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Chattanooga, TN - new factories just opened - and it's got a great atmosphere for other businesses to open. A friend just moved from the Jackson, TN area for almost double salary position with an auto company there - he's in IT.
Nashville and Knoxville are also good job markets, COL is low. Knoxville has more cold weather though as it's further east and higher elevation but we're still not talking shoveling snow.
My cousin used to live outside Chattanooga and always really liked it there. Good suggestion.
When you talk about Portland being bike-friendly, I don't understand that. I used to live up the Columbia River Gorge from Portland on the WA side. When I'd visit Portland, it was very urban with the traffic to go with it, and that was a long time ago. So, bikes and traffic? Maybe that would work, but it's not what I'd describe as bike-friendly.
PLUS, we had a saying in the PNW that we had 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad sledding. Do you want to bike in the rain? In traffic with drivers driving in the rain?
I'm from CA, but lived in the PNW for 18 years total. I also lived in TN (Nashville area) for 5 years. Finally made my way back to CA.
As far as bikeability, between Seattle (very hilly and rainy) and Portland and Nashville, I'd choose Nashville. Nashville is pretty flat. But, the humidity is a killer. And the winters are very icy and cold.
I used to drive through Chattanooga to vacation in FL. Lots of red brick, pretty flat, pretty boring...back then, anyway - would have been around 1985 - 1990. Maybe it's changed enormously since then???
The one thing I miss about the south is the fireflies. They're like magic. But, wherever fireflies thrive, so do other larger, more annoying bugs...like cockroaches...cicadas...humongous beetles...
Okay, I'll stop now. I just had to chime in mainly on the Portland being bike-friendly. Remember, you're talking a lot of rain, then icy rain, sleet, snow...oh yeah, and some sunny days sprinkled in...
When you talk about Portland being bike-friendly, I don't understand that. I used to live up the Columbia River Gorge from Portland on the WA side. When I'd visit Portland, it was very urban with the traffic to go with it, and that was a long time ago. So, bikes and traffic? Maybe that would work, but it's not what I'd describe as bike-friendly.
PLUS, we had a saying in the PNW that we had 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad sledding. Do you want to bike in the rain? In traffic with drivers driving in the rain?
I'm from CA, but lived in the PNW for 18 years total. I also lived in TN (Nashville area) for 5 years. Finally made my way back to CA.
As far as bikeability, between Seattle (very hilly and rainy) and Portland and Nashville, I'd choose Nashville. Nashville is pretty flat. But, the humidity is a killer. And the winters are very icy and cold.
I used to drive through Chattanooga to vacation in FL. Lots of red brick, pretty flat, pretty boring...back then, anyway - would have been around 1985 - 1990. Maybe it's changed enormously since then???
The one thing I miss about the south is the fireflies. They're like magic. But, wherever fireflies thrive, so do other larger, more annoying bugs...like cockroaches...cicadas...humongous beetles...
Okay, I'll stop now. I just had to chime in mainly on the Portland being bike-friendly. Remember, you're talking a lot of rain, then icy rain, sleet, snow...oh yeah, and some sunny days sprinkled in...
If I can bike 10 miles each way in Minnesota weather I'm not all that worried about Portland. For my last job I had to bike through the busiest part of downtown to get there.
I started bike commuting in suburban Chicago before I moved to Minnesota so I'm used to biking in traffic and in the rain and sometimes even in the snow and ice.
[quote=katmu;33201351]..have some chronic neck and upper back issues that are not great with the weather here, and the shoveling. I'm looking for somewhere with a somewhat more temperate climate, no sub-zero temperatures. Occasional snow is okay.
Cross Denver off your list. While it might be 50 degrees in a few days we are freezing our butts off right now (windchill 20 below as I write this) and I've shoveled my driveway a half-dozen times in the last week.
If I can bike 10 miles each way in Minnesota weather I'm not all that worried about Portland. For my last job I had to bike through the busiest part of downtown to get there.
I started bike commuting in suburban Chicago before I moved to Minnesota so I'm used to biking in traffic and in the rain and sometimes even in the snow and ice.
Would you define your idea of bike-friendly then? I need a visual.
When I think of bike-friendly, I think of a town with large bike lanes, not too many hills, and decent weather, like Davis, CA, for instance. Now, there's a bike-friendly town!
Would you define your idea of bike-friendly then? I need a visual.
When I think of bike-friendly, I think of a town with large bike lanes, not too many hills, and decent weather, like Davis, CA, for instance. Now, there's a bike-friendly town!
Bike lanes along with other bike infrastructure (convenient secure bike storage, plenty of bike shops) is a plus. Hills are fine. Weather wise, coming from Minneapolis my main criteria is that there aren't too many days below zero. I prefer it to be at least 15-20 F for biking.
The one thing about Minneapolis I like in terms of biking, aside from the large number of bike lanes and trails here, is that drivers are fairly courteous to cyclists. I know that bike infrastructure has improved in Chicago since I moved away but I found the drivers to be less accomdating to cyclists than they are here.
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