Which city sounds most fitting? (job market, college, live)

[mhans123]

I'm researching cities trying to decide where to move to after college. Some things I'm looking for in a city:

Healthy job market
Good for public transit/walking/biking
Great parks
Water and/or beach access
Diverse population
Good dating scene (lots of young people)
Relatively close to other major cities

[Prickly Pear]

Seattle, maybe??

I don't know anything about the job market in Seattle, however, but it seems to fit the rest of this. Seattle is also the biggest city in the area. The drive from Seattle to Portland is about three hours long, which isn't a bad drive at all. And Vancouver is even closer than that.

Note: I would have listed Portland but I heard the job market there is horrid.

[mhans123]

I was thinking that Seattle would be a good fit also, but everyone says that the weather makes it depressing. And other than Portland and Vancouver there's not a whole lot else in that region. It's definitely a city I'll look into.

[Verseau]

Boston immediately comes to mind (although it is less diverse than, say, NYC or SF).

[RC01]

I think the Twin Cities would be a pretty good fit minus being close to other cities

[Chava61]

NYC might fit some of these requirements.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by mhans123

I'm researching cities trying to decide where to move to after college. Some things I'm looking for in a city:

Healthy job market
Good for public transit/walking/biking
Great parks
Water and/or beach access
Diverse population
Good dating scene (lots of young people)
Relatively close to other major cities

Not sure why no one ever thinks of the Washington DC metro when these type of questions come up. It has the lowest unemployment rate of all major cities in the US, excellent public transit and walkability, bike-friendliness generally with lots of trails, tons of parks/greenspace, a very diverse population, Potomac River water access, a large population of young single professionals and fairly close proximity to the major cities of the Northeast US. Another perk is Amtrak service where you can jump on a Northeast Regional train that depart pretty much hourly headed for Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC and Boston for weekend getaways without the hassle of driving.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by mhans123

I was thinking that Seattle would be a good fit also, but everyone says that the weather makes it depressing. And other than Portland and Vancouver there's not a whole lot else in that region. It's definitely a city I'll look into.

For me personally it's too isolated from the rest of the country where most of my family and friends live, and I'd assume that's also true with you unless you're from the Pacific NW.....I was thinking more like Boston, DC/Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Chicago, etc.

[mayonaise]

Providence, RI is the only city that, in my experiences, fits all of your criteria. But I've only spent about a week there, so I could be wrong.