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My wife and I are looking around for places to live. We have lived in the Pacific Northwest for over ten years and currently live in Portland, OR. We love Portland for its quirkiness, its mass transit, the individuality of its neighborhoods, the vitality of the urban core, the many small local restaurants and its setting and easy access to wine country to the south, the ocean to the west and the Columbia Gorge and mountains and then desert to the west. The thing that is driving us away is the weather--it is cold for too long and it never really gets hot. Most of the outdoor restaurants have heaters and they are in use during the day into July. Also the general cloudiness, though not as bad as Seattle, for example, is still, for us, oppressive in its length. It's the Northwest--either you love it or can deal with it, or you can't. We can't. So, even though we love the city and the surrounding country, we have to go.
Note that, just like the weather of the Northwest being a deal breaker, we don't think most of the Southwest would work for the opposite reason, there is not enough rain or weather. Also, except on the coast, New England probably wouldn't work because the winters are too long and too cold for too long. However, any suggestions are welcome--we can look up the weather on City-Data.
We are looking for a city, or a vibrant town close to a city. A couple of things to note are that we would rather live "in town" than "out of town", and that means, to us, living in a neighborhood where the typical lot is between an eighth and a quarter acre, and there is some foot traffic (people heading to the coffee shop, walking their dog, going to the park, etc.) The other necessity is that our price limit for a house is $700K, and affordability in general is an issue--Manhattan might be perfect, but we can't afford it.
Here is a list of the things we like in a city. and a list of the things we don't care for. None, individually, are things that would make us move or not move to a particular place.
Likes:
*An "art scene". My wife is an artist and wants interaction with other artists, galleries where new and innovative work is shown and museums where all types of art can be seen in person. The artists need to be local. We would like the galleries and museums nearby with no need to stay overnight to see a bit of new work. This is a requirement that I haven't seen in the other threads on where to live, and is the reason for starting this one.
*Friendly, welcoming people.
*A vibrant "downtown" as well as interesting neighborhood shopping districts.
*Lots of locally owned shops selling good merchandise and local restaurants serving good food. A business and tax climate that is easy on small business is probably a part of this and would be welcome.
*Theaters, cinemas showing independent film, interesting music and dance concerts.
*Farmers markets, local markets for locally produced products.
*Walkable neighborhoods, meaning that you can park your car and visit a specialty grocery, a bookstore, a restaurant or coffee shop, browse a few shop windows, etc. without having to use your car until you are ready to leave the neighborhood.
*Four seasons, but with the Spring and Summer longer than the Winter. Constantly changing weather, neither rain, nor sun, nor sleet , nor snow lasting too long.
Dislikes:
*What we call a "car culture". The signs of a car culture are large groups of large chain store in the middle of large parking lots and no or few other options for shopping, dining or seeing movies. We don't mind malls, we just don't want them to be the only or primary option.
Finally, if you have suggestions, and you are familiar with the city, it would be very helpful if you could mention the neighborhoods or locations in the city that have the art galleries, the ones with the $600-$700K houses, etc. We want to visit these places soon, and want to know where to go within or around the city that we would have the best chance of liking.
I'll follow this thread because you're looking for a lot of what I value. So it might help to note that I'm looking into places along the NE corridor, Boston, New York(Brooklyn sounds like a perfect fit), and DC(Northwest?) especially. But Philly(Center City, Art museum neirghborhood) is nice. Baltimore is more iffy, afaik. But I don't truly know much about it to make judgements. Perhaps Denver? Good enough transit that you don't have to rely on cars. Uptown Denver has an arts district(River North), although I can't testify to quality. And mountains, if you ever start to miss the ones from home.
All in all though I'd take your spot in a heartbeat, I think the weather is refined and contemplative more than gloomy.
Also, come to think of it, Albuquerque may be worth looking at. It has a different flavor to it, but you might like it. Lots of cool, cultural venues to explore.
I was also going to recommend Philly. You could do the full city scene in Center City, or live a short commuter train ride away in the Chestnut Hill or Manayunk neighborhoods.
If you'd consider something on a smaller scale, I'd also recommend my current hometown of Durham, NC. It offers most of the things you're looking for at a much lower cost than in Philly. You could buy a tremendous historic home in Trinity Park or Watts-Hillandale that's walkable to a lot of amenities, many located in very cool rehabbed tobacco warehouses.
Brooklyn. Based on that list, Brooklyn fits perfectly. Neighborhoods to consider might include Park Slope, Boerum Hill, maybe Williamsburg or Greenpoint.
Philadelphia was the other city that came to mind. I'm not too familiar with Philly, as I have only been there a handful of times, but from what I could tell and from what I've heard, it has a great art scene.
Last two posts are good. In the bay area, I hear a lot of artists are moving to West Oakland. In Brooklyn, their scene is moving further into Bushwick.
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