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I grew up and live in the Lansing, Michigan area, and I have to admit that I kind of like the size of the area. It's big enough that it has most of the amenities you need, but small enough that traffic isn't really an issue, the size isn't overwhelming, and you can get just about anywhere in 20 minutes. I also appreciate that there's real interaction between city and rural folk as well. So, I'm just wondering - what other cities, with metro areas around 300-800 thousand people are out there that are progressive, walkable, down-to-earth, and kind of have that (mostly) seamless interaction between the city and the surrounding more rural areas?
I enjoy lexington KY metro area, though never lived there I visit often. Its smaller sized but offers a lot and just outside the city are beautiful country horse farms. Quite a bit of history, culture and more laid back setting compared to other metros.
I actually went to school in that area and it reminded of where I'm at now(Syracuse). You may like areas like Harrisburg, Kalamazoo, Madison, Columbia SC and Augusta GA, among others.
Most metros of that size are pretty nice. They are big enough to have just about everything you'd ever need, except big-league sports and entertainment venues. And they're small enough that you can get to what you need to get to, without making a day trip of it and paying 50 bucks to park.
Madison, WI, in my humble opinion, is the best small city I've visited. It's beautiful, friendly, affordable, walkable, and not totally out of the way in the way of airports/amtrak.
Louisville, St. Paul, and Duluth are pretty nice too but it really seems you're looking for Madison.
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