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Hello all. So I'm a 33 y/o, single male Physical Therapist currently living in Houston, and I'm not really satisfied. The income is good, and the cost of living is low: and that is basically the only thing I like about Houston. Heat, traffic, it smells bad, no scenery. Outside of money, the main appeal of Houston seems to be restaurants - and I rarely eat at restaurants.
I'm looking for somewhere with a more health, fitness, and outdoors focused culture, some decent scenery, and maybe beaches. And being single, attractive women is a plus A decent job market for Physical therapy, and a manageable cost of living - California is out.
Tampa - Still hot, but... beaches! And the ocean breeze, better scenery, fitness culture (so I hear)
Miama - Expensive. But beaches... and the women!
Salt Lake City - kinda smallish, but nice scenery, less traffic. Lots of attractive women, from what I'm told
Denver - Expensive. Have some family there. Nice scenery. Maybe?
I'd suggest these cities, based on what you mentioned -
*Miami
cons-pricey and pay can be lower than metros its size
Atlanta
*not near a beach, but mountains are less than an hour
Tampa/St Petersburg
*may have everything you want with your criteria
*Charlotte
*smaller version of Atlanta, yet a bit more affordable and close to mountains
*Philadelphia
*not as pricey as you would think, and the Jersy Shore, Maryland and Delaware beaches are within an hour. Mountains are an hour away and NYC is 90 min by train
Greenville, SC sounds like a good fit. Also, Colorado Springs is sort of like a cheap Denver so it could be a good option.
Regarding Tampa, it’s probably a good fit too and probably has a better market for physical therapy. However, it’s more expensive than most people realize so it gets dinged in cost of living.
You should check out San Diego-Chula Vista CA. Average PT salaries in CA are at 90K per year or around 7,500 net per month. There are a lot of nice one bedroom apartments priced around 2K per month, which is well within the 2X or 3X rental qualifications, and not even a third of your net income. That's a difficult find in most cities, especially in FL. https://www.apartments.com/san-diego...-1500-to-2000/
All the OP's examples are metros or consolidated metros over 2 million. There are only 35 such metros and few are "great" by your other criteria. Though more could "work", with some lowering of expectations.
If you want beach, Tampa would seems like the right place. If "beach" can be a lake or even a river beach, you'd have more options. Nashville, Austin, Atlanta, Charlotte. If you'd go smaller on metro, could consider Richmond, Virginia Beach, maybe Charleston.
If you desire forested mountains for nearby "scenery", then Denver (or somewhere on front range) makes sense. But it probably ought to be regular mountain activity to justify choice over other places. Lots of people end up going out about as much or less in a year than could be done in a 1-2 week vacation.
SLC traffic? Some say it is bad but exact location and commute- and other experience- will affect the assessments.
Reno? Could work for some.
Would Bryan / College Station or Tyler TX be enough change? I am guessing not for you but mentioning for those who might be interested in Houston alternatives.
As for dating, places vary some on attractiveness, effort, visibility but also on expectations of others and competition from others.
You should check out San Diego-Chula Vista CA. Average PT salaries in CA are at 90K per year or around 7,500 net per month. There are a lot of nice one bedroom apartments priced around 2K per month, which is well within the 2X or 3X rental qualifications, and not even a third of your net income. That's a difficult find in most cities, especially in FL. https://www.apartments.com/san-diego...-1500-to-2000/
OP is looking for reasonable cost of living. Per Nerd Wallet, cost of living in San Diego is 41% higher than Salt Lake City, and housing is 106% higher. According to salary.com, PT pay in San Diego is only about $10k higher compared to Salt Lake City, not nearly enough to compensate for the much higher cost of living.
Phoenix - Beautiful scenery, loaded with professionals and successful women, exciting growth area, very outdoors oriented
Colorado - Ultimate outdoors culture, tons of young people and job growth. This area includes Colorado Springs and from Denver to Boulder to Fort Collins. Yes it can be pricey.
Florida - St. Pete and South Tampa are big area for young professionals and jobs. Fort Lauderdale is another one along with Delray. Also Orlando which is nicer and more cultured than I expected. Jacksonville is on the upswing and now a major growth area.
Boise - Fast growing, great scenery nearby, many professionals
Asheville - Mountains, hipsters, growing
Portland and Seattle - Hills and mountains, booming economies.
Charleston, SC - booming, women love this city, beaches
From your description, wanting something exciting and scenic preferably with beaches, Tampa and St. Pete, Fort Lauderdale and Delray sound like good options. Charleston, SC is very scenic, booming, and loaded with women; you should seriously look at that one. And Phoenix (particularly Scottsdale) has an Atlanta vibe in terms of jobs and countless young professionals and prosperity but surrounded by cool mountains and desert and an outdoor culture.
Hello all. So I'm a 33 y/o, single male Physical Therapist currently living in Houston, and I'm not really satisfied. The income is good, and the cost of living is low: and that is basically the only thing I like about Houston. Heat, traffic, it smells bad, no scenery. Outside of money, the main appeal of Houston seems to be restaurants - and I rarely eat at restaurants.
I'm looking for somewhere with a more health, fitness, and outdoors focused culture, some decent scenery, and maybe beaches. And being single, attractive women is a plus A decent job market for Physical therapy, and a manageable cost of living - California is out.
Tampa - Still hot, but... beaches! And the ocean breeze, better scenery, fitness culture (so I hear)
Miama - Expensive. But beaches... and the women!
Salt Lake City - kinda smallish, but nice scenery, less traffic. Lots of attractive women, from what I'm told
Denver - Expensive. Have some family there. Nice scenery. Maybe?
Any recommendation welcome.
Denver might work for you. It's more expensive than the Florida cities but the health/outdoor focus is definitely there. People might say it's hard to date for guys but a lot of the guys that moved here are too focused on outdoor activities to date much so the competition for the less outdoorsy women tend to be low.
If beaches are important to you though I'd look elsewhere.
Hey I'd love to live in San Diego, believe me it would be my number one, no brainer choice... but financially it doesn't make sense. State income tax alone would decrease my income quite a bit, add in the increase in cost of living I'm looking at an immediate 20k+ decrease in take home pay. 20K that can be used to invest, buy a house etc...
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A decent job market for Physical therapy, and a manageable cost of living - California is out.
