Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My wife and I live in our choice city, Charlotte. I have always lived here. My wife's been here since 1988. We have 4 adult children (daughter 25 (newborn granddaughter), and 3 sons 24, 23, 20). The 25 and 23 y/o of are here in the area. The 24 y/o is in the Marines in Beaufort, SC and 20 y/o in the Army's 82nd Airborne in Fayetteville, NC (Not too far away). My wife's family is in the Boston/Cape Cod area. My family is all here. We're 51/54 and don't plan on leaving here. We love it. We travel a lot and love the many areas we've gone/go, but this is the place for us. The only way we would move is if 2 or more of our children moved somewhere else and we were compelled to follow them. The 2 in the military want to get their degrees after their enlistments and settle back in the Charlotte area. Great thread!
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,448,437 times
Reputation: 9169
Los Angeles for me, had two road blocks, both involving the fiance, 1. She was scared of the cost of living, finally got her to back down on that one, especially since I'm the breadwinner, and 2. She is going to college here in Phoenix (finishing her Associates in the Community College system, then getting her bachelors at ASU), I tried to get her to transfer to CalState Fullerton, but she wants to get her degree at ASU. Once that happens, California here we come
The small, liberal, safe one next to the lake, with the vibrant main street, the mature tree-lined streets, and the assortment of affordable housing options showcasing mostly pristine Craftsmans and upscale, restored Federalist row houses. It has that world class library, that one really friendly cafe, a nice grocery store a walkable distance away, and a handful of pubs you can settle into and call home. It's got a couple lush parks and green spaces, oh, and a great 24 hour diner together with a handful of hidden gem restaurants of varying cuisines, styles, and price points.
The only reason I don't live there is that it doesn't, as far as I know, exist.
You could live in the Berkeley neighborhood in Denver. Forget about the affordability, ignore the scrapes, and head downtown for the 24-hour diners and library.
Otherwise you're probably talking about Evanston, IL or something.
I have two 1. New Orleans, I really love that city. I love the history, how unique and beautiful a large part of the city is, the music, architecture, food, and overall positive/happy vibe that the city gives off. As of right now, there are a lot of different aspects of the city that are keeping me away from moving there. For one I think the metro is too small for me, I don't see myself living in a metro that has under 3 million people for multiple reasons. It's also too humid for my taste, kinda dangerous, not really located by other cities that I find desirable, and I feel that it's not a great city to build my resume in terms of the career path I want to go down.
2. Washington, DC. DC is my favorite city in the world, I'm actually highly considering moving out there in the future. Nothing's really stopping me from moving there. I guess one reason why I don't want to make the move is that all my friends and family are out west (LA and Phoenix). The west is all I've really known when it comes to calling a place my home so moving to the east coast (even though I was born there) would be a huge change for me culturally.
The small, liberal, safe one next to the lake, with the vibrant main street, the mature tree-lined streets, and the assortment of affordable housing options showcasing mostly pristine Craftsmans and upscale, restored Federalist row houses. It has that world class library, that one really friendly cafe, a nice grocery store a walkable distance away, and a handful of pubs you can settle into and call home. It's got a couple lush parks and green spaces, oh, and a great 24 hour diner together with a handful of hidden gem restaurants of varying cuisines, styles, and price points.
The only reason I don't live there is that it doesn't, as far as I know, exist.
You need to check out Burlington, Vermont. It may be the closest to the place you are looking for.
To me it's Pittsburgh---just more socially liberal, more diverse, and more cosmopolitan.
I'm not there because I wouldn't be able to handle the brutal winters; my family in Eastern PA would be too far away; and the cost of housing is quite expensive.
I moved to the Twin Cities from upstate NY and lived in St Paul for the first 13 years I was here. It reminded me a lot of a massive version of an interior Northeast or Ohio college town. It had the good parts of home without the provincial rust belt feel that you get in a lot of the smaller cities in the Northeast. It is a place where people know their neighbors, you see faces you know on the street every day, have low crime, and still have a bunch to do. I thought it was cool to live in a place like that and still have a bigger city next door that you could visit but didn't have to live in. St Paul is definitely an eastern style city (or at least eastern Midwestern) in a way that Minneapolis isn't.
The small, liberal, safe one next to the lake, with the vibrant main street, the mature tree-lined streets, and the assortment of affordable housing options showcasing mostly pristine Craftsmans and upscale, restored Federalist row houses. It has that world class library, that one really friendly cafe, a nice grocery store a walkable distance away, and a handful of pubs you can settle into and call home. It's got a couple lush parks and green spaces, oh, and a great 24 hour diner together with a handful of hidden gem restaurants of varying cuisines, styles, and price points.
The only reason I don't live there is that it doesn't, as far as I know, exist.
Minus the affordable - New England and New York small towns.
You need to check out Burlington, Vermont. It may be the closest to the place you are looking for.
Have been many times, and it is, indeed, a very nice city. Falls short of the description on a number of criteria, but for certain, one of the nation's gems.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.