cities similar to Seattle?

[robertpolyglot]

It depends on where "the South" begins, for you. Is it Virginia or is it North Carolina or is it Georgia? People speak favorably of the major North Carolina cities. What about Baltimore? Some parts of it are not very attractive, but some parts are...and it's close to all those things. Also: Philadelphia (a lot of blight), Boston (might be a little pretentious, I didn't get a good vibe) and Pittsburgh (very high on QOL surveys, good reviews for its summers, but very cold in winter and not gaining in population).

Denver may be an option...you won't have to get up AS early. However, upon changing planes there a couple of months ago, I looked out the window and saw how brown it is. It's very dry and not as treed as people think, but the beauty of the Rockies is nearby.

I spent a short time during my childhood in a suburb of the metro NYC area and, despite liking most things about it, it has too much sensory overload and I'm glad I "passed" on it for grad school and subsequent employment.

[everwinter]

A surprise for you.

Hear the vroom at the new Harley museum in Milwaukee - Travel - LATimes.com

If I hadn't known I was in Milwaukee, I would have guessed it was Seattle.
Milwaukee seemed just as hip, progressive and clean as Seattle -- only it's about 2,000 miles east and at the edge of fresh water (Lake Michigan) instead of the Pacific. On the sunny days I was here, it had just as many people jogging and bicycling through its parks.
It's also smaller and easier to navigate. I'm not great with directions, but I found Milwaukee's grid system and main streets easy to get around. That was important because I was traveling on a Harley Heritage Softail Classic. It didn't have GPS, and I couldn't fumble with a map while riding.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by Zizza

Thanks for the suggestions.

I visited Providence recently, and think that it could be a real possibility for me. It's a very livable city -- easy to get around, not nearly as jam-packed as most Eastern cities. Also, I had some dynamite meals there (much to my surprise). Still, I wasn't exactly wowed by the overall aesthetic, and wasn't sure if it would keep my interest for very long.

I've also been to Boston a few times. It's a great city, but I worry that there just won't be enough elbow room for my taste. Not that this is entirely accurate, but when I look at Google Earth, there just seem to be a real lack of green spaces. No doubt there are parks, but as a frustrated person who frequents Central Park in NYC on a regular basis, I'm really looking forward to the kind of parks where it's less about people doing activities, and more about being in nature. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm concerned that Boston could be just like New York-light in that respect, whereas I'm looking for a bigger departure than that. Maybe Helsinki would be more to my liking, as suggested above, but it simply wouldn't work with my job. Gotta be in the Central or Eastern time zones.

I've actually never been to Chicago. It definitely lacks mountains, but maybe the lakes would make up for it. I'll have to add that to my list.

I'm heading to Burlington, VT in a few weeks... maybe that will appeal to me. It's supposed to be beautiful, but it's certainly a much, much smaller city than Seattle. I've never lived in smaller city before. I think I could like it, but I'm just not sure.

I lived in Providence for a year and a half and it was NOTHING like Seattle (lived in Seattle for 18 years). If I had to move back to the Northeast, I'd go to Boston. I've never lived in NYC but visited often and I really don't think NYC or Boston are that much alike other than they are both large cities in the Northeast.