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Arrawi, what are your thoughts on Atlanta? I work with a arab girl who has family there and she says she always talks about how welcoming everyone is, plus its a great city.
Perhaps Atlanta is one of the great US cities but its not good due to my criteria..It has high crime rate and high unemployment rate ! but thanks for the suggestion
Indianapolis matches all those Criteria.
Great Healthcare System with state of the art health centers like IU health. Crime is low for a city its size Homicides have been going down for the past 5 years and the city has done a great effort to reduce crime
Cost of living is the lowest of any major US city.
Home to one of the most friendly down to earth cultures i have ever come across.
Has 4 seasons so the weather isn't always boring nice mild summers and decent Winters.
The Economy is the strongest in the midwest and outside the sunbelt in terms of growth. Heck were the fastest growing region in the Midwest and outside the Sunbelt so obiviously you have to add jobs if your going to add population .
Education wise we have the University of Indianapolis/IUPUI/Purdue just an hour away and IU an hour south in Bloomington/Butler University *Go Bulldogs!*.
Plus one advantage the OP didn't list and thats location.
3 hour drive to Chicago/Lake Michiga/Louisville
4 hour drive to St Louis and Columbus Ohio
2 hour drive to Fort Wayne and Dayton/Cincy Ohio.
Another Plus is our city host major events on an annual basis. The Indy 500 with over 400,000 people every Memorial day weekend The Brickyard 400 is big too. Super Bowl 46 was held here and theres a high chance well be put on the rotation. NCAA Womens/Mens final four are guarenteed to be held in the city every 5 years due to the NCAA being Headquartered here. Gen Con gaming convention where everyone dresses up and brings out their inner gamer (Talk about Halloween in August lol). Finally if you have kids they will love the largest childrens Museum in the world here in Indy.
I went there as a child and boy are those good memories
In fact it doesn't match it all
Air quality isn't good..Water quality is very bad !
Crime rate is high there !
Economy isn't the strongest in the midwest (Lincoln has the best)
This is part of this guy's general hatred of Arizona, the Phoenix area has many mosques and middle eastern people. Cost of living is low, housing is cheap, and the weather is very similar to the weather in central/southern Iraq or, say, Arabia in general, which I mention in case that's familiar weather to you. Phoenix is one of the largest American cities and Scottsdale is it's most affluent suburb with residents from all over the world and of every ethnicity. I wouldn't worry about it being like a small homogenous town that fears anything different.
There is a lot of people on this forum that paint AZ as a racist backward place because a part of the population is old white flight from SoCal that supports a very aggressive stance toward Mexican immigration. It's exaggerated because voting participation is very low and a growing Hispanic/Latino population is becoming much more involved in state politics. It's a great place to live with some of the most beautiful desert in the world.
This is the best comment I had here !! I agree that the weather there is similar in central of Iraq and very familiar to me but Scottsdale isn't cheap as I see,,maybe Phoenix is cheap but it isn't one of my preferable cities..
I saw many who said AZ area are racist,,thanks to inform me the reason of that..Your comment is the best...Thank you
Also Indianapolis is very welcoming to foreigners and noting your a muslim the Islamic Society of America i believe has its Headquarters in Plainfield which is an Indianapolis suburb.
Indianapolis has very friendly down to earth people i think youll like.
Plus were adding more foreigners than even Chicago.
I have lived in many, many states. A main component of being happy where you live also relies on how much, or little, you can afford living there. I think you'd be happiest in Plano, TX - due to your criteria. My preferences are below....why wouldn't you pick Washington DC? There are a ton of jobs, excellent education, beautiful seasons and the people in the area are very friendly/tolerant of Muslims/Arabs. Excellent transportation...etc. I love Scottsdale but there is very little employment opportunity in your line or work there - or, for anyone. Minneapolis is awesome but cold. Houston meets your criteria but it is not very pretty - there are plenty of jobs here though. Good luck!
1. Washington DC area (VA, MD)
2. Scottsdale, AZ
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Houston, TX
I think Washington DC area is one of the best area in the country but not Washington DC city,due to crime rate factor...Arlington,VA Bethesda,MD are the best two cities in that area but they are very very expensive !!
