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I would like for everyone to evaluate the top 10 CSA's in terms of long term living. Criteria....
Airport - Accessibility to flights in the states and overseas: NYC, then Chicago, then LA
Architecture: NYC, then Boston, then Philly, then Miami, then SF
Diversity: NYC, then LA, then SF
Downtown: NYC by a mile, then Boston, then SF, then Philly
Cost of living compared to salaries: Houston, then Dallas, then Boston, then Philly
Culture: NYC, then SF, then D.C., then Boston
Economy - Future?: NYC, then Dallas, then Houston, then SF, then Boston
Food - Pricing and Diversity: NYC, then SF, then Chicago
Neighborhoods - Urban and suburban:
Suburbs - NYC by far, then SF, then Philly, then Boston, then Chicago
Urban - NYC by far, then Boston, then SF
Nightlife: NYC, then LA, then SF, then D.C.
Parks: LA, SF, NYC, Boston
Safety: NYC, SF, Boston
Transit: NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, Philly
Weather: LA, Dallas, NYC, DC
I would like for everyone to evaluate the top 10 CSA's in terms of long term living. Criteria....
Airport - Accessibility to flights in the states and overseas: NYC, then Chicago, then LA
Architecture: NYC, then Boston, then Philly, then Miami, then SF
Diversity: NYC, then LA, then SF
Downtown: NYC by a mile, then Boston, then SF, then Philly
Cost of living compared to salaries: Houston, then Dallas, then Boston, then Philly
Culture: NYC, then SF, then D.C., then Boston
Economy - Future?: NYC, then Dallas, then Houston, then SF, then Boston
Food - Pricing and Diversity: NYC, then SF, then Chicago
Neighborhoods - Urban and suburban:
Suburbs - NYC by far, then SF, then Philly, then Boston, then Chicago
Urban - NYC by far, then Boston, then SF
Nightlife: NYC, then LA, then SF, then D.C.
Parks: LA, SF, NYC, Boston
Safety: NYC, SF, Boston
Transit: NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, Philly
Weather: LA, Dallas, NYC, DC
Miami nightlife better than SF and D. C and weather October-March
I would like for everyone to evaluate the top 10 CSA's in terms of long term living. Criteria....
Airport - Accessibility to flights in the states and overseas: NYC, then Chicago, then LA
Architecture: NYC, then Boston, then Philly, then Miami, then SF
Diversity: NYC, then LA, then SF
Downtown: NYC by a mile, then Boston, then SF, then Philly
Cost of living compared to salaries: Houston, then Dallas, then Boston, then Philly
Culture: NYC, then SF, then D.C., then Boston
Economy - Future?: NYC, then Dallas, then Houston, then SF, then Boston
Food - Pricing and Diversity: NYC, then SF, then Chicago
Neighborhoods - Urban and suburban:
Suburbs - NYC by far, then SF, then Philly, then Boston, then Chicago
Urban - NYC by far, then Boston, then SF
Nightlife: NYC, then LA, then SF, then D.C.
Parks: LA, SF, NYC, Boston
Safety: NYC, SF, Boston
Transit: NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, Philly
Weather: LA, Dallas, NYC, DC
I think you need to get more familiar with Chicago if you don't list its downtown or even mention it with urbanity considering there is a section of the north side of Chicago almost equivalent in physical area to SF with 200K more people living in it. Parks too - great parks there and Chicago and Philadelphia aren't that different in COL. Also depends on what you mean by "Downtown" -if you're talking about midtown as a downtown, then MEH - if you're talking about downtown itself then YEAH! Midtown sucks though - I'd take Chicago's over Midtown anyday, but that's me.
I picked Los Angeles. Moved here and don't plan on leaving. The best of everything to enjoy 365 days a year. Diverse, urban, suburban, beaches, mountains. Great getaways like Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Big Bear and many others. Year around hiking and enjoying the outdoors without cold weather which I can't stand. Great music scene. Interesting city history. Fantastic cultural amenities, great sports city. I love LA. My next choice would be San Francisco. Despite what I read on here LA has one of the lowest crime rates of these cities.
