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I am a single guy in my late 20s, and currently living in NYC. I like nyc from May to September, but the remaining months are depressing because of the terrible weather. My town becomes a ghost town and I can’t do any of my hobbies (mountain biking, jet skiing, outdoors etc) another downside is the exorbitant cost of things. While I make 125% the median household income, I don’t see myself being able to own a home or retire here as a single guy.
My family all moved to Florida, but that’s not my first choice. I am thinking of a east coast city in Carolinas/Georgia. The criteria in order of importance:
A lot of construction work (I work as a designer in the industry)
Mild weather. I’m not picky but it needs to be a considerable improvement over NYC
Proximity to mountains, lakes, oceans, etc. so I can enjoy my hobbies
Young population. I like my town because it’s mostly young professionals.
Bonus: Cheaper then NYC. I’d like to eventually own a home.
I am planning to go to Florida in the Fall and I could drive and check out some cities.
[quote=MBalducci1990;52103122] The criteria in order of importance:
A lot of construction work (I work as a designer in the industry)
Mild weather. I’m not picky but it needs to be a considerable improvement over NYC
Proximity to mountains, lakes, oceans, etc. so I can enjoy my hobbies
Young population. I like my town because it’s mostly young professionals.
Bonus: Cheaper then NYC. I’d like to eventually own a home. /QUOTE]
It would be difficult to beat Charlotte with that list. It's two hours to the Blue Ridge Mountains and three hours to the beaches. It's a young city with a median age of 33 and a city filled with young professionals especially in occupations like banking, financial services and health care. Charlotte's cost of living is about in line with the national average and is also one of the few fastest growing metro areas in the US.
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I'm not sure how large a city that you're looking for, but the Greenville, SC metro would seem to check a lot of your boxes in terms of mountain and lake access, affordability and a surprisingly lively entertainment scene in its urban core.
For similar reasons, I would also suggest Columbia, SC and Wilmington, NC.
Although affordability is becoming more of an issue in the following cities due to their increasing popularity with your demographic, I'll put them out there as well.
Asheville, NC
Nashville, TN
Savannah, GA
Charleston, SC
Atlanta, GA
I'm not sure how large a city that you're looking for, but the Greenville, SC metro would seem to check a lot of your boxes in terms of mountain and lake access, affordability and a surprisingly lively entertainment scene in its urban core.
For similar reasons, I would also suggest Columbia, SC and Wilmington, NC.
I too would recommend also Columbia as it also I feel fulfills the role of a city trending upward in terms of construction/development opportunity along with a sizable young professional population thanks primarily to the university (University of South Carolina), military base (Fort Jackson) and state capital government as well as growth in the private sector. The only caveat is the smaller population..
Last edited by kyle19125; 06-05-2018 at 09:11 AM..
The Raleigh-Durham area would be perfect for you. 1.5-2 hours to the coast, 2.5-3 hours to the mountains. Tons of construction work I am sure with all the development going on. Tons of young professionals with all of the universities in the region. It is also still very affordable, and a perk for you being from NY, the area is loaded with Yankees!
I am a single guy in my late 20s, and currently living in NYC. I like nyc from May to September, but the remaining months are depressing because of the terrible weather. My town becomes a ghost town and I can’t do any of my hobbies (mountain biking, jet skiing, outdoors etc) another downside is the exorbitant cost of things. While I make 125% the median household income, I don’t see myself being able to own a home or retire here as a single guy.
My family all moved to Florida, but that’s not my first choice. I am thinking of a east coast city in Carolinas/Georgia. The criteria in order of importance:
A lot of construction work (I work as a designer in the industry)
Mild weather. I’m not picky but it needs to be a considerable improvement over NYC
Proximity to mountains, lakes, oceans, etc. so I can enjoy my hobbies
Young population. I like my town because it’s mostly young professionals.
Bonus: Cheaper then NYC. I’d like to eventually own a home.
I am planning to go to Florida in the Fall and I could drive and check out some cities.
I too, lived in NYC and the area for a long time. Enjoyed the time there immensely, but realistically, it was not a place to remain longer term, or to own a home at a reasonable cost.
Here are my recommendations, based on your criteria:
A lot of construction work (I work as a designer in the industry)
1) Atlanta, GA
2) Charlotte, NC
3) Raleigh-Durham, NC
4) Greenville, SC
5) Nashville, TN
6) to a lesser degree, either Chattanooga, TN or Knoxville, TN (growing but not as quickly as these areas mentioned)
Mild weather. I’m not picky but it needs to be a considerable improvement over NYC
All of these cities fall into much, much milder winters than NYC has.
Proximity to mountains, lakes, oceans, etc. so I can enjoy my hobbies
1) Raleigh-Durham, NC has best access to the ocean
2) Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC and Nashville, TN all have super easy lake/mountain access.
Young population. I like my town because it’s mostly young professionals.
1) Gonna find this in Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham in abundance.
Atlanta will have the most just because it is much larger than any of the others, but Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham are all booming, along with Atlanta.
Don't forget about the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Virginia is a great state with lots of easy access to beaches, mountains, lakes, rivers, you name it. Good economy and a heck of a lot less expensive than NYC but coastal cities aren't far from DC, Baltimore, and all points north (Philly, NYC, Boston) without the winter weather drama. It is congested but busy and with lots of construction work and fairly reasonably priced homes.
I like Greenville a lot, but while it's growing like crazy, it's considerably smaller than those above. Ditto Columbia, but the growth rate is lower and a lot of the young adult activity is USC-focused.
I lived in big cities (Chicago, NYC) in my 20s and found small-to-midsized cities in the SE to be a nice fit now. Married with young kids now, so my priorities are different, but there are some good options for those stages of life, too, that are a little more measured in their growth than the cities listed above.
There are over 400,000 people living in Greenville's urbanized area. It is the center of the 40th largest CSA in the country. It would be strange if a young person could not meet other young people in a metro this size.
It gets stuff all the time that caters to young professionals, like TopGolf and breweries, etc.
In my view, Greenville has a college town vibe. Ben Stein described it as a college town for adults.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemVegas
Ben Stein described it as a college town for adults.
I had not heard that, but that is funny and rather insightful.
CV, I should share with you what my husband's PNW-based brother and sister-in-law shared in one of our cocktail conversations last Fall.
They came down to explore the SE region and for the visit based themselves in Asheville. They are growing weary of the PNW influx (and soaring prices) and are ready to 'cash out'. They want a climate that is not so extreme, but want to retain a West Coast vibe. I of course said they were in the right place, but my brother-in-law said their peers mentioned Greenville as a candidate as often as they did Asheville.
Just thought you'd want to know that you've got some West Coast Reverb going on.
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