Good Cities for Young Professionals? (San Jose, San Francisco: fit in, house, to buy)

[philly182]

Hey everyone,
I am a young professional currently living in Philadelphia, PA. I am an engineer and have flexible options as of where to live. I want a change of scenery and am considering moving to another city within the next 6 months or so.

I am looking for a good sized city with great restaurants, concerts, parks, quality of life, etc. Also, eco-friendliness and open-mindedness are big factors for me.

I am artsy, musical, liberal, and green so please do not list any conservative cities such as Provo, Utah.

The cheaper the cost of living is, the better. But if the city does have a wonderful quality of life, a higher cost of living is acceptable.

I am preferably looking at cities in the northeast/mid-atlantic or west coast. I really do not like the southeast or midwest (with a few midwest exceptions).

Some cities I am considering are San Jose, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Seattle, and Portland.

If you have any other good cities you know of, let me know. Please be as descriptive as possible. Thanks in advance!

[daluu]

The mentioned cities all have their pros & cons. What made you consider those specific cities?

Haven't been to Boston long but I'd vote for that as a good choice as they have good public transportation (particularly their light rail system). You can almost get to anywhere in Boston, Cambridge, and surrounding areas through the rail alone (w/o the buses). Not much need for a car other than long distance travel or going where the rails don't take you, or big shopping.

Wish we could only have something like that in my current hometown of San Jose. Public transit is usable but a pain. And making good use of the rails requires riding buses or parking car at a rail station.

[511pf]

I've spent time in all of them, and San Jose really isn't in the same class as the other cities on your list. We have amazing weather and great outdoor activities nearby, but low population density and pedestrian activity, a pretty small (but good) arts scene, mostly suburban area, bad traffic and slow public transit (though Caltrain is very good). Salaries here *are* excellent, however.

Your personality would be a much better fit in San Francisco or Berkeley. I would *strongly* encourage you to visit the places you're considering.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by 511pf

I've spent time in all of them, and San Jose really isn't in the same class as the other cities on your list. We have amazing weather and great outdoor activities nearby, but low population density and pedestrian activity, a pretty small (but good) arts scene, mostly suburban area, bad traffic and slow public transit (though Caltrain is very good). Salaries here *are* excellent, however.

Your personality would be a much better fit in San Francisco or Berkeley. I would *strongly* encourage you to visit the places you're considering.

^^I agree with everyting said here^^^

I also wanted to say that, like it or not, the more liberal areas are the ones that are the most expensive. Affordable homes/family friendly areas usually = conservative.

Just to piggyback onto that. I think the biggest problem people have here all stem from the high housing costs. It's not a huge deal when you're single and earn a good income. The problem comes in if you want to have kids and want/need to buy a house in a good school district. Housing costs are already astronomical here, and it gets a lot worse if you want to be in a top district. That means it's going to take 2 engineer level salaries to afford a modest home in the best districts.

So definitely think about what you want 10 years from now and not about what seems cool in the moment. It's generally a lot harder and more expensive to move once you've established a career and a family somewhere than it is when you're single.

On the plus side, if you're an engineer, Silicon Valley could be a great place for career advancement...although there are a lot of workaholics here. Other areas would have a better work/life balance, although I suspect most of the places on your short list are about the same in this regard.

[StandingRoomOnly]

What type of engineer? I 'getting the feeling' that Seattle sounds like it would be the best fit for you... of course, visiting the cities you are considering is very important.