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I am having a difficult time trying to decide which place would be the best for me to relocate. I am 26yo, I have more liberal leaning views and I'm not religious. This is moderately important to me because where I am right now I experience a lot more intolerance to people who are not conservative and highly religious. I also experience a lot more racist people where I am. White people like to assume that because I'm also white that I am ok with their racist comments. I'm tired of the bigotry where I am and am looking for a place that I can settle down and call home for years to come. Currently I live around the Shreveport/Bossier area in LA.
Things I'm hoping to find:
Less bigotry and racism, and more tolerance for people's life choices and personal/religious beliefs. (We can have differences but I don't need to be belittled for them.)
Culture/diversity
A lot of "city" things to do such as good museums, zoos, attractions. And cool events too!
Lots of good food and a diverse food scene.
Water! I love the water, it soothes me and while I would prefer coastal if there is a place with lots of awesome (and clean) lakes I would consider it too!
Nice weather, no humidity (unless there's an ocean breeze). Not into the cold either. I would prefer more sunny days than rainy.
Close proximity to other places and fun outdoor things to do. (Where I am the closest big city with things to do is 3 hours away (and that's still slim pickings), I'd prefer to be within lots and lots of things to do).
And affordable. I'm switching careers so I will have a large increase in my income but I would still like an affordable living. At least a 1b/1ba no more than 2grand and a house preferably around 250k but realistically I know 300k to 400k would probably be my max.
There are other things but I feel that would be getting too picky.
And thank you in advance! It's hard looking for places when there are so many out there I can't possibly know all the ones I should be looking at.
PS. I did live in the Prescott area in AZ and I loved it but the job situation there wasn't ideal (and it was more of a retirement town so not much to choose from as a single lady). And there's not much water in AZ
Hmm. I'm trying to think of a place that has as much of what you're asking for as possible. Asheville, NC comes to mind. Though the city itself is a bit pricey, but it seems to be in your price range. Very outdoorsy. Terrific places to eat. French Broad River. Moderate, 4-season climate. The city is liberal, suburban areas more conservatives, but everyone gets along well. It's one of my wife's and my favorite places.
I would like to address the personal experience you mentioned. I'm 52 years old, a white, male, Independent Conservative, and Christian. I'm sorry you experienced what you did in LA. But that is the exception and not the rule among Christians and Conservatives. Racism isn't exclusive to any one race or region by any stretches of the imagination. Most any person can get along in any place in the U.S. IF they are cool with others and tolerant of others beliefs. I know sometimes if we come on too strong with our own personal opinions, it can create these types of conflicts. I'm not necessarily saying that's the case with you. I'm just saying that all of us (myself included) have to be careful to not label views not our own as racist, sexist, bigoted, etc., etc., etc. simply because we don't like them. I've seen white people who have been racist and it's horrible. But I've seen just as many black people who are racist and it's just as disturbing. My permanent home is in Charlotte, NC. It has a lot of different beliefs and people get along very well. There are MANY very large churches in the area that are conservative and very multiracial (mine included). I am temporarily living in Cape Cod, MA to help care for my wife's mom who is battling Parkinson's Disease. MA is statistically the most liberal state in the U.S., but I've had no issues here at all. The people are nice and live and let live for the most part. Then, again, I know of 3 people (2 live there, 1 visited, different incidents) in the San Francisco/San Jose, CA area and have not only been verbally assaulted, but (in 2 of the 3 cases) physically assaulted because of their conservative beliefs. They were unprovoked. They were simply IDed as conservative/Christian by a Ben Shapiro shirt she was wearing, another by a Bible he was carrying on the UC-Berkeley campus, and another at USF where he was a student (regularly chastised for his beliefs by his Professor, unprovoked). Yet this type of bigotry is rarely acknowledged by those who regularly champion tolerance. My only point is, please don't fall into the trap that seems to be so prevalent today that a given group of people are all the same way. White AND black people are capable of racism. Southerners AND Northerners are capable of stereotyping. Christians AND non-Christians are capable of bigotry. But generally speaking, we all, ALL, want the same things and make connections with one another. We just can't let others (mostly politicians and media types) divide us. As a matter of fact, I haven't watched national news in nearly a year for this very reason. Too many lies, divisiveness, and just was getting my spirit down........I am sooo sorry for jabbering away like this, lol. It's just the dad coming out in me. You're in my children's age range (3 boys and a girl 22-27). I would just hate for you to miss out on meeting some wonderful people who are Conservative and Christian based on your unfortunate experience. I didn't let my friend's experience in the Bay Area taint my experience here in MA. No matter what side of the political aisle we're on, if we ignore the World's outside influences and see each other as individuals, THAT and only that, will cure our World's ills........ No matter where you end up, I wish you luck. If I can think of another place that might be a fit for you, I'll let you know. Take care!
