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I'm 22 and I just graduated this past December with my bachelor's degree in elementary education. I'm currently living in north Texas and I'm looking to move somewhere new when my lease is up in July. Right now is the perfect time in my life for me to move somewhere totally new. I don't have a teaching job lined up yet and am single and I want to take advantage of this and make a break for it!
I've done the small town and suburbs thing and I'd like to move to a large city for a change. I would be living alone so I would like to move somewhere thats not horribly dangerous. I've been considering LA, New York and New Orleans but thats all I've come up with so far. I need suggestions for other places that have lots of fun things to see and do. I'm still at square one so any suggestions would be so helpful!
How exciting! Keep in mind, L.A. and NYC are HUGE cities, it will be a very big change from what you are used to.
What sort of things do you like to do? Is weather important to you, are you longing for warm weather year round, will you be sad if you don't see snow in winter? Is it important to stay within certain proximity of loved ones?
I live in the Kansas City, MO metro area and I love it here. St. Louis and Philadelphia are great cities, too.
I'm 22 and I just graduated this past December with my bachelor's degree in elementary education. I'm currently living in north Texas and I'm looking to move somewhere new when my lease is up in July. Right now is the perfect time in my life for me to move somewhere totally new. I don't have a teaching job lined up yet and am single and I want to take advantage of this and make a break for it!
I've done the small town and suburbs thing and I'd like to move to a large city for a change. I would be living alone so I would like to move somewhere thats not horribly dangerous. I've been considering LA, New York and New Orleans but thats all I've come up with so far. I need suggestions for other places that have lots of fun things to see and do. I'm still at square one so any suggestions would be so helpful!
Do you really want to be a teacher in a big-city school system? As a new teacher, you'd probably be assigned to the worst schools. How about living NEAR a big city?
Or you could live smack in the middle of a city like Atlanta and teach in a suburban school system. Atlanta is small in area, it wouldn't take you long to commute to a suburban school particularly since you'd be going against traffic.
I'm 22 and I just graduated this past December with my bachelor's degree in elementary education. I'm currently living in north Texas and I'm looking to move somewhere new when my lease is up in July. Right now is the perfect time in my life for me to move somewhere totally new. I don't have a teaching job lined up yet and am single and I want to take advantage of this and make a break for it!
I've done the small town and suburbs thing and I'd like to move to a large city for a change. I would be living alone so I would like to move somewhere thats not horribly dangerous. I've been considering LA, New York and New Orleans but thats all I've come up with so far. I need suggestions for other places that have lots of fun things to see and do. I'm still at square one so any suggestions would be so helpful!
You’re joking, right? A city with low crime and you choose three of the worst crime ridden cities in the country???
However, this greatly depends on what you want in a big city.
Want to play and have fun fun fun? Try San Diego or Miami.
Care deeply about the arts? Try New York, Seattle or San Francisco.
Want to live in a hostile liberal environment? Try San Francisco or Portland.
Want to live in a hostile conservative environment? Try Kansas City or Dallas.
Love sports? Try Chicago or Boston.
Want beauty and more close by? Try Seattle or Portland. Portland is 60 minutes away from mountain skiing or the ocean.
Want a growing city? Try Las Vegas.
Here would be my short list: San Diego, Las Vegas, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Miami, Chicago or Atlanta.
How exciting! Keep in mind, L.A. and NYC are HUGE cities, it will be a very big change from what you are used to.
What sort of things do you like to do? Is weather important to you, are you longing for warm weather year round, will you be sad if you don't see snow in winter? Is it important to stay within certain proximity of loved ones?
I live in the Kansas City, MO metro area and I love it here. St. Louis and Philadelphia are great cities, too.
St. Louis is great. I'm not sure I'd recommend teaching inside the city, though. Of course there are private schools, charter schools, magnet schools, and suburb schools. I think the city would be great for her as a single person and its an affordable city, but to be honest the city schools don't usually get good marks.
But it would probably be good as a single. There's a lot to do in the city, and there's 3 universities and a few smaller colleges in the area, so I'm sure there's a fair amount of young people.
There are a lot of new loft developments in the city, and in general they're pretty affordable. A decent condo can sometimes be had for $750/month, although they also usually have other amenities. Sometimes those cost more, though. There's Forest Park (bigger than Central Park in NYC), the Zoo, museums, NHL, NFL, and MLB. The Hill is also known for its Italian food, and of course there's the arch and casinos, and probably about anything you'd want.
I would recommend being careful of going very far out into North St. Louis or East St. Louis, but I wouldn't think you would have to.
And St. Louis is safe overall. As far as metros, St. Louis is 121st most dangerous, with East St. Louis included. The city limits are listed as more dangerous, but the metro is generally safe, as is downtown.
Anyway, St. Louis is a great city. I'm just not sure about the public school system.
Kansas City is nice as well. I really don't know anything about their schools, though.
There's also the metro which you can take all over the city.
You're one of those who wants to be thrown into the hard world of LA & NYC? I was like that too, at 20. I'm not that much older now, but I did enjoy my year in the LA area. The superfreeways & traffic jams can be a slap in the face for small towners though. Did it, done that for me. I'm far more content now in Seattle which is a great place to actually live in.
I think you need to pinpoint a specific region that you can imagine yourself actually being settled in. It's worth it to visit the various places before you commit. If I was in your situation, if I want to live in:
- a beach, coastal laidback city: San Diego
- a more sophisticated, Bohemian but pricier option: San Francisco
- a more reasonably priced, Southern 'fun' city: Atlanta
- a fasterpaced, more rat-race type place: Boston or Chicago
- a more scenic, more safe & clean option: Seattle or Denver
Any large American city would probably fit your criteria. Here of some of my favorites:
Denver
Minneapolis
Seattle
Salt Lake City
Boston
and did I mention Denver?
oh, and Denver too!
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