I agree with you with first 2 of your preferences..Houston does not meet my criteria due to crime rate and very high humidity there
Also Indianapolis is very welcoming to foreigners and noting your a muslim the Islamic Society of America i believe has its Headquarters in Plainfield which is an Indianapolis suburb.
Indianapolis has very friendly down to earth people i think youll like.
Plus were adding more foreigners than even Chicago.
You made quote in wrong place !! this was my reply to the one who chose Salt Lake city...see above my reply to you comment
Perhaps Atlanta is one of the great US cities but its not good due to my criteria..It has high crime rate and high unemployment rate ! but thanks for the suggestion
I dont know much about the unemployment in Atlanta but the crime really isnt that bad. Downtown - Midtown is really changing for the better and becoming a really vibrant area. There are also some really safe neighborhoods like North Atlanta plus home to some of the safest suburbs in the country.
Trust me they treat there Muslim friends very well Lee Sound Design
Air quality isn't good..Water quality is very bad !
Crime rate is high there !
Economy isn't the strongest in the midwest (Lincoln has the best)
but thanks for these informations
Lincoln is a small tiny town.
Plus its a state capital too.
not really comparing apples to apples.
Granted Indianapolis is a state capital but its a very BIG state capital. Metro area of 2M people. that doesn't compare to Lincoln.
Crime rate is high in Indy? what stats are you using cause Indianapolis has a consolidated City-County Government it really depends on what boundries your using. if your using the old Indianapolis city limits then ya. If your using Marion County or the current city limits. no
If your factoring in the suburbs and the complete metro. no
Air Quality is good in Indianapolis. Chicago has really bad air quality and you can smell the factories too in Chicago.
2nd Water Quality isn't bad in Indianapolis. Heck our city is taking care of a problem with the sewer pipe with the RebuildIndy funds so any problems we have now are going to be taken care of. Plus water in Indy is safe to drink i assure you.
Air quality isn't good..Water quality is very bad !
Crime rate is high there !
Economy isn't the strongest in the midwest (Lincoln has the best)
but thanks for these informations
Listen, you are going about this whole search in the wrong way. Complaining about air & water quality in Indianapolis? Really?
You are letting "facts" and statistics get in the way of your search. How quickly you dismissed metro Detroit tells me that. Yes, the city of Detroit is horrible, but in the metro area, we have some of the best school systems in the nation, and several fortune 500 companies. Crime is low, and COL is even lower compared to what you get (a $200k home in a nice suburb in metro Detroit will blow away anything you can get in Arizona or California).
There are 3 prestigious universities in the state, anchored by the top-10 ranked U of M, and top 50 ranked MSU.
There is a large middle-eastern population here, and they tend to be very affluent and very involved in the community. Lots of opportunity for starting your own business and living very well.
My neighbors growing up were Chaldean. We had many Iraqis even in the most prestigious suburbs.
Yes, the weather sucks, but the summers are amazing.
I guess my whole point is that you are just looking up averages, statistics, crime rates, etc, and you're doing it based on entire regions. The US isn't really like that. You can be in a $15,000/mo apartment in the heart of Manhattan, and 4 miles away people will be living in hovels that are filthy and unhealthy.
There is an advantage to being near a large community of expats, especially given that you're moving here from Iraq. Wherever that may be, you will find that any American city will be ok. You just have to figure out what you want on a high-level (weather, jobs, COL), then pick a metro area, THEN research the communities that comprise that metro area.
You are never going to find what you're looking for the way you're searching. It's just not possible. Every region has it's own feel or vibe. Then within those regions, every community also has it's own vibe. You just need to figure out on a large scale what general area you'd like to go, then pick a community based on these other factors. And bear in mind that complaining about air or water quality is likely to be completely outside of your ability to understand given where you're from. This is the United States. We already have incredibly high standards for almost everything. Just because one community has a statistic that's worse or slightly worse, doesn't mean that it's not light-years ahead of what you're used to.
I'd say Atlanta is the best all-around American city for balancing all those things you mention. Don't know about its Middle Eastern population, but there should be a way to look into that.
The crime rate isn't as high as people think, because it depends on the neighborhood. I don't know what you do and what the unemployment rate is in your line of work.
Like so many posters here, when I think of large Arab populations in a US city, I immediately think of Dearborn next to Detroit. Personally, I don't understand how a warm-weather immigrant group ended up there to begin with. Too cold.
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