It might help people to know what sort of career you'll be getting into, as the economic activities might make your jobs prospects in certain cities better than others. Also:
How big of a city would you like to be in?
Would you like to have any proximity to family in LA (if they're there)?
Do you prefer a certain level of urbanity or not really?
And any other criteria might help narrow it down.
There are some that come to mind right off the bat although none meet all your criteria... Most of these cities either get cold and/or are expensive but meet your criteria pretty well. These are all medium-large metro areas, but if you prefer a different size of city than the list would look different. (I'm your age and share much your same criteria, so these are also some of my top places too )
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Boston, MA
Denver, CO
Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN
Austin, TX
Portland, OR
Of course you could always consider a very large city like NYC or Chicago too.
Given all of your criteria in my opinion Boston makes the most sense. Obviously you'll have to get over the cold aspect in winter, but otherwise it pretty much nails everything else as there are plenty of nice apartments well under $2000 per month and a substantial amount of housing for sale under 350K.
Given all of your criteria in my opinion Boston makes the most sense. Obviously you'll have to get over the cold aspect in winter, but otherwise it pretty much nails everything else as there are plenty of nice apartments well under $2000 per month and a substantial amount of housing for sale under 350K.
Are there lots of nice 1bd/1bth apartments in the city well under $2000? I was under the impression that Boston was a bit more expensive than that, unless you go out of the city a bit. I agree Boston could be a good fit; great city overall.
A place I thought of that is worth looking into is Nyack/South Nyack NY. It is right on the Hudson River, but is still close enough to the coast. Nice walkable community that is diverse, with people of different backgrounds interacting with each other and has an artsy, somewhat gritty vibe. It has some nightlife and restaurants, but it is only about 20 miles north of NYC. So, you have more nearby. There are also some apartments within your budget there as well:
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Boston, MA
Denver, CO
Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN
Austin, TX
Portland, OR
I guess I could expand a little on where your criteria may not fit as well for my list, as I didn't before.
-SF - I love that city and it meets most of your criteria. It is extremely expensive though, and while it isn't humid and doesn't get too cold, it isn't always warm. I think the 60 degree weather and the foggy/cloudy/drizzly days aren't too bad.
-Seattle - Still on the expensive side, but should fall within your budget. It does however get chilly, cloudy, and drizzly a good chunk of the year.
-Boston - Still kinda expensive, but should fall in your budget. It gets cold and I'm sure you've heard of their infamous nor'easters in the winter.
-Denver - You like water? I like water too. Denver doesn't really have much to offer for water, that's the biggest reason I wouldn't really want to move there. It also gets winter weather. It's also really isolated, but the mountains are close. I'm not as sure of the overall attitude/culture there as I've only been once, but I believe its in line with your criteria.
-Minneapolis/St. Paul - It gets pretty cold in the winter. While there is no coast, there's tons of lakes and rivers literally everywhere. It's kind of isolated, but the North Shore (Lake Superior coast) is 2.5 hours away and is beautiful, and Chicago and Milwaukee are less than an hour flight away or a short roadtrip. It's probably the least expensive place on this list.
-Austin - Not really too much for water there, but there's a river and Lake Travis is on the western edge of the metro area. Gets uncomfortably hot weather. I'm less sure of the overall culture/attitudes there as I've only been once, but I believe it's in line with what you want.
-Portland - Same weather drawbacks as Seattle. There's not a ton of water but there's a couple rivers and you can find some smaller lakes and the Oregon coast is 1.5 hours away and is one of the most beautiful coastlines you could picture.
Like I said, I'm your age and have most of the same criteria (with an added need for a level of urbanity and a preference for decent transportation). I love it here in Minneapolis and it fits most of what you want. I also am hoping to move in a couple years to change things up though. My personal top 3 places to go are: San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston.
Sounds like California and central/eastern Washington. Maybe Boston.
The most interesting request was loving/wanting water, but not humidity. The places low in humidity are nearly always dry, and not supportive of lakes. The emphasis though sounded stronger on wanting to see water, than avoiding all-out humidity.
You'll probably have to sacrifice affordability, urban amenities or good weather if you want under 2k rent. Which one is more important?
Maybe Sacramento or Spokane? You've basically described LA, SF and San Diego but they are all expensive.
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