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I live in a small isolated town in western Massachusetts. I want to move out west but I'm having a hard time deciding where is a good fit for me. Reasons I don't like it here. It's isolated and boring. There really is nothing to do and no nightlife, the town is shut down by 10pm. Food is mostly terrible, I can't even find decent takeout, even lacking normal chain restaurants like dennys, ihop, olive garden ect.... Singles scene is pathetic. Most people are married or in relationships by there early 20's. It is just a town full of boring familys, pregnant teens and mediocrity. For a single in his early 30's there is almost nothing available. Zero universitys or colleges nearbly. I find myself driving at least an hour if I want to do anything fun: clubs, concerts, food, airports, anything. The weather sucks here beyond belief. It's cold, cold, cold. Gray, gray, gray. Snow, snow, snow. I spend so much time and money dealing with winter I feel like there is nothing left for myself.
As far as work goes that is not what I'm asking about. I will make my money with investments back here and I am just looking for affordable rent when I move, but I am not interested in the local job markets of these cities. What I am interested is the availability of the things that are lacking in my life now, mentioned above. I want a town that has some nightlife. It doesn't have to be NYC or LA 24/7 everything. Just a town where things are open after 10pm. A place where I can get good food late night. A place that has some clubs and bars that are fun for young and or single people. A town that concerts come to. A place that has all my favorite chain restaurants as well as good burritos and pizza. I am sure the weather in any of these cities beats the pants off of where I am now. I can live with 4 seasons as long as winter isn't to long. I like sun, I like warm and hot weather. I love warm nights. I can take some cloudy days just not to many. I like spending time outdoors, sunbathing or riding my motorcycle, walking ect..... I want a place where people are working to enjoy life, a place with young people and vibrant energy, a place with singles, a place near universitys and airports. A place which is easy to live and people and culture are laid back. Where people aren't in a rush all the time but are hard workers. A place where people do thier jobs right. A place where people care, and want to do a good job and want to help eachother and make life nice for the community. A place where people care about fitness and taking good care of themselves. Not a place like here where nobody gives a **** and it shows, where everybody does there jobs because they have to, not because they want to and don't give a crap about doing crappy work or about the community, where everybody is burnt out, pregnant, has to many kids and is just strugglung to survive. Those are the kinds of things I am looking for, so......... which city would be the best for me: San Diego, Denver, or Sacramento. P.S. I like oceans, river valleys and mountains. That's kind of my problem in life, I never know what to choose because I like everything. Any opinions from anyone with any experience would be greaty appreciated,
Thanks,
Nicholas
I was just in San Diego. People are friendly for the most part but somewhat aloof. The weather and nature is incridible, and there are tons of bars/restaurants with outdoor seating. If that is your thing, you'll love it.
Have to say, you see all sorts of yahoos that dis on Sac and believe SD is "superior" as a city. Without using hyperbole, that's laughable. SD's airport is pathetic. Dinky, with literally 5 tables to sit and eat. 5! Lol my GF and I could not believe it. It's pathetic in comparison to Sac international, which has nice restaurants and high end shopping. You drive in downtown SD and there are potholes lining a good portion of the roads and surprisingly low traffic. When completed, Sac's indoor arena will blow the doors off of SD's indoor arena. There is nothing remotely urban about SD, and it's easily the slowest moving big city that I've ever been to - by a wide margin. I honestly have no clue whatsoever how anyone even begins to brag about the actual "city" of SD.
Now, beach, hiking, scenery, little places to eat, La Jolla etc? It's got all that. Which is pretty awesone and well worth a trip or potential move. But be sure you know what you looking for and what you want beforehand.
I have posted ad nauseum about Sac, so I won't add much detail here. I'll just say that in terms of an.actual city, it's denser, better sense of community, better foodie scene, and it's up and coming. Whereas SD will be by and large the same 20 yrs from now.
