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Alright, well I just found this board, and I'm glad I did. I am about to graduate college with a Comp Info Systems with a Network Admin focus. My wife has already graduated with her undergrad in Elem Ed and is about to have her Masters in Education. We have a daughter who will be in 1st grade so, schools are important. Some of our things we are looking for are good schools, either public or private; perfer to live in a more urban area, we aren't really into the whole suburbs thing; weather matters some, but more important is culture, history, and outdoor activities. We are also avid sports fans so we would enjoy being able to see some sports. Again, I'm not looking for a bunch of flaming and attacking, just please state your thoughts and try not to attack other cities.
^^^Well in Houston, you can find urban neighborhoods that have good schools such as Mantrose, Uptown, and the Rice Village. Dallas and Fort Worth have a few similar neighborhoods as well. Although those neighborhoods can get pricey, I'm sure they are not nearly as much a nice urban neighborhood in Chicago. But it's a give and take because Houston isn't nearly as urban as Chicago.
As for outdoors, I believe Houston has more sq ft of park area than any other major city in the US. Dallas also has several beautiful lake areas. Both cities have an impressive museum/theater districts that are internationally renowned. There are some very good public schools in both cities as well, but also some very bad ones. It depends on where you live. Mantrose, Uptown, Rice Village, and Bellaire whould be good places for schools (but are also expensive relative to the rest of the city) in Houston.
Some people had mention Houston and Dallas would be your best options so I thought I would provide some info. I think Denver might have everything your looking for. I'm not sure about the schools in Denver and weather can get pretty bad, but the city seems to offer everything else your looking for.
No there are many good schools in chicago located in urban areas.....morgan park...whitney young...chas...john hope etc...many more
Morgan Park is a "good school" in the sense that "it doesn't quite suck as much as your average CPS school but can barely compete with a run-of-the-mill suburban school." Whitney Young is an extremely competitive magnet school and they have a better chance of hitting the lottery than getting their kid in there. I have no idea what the hell "Chas" is. And John Hope is in Englewood for chrissake. Are you freakin' high or something?
Alright, well I just found this board, and I'm glad I did. I am about to graduate college with a Comp Info Systems with a Network Admin focus. My wife has already graduated with her undergrad in Elem Ed and is about to have her Masters in Education. We have a daughter who will be in 1st grade so, schools are important. Some of our things we are looking for are good schools, either public or private; perfer to live in a more urban area, we aren't really into the whole suburbs thing; weather matters some, but more important is culture, history, and outdoor activities. We are also avid sports fans so we would enjoy being able to see some sports. Again, I'm not looking for a bunch of flaming and attacking, just please state your thoughts and try not to attack other cities.
Out of the cities you mentioned, Boston is at or near the top of every category. Boston is (obviously) great for education. This is true for both employment for your wife, and the education for your daughter, whether it be in public or private school.
For outdoor activities, Seattle and Denver are probably superior to Boston, but Boston is no slouch with Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Newport, Rhode Island for beaches, and New Hampshire and Vermont for woodsy activities.
Boston and Seattle are about equal for Tech jobs, while Boston and Chicago are about tied for Culture. In terms of history, there's obviously no competition with Boston. Boston is also arguably the best sports city in the country, with the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins all being extremely competitive, and having great success so far this decade.
Boston and Chicago are easily the most urban cities out of the group. Both are very walkable and have great urban transportation. If you're not going to live in the actual city, and preferred to live in an inner-suburb, Boston has great cities like Cambridge, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, Somerville , Quincy, and Milton surrounding it.
As for outdoors, I believe Houston has more sq ft of park area than any other major city in the US.
That may be true, but let's not forget that Houston is so physically large it can easily fit Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and Denver...with more than enough room for San Francisco.
So Houston is a very impressive park city, but it's not as if those other cities are slouches.
The link I provided is actually a list of "America's Best Cities for Outdoors", so it may be worth a look for the thread starter. However, it's a Forbes Ranking, which people love to bash, so take it with a grain of salt.
Last edited by tmac9wr; 10-28-2009 at 09:19 AM..
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