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Hey people, right now I am in Canada (yeah I know it is cold, and so far we have no summer...)
I plan on moving to the states withing 1-2 years... I can live pretty much everywhere I want since I am a trader (so trading from my home) and also have rented real estate so I can move pretty much anywhere.
I have a few cities in mind but first my criteria:
Safety
Weather
School (I have a kid and a wife)
Walkable
Friendly people
Fun
Things to do
Kids activities
Now the cities
Boston (been there for 10 months)
Washington DC (NW-SW)
NYC (expensive but hella safe and good schools (at least private and colleges)
Los Angeles (The weather)
To a lesser extend
San Diego
Portland, OR
Ps I am a black male in my mid 30s with a wife and kid
Just curious, but are you looking strictly within city limits or at the whole metro? I ask because you could find suburbs in these areas that fit much, if not all of the criteria as well.
Also, would you consider metros like Seattle, Pittsburgh and Providence, among some others, where the city is relatively/comparably safe and the area is still possibly big enough for you?
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 07-08-2017 at 07:18 AM..
Just curious, but are you looking strictly within city limits or at the whole metro? I ask because you could find suburbs in these areas that fit much, if not all of the criteria as well.
Also, would you consider metros like Seattle, Pittsburgh and Providence, among some others, where the city is relatively/comparably safe and the area is still possibly big enough for you?
Well, metro Boston is good since I was in the southern suburbs. Seattle is too rainy for me, although way better than the canadian 11 months of winter but still.
I though about providence but it would be just for a few years.
But quite frankly, apart of western DC suburbs, Boston suburbs and western L.A county (Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu...), the other suburbs are not appealing to me, I am a very urban person, I love cities, love being in the center of action, not having to drive to go places, being able to walk pretty much anywhere I want.
I have a few cities in mind but first my criteria:
Safety
Weather
School (I have a kid and a wife)
Walkable
Friendly people
Fun
Things to do
Kids activities
I would say Northwest DC, in particular neighborhoods like Cleveland Park, Tenleytown and Friendship Heights-Chevy Chase. They have a green suburban feel yet are minutes to downtown and commercial districts, have lots of play space for kids (parks), have good public schools, are very walkable with shops/services nearby, dedicated MetroRail stations nearby, limitless things to do in DC with museums/zoo/parks/outdoor recreation/farmers markets and of course great restaurants all over the city, largely friendly residents (especially those settled with kids) and a fairly even four season climate minus terrible extremes.
Well, metro Boston is good since I was in the southern suburbs. Seattle is too rainy for me, although way better than the canadian 11 months of winter but still.
I though about providence but it would be just for a few years.
But quite frankly, apart of western DC suburbs, Boston suburbs and western L.A county (Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu...), the other suburbs are not appealing to me, I am a very urban person, I love cities, love being in the center of action, not having to drive to go places, being able to walk pretty much anywhere I want.
There are suburbs in the NYC area that could offer that as well. I thought about the South Orange-Maplewood area of NJ, Baldwin/Baldwin Harbor on Long Island, Nyack in Rockland County; some of the Rivertowns, Pelham and perhaps White Plains and New Rochelle in Westchester County as options. I say that due to having solid/good schools that have a diverse student and resident population, in a walkable community and has access to NYC.
Pelham(particularly northern Pelham) may be a nice happy medium, as it is sandwiched between New Rochelle and nicer parts of Mount Vernon(both of which are quite urban and have middle class predominantly black neighborhoods nearby on each side of Pelham), while being in a very good and relatively diverse school district. Perhaps check out the Lincoln Avenue corridor to get an idea of what I'm referring to. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.9152...6!9m2!1b1!2i40
I would say Northwest DC, in particular neighborhoods like Cleveland Park, Tenleytown and Friendship Heights-Chevy Chase. They have a green suburban feel yet are minutes to downtown and commercial districts, have lots of play space for kids (parks), have good public schools, are very walkable with shops/services nearby, dedicated MetroRail stations nearby, limitless things to do in DC with museums/zoo/parks/outdoor recreation/farmers markets and of course great restaurants all over the city, largely friendly residents (especially those settled with kids) and a fairly even four season climate minus terrible extremes.
Are those the type of neighborhood where I can walk safely without fear late night with my wife? Or should I be carefull
Are those the type of neighborhood where I can walk safely without fear late night with my wife? Or should I be carefull
Yep, those areas (NW DC) are all very safe, albeit pretty expensive. When talking about DC, the areas where you would be at a high risk for violent crime are all in the SE parts of town, especially on the other side of the Anacostia. If you could afford living there, I'd say it'd be a great place for your family.
I see you also are interested in Portland - my personal favorite place here in the states. It's a seriously great place to live, but the job market unfortunately is pretty tight right now, and you do seem more interested in the east coast. But, if you have any more specific questions for me about Portland I'd love to help!
Yep, those areas (NW DC) are all very safe, albeit pretty expensive. When talking about DC, the areas where you would be at a high risk for violent crime are all in the SE parts of town, especially on the other side of the Anacostia. If you could afford living there, I'd say it'd be a great place for your family.
I see you also are interested in Portland - my personal favorite place here in the states. It's a seriously great place to live, but the job market unfortunately is pretty tight right now, and you do seem more interested in the east coast. But, if you have any more specific questions for me about Portland I'd love to help!
Well, I am more interested in the west coast but only in a handful of cities whereas on the East, they are plenty... Plenty is subjective, Boston, NYC and DC.
on the west : L.A, Portland (but has some drawback and will explain them later.
For Portland, I spent a month and a half there (Gresham, dodge park boulevard (where the big homes are)), I was surprised by the great summer, rain only for 3 days and was light rain... Anyway, Portland as safe and nice as it is, is known for its (shrinking maybe) white supremacist movement, like late last year a black teen who was charging his phone outside got killed by a white supremacy member (ran over), two brave gentlemen got killed inside a Portland subway for standing up for a Muslim girl. My kid is 3 but he will eventually grow up to become a teen and a man...
For the job market, Portland is getting better thanks to California transplant bringing money and creating business (I guess) and I am an independent so I can be pretty much anywhere I want as long as I have n internet connection).
I spent 1 day in Hollywood district at the motel near the highway) then the rest in Gresham. And I actually loved the friendliness of portlander but apparently this is a west coast thing
Gresham is a suburb of Portland. So, would you say that it fits what you are looking for? I ask because of the post earlier in regards to being use to very urban areas.
Gresham is a suburb of Portland. So, would you say that it fits what you are looking for? I ask because of the post earlier in regards to being use to very urban areas.
I am not that interested in gresham, i was there visiting a relative, but some part of gresham can do it if it is close to the tramway but I would chose portland over gresham.
I would more be interested in/near downtown Portland or Lake oswego, the nice homes over there could compensate for being far from downtown
But, I could first go to a suburb just to get running, I mean building my credit, saving, then moving to a city so gresham can do the trick
Last edited by jayo2k; 07-11-2017 at 09:59 AM..
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