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Hello, my name is Lucas and I am looking for some insight on the cities listed in the thread title! I am currently finishing my bachelors of business at Ohio University and will be a 32 year old single graduate with no children. I am a non-traditional student who decided once my old career went the way of the dodo thanks to the recession to go back to school. I have lived a few other places in my life besides Ohio like Dallas, TX and Lexington, KY, but frankly I am sick of the midwest and want a change. Besides, I have no kids or wife, so once I graduate it seems like the perfect time to move. If not while single and with no kids, then when right? I will have some small student loan debt and probably no job lined up in any city listed. So some things about myself are I like to ride my bicycle, play bike polo, I like city life like going to a cafe for a nice cup of coffee or seeing live bands play. I love craft beer. I like to do some nature type stuff also like hiking in the woods and occasionally camping if I can get the time off work/school to get out for a few days. I also like hunting and am a gun owner(throwing that out there because I don't know these cities gun laws but I know some cities have very restrictive laws on gun ownership).
How is the job market in each city? Cost of living? What is the job market like? I guess the main question is can a guy with no kids make it working 40-50 hours a week and have an alright quality of life in each of these places(alright being one bedroom apartment, decent food to eat, some kind of entertainment budget)? Also I have heard all 3 of these places are great for public transportation, so would I need to take my car or would it be more of a hinderance? Thank you in advance for all input, and bonus points if you live/have lived in any one of the three cities listed! If you have any more questions about me to help me make a choice feel free to ask below. Thanks everyone!
If your living right in Boston itself, and I don't mean its suburbs. Then forget the car. Unless someone has huge sums of money to deal with Boston and its parking woes. Then a car is a huge hindrance in Boston. I can't stress this enough. It is a very old city and the streets reflect its age. Very narrow and just full of cars. People really struggle to park in Boston, and the cost would just overwhelm you. So forget the car. There is all kinds of transit in Boston and many of its suburbs. There are zillions of suburbs and exurbs here, that even extend out of Mass now. Of course you can be in several states in an hour or a little over from Boston.
Portland. Its a pain to have a car right in the inner city, and the surrounding neighborhoods. Though not nearly as bad as Boston. Many people do not own a car in Portland, and the transit for the size of the city is pretty good. Not excellent, but not bad at all, considering similar size cities in the USA. Where there is nothing most of the time. Portland is also very walkable as is Boston.
Seattle. I'm not all that familiar with Seattle, but I'm sure it has similarities on the car issues. I know driving in the Seattle area is very congested with severe traffic problems. I believe its rated near the top of the, list for the most traffic congested cities in the USA.
Mass has strict gun laws, though people do have guns here. I can't say its a topic I hear people talking about all that much here though. Probably because this is such a hurried, expensive place. People get burnt out just commuting here. It's a very high COL in Mass especially Eastern Mass. The job Market is better in Greater Boston, than the rest of the state. Mass has a number of very depressed areas, though I don't think much of the nation would associate depressed areas with Massachusetts. Believe me we have them here. You can definitely find trails to ride your bike, and plenty of coffee shops etc in Boston.
Portland is a bike haven, though from my experience way to many people ride on the sidewalks. Portland must be the Amsterdam of American concerning bikes. They are everywhere.
Portland has never had much of a job market, keep that in mind. The city is a haven for 20 and 30 something's from all over. I think it's to much and the city needs to broaden itself on the age range. To much of one thing is not healthy for a city. Diversity is spoken constantly in Portland, but truthfully its rather limited. . It is a very white dominant city and state. A nice place all and all, but one has to prepare themselves for being in a very different sort of place. There is a reason why the city slogan is "Keep Portland Weird. Portland I think is a lower COL than many places, not dirt cheap but cheapest of the cities you mentioned for sure. Plenty of coffee shops everywhere in Portland. I don't know about the gun laws in Oregon. The climate is difficult for many to take, even if they feel they love rain and long months of gray. Keep that in mind also.
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