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Maybe New Orleans? You like Savannah and Charleston, and New Orleans sort of has certain qualities along those lines but is substantially larger. There are neighborhoods full of tourists and nightlife, but there are also great and much quieter neighborhoods as well and there are a lot of events in New Orleans that aren't parties.
By outdoorsy I mostly meant parks and greenery and wide open spaces-not buildings on buildings. I want access to going for a hike but it doesn't have to be in my backyard. I would love to consider NOLA, just was concerned about the party element, and don't want a repeat of NYC if I'm going to uproot myself and move
NOLA has a huge party element and doesn't sound like a good option given your preferences.
26 is young and most people will not be ready to "settle down" in any major metro. Guys in that age are still having fun and women too are wrapped up in their careers. Somewhere like NYC or LA people generally aren't pairing off and getting married until their 30's (and often not until well into their 30's). NYC has a good dating scene, but, yeah, not many profesionals looking for marriage at 26.
Atlanta would likely meet your criteria well - there is plenty of green space despite being a large metropolitan area. I'm originally from southern California myself and personally prefer the South as a place to live. In my opinion the traffic is the major drawback in this area, so avoiding long drives during rush hours is key.
Regarding some of the earlier posts, Raleigh and Richmond are not much smaller than Nashville. All three metropolitan areas (plus slightly larger Charlotte) have a lot of similar characteristics to Atlanta but on a smaller scale. I think coming from New York, pretty much anywhere in the South would be a relaxing contrast.
In general, moving from one city to another with the expectation that you're going to find your future husband (or wife), is a flawed mentality. Dating is challenging in EVERY city. And I guarantee you there are some 26-year old women in other cities like Chicago or Atlanta who are contemplating moving to NYC in order to have better dating prospects (or at least they think it will be better). Most people who are settled down and married by the age of 26 did not move to a new city to achieve it. Most of these couples already knew each other through friends or high school within their native, home city.
Also, there is an inverse relationship between the quantity of singles available in a given city versus the willingness to settle down. NYC is a prime example of a city that has probably THE most amount of singles living there, but they are rarely willing to settle down. The selection is too big and people are always waiting for the next best thing. I think if you were located in a metro area in the 2-4 million range, you would see more of an equilibrium of the quantity of singles and their willingness to settle down. In a small city, there are a lot less singles, so they are typically more willing to settle down and get married, etc.
Regardless, I would move out of NYC ASAP! That place is absolutely insane to live in, due to the extreme cost of living, extreme congestion, and overall stressful, noisy lifestyle. I know, because I lived there for 2 years right after college and left back home to Connecticut afterward.
By nature I just more mean parks/trees/wide open spaces/not skyscrapers all around me (feeling a little claustrophobic after living in NYC). Was kind of unsure about Chicago, I've heard it's a pretty huge party scene and the women outnumber the men so the dating kind of sucks, but I haven't spent much time there other than a weekend so I won't conclude definitively on that. My first choice was definitely somewhere down South, though
Don't pay too much attention to these male:female ratio stats. I lived in Seattle, which supposedly has a surplus of men, but I found dating to be extremely difficult. The sex ratio made no difference.
My advice to you is do not move anywhere West of St. Louis if you are interested in dating. I have lived in various cities throughout the country as an adult, and I must say: Western men, from Kansas City on westward (barring SoCal, maybe), are the most passive men EVER. They won't approach you and chat with you like East Coast/Chicago men do. At best, they will just look at you. The cities out here feel more like giant suburbs and sometimes even ghost towns, and it's shocking to read stats that say they are thriving with singles. Don't know where those singles are. The more I travel around the West, the more I seriously think about moving to the East Coast, even though I hate the rat race.
Southern cities like Nashville and Charlotte don't sound like bad choices at first glance, but I'm afraid the pool of singles will be even smaller down there. Also, it's very humid from much of the year so I don't know if you'll even want to go outside. But I don't have too much experience in the South, so I'll let someone else take that floor.
I think coming from New York, pretty much anywhere in the South would be a relaxing contrast.
Perhaps too relaxing for her. I hope the OP realizes she will be downscaling significantly no matter where she goes. NYC has it all - good and bad- and you'll be missing a lot of that when you leave.
Perhaps too relaxing for her. I hope the OP realizes she will be downscaling significantly no matter where she goes. NYC has it all - good and bad- and you'll be missing a lot of that when you leave.
To be honest, I'm not a city girl and I won't miss much of what NYC had to offer. Unfortunately, it was the only city I could be in to get my career started, but my main priority in life is family. Now that I can work from anywhere, I just want to be somewhere that will give me the best opportunity to form relationships, while still being a place I enjoy living (i.e. I wouldn't move somewhere just because the dating is good, I have to like the city myself). NYC might offer a lot of cool things, but none of it means anything when you don't have someone to share it with. I was interested in the southeast because I have family there and friends--I have no ties to the midwest/Chicago/etc so that would be just a random move, which is somewhat uncomfortable
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