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I love big cities but I love rural, peaceful and quiet areas as well. When I'm in one I want to know that I could get to the other within a 2-3 hours and not spend that time sitting in or dealing with traffic.
Which metro areas are the easiest to get away from no matter which direction you go?
I love big cities but I love rural, peaceful and quiet areas as well. When I'm in one I want to know that I could get to the other within a 2-3 hours and not spend that time sitting in or dealing with traffic.
Which metro areas are the easiest to get away from no matter which direction you go?
Though not a big city...Scranton/Wilkes-Barre(metro...555,000) fits the bill. You can literally be out of the cities and in the mountains skiing, hiking, swimming etc. in literally 5 minutes. The cities lie in a narrow river valley(Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers) and are surrounded by mountains. However the urban areas extend for tens of miles in a linear direction but you also have the rivers bisecting the cities for boating and other forms of recreation. Scranton, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memphis - When you cross into Arkansas, no development at all. I just love that. I don't know about the prettiest place to get away from, or the most pedestrian-friendly it is, but as for easiest, i think its wins
Raleigh is a really easy city from which to get away for the weekend. 2 hours east takes you to the coast. 3+ hours to the west and northwest take you the mountains of NC and VA. An hour south takes you to the Sandhills (Pinehurst and Southern Pines) for Golf. An hour North takes you to Kerr Lake or Lake Gaston for fishing and camping. There are two local lakes in the Triangle: Jordan and Falls and each is within 20 minutes of the city. The city also has a huge urban state park within its limits for mountain biking, hiking or just chilling out.
From any direction out of the city, you get away quickly.
From Boston you can be in the mountains of Vemont or New Hampshirein two hours, the beaches of Maine and Cape Cod in 90 minutes... There is alot of natural beauty in New England within a few hours from Boston.
Most California cities would fall in that category as well, also Seattle, Portland. The Northwest is my second favorite region,a great partof the country for outdoors activities.
What I hated most about Chicago when I moved there from Boston was there was basically nowhere to go if I wanted to get out of the city. I felt totally trapped.
From Boston you can be in the mountains of Vemont or New Hampshirein two hours, the beaches of Maine and Cape Cod in 90 minutes... There is alot of natural beauty in New England within a few hours from Boston.
Most California cities would fall in that category as well, also Seattle, Portland. The Northwest is my second favorite region,a great partof the country for outdoors activities.
What I hated most about Chicago when I moved there from Boston was there was basically nowhere to go if I wanted to get out of the city. I felt totally trapped.
Seattle-Portland used to be like that but now that corridor is so filled with traffic it's become known as "the slog" (Nothing but traffic between those two cities).
Seattle is starting to get bad north too but east of Seattle, south or east of Portland still isn't too bad
You can leave the city and within a 30 minutes drive be in deep mountains and dense lush forests, or head another direction from the city and be in some of the most spectacular desert canyonlands anywhere.
Seattle-Portland used to be like that but now that corridor is so filled with traffic it's become known as "the slog" (Nothing but traffic between those two cities).
Seattle is starting to get bad north too but east of Seattle, south or east of Portland still isn't too bad
Yeah south and west of Portland is very underdeveloped. From downtown, you can take 26 west and be in farmland in 15-20 minutes (with no traffic), same with south once you get past Wilsonville.
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