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.
All of the cities you're interested in have plenty of job opportunities and are booming.
For cost of living....All are getting expensive, but Seattle is by far the most expensive out of the group.
Seattle should definitely be ahead of Austin and Nashville in Nightlife; unlike Charlotte, Austin and Nashville, Seattle has various urban neighborhoods or areas outside of Downtown that has significant nightlife and foot traffic.
Seattle should definitely be ahead of Austin and Nashville in Nightlife; unlike Charlotte, Austin and Nashville, Seattle has various urban neighborhoods or areas outside of Downtown that has significant nightlife and foot traffic.
I challenge you on this.. In fact, Seattle's nightlife scene I found to be less than stellar. Portland easily has Seattle beat with nightlife and it is not nearly as much of a metropolis. Seattle has a very corporate, Scandinavian, early to bed and early to rise mentality. That is not to say areas like Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Capitol Hill and the University Ave area do not have some events going on every day. But for a metro of 4.5 million, the city can actually be eerily quiet and empty on most weekdays. I was shocked to see actually how dead many neighborhoods of Seattle would be compared to Portland. Portland to me is a much more fun and entertaining city than Seattle. Now, if we are talking a city that is better for making a living, it's not even a close comparison. Portland sucks there.
I have heard Nashville and Austin are lively cities and have lots going on every day of the week.. I would think they would be more reminiscent of Portland in the entertainment realm. Hopefully, unlike Portland, these are actually cities where you can make a living and not give away all your hard earned salary to living expenses, rent/home payments and taxes (Oregon is at 9-10% now). This is why I left Oregon a while ago.
Seattle simply is not a party town.. Belltown gets a bit wild on the weekends, mostly during the Summer. Alki Beach has a lot of people out and about too in the Summer. Notice the word "Summer".. However, most of the year these areas are pretty empty and quiet, except the weekends.
Seattle is growing fast and the dreary, dull and corporate/Scandinavian atmosphere it has had may change as more fun and wild transplants want their daily nightlife. I remember in the past how people griped how the bars close at 1:30AM and how the downtown empties out almost by 1AM. However, I am shocked at how a place like Belltown becomes like a ghost town on the weekdays. Belltown is no Las Vegas Strip.
I challenge you on this.. In fact, Seattle's nightlife scene I found to be less than stellar. Portland easily has Seattle beat with nightlife and it is not nearly as much of a metropolis. Seattle has a very corporate, Scandinavian, early to bed and early to rise mentality. That is not to say areas like Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Capitol Hill and the University Ave area do not have some events going on every day. But for a metro of 4.5 million, the city can actually be eerily quiet and empty on most weekdays. I was shocked to see actually how dead many neighborhoods of Seattle would be compared to Portland. Portland to me is a much more fun and entertaining city than Seattle. Now, if we are talking a city that is better for making a living, it's not even a close comparison. Portland sucks there.
I have heard Nashville and Austin are lively cities and have lots going on every day of the week.. I would think they would be more reminiscent of Portland in the entertainment realm. Hopefully, unlike Portland, these are actually cities where you can make a living and not give away all your hard earned salary to living expenses, rent/home payments and taxes (Oregon is at 9-10% now). This is why I left Oregon a while ago.
Seattle simply is not a party town.. Belltown gets a bit wild on the weekends, mostly during the Summer. Alki Beach has a lot of people out and about too in the Summer. Notice the word "Summer".. However, most of the year these areas are pretty empty and quiet, except the weekends.
Seattle is growing fast and the dreary, dull and corporate/Scandinavian atmosphere it has had may change as more fun and wild transplants want their daily nightlife. I remember in the past how people griped how the bars close at 1:30AM and how the downtown empties out almost by 1AM. However, I am shocked at how a place like Belltown becomes like a ghost town on the weekdays. Belltown is no Las Vegas Strip.
This is exaggerated in my opinion. The Sound has so much to offer and there are many diverse communities with an endless array of options. The people in Seattle are a strange and awkward bunch and the club scene may not be relatable to most major cities, but people here do love to party. Lots of underground places and events happening every night from Olympia to Everett and Bremerton to Bellevue.
Status:
"Pickleball-Free American"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,462 posts, read 44,074,708 times
Reputation: 16840
Quote:
Originally Posted by jshubbard
Awesome, great thank you both. YES! I knew I was leaving something out. Nashville was also on my list. I am afraid that it will just feel to similar to Knoxville. Charlotte sounds good and yes close to the beach. I agree that Charlotte prob has better cost of living.
