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Thank you guys for all the help! Very knowledgeable advice. We are a young couple - 23 year olds - and like to stay active at the gym etc. I absolutely love sports and sporting events, but my fiance could care less about them. We enjoy trying out local bars and restaurants and enjoy big city feels. Would like to live in the city if we can find an affordable place to do so - rather than living outside and driving in to go do things. We love the mild weather in NC, but realize that its not always going to be doable with the list of options we have.
As far as baltimore goes, will we be able to afford housing in a decent area of town? My job location is actually in Beltsville, MD (which is closer to D.C.), but housing there is SOOO expensive. Is it any better in Baltimore? Is a commute to beltsville from balt. or vice versa doable with traffic?
As far as St. Louis...I have heard good things from everyone that has lived there. Housing seems to be affordable - I'm just worried about safety. I've heard a lot of bad things about the St. Louis area in that regard. thoughts on that? Would we be able to afford some great places in safe locations near downtown for ~1000/month?
ah. Can you find out if any of your offices would be located in the CBD or near it? That would give you the best option for enjoying the big city feel without worrying about a bad commute. All your options have decent walkability in the urban core and certain other surrounding neighborhoods, although OKC is probably quite limited.
If you want to live in Baltimore, I would suggest either Southeast Baltimore (particularly Canton or Harbor East) or South Baltimore (Federal Hill or the areas along/near Fort Avenue). The latter choice would put you closer to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway for your commuting needs. Plus, depending on exactly where you'd end up in South Baltimore, you could walk to M & T Bank Stadium (Ravens) and Camden Yards (Orioles). Commuting to Beltsville is not uncommon, though if you do it, I would recommend getting an early start. By 7:30 or so, the Parkway gets pretty congested.
If children are in your future, I would be prepared to leave the city as soon as the first one hits kindergarten, unless you want to shell out big bucks for private schools. Lots of dual-income householders choose to live in Howard County because of its highly rated school system and its location in-between Baltimore and Washington. However, the housing tends to be on the expensive side.
If kids are in your future, I would NOT recommend OKC. The OKC district itself is in terrible shape and is unwilling to fight the Idiot (State Superintendent Barrisi) to fight for decent education. Over 2/3rds of all public school districts are in a fight with the State over how much funding is needed and the state's "grading" system for performance. Tulsa is leading the fight and almost all of our suburbs are with us. OKC district is actually fighting against their suburbs like Yukon and Moore, who want better funding and accurate grading.
I'm not a shill for public schools but a concerned parent who wants better funding for our teachers. Currently, Oklahoma pays 10-15 year experienced teachers are paid less than Texas and Arkansas pay un-experienced (ie. new grads) teachers. OKC, for whatever reason, won't fight the state government even on security funds even though they have far more incidents of fighting and assaults on teachers than Tulsa PS, the only other state district of equal size and makeup.
OKC also isn't cohesive for safe locations to live. You'll have nice high end residentail homes 2 blocks away from boarded up buildings and abandoned industrial sites. Oklahoma has some of the WORST laws concerning eyesores and abandoned buildings. The cities really can't force the sale of property to owners who will care for it and bring it into use. It's a problem in Tulsa as well but our city government is placing a lot of pressure these problem properties to be sold.
Of the cities you listed, I'd recommend Pittsburgh or St. Louis. St. Louis appears to be fixing some of the infrastructure and funding issues they had in the 1990s and 2000s. Its population was actually declining for that time but appears to be positive again. Pittsburgh has changed from the 1970s although the Boomer reporters in the press refuse to believe otherwise. Talking to younger people under 40 who have been there, it is really enjoyable. I'd recommend Tulsa as well but I'm a little biased.
Hey guys I recently accepted a job at a company where I get to select my five top locations in order out of a list of around 30. I've narrowed the list down to about 5 or 6, but I am not sure which order to place them in. I have done some research, but I was hoping to get some ideas from you guys:
Milwaukee, WI
Pittsburgh, PA
St. Louis, MO
Oklahoma City, OK
Cleveland, OH
Baltimore, MD
Further information about my situation if it would help:
-I currently live in Raleigh, NC and have lived in NC my entire life.
-job pays ~60K
-getting married shortly and my wife will need to find a job in this city
-We are both young and active!
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