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Well, I posted a couple months back looking for an art city. Thank you for your responses but my focus has changed now that I'm actually back in the US. I knew I would be required to leave my cherished home in Europe, the result of the dissolution of my marriage to a Scandinavian. Now I am back after 2 yrs in Denmark and miss the lifestyle so much I have a hole in my gut that just won't go away. I am temporarily stationed at my mother's house in Georgia while I search and it's hell. I tried to ride my bike to the grocery store that is 1 minute away and almost got ran over. I never realized how bad the driving was and throw a biker in there and it's like playing an arcade game with your life. There are no parks to walk in, no progressive urban planning, no good coffee shops, no privately owned unique stores, no walkable areas at all (I hate cars), nothing charming. My choices are Superwalmart, Olive Garden, Home Depot, etc (can someone please shoot me?) I miss being able to bike or bus everywhere safely, the recycling, the organic food...I even miss the cold rain. Of course things like universal health coverage don't exist in the US (nor paternity leave, or 6 wks vacation, or 4 months severance pay...or University education for every child..I can go on and on) so I know there is no real European substitute, but I will settle for anything that can come remotely close. I don't care about high taxes, high cost of living, bad weather...it will be worth it to me. The search goes on but I need to jump in and make a move, I just need your advice.
Welcome to the urban sprawl heaven known as America.
If you want something close to a European city your best best any big city in the Northeast, especially Boston with its chaotic roads that first laid out as cow paths.
LOL Drover. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm researching them all.
I lived in Ã…rhus, CBB.
It's about 300k population so I'm not necessarily looking for a large city but I'm indifferent, it's the lifestyle I'm after...well as close as I can get anyways.
/\ You can't judge a vibrancy of a city by its population, especially in America. Actually, a town of 50,000 that is 3 square miles is much more vibrant than a city of a quarter-million. To find a similar lifestyle in terms of a city's vibrancy, find a US city with a similar population density.
LOL Drover. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm researching them all.
I lived in Ã…rhus, CBB.
It's about 300k population so I'm not necessarily looking for a large city but I'm indifferent, it's the lifestyle I'm after...well as close as I can get anyways.
In this case, I highly suggest Madison Wisconsin. City population is 200K (contiguous metro area is roughly double that), bike lanes all over the major arteries in town, very compact and walkable central area for a city of its size since the downtown business district and a 40,000-student university are only 4 blocks apart, sociopolitically progressive, an eclectic artistic streak, lots of independently owned businesses, waterfront recreation (downtown sits on a 12-block strip of land wedged between two lakes and the rest of the city is built around them -- check out a Google map), convenient access to Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities (none more than 3 hours away) if you need a dose of true urban experience, low crime rates more akin to a European city than an American city, as comprehensive a bus system as you'll ever find in a city this small and with this low a population density, and the winters are brutal just like in Scandinavia. Madison is the biggest little city around. And while it's expensive for a small city in the middle of nowhere, it's still a fraction of what it would cost to live on either coast.
If we throw a 'mild climate' filter on these criteria too (not too rainy, not miserably cold but can stand some cold), does anything else come close? Would love to know but weather is a big factor for me.
Best guess for a city like Denmark for me would have to be a city in either the Northeast or Upper Midwest. Places like the Twin Cities and Cleveland and Boston come to mind.
Cleveland???? I don't view it as particularly European. I'd recommend Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle.
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Madison is the biggest little city around. And while it's expensive for a small city in the middle of nowhere, it's still a fraction of what it would cost to live on either coast.