Having spent quite a bit of time in both cities, I am of the opinion that Nashville and Knoxville are nothing alike. Nashville carries an energy and aura of sophistication that Knoxville decidedly lacks.
Austin was to me a great deal of fun and definitely a young person's town. Head west towards Lake Travis and the Hill Country and you should find enough outdoor activity to suit you.
I lived in Seattle, and my husband is a native. Marvelous city; I love the scenery, the culture, the people. It doesn't take long to span out and find some great venues for outdoor activity, either. Problem is that Seattle is quickly becoming a victim of its' own success. Traffic is a nightmare and rents and home prices are escalating rapidly. I'd venture to speculate that the sale of your Knoxville house might yield you a studio in Seattle proper.
What can I say about Charlotte? It's like finding a good life partner...maybe not always as exciting as your mistress on the side, but nice to come home to nonetheless. I frankly think that Charlotte gets frequently undersold on this forum. My sister moved there from Atlanta years ago and has never looked back.
Best of luck to you! Ah, to be 28 and eyeballing your next adventure...
RosteCherut, wow that was a lot! Ha, however some very observant points. My end goal is to open my own business and I almost did so here in Knoxville just last month but caved when I saw all the costs on renovating the space that I wanted. Saying that, and the clear points that you make about Seattle becoming the next Detroit and running small businesses out, Seattle in the long run may not be the best option for me. The liberal points do not bother me much. Yeah I may want to punch someone in the face every-time I see someone drinking a $8 cup of coffee and then asking me for money or complaining about equality, but generally I just let people make their own choices and focus on myself.
Knoxville is not 100% revolved around the church but it does have a hefty overcast, but more so revolved around the University Of Tennessee. If you did not go to UT, or have family ties to UT, then you are a outcast here and no one will take you seriously. I would almost match the "cultist" feeling of Knoxville and UT to people who do CrossFit. Unfortunately for me, I moved here in 2005 due to relocating from hurricane Katrina, and did not have family ties to UT and couldn't afford to pay for school on my own, which is then why I went into the military. Life happened, and I ended up going to school here for 2 years and then relocating to GA because of a girl to finish up my last two years. I moved back to Knoxville in August after that 6yr relationship failed to complete an internship at a physical therapy clinic and renovate my house here in perpetration to sell it.
With that being said, it sounds like Nashville and Charlotte are my top two contenders with Nashville having more to offer, but higher cost of living, and Charlotte being the smaller and cheaper alternative!? I at one time considered New Orleans again but after visiting a few times over the past year, its just to run down for the amount you have to spend.
I have heard Nashville and Austin are lively cities and have lots going on every day of the week.. I would think they would be more reminiscent of Portland in the entertainment realm. Hopefully, unlike Portland, these are actually cities where you can make a living and not give away all your hard earned salary to living expenses, rent/home payments and taxes (Oregon is at 9-10% now). This is why I left Oregon a while ago.
Seattle simply is not a party town.. Belltown gets a bit wild on the weekends, mostly during the Summer. Alki Beach has a lot of people out and about too in the Summer. Notice the word "Summer".. However, most of the year these areas are pretty empty and quiet, except the weekends.
Everyday? lol no.
The nightlife in Austin and Nashville is massively overrated, they both lack entertainment areas outside of DT and the nightlife scene doesn't appeal to various demographics; there's not many options. Not to mention there's not any live neighborhoods either.
I am an exercise physiologist. Long story short I am a personal trainer that can operate in a clinical (hospital) preventative/rehabilitative setting. My dream and end goal is to open my own group training gym.
Then Charlotte would be fine, and your money will go the furthest. Keep in mind, you won't be out enjoying nightlife everyday, but when you do out, Charlotte's is diverse enough. There actually are neighborhoods outside of Uptown (what they call their downtown) that you can enjoy and socialize.
And there are other things to go other than bar hop, such as Carowinds, which has one of the fastest and tallest roller coasters in the world, plenty of malls, NFL, NBA, AAA baseball, museums, NASCAR, great parks, festivals, and the airport is much larger than it should be. 6th busiest in the US. 27th in the world. You can get anywhere you need to go nonstop - except Asia.
Again, Charlotte ranks last in scenery, but the mountains are a couple hours drive away, and the beach is as short as 3 1/2. The COL is very good for a city of it's size. If you want to date, you will find a girlfriend. And a pretty one. And the jobs are well paying and diverse. I have one friend who got a degree in history, but now shes making $50K at one of the banks, and they trained her how to do the job. And she's only 22. Anecdotal, but the jobs are there.
