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I am considering moving out to the Midwest. I have lived in the Northeast my whole life and have mixed feelings about it, and I am considering either the Midwest or the South as I have heard great things about both and have had a nice time when I have visited.
Some things I would like:
Lots of young single people (I am going to be moving right after graduating from school).
Nice, friendly people. And of course some sweet midwest girls definently wouldn't hurt
Good public transportation, and easy ability to walk lots of places. I do not like to drive.
Decent weather-- mild winters, more sunny days and fewer cloudy/rainy days.
Lots of outdoor things to do--camping, parks, etc.
Safe area, with low crime. I guess this probably has more to do with your neighborhood than your city, as most cities have some crime.
Republicans are fine, but i probably don't want to go somewhere that is extremely conservative, like Oklahoma or Utah.
MO seems really nice, especially Columbia and Springfield, both near colleges. I have heard good things about Indianapolis, Columbus, and Cincinnati as well. Bloomington was really nice when I visited, but I doubt that there are many jobs there.
Well I would be interested to hear other people's opinions. Thank you!
Mild winters in the Midwest? ROTFLMAO! I'm not making fun of you, but that particular criterium cracks me up! As a native Midwesterner who grew up in Milwaukee, I can tell you that there's no place in the Midwest with a mild winter; and even the places that are more mild are on the further fringes of the Midwest like Cincinnati and the Missouri bootheel. Now Cincinnati is Midwestern, but the Missouri bootheel is indeed Southern and doesn't mesh well with your other criteria.
I would say that the closest thing you could get to a Midwestern atmosphere with a mild climate, lots of young people, and decent public transportation would be Denver (yes I know it's in the Mountain West). It's very sunny with mild winters, a very active young population, and an excellent public transportation system that is undergoing the largest expansion in the country. Also, a lot of people that move to Colorado come from the Midwest and thus add a Midwestern flavor to the city.
Denver is not Midwest. Denver's a nice city, but it has also been known to snow in JUNE there. Not mild. Missouri is Southern (for the most part), not Midwestern. The bootheel might as well be Mississippi. I wouldn't really consider Cincinnati Midwestern either, although it does have some elements of the Midwest. I've been there many times and Cincinnati (and Dayton) is definitely more Southern than Midwestern. The accent there sounds like Kentucky. Midwest to me is north of I-70, east of the Rockies, west of the Appalachians, and south of Canada. Basically, the states of (northern & central) Indiana, (northern) Ohio, (northern & central) Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, northern Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and (northern) Kansas. Southern Ohio is the South, as is a good portion of Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and southern Kansas. Kentucky and Oklahoma are NOT Midwest in any way, shape or form.
There are plently of Midwestern areas with mild winters. If you're from Key West or Honolulu you might not think so, but to someone from anywhere that experiences 4 seasons, it would be hard to call an Indianapolis winter "severe". Michigan has a reputation for snowy winters, but most of the state (outside of the U.P., northern lower, and the lake effect snow belt) is just as mild as anywhere else in the Midwest. Ann Arbor only gets 30" of snow per year. That's not much, by Michigan standards. For comparison, Hancock, in the U.P. gets over 200" inches per year. Now THAT's a harsh winter!
Denver is not Midwest. Denver's a nice city, but it has also been known to snow in JUNE there. Not mild. Missouri is Southern (for the most part), not Midwestern. The bootheel might as well be Mississippi. I wouldn't really consider Cincinnati Midwestern either, although it does have some elements of the Midwest. I've been there many times and Cincinnati (and Dayton) is definitely more Southern than Midwestern. The accent there sounds like Kentucky. Midwest to me is north of I-70, east of the Rockies, west of the Appalachians, and south of Canada. Basically, the states of (northern & central) Indiana, (northern) Ohio, (northern & central) Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, northern Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and (northern) Kansas. Southern Ohio is the South, as is a good portion of Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and southern Kansas. Kentucky and Oklahoma are NOT Midwest in any way, shape or form.
There are plently of Midwestern areas with mild winters. If you're from Key West or Honolulu you might not think so, but to someone from anywhere that experiences 4 seasons, it would be hard to call an Indianapolis winter "severe". Michigan has a reputation for snowy winters, but most of the state (outside of the U.P., northern lower, and the lake effect snow belt) is just as mild as anywhere else in the Midwest. Ann Arbor only gets 30" of snow per year. That's not much, by Michigan standards. For comparison, Hancock, in the U.P. gets over 200" inches per year. Now THAT's a harsh winter!
A few ideas: Indianapolis, IN, Kalamazoo, MI, Ann Arbor, MI, South Bend, IN, Springfield, IL, Chicago, and Springfield, IL. All of those cities have large colleges, so lots of young people. I know all of the ones in Michigan have public transit. And all, except Kalamazoo, have mild winters by Midwest standards.
