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I have been living in my home state Mississippi my entire life. I want a change of scenery so I have been considering a move up North. I also prefer cold weather with mild to moderate summers but I still have no idea what my tolerance limit for the cold is though (definitely not Minnesota, for sure). It should be no farther north than Madison, WI.
Which northern states/cities are most southerners attracted to that do not feel like a completely different world? My guess is that most of them are in the Midwest.
The quality of life (good economy and moderate cost of living) with many things to do is very important to me. I consider myself to be a liberal, college educated single Christian man so conservative cities wouldn't be a match for me.
Here is my list of cities below in no specific order; I would appreciate comments and suggestions you might have for me, especially those who moved away from the South.
Kansas City, KS/MO
St. Louis, MO/Metro East, IL - I am leaning more towards to this city than others on the list.
I prefer the city proper to be under one million in population while the size of metro population doesn't really matter as long it is not gigantic like Chicago, D.C., and New York City, etc.
That rules out Washington, D.C.
What makes you think I would like St. Louis, MO and Columbus, OH better?
What does St. Louis have that Kansas City lacks when it comes to Missouri?
Indianapolis is an atypical city insofar as it's a mostly urban-renewed downtown empty of people, surrounded by mostly bad neighborhoods, which is in turn surrounded by suburbs. There's not really the same remnants of the 19th century you get in other northern cities. You could say this is southern-like (since many southern cities also bulldozed all their residential neighborhoods near downtown) but I don't think it would give you a good idea what northern cities are like.
Culturally, I think Madison would be the biggest shock, since there's zero southern influence there, wheras all the other cities have some influence from the South (due to migrations of African Americans or from Appalachia).
Edit: Do you want to actually live in a city proper? If so, do you want to live in an urban, walkable neighborhood?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vegabern
Have you considered Washington D.C.?
I think DC would be too expensive for the OP, but I'd consider Baltimore or Philadelphia if I were him. They don't have the most dynamic local economies, but they're also "border cities" where the influences of Yankeedom and the South mixed.
Indianapolis is an atypical city insofar as it's a mostly urban-renewed downtown empty of people, surrounded by mostly bad neighborhoods, which is in turn surrounded by suburbs. There's not really the same remnants of the 19th century you get in other northern cities. You could say this is southern-like (since many southern cities also bulldozed all their residential neighborhoods near downtown) but I don't think it would give you a good idea what northern cities are like.
Culturally, I think Madison would be the biggest shock, since there's zero southern influence there, wheras all the other cities have some influence from the South (due to migrations of African Americans or from Appalachia).
Edit: Do you want to actually live in a city proper? If so, do you want to live in an urban, walkable neighborhood?
I think DC would be too expensive for the OP, but I'd consider Baltimore or Philadelphia if I were him. They don't have the most dynamic local economies, but they're also "border cities" where the influences of Yankeedom and the South mixed.
Eschaton, you are right on about my preference for cities that has both Yankeedom and the South mixed.
I prefer to live in the city proper or at least 5 minutes away in inner ring suburbs.
Thank you for your suggestions for me to check out Baltimore and Philadelphia. However, I prefer to stay in the middle of the country where I could easily visit family in Mississippi without having to fly. It should be no farther than Kansas City to the west, Madison to the north, and Pittsburgh, PA to the east.
Cincinnati
Urbana-Champaign
Omaha
Evansville
Fort Wayne
Dayton
South-Central Pennsylvania
Kalamazoo (lake modifies the cold a bit)
Thank you for the suggestions above.
Aren't these cities well known to be conservative except for Urbana-Champaign? I consider myself a liberal.
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