If you like oceans, river valleys and mountains, you're in luck--we're in the middle of a beautiful river valley and the Sacramento River Delta is one of our region's scenic secrets, and, as many point out, we're an hour and change from the ocean in one directions, the mountains in the other. We're a good place for people who like a variety of choices close at hand.
Our nights aren't that warm, even in summer, except for the occasional "heat storm," due to low humidity and the Delta breeze. In summers the city comes alive at night when it's really hot during the day, then everyone wants to stay out late.
And this is what I get for accidentally clicking on the Sacramento forum......Ugh. I'll try to stick to the fact checking, so the OP will how little credibility you have on this forum.
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Originally Posted by sacite
I was just in San Diego. People are friendly for the most part but somewhat aloof. The weather and nature is incridible, and there are tons of bars/restaurants with outdoor seating. If that is your thing, you'll love it.
For someone who claims to hate SD so much, you sure do keep coming back over and over again. Why is that?
Quote:
Have to say, you see all sorts of yahoos that dis on Sac and believe SD is "superior" as a city. Without using hyperbole, that's laughable.
Is it? According to this ranking of cities, SD and Denver are in the Beta- category, while SAC is in sufficiency (What is that?), along with Des Moines, Rochester NY, Memphis and Jacksonville. All superior cities to SD, right?
SD's airport is pathetic. Dinky, with literally 5 tables to sit and eat. 5! Lol my GF and I could not believe it. It's pathetic in comparison to Sac international, which has nice restaurants and high end shopping.
So this is where it starts to get embarrasing. 5 tables in the entire airport? Maybe you should have left the Southwest terminal and done some exploring.
And what high end shopping at SMF are you talking about? Is Brookstone considered high end in SAC? Jeez, at least SAN has Swarovski and Brooks Brothers. And we can talk more about high end when SAC gets a Bloomingdale's, Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Ferragamo and Neiman Marcus, OK?
You drive in downtown SD and there are potholes lining a good portion of the roads and surprisingly low traffic. When completed, Sac's indoor arena will blow the doors off of SD's indoor arena. There is nothing remotely urban about SD, and it's easily the slowest moving big city that I've ever been to - by a wide margin. I honestly have no clue whatsoever how anyone even begins to brag about the actual "city" of SD.
I guess this goes back to the fact that you will never, ever live in SD and your way of coping is a weak (Very weak) attempt to put it down. Just accept that you've failed to live out your lifelong dream and move on.
Quote:
Now, beach, hiking, scenery, little places to eat, La Jolla etc? It's got all that. Which is pretty awesone and well worth a trip or potential move. But be sure you know what you looking for and what you want beforehand.
Just a few things that you will never get enjoy on a year round basis. At least you have those paths along the American River!!!
Quote:
I have posted ad nauseum about Sac, so I won't add much detail here. I'll just say that in terms of an.actual city, it's denser, better sense of community, better foodie scene, and it's up and coming. Whereas SD will be by and large the same 20 yrs from now.
I love San Diego (nice city by the beach), but you are way off the mark in your most recent post about Sac.
Nobody really cares about shopping at an airport when deciding where to live. But if we're keeping score, SMF is way nicer than SAN. Way nicer.
Then you go on to claim SD has a better urban core than Sac (hmm), downplay the American River Parkway (which can easily be enjoyed year-round by the way), and Sac has a bad food scene? Study up, my friend.
As usual, someone asks an honest question, and it turns into a pissing match. I love reading CD.
To the OP, I've lived in San Diego, Boston, and (currently) the Sacramento area. Here is my opinion:
You say there are "zero universities or colleges" nearby. This site (Colleges near Pittsfield, Massachusetts - Pittsfield, Massachusetts Colleges and Universities) claims that you are within 50 miles of 42 universities or colleges. In fact, I believe Mass may have the highest concentration of institutions of higher learning in the entire US. It sounds to me like you are looking for Boston without the winters. But it also sounds like you just want a change.
Of the three areas you mention, I think Denver will have the best nightlife. It's very close to mountains (!), but you are not escaping the winter snows by moving to Denver.
