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I will be graduating from grad school in May and I'm looking to move to a larger city (I'm in rural PA) with:
- good or up and coming art scene (galleries to show work, great artist community, etc.)
- good or up and coming music scene (I play in a alt/rock/latin/hip hop fuzed band)
- diversity (I'm a black Latino)
- job opportunities (in either teaching or the art/music/creative/advertising fields)
- affordability
I'm single and 26. Originally from NYC (too expensive). But have lived most of my life in the Caribbean and in North NJ area. Most of my family lives in NY and in Allentown, PA area.
Cities on my radar:
Miami [proximity to the Caribbean, extremely large Latino population, bubbling art scene are all pluses]
Philadelphia [super close to my family and the NYC scene]
Austin [great music scene]
Dallas
Houston
.. to a lesser extent:
Minneapolis
Raliegh/Research Triangle
Athens/Atlanta
Chicago
Detroit
Pittsburgh [extremely affordable, I've done a couple of shows theres, but doesn't seem diverse]
Ideally, I'd love to try and settle in to wherever I move. I want to eventually open up my own production company that focuses on creating music videos for artists.
My family is pushing for me to move to Philadelphia. I'm leaning towards Miami. But who knows, a lot can change from now until May. Sorry for the long post, I figured the more information the better.
I've actually never considered Boston. I'm going to look into it, thanks.
Are you familiar with the Boston area? Thoughts on it?
What makes Boston interesting is that the Black population is diverse and so is the Latino community there. Places like Cambridge, Everett, Lawrence, Milton, Somerville, Malden, Medford, parts of Chelsea, Lynn, maybe parts of Brockton, Randolph and parts of the city like Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Roxbury, East Boston and Mattapan, among others, may be worth a look.
How well do you know Miami? Honestly though I feel like for your ambition and line of work would mean that pretty much any city would be good. Cause in arts and music if you end up some place that is severely lacking then you get the opportunity to create it and fill a void and help that community grow. And of course if you're in NYC or LA then you reap the benefits of the abundant scenes there. So wherever you end up you can make the most of it.
That said, Miami certainly has tons of opportunities for both…Art Basel and Winter Music Conference as two examples…but it can also be hellish to try and make a living and survive. Good luck!
Austin is totally overrated. They have one big music festival a year where they bring in people from across the country and declare they are the live music capital of the US.
I would suggest either Houston or Miami. Both cities have much to offer but the FL beaches can't be beat. Houston is the opposite of Austin - completely underrated. The only problem is there isn't a strong Caribbean vibe in Houston.
NE Ohio is a great place but not Latino. At all. The Black population is American based.
How well do you know Miami? Honestly though I feel like for your ambition and line of work would mean that pretty much any city would be good. Cause in arts and music if you end up some place that is severely lacking then you get the opportunity to create it and fill a void and help that community grow. And of course if you're in NYC or LA then you reap the benefits of the abundant scenes there. So wherever you end up you can make the most of it.
That said, Miami certainly has tons of opportunities for both…Art Basel and Winter Music Conference as two examples…but it can also be hellish to try and make a living and survive. Good luck!
Miami is usually my go to spot whenever I have a week or two off for vacation. I've explored the good and the bad but I've never lived or worked there, so I don't know much. I think it has a great combination of everything that I'm looking for but what scares me is its economy (and lack of jobs, from what I've heard) and the cost of living.
And thanks for your feedback. You brought up a really good point in your first paragraph.
Austin is totally overrated. They have one big music festival a year where they bring in people from across the country and declare they are the live music capital of the US.
I would suggest either Houston or Miami. Both cities have much to offer but the FL beaches can't be beat. Houston is the opposite of Austin - completely underrated. The only problem is there isn't a strong Caribbean vibe in Houston.
NE Ohio is a great place but not Latino. At all. The Black population is American based.
That's what everyone keeps telling me about Ohio. Good to know.
Do you know anything about the music/art scene in Houston and Miami? Where does Dallas fall into this mix?
Austin is totally overrated. They have one big music festival a year where they bring in people from across the country and declare they are the live music capital of the US.
I would suggest either Houston or Miami. Both cities have much to offer but the FL beaches can't be beat. Houston is the opposite of Austin - completely underrated. The only problem is there isn't a strong Caribbean vibe in Houston.
NE Ohio is a great place but not Latino. At all. The Black population is American based.
Actually, there are Hispanic/Latino communities in some of the big and even smaller cities in NE Ohio. They may not be huge, but some are bigger than others. Ashtabula, Painesville, Youngstown, Campbell, Cleveland and Lorain are some cities with decent Hispanic/Latino communities.
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