Do more research before you settle on a place and try to visit if you haven't, but Charlotte definitely gets my vote.
I challenge you on this.. In fact, Seattle's nightlife scene I found to be less than stellar. Portland easily has Seattle beat with nightlife and it is not nearly as much of a metropolis. Seattle has a very corporate, Scandinavian, early to bed and early to rise mentality. That is not to say areas like Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Capitol Hill and the University Ave area do not have some events going on every day. But for a metro of 4.5 million, the city can actually be eerily quiet and empty on most weekdays. I was shocked to see actually how dead many neighborhoods of Seattle would be compared to Portland. Portland to me is a much more fun and entertaining city than Seattle. Now, if we are talking a city that is better for making a living, it's not even a close comparison. Portland sucks there.
I have heard Nashville and Austin are lively cities and have lots going on every day of the week.. I would think they would be more reminiscent of Portland in the entertainment realm. Hopefully, unlike Portland, these are actually cities where you can make a living and not give away all your hard earned salary to living expenses, rent/home payments and taxes (Oregon is at 9-10% now). This is why I left Oregon a while ago.
Seattle simply is not a party town.. Belltown gets a bit wild on the weekends, mostly during the Summer. Alki Beach has a lot of people out and about too in the Summer. Notice the word "Summer".. However, most of the year these areas are pretty empty and quiet, except the weekends.
Seattle is growing fast and the dreary, dull and corporate/Scandinavian atmosphere it has had may change as more fun and wild transplants want their daily nightlife. I remember in the past how people griped how the bars close at 1:30AM and how the downtown empties out almost by 1AM. However, I am shocked at how a place like Belltown becomes like a ghost town on the weekdays. Belltown is no Las Vegas Strip.
You must have left Seattle quite a while ago if you think Belltown is Seattle's top nightlife neighborhood.
And what is your obsession with Portland nightlife? Portland nightlife is horrible compared to Seattle. It has no major neighborhood with dense nightlife (like Capitol Hill or Ballard). It's nightlife is spread out all over the city, to the point where its a pain to walk from bar to bar, yet too close to grab a lyft/uber.
Hello everyone, my name is Steven and I currently live in Knoxville, TN and originate from New Orleans, LA. I just finished my Bachelors in Exercise Physiology and am a Marine Corps veteran. I am unhappy here in Knoxville due to lack of opportunity and relationship reasons and have explored the idea of selling my house and relocating to a more "happening" city. I am not really into the extreme liberal people but I enjoy outdoors activities and a scenic area. Generally, finding that generally most cities that have caught my eye are liberal, which I still am okay with. I am looking to get into my profession while moving somewhere totally new that has a outdoor and vibrant night life. Also, the possibility of a masters program could be in my future but ultimately what I dream about doing is owning a personal training group fitness studio in a downtown environment.
I am considering visiting Seattle, Austin, Charlotte, and Nashville. I have been to Austin to stay with my brother who lives in a suburb and really wasn't impressed to much (mainly because everything was just brown and dead) but I did not get out into downtown Austin at all because I was staying with him and his family. I've never been to the Pacific NW but the scenery out that way is just beautiful. As for Charlotte I have never been but I was stationed in Jacksonville, NC during my time in the Marines. Nashville, everyone says is a really good time here in Knoxville, but I almost feel like it would feel the same staying in Tennessee?
I am looking for something totally different. Things that are important to me is 1) Jobs/ business opportunity 2) dating/ people/ nightlife 3) cost of living 4) outdoor scenery.
Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing your responses.
Thanks for your military service.You are one of my heroes.
You must have left Seattle quite a while ago if you think Belltown is Seattle's top nightlife neighborhood.
And what is your obsession with Portland nightlife? Portland nightlife is horrible compared to Seattle. It has no major neighborhood with dense nightlife (like Capitol Hill or Ballard). It's nightlife is spread out all over the city, to the point where its a pain to walk from bar to bar, yet too close to grab a lyft/uber.
Nope.. I left Seattle a year ago and Belltown is without a doubt still the most raving and crowded drag in Seattle. That is where many of the night clubs, music venues and upscale bars are.. Of course, Capitol Hill is larger than Belltown and encompasses a huge area with many strips of its own that are pretty lively, like Pike, Pine and the other main streets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dapper23
And what is your obsession with Portland nightlife? Portland nightlife is horrible compared to Seattle. It has no major neighborhood with dense nightlife (like Capitol Hill or Ballard). It's nightlife is spread out all over the city, to the point where its a pain to walk from bar to bar, yet too close to grab a lyft/uber.
