state forests that are pretty. The Gulf waters down by Tampa/Sarasota/Naples just didn't turn me on that much, water is flat with no surf.
Nashville I haven't been to but I want to visit TN soon. I'm interested in that state.
The very, very best medicine for wanderlust and the affliction of "grass is greener" is to just get in a plane, spend the money and go there for a week. That way you take what can be false perceptions inside your head about areas (from reading about them on CD or looking at pictures) and see the real deal on the ground for yourself.
Tampa's software (dev, mainly) market is seemingly bursting at the seams. I'm in IT (but not software) and it seemed like last year when I was looking for a new engineering gig, the competition was ultra fierce. Software positions, though, were in tremendous supply; so much so, that many recruiters I talked to had zero roles on the radar that weren't development related. There seems to be a shortage of qualified people, and many companies are paying a lot (a lot for Tampa) to fill those positions.
That being said, Tampa is not a very exciting place and is growing at an uncontrollable pace. Downtown is on the up and up, but it's still a very condensed, mostly scuzzy area. The rest of the area is so vastly spread out that there is no center. Just endless strip malls, and a few beaches across the bay that are being choked with tourists. People say St. Pete is way more "hip" but trust me, outside of a few streets in downtown St. Pete (which are indeed quite cool), the rest of Pinellas County is a crowded dump.
Local government hands out building permits to any/every builder who wants one with little thought to infrastructure improvements (other than widening... widening... WIDENING roads which does nothing). Seems like in the 6 years I've been here, the entire bay area has been under construction with no sign of the maddening sprawl coming to a stop.
Nightlife around here is generally lacking compared to, say, Austin or even Raleigh. Raleigh can be a bit cookie cutter (spent a lot of time there) but the locals are far more educated and less trashy.
I never thought I'd miss changes in elevation when I moved here. That was incorrect. Now whenever I travel and drive over even the slightest hill or, gasp, mountain, it's such a treat that I can't stomach coming back home.
This is to say nothing of the brutal summers. Some people like them. Most don't. I've acclimated a bit but I still hate them. The rest of the year is gorgeous.
Just my 2 cents. Skip Tampa (and Florida in general). Wish I had.
OP I have similarities in that I live in the Seattle metro and have been to where he lives Boise.
I have been to Austin and Raleigh area. After everything I had heard I was kind of disappointed with the Raleigh area when I got there (when I say Raleigh area I mean that whole metro area Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, etc...). I thought it was fairly bland. One thing that is hard to get used to if you are from the West Coast or a mountainous region of the U.S. is how flat a lot of the Southeast is. Raleigh area may have some small hills, but most of what you see all day and everyday is trees, trees, trees. There aren't a ton of vistas, large open spaces, etc... that you get in the west. It is hard to realize how much you miss this until you don't have it. When you go about your day and drive to work, go to the store, take walks...you generally see views in the distance in a lot of the west. Not the case in much of the SE. I felt a little claustrophobic in a lot of North Carolina due to the views consisting mostly of just the trees directly in front of you. I also just thought the area was generally uninspiring or interesting. I think it is nice that you can drive to the Carolina coast and the Appalachians, but neither are really that close.
.....
Ha! When I lived on the west coast for a stint, what I missed the most was the trees. Especially autumn with the tree color changes, fall breeze and cool days or what I call football weather. Spring is pretty notable as well and an awakening. The entire east coast is loaded with trees till you reach parts of Florida. The Pacific NW is nice and picturesque but it's so far removed from the east and many of the population corridors I was accustomed to having access to being a native North Carolinian. Hit the road for quick trips to Tidewater, DC, Philly, etc...just the overall population, diversity, etc that ranges up and down the east coast I kind of took for granted. I do enjoy visiting out west, lots to see but I gotta have those four seasons which are rather tempered in NC aside from the humidity run in July/August. Maybe it's the anticipation of each season and the set or rules and things to do that belong to each season.
@ctr88, Nashville too is going to have the trees, trees, trees thing that you hate. In fact, it's not just a Southeast thing; much of the MidAtlantic, Northeast and upper Midwest "suffer" from the same affliction.
Who knew that there was so much hate for trees?
@ctr88, Nashville too is going to have the trees, trees, trees thing that you hate. In fact, it's not just a Southeast thing; much of the MidAtlantic, Northeast and upper Midwest "suffer" from the same affliction.
Who knew that there was so much hate for trees?
Some of my coworkers come from Texas, and feel claustrophobic with the hills and tree coverage here. They also don't like not being able to see for miles ahead of them.
Some of my coworkers come from Texas, and feel claustrophobic with the hills and tree coverage here. They also don't like not being able to see for miles ahead of them.
I've heard the same thing from Texans. I lived in Texas years ago and it just wasn't my thing. Of the places I've been to in Texas, Austin would be my choice though.
I think that thing that's different about Raleigh than either Austin or Nashville is that it doesn't come with a branded identity and it's really a city that is "becoming a city" that matches its size. Raleigh 5 years ago is not Raleigh today and in a few more years, it will be a different place than it is today. As one of the fastest growing cities/metros nationally, there's a tremendous amount of activity in the entire metro but its core is probably going through the most significant transformation. All in all, Raleigh is attracting more than its fair share of newcomers and they tend to be well educated, talented, young and with disposable income. The market downtown is responding accordingly with new offerings and options that are really quite special. The transformation is so rapid that it seems like new offerings and options appear weekly and new ventures and projects are announced at a rapid pace.
It's the sort of place that either excites you as being part of that transformation, disappoints you that it's not all there yet but one can never consider it static. There's just too much transformation going on all over the place.
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