South Bend!?! Are you nuts?
Minneapolis is the best bet and would probably be the best fit for the OP.
I am considering moving out to the Midwest. I have lived in the Northeast my whole life and have mixed feelings about it, and I am considering either the Midwest or the South as I have heard great things about both and have had a nice time when I have visited.
Some things I would like:
Lots of young single people (I am going to be moving right after graduating from school).
Nice, friendly people. And of course some sweet midwest girls definently wouldn't hurt
Good public transportation, and easy ability to walk lots of places. I do not like to drive.
Decent weather-- mild winters, more sunny days and fewer cloudy/rainy days.
Lots of outdoor things to do--camping, parks, etc.
Safe area, with low crime. I guess this probably has more to do with your neighborhood than your city, as most cities have some crime.
Republicans are fine, but i probably don't want to go somewhere that is extremely conservative, like Oklahoma or Utah.
MO seems really nice, especially Columbia and Springfield, both near colleges. I have heard good things about Indianapolis, Columbus, and Cincinnati as well. Bloomington was really nice when I visited, but I doubt that there are many jobs there.
Well I would be interested to hear other people's opinions. Thank you!
Young people - Chgo., Mpls., Columbus
Transportation - Chgo., Mpls., Saint Louis, Kansas City (maybe Cleveland and Cinti.)
Weather - Kansas City, Cinti., Saint Louis, Columbus
Outdoors - Mpls. (by far), Cleveland, Milw.
Safe as a whole - Mpls., Columbus, Milw., Chgo.
You shouldn't have any problems with conservatives in any of these cities.
If weather is a major concern, Kansas City is a good bet; otherwise Mpls. and Columbus are my favorites. Chicago is Chicago, and really doesn't compare to other midwestern cities very easily.
Mild winters are very common in the Midwest south of I-80. Indiana, Ohio (except for the Lake Erie snowbelt), and Illinois are all very mild. I wouldn't really consider Missouri Midwestern. Most areas in those states get less than 30" of snow and snow doesn't stay on the ground for the whole winter. To me, that's mild.
A few ideas: Indianapolis, IN, Kalamazoo, MI, Ann Arbor, MI, South Bend, IN, Springfield, IL, Chicago, and Springfield, IL. All of those cities have large colleges, so lots of young people. I know all of the ones in Michigan have public transit. And all, except Kalamazoo, have mild winters by Midwest standards.
First off, I don't know why you would say any state with a winter less harsh than Michigan is not the Midwest, or that Interstate 80 is the boundary between the Midwest and South...St. Louis and Kansas City are solidly Midwestern cities...I have several friends from Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee..they all consider Missouri to be Midwestern. Missouri has the most in common with Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas and is almost completely sandwiched between those states. It's the Lower Midwest, not the Upper Midwest like Michigan...there are significant differences between the Upper Midwest and Lower Midwest just like there are significant differences between the Upper South and the Deep South. A mild winter to me is one that is neither very cold and one that sees less than 10 inches of snow on average. Most of Missouri gets pretty cold in the winter and most areas of the state see more than 10 inches of snowfall on average. 20 inches of snow during a winter is a decent amount...for Michigan, I agree it is small, but Michigan's snowfall is among the highest in the United States. Michigan's winters are on the extreme end of harsh...I would call areas north of Highway 60 and south of Interstate 80 places with moderate winters, not mild ones. Mild is for the Upper South and Deep South, mainly I would say around extreme Southern Missouri, the Southern half of Kentucky, on south from there.
What exactly do you mean by "mild." This is the midwest; winters north of I-64 are rarely what I would call mild.
As far as the cities themselves; Bloomington, IN is a nice town, as are Indy and Cincy. Indy and Cincy both have nice neighborhoods; but the mass transit is severly lacking in Indianapolis. For outdoor activities; you have Brown County State Park an hour south of Indy. It is a walkable city in parts; but other parts of the city are very much not pedestrian friendly.
I wouldn't even call the winters south of Interstate 64 mild, at least while it is north of the Ohio River. I would go further south to say winters north of Highway 60 are rarely mild. Snowfall is not the only thing I take into consideration in the classification of a mild winter. Areas north of Highway 60 tend to get quite cold in the winter. For me, for a place to be mild in the winter, it has to rarely get cold and hardly ever see any snowfall. Good examples of cities like this would be Nashville, Memphis, and Little Rock, and cities in the Southern half of Kentucky. Areas north of Highway 60 see several significant snowfalls and it is far from uncommon for places like these to get below 32 degrees fahrenheit in the winter. Frostbite is a risk in these areas from pretty much December to mid March.
Des Moines is a nice city, though it does not have a mild winter
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