I would like for everyone to evaluate the top 10 CSA's in terms of long term living. Criteria....
Airport - Accessibility to flights in the states and overseas: NYC, then Chicago, then LA
Architecture: NYC, then Boston, then Philly, then Miami, then SF
Diversity: NYC, then LA, then SF
Downtown: NYC by a mile, then Boston, then SF, then Philly
Cost of living compared to salaries: Houston, then Dallas, then Boston, then Philly
Culture: NYC, then SF, then D.C., then Boston
Economy - Future?: NYC, then Dallas, then Houston, then SF, then Boston
Food - Pricing and Diversity: NYC, then SF, then Chicago
Neighborhoods - Urban and suburban:
Suburbs - NYC by far, then SF, then Philly, then Boston, then Chicago
Urban - NYC by far, then Boston, then SF
Nightlife: NYC, then LA, then SF, then D.C.
Parks: LA, SF, NYC, Boston
Safety: NYC, SF, Boston
Transit: NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, Philly
Weather: LA, Dallas, NYC, DC
Housing in Boston is quite expensive these days, so much so that the salary differentials between Philadelphia and Boston don't cover the price difference. The median-priced home in Greater Boston costs about five times the median household income, while in Philadelphia, it's just a bit over three times.
Since housing makes up a large share of the overall cost of living, you should reverse the order of the No. 3 and No. 4 cities in your "cost of living compared to salaries" metric.
Also: if you rate New York and Washington next to each other for weather, I would suggest Philadelphia belongs in between them. All three cities are humid in the summer, Washington slightly more so because of its location on what had been a swamp; Washington gets less snow than the other two, which get comparable amounts.
Voted for New York because I've lived in the area my whole life, but would definitely not be opposed to living in LA, Chicago, Boston, Philly, Miami and Houston.
Airport - All are major hubs, but JFK (NYC) and LAX are probably the most well known internationally
Architecture - Skyline wise Chicago for me, with NYC in a close second.
Diversity - NY
Downtown - NY/Chicago/Boston/Philly. LA lacks in this aspect but does have nice neighborhoods throughout the county.
Cost of living compared to salaries - This one goes to either DFW, Houston, Philly or Chicago
Culture - All are plentiful in this aspect, but will have to go to NY and LA again. Again those 2 are monsters compared to most of the group.
Economy - Thriving right now? Houston, Dallas, Boston, SF, DC..All are doing great though.
Food - NY and Chicago IMO. LA for street food/Mexican though
Neighborhoods - Gonna give this to LA and Miami. Gotta love South Beach and Hermosa Beach
Nightlife - All are great but will give this to Chicago and NY, because of the best public transit/variety.
Parks - Gotta be honest, Central park is way too touristy/overrated to give it to NY, however Battery Park is beautiful. I'd tie it with Millennium Park in Chicago.
Safety - NY/Boston/LA at the moment
Transit - Again, NY
Weather - For me, LA, Miami and Houston by far.
Ideal city for me: Take LA's weather/scenery, Houston and Dallas' COL/Salary Ratio, and New York/Chicago's pace/denseness/food scene, and I'd move to whatever city that would be in a heartbeat.
I'm not going to go through all the criteria points and list cities that way. Instead, I'll keep it real simple. There will be two lists, one of places among the options that I can see myself live in and the other of places that, while nice in their own right, I could not and will not ever entertain living in.
Could live in:
- Miami: Aligns with my interests (water activities, bird watching, spending time out late at night (not nightlife but other stuff), coastal location, green, dense, hella foreign born (therefore its "American" attributes being severely limited/washed away)) and the whole package. I like its climate too, wouldn't have it any other way, other than maybe making the less hot seasons even hotter. Love all the rainfall the area gets (I love rain). I love Southeast Florida, in many ways, it is the sole metropolis in America that I love. America having Southeast Florida ensures that I love America too, by default, just because Southeast Florida is in that country. That's huge for me.