I don't know what the heck you are talking about Portland's nightlife being horrible!!! What do you mean Portland doesn't have neighborhoods and is not walkable? I believe an Uber would be more ideal in Portland than even Seattle. Seattle's traffic and zig zag street system is nasty. It takes literally ten times as long to get somewhere in Seattle as it should. Portland was rated one of the most walkable cities in the country and easily the most bikable (which actually sucks, cause bike riders can be annoying). Portland has several neighborhoods with large numbers of bars, clubs and entertainment venues. I take it you never actually been to downtown Portland? Unlike downtown Seattle, where you need your hiking boots, water and a backpack with gear (ok, I am exaggerating a bit ) to scale its little peaks, downtown Portland is fairly flat and you can pretty much traverse the entire downtown in 30 minutes. Then there is a place called the Pearl District that has a pretty thriving nightlife scene. I guess you never been to Hawthorne, Belmont , Alberta, Albina neighborhoods? Not to mention there has been a huge number of new bars, restaurants, coffeeshops booming all over town, including East Burnside, Division and even Powell. Old Felony Flats (82nd block) even has become a pretty cool and upcoming Chinatown that I think even starting to rival the International District in Seattle. All these areas have large numbers of bars and music venues and are way cooler than places like Ballard.
Ballard? Please, Ballard has become very lame and is a haunt for rich Californian yuppies. Ballard is a good place to blow your dough at one of the many overpriced restaurants or upscale bars. I find Ballard to be very unwelcoming and pretty lame compared to many more trendy and more middle-class neighborhoods in Portland. I will take Hawthorne over Ballard , even if it is not quite as large, which it actually is bigger than Ballard, I believe. Don't get me wrong, there is things I like about Ballard, Ballard Coffee Works, Tall Grass Bakery, etc, but overall it is very dull and the people of that neighborhood are a bit pretentious. I find it to be actually one of Seattle's least friendly neighborhoods. It also has undergone serious gentrification.
Portland definitely has places scattered throughout the city too and there are parts of Portland that are only accessible by public transit , uber or Car (gasp). But, then the same can be said for Seattle. I mean how many people go out of their way to have fun in the SoDo or go up to hang out on Aurora Ave in North Seattle? The place is still somewhat of a sprawled wasteland of tweakers and lower cost housing.
Overall, Portland is a younger, more vibrant and versatile in the types of entertainment, music and nightlife than Seattle. Maybe Seattle has this secret underground party scene I know not about. If it revolves around raves and drugs, I will say every place in the Northwest, including Eugene, Oregon, offers those venues and I am too old for that type of scene. Don't have enough liver left in me..
I am sad to hear Austin and Nashville's nightlife and music scene is overrated. Of course, I would like a second opinion. I am sure it couldn't be any worse than Boise, which literally has no night life.. Unless you think grinding to horrible mixed new age hip hop garbage (that you cannot be sober and listen to) with drunk 22 year old college girls is a form of respectable entertainment.
Last edited by RotseCherut; 12-21-2016 at 04:12 PM..
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.
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.
What do you mean Portland doesn't have neighborhoods and is not walkable? I believe an Uber would be more ideal in Portland than even Seattle. Seattle's traffic and zig zag street system is nasty. It takes literally ten times as long to get somewhere in Seattle as it should. Portland was rated one of the most walkable cities in the country and easily the most bikable (which actually sucks, cause bike riders can be annoying). Portland has several neighborhoods with large numbers of bars, clubs and entertainment venues. I take it you never actually been to downtown Portland? Unlike downtown Seattle, where you need your hiking boots, water and a backpack with gear (ok, I am exaggerating a bit 
) to scale its little peaks, downtown Portland is fairly flat and you can pretty much traverse the entire downtown in 30 minutes. Then there is a place called the Pearl District that has a pretty thriving nightlife scene. I guess you never been to Hawthorne, Belmont , Alberta, Albina neighborhoods? Not to mention there has been a huge number of new bars, restaurants, coffeeshops booming all over town, including East Burnside, Division and even Powell. Old Felony Flats (82nd block) even has become a pretty cool and upcoming Chinatown that I think even starting to rival the International District in Seattle. All these areas have large numbers of bars and music venues and are way cooler than places like Ballard. 
