Liberal, Culturally Diverse, Friendly, Mid-sized Art Towns? (chapel, hotel)

[Indi9]

World-wide, what towns or cities come to mind when you think of this combination? Mid-sized would be approx. 200,000 to 700,000 people.

E.g.--Brisbane, Australia?

[minibrings]

Brissy has more than a million so that would be out.
200-700k:

AUSTRALASIA:
Wellington (te papa museum)
Hobart

US:
Madison, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Burlington VT, Portland ME, Portsmouth NH, Amherst/Northampton MA, Providence, Buffalo, Princeton, Annapolis, Lawrence KS, New Orleans, Austin, Santa Fe, Vancouver BC, Quebec City, Halifax NS... as a start that 200-700 limit is tough

[Indi9]

More than a million? lol... Wow. Thus the question mark. Thanks.

I'm in the process of moving back to Madison, Wisconsin, but am still wondering what other cities have these qualities.

Yeah, I know that the 200 to 700 is a tough one. But having lived in NYC for eleven years, I can honestly say that for some of us less is more.

I appreciate your response.

[minibrings]

yup Brissy has over a million! i lived in Adelaide and that was 1.1 million and Brissy is larger.. 1.8 million... btw Adelaide is a very nice city to live in...

[Indi9]

Ok, so let's put the size issue aside for a moment. What is Adelaide like? What do you like about it? Believe it or not, I visited Brisbane back in '95, for the International Drama/Theatre in Education world congress. I had no idea of the size of Brisbane, and am having a time here imagining that the population is so huge. What?! The people were outgoing and friendly, and I had a blast. It's rare I think to find that kind of welcoming vibe in a city of well over a million. Sydney, on the other hand, was more of what I'd expect from a big city. Lots to do, lots of cultural attractions, but not so friendly, at least in my experience.

[minibrings]

Adelaide has a slower pace than other cities in Oz. It has a lot of heritage architecture. It's easy to navigate. It has lots of festivals (it is the festival state). The Gulf of St Vincent has beautiful swimming beaches (the waves are not as rough as on the east coast). It has nice (free) museums. And it's close to beautiful wine regions of McClaren Vale, Clare Valley and Barossa. Superb wine. So its like living in northern California without the crowds. Also, Kangaroo Island is close by and that is just beautiful. I know lots of people from Melbourne, Canberra, etc. who have moved there and ended up loving it. My best friend from Melbourne who took a job in Perth cried when she had to leave Adelaide. She told me she was shocked that she ended up loving Adelaide and South Australia.

[fruitlassie]

Edinburgh, Scotland
Glasgow, Scotland
Ghent, Belgium
Bergen, Norway
Lille, France
Freiburg, Germany
Utrecht, Netherlands

Lawrence KS, Portland ME, Burlington VT, Santa Fe and Amherst/Northampton are all much smaller than 200k. Nearly all of these places (including the ones I mentioned) are going to be lacking in diversity, but university cities do tend to have a decent mix of cultural activities and nationalities.

[atlantagreg30127]

I know some folks may laugh, but Asheville, North Carolina (U.S.) is an extremely arts/crafts oriented city, and very liberal considering it's in the South, which is our most conservative area of the country. Population wise it's just barely making it into the 200,000 mark in their metro area, but it does surprise a lot of the folks who do venture to it. You also can't overlook the beauty of the area it's in. Surrounded by mountains, lakes, etc. Each Autumn tens of thousands of people drive up through there just to see the leaves change color.

[billsaintkilda]

Brisbane does have a big country town feel about it but yeah it is pushing 2 million now. Adelaide is a much maligned city by fellow Aussies but it's actually quite a nice place. And is certainly Arts friendly. I actually think Melbourne for it's size is very friendly. Nearly as big as Sydney but a lot friendlier. And very arts oriented.

In the UK Edinburgh fits the size you stipulated and is just beautiful. Great people too. Bristol, England is a wonderful city with some great surrounding areas. Bath as an example. It's population is about 400 000. Lovely place. Cambridge has only about 100 000 but fits the bill in every other way. All three places are very culturally divers and have fascinating histories. A very friendly Taxi Driver in Bristol gave me a history lesson on the town when he drove me from the station to the hotel. Not all the history is good. It was a major player in the slave trade. Oh yeah and the West Country English accent is really cool.

[jtur88]

You would probably like Sucre, Bolivia; Merida., Venezuela; Mendoza, Argentina, and Vina del Mar, Chile.