Could not live in:
- New York: Best city in my home country (America), best city on my home continent (North America), best city in the Western Hemisphere (IMO), and nothing but respect for it. However, I don't know what I could use New York for and I'm happy with where I am now. I wouldn't trade where I am now (London) or where I will be soon (Tokyo) for New York. I have both family and friends in New York, so I will probably find my way back over there again someday to visit them and will give me more than enough reason to see the city again. Truly is a great city, I mean it.
- Los Angeles: Nice city but it is not for me. I have friends and family here, so there are reasons for me to visit it, I don't mind visiting but it is not the type of city that I would choose to live in. I'm not a Los Angeles type.
- Chicago: Also a nice city but also not for me. I grew up here and know people here, have no problem visiting it again someday. I'm not a Chicago type.
- Washington D.C.: Nice city and given that I used to live there I know people there. Like the two previous cities, I have no issues ever visiting it in the future, solely due to the people I know there. I would not choose to live here though. I am not a Washington type.
- San Francisco: Nice city but also not for me. Wouldn't mind visiting it again given that I have both friends and family there. Would not choose to live there though. I'm not a San Francisco type.
- Dallas: Nice city but also not for me. I used to live there long ago, so know people there. I would be alright visiting it but would choose to not live there though. I'm not a Dallas type.
- Houston: Nice city but also not for me either. I have experience living there and know quite a lot of people there, both friends and family. So visiting is not a problem but would choose to not live there. I'm not a Houston type.
- Boston: Nice city but also not for me either. I don't have any family here anymore, the one uncle I had that lived there moved away some years ago. I also no longer have any friends that live there either, the last of whom moved away to Chicago 2 years ago and another that moved away to Houston 2 months ago. So I know no one in Boston now. I have been to it several times before, therefore I no longer have any reason to ever visit it given that I don't know anyone there. The only two reasons I would ever visit an American city is if I have either friends or family there OR if I genuinely really love the city. Neither of those conditions apply towards Boston for me, so I have no reason to be there. The cities listed ahead of Boston only got "I could visit (enter such and such)" because I have either close friends or family there, not because I have a personal affinity for any of those cities. I'm not a Boston type.
- Atlanta: Nice city but also not for me either. My only friend that lived there hasn't lived there in nearly 4 years, left after graduating from college there (Georgia Tech) and he wasn't from there to begin with (went there for college). I also used to have family that lived there last decade, they moved to Atlanta from Greater Detroit and have since moved back to Greater Detroit (people will easily relocate back to where they came from when they are offered a chairmen position for Panasonic and free everything). Fortunately I have visited the city before, so I can cross Atlanta off the list of cities that I needed to see, but because I don't have any friends or family there and because it isn't somewhere in America that I really love (i.e. San Diego, Tucson, Denver, Portland, Austin, Seattle, Honolulu, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City), I cant see a scenario where I go back to visit it. Time and money are finite resources, and visiting a city without reason would take away from my chances of seeing somewhere entirely new in the world. Earth is a planet where I have so much left to see, entire cities, entire countries, and entire continents that I haven't ever stepped foot in. I want to see as much as I can in my lifetime. Much like Boston, it would just be too out of the way for me to do that and I wouldn't have a purpose for it. I'm not an Atlanta type.
^ These are all pretty nice cities, for the most part you could probably get anything you want in them. I don't have any ill will towards any of these cities, but they are just not for me. I don't mind revisiting the ones that have people that I know, either friends or family, that gives me a reason to go back and spend my time and money there. However, outside of that, I don't know what other use I would have for these places. I'm just really into Miami, Sydney, Melbourne, Tel-Aviv, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Brisbane, Vancouver, Busan, Bangkok, Singapore, Osaka, Amsterdam and the like. So for me, it's hard to see anywhere else in that same light. Not trying to offend anyone. So sorry in advance.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 01-17-2018 at 02:14 PM..
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