San Diego is a great city. It is a small-ish feeling big city, but I think it has a very unique blend of things few cities can match. It is right on the coast of course, and beautiful beaches are abundant. The weather is great all year, though being right on the coast the evenings aren't always warm (usually a sweatshirt will suffice.) It is also worth mentioning that you can be at 5000 feet elevation in just over an hour from the beach. The city's nightlife seems to have gained some ground in the past 10 years or so too. One thing to note is San Diego has a huge number of military and ex-military. There will be no escaping that. Not a bad thing.
Sacramento is a great area, though a far smaller feeling place in my opinion, than the other two mentioned. The night life scene is decent, but the town does tend to close early in general (though there are a few spots to get late night food.) Sac is close to a big city and also close to world class skiing. People here tend to be outdoors all year round too, and of the three spots you mentioned, Sac will have the warmest evenings.
All three locations you mentioned have universities and airports....why this is important I have no idea. There are always airports within driving distance and who cares about living near a university unless you are attending. To each his own though. I don't think it's very important which airport has the nicest restaurants, unless you plan to go there to dine. I always preferred the small airports anyway. My all time favorite airport is John Wayne in Orange County (socal.) You can literally park outside the terminal (or you could in 1999.) It was the ultimate convenience, and never crowded.
You should visit all three areas of course. You may be able to tell immediately which area is for you. If beaches are as important as it sounds like they might be, your choice is made. So I guess you need to decide which things are the most important to live near and go from there.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but hey, at least I used paragraphs (hint)!
Like I said, SD has amazing nature. That's why I come back. And hell, someday I may even give it a shot for that reason alone. "My dream" to live in a city, let alone that city?
LOLOOLOLOLOLOL.
What type of life do you live where it's a "dream" to live in a city? Not become something or do something, but to become a resident of a city? What an accomplishment, eh? And if simply living in a city were my life long dream, I could think of a zillion cooler ones than that city. Let alone the fact that I could literally transfer there tomorrow if I wanted to.
I was just in San Diego. People are friendly for the most part but somewhat aloof. The weather and nature is incridible, and there are tons of bars/restaurants with outdoor seating. If that is your thing, you'll love it.
Have to say, you see all sorts of yahoos that dis on Sac and believe SD is "superior" as a city. Without using hyperbole, that's laughable. SD's airport is pathetic. Dinky, with literally 5 tables to sit and eat. 5! Lol my GF and I could not believe it. It's pathetic in comparison to Sac international, which has nice restaurants and high end shopping. You drive in downtown SD and there are potholes lining a good portion of the roads and surprisingly low traffic. When completed, Sac's indoor arena will blow the doors off of SD's indoor arena. There is nothing remotely urban about SD, and it's easily the slowest moving big city that I've ever been to - by a wide margin. I honestly have no clue whatsoever how anyone even begins to brag about the actual "city" of SD.
Now, beach, hiking, scenery, little places to eat, La Jolla etc? It's got all that. Which is pretty awesone and well worth a trip or potential move. But be sure you know what you looking for and what you want beforehand.
I have posted ad nauseum about Sac, so I won't add much detail here. I'll just say that in terms of an.actual city, it's denser, better sense of community, better foodie scene, and it's up and coming. Whereas SD will be by and large the same 20 yrs from now.
SD's urban areas are MUCH denser than Sac and that's a verifiable fact. Not only are SD's urban areas MUCH denser and more urban than Sac they cover a bigger area of the city overall.
Now you are just trolling. If you don't like Sac, then GTFO of the Sac Forum. You clearly have a distaste for Sac.
All you had to do is point out the facts that SD is much denser and lively and be done with it but insulting the city is disrespectful.
LOL, the "cowtown" really gets you going doesn't it? Relax Sac forum police, I think Sac is a fine city for what it is. I just have a distaste for posters that for whatever reason clearly have some inferiority complex when it comes to SD and constantly criticize it for issues that are even more of a problem with their own city.
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