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So for the next phase of my career, I have the option to move to any of the Midwest cities listed in title. I currently live in a smaller-sized city right here in the Midwest and is looking forward to a bigger city with more of a cosmopolitan/metropolitan feel and plenty to offer in terms of cultural, art, dining and entertainment options. I find that I tend to enjoy living in or very close to walk-able and vibrant urban core neighborhoods.
I should mention that I am a single gay male in my early 30s. My life doesn't revolve around gay bars/clubs but it would be nice to find a city or area that was tolerant of homosexuality and where I would have a decent dating pool consisting of other young professionals.
I've recently visited all 5 cities and had a very good first impression of Columbus, Indy and KC but I liked what I saw in Omaha and MKE as well. I've heard that Columbus has one of the largest gay communities in the Midwest so that definitely will figure into my final decision. All of these cities have some very nice little neighborhoods that I am looking for.
I'll be looking to buy a single family home wherever I end up moving to. I also like to go out and try different restaurants on the weekends. Where would my money go the farthest? I'll be making ~$3000/mo take home.
All very nice cities, but none that I am too familiar with. Been to Indy, KC and Milwaukee several times each, never to the other two.
I would think that KC having the largest population would give it the most opportunities, along with a pretty decent cosmopolitan feel and arts and culture environment. I won't attempt to guess at housing costs, the only thing I know is about five years ago my wife lived in downtown Indy and she thinks you need ~$1200 for a nice 1-bedroom in downtown.
I think Columbus would be your best bet .. aside from the big gay population, it has a couple of great vibrant urban neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area.
Columbus is big enough to offer you the big city amenities you may look for but if you want to fully experience a city with a true cosmopolitan feeling cities like Indy and Columbus won't fit the bill, cities like Chicago and Philly would offer a better experience but after all Columbus would meet you expectations and is better than the bigger cities COL wise.
So for the next phase of my career, I have the option to move to any of the Midwest cities listed in title. I currently live in a smaller-sized city right here in the Midwest and is looking forward to a bigger city with more of a cosmopolitan/metropolitan feel and plenty to offer in terms of cultural, art, dining and entertainment options. I find that I tend to enjoy living in or very close to walk-able and vibrant urban core neighborhoods.
I should mention that I am a single gay male in my early 30s. My life doesn't revolve around gay bars/clubs but it would be nice to find a city or area that was tolerant of homosexuality and where I would have a decent dating pool consisting of other young professionals.
I've recently visited all 5 cities and had a very good first impression of Columbus, Indy and KC but I liked what I saw in Omaha and MKE as well. I've heard that Columbus has one of the largest gay communities in the Midwest so that definitely will figure into my final decision. All of these cities have some very nice little neighborhoods that I am looking for.
I'll be looking to buy a single family home wherever I end up moving to. I also like to go out and try different restaurants on the weekends. Where would my money go the farthest? I'll be making ~$3000/mo take home.
Thank you all for your input!
You can call this a homer post, but know that I am brutally honest in what I post about any city, including KC. Go to the KC forums and check it out for yourself. I tell it like it is and they don't always want to hear it.
I would go with KC on this. It just feels and acts like a larger urban city. It has more urban districts and more big city amenities than the other cities. It has better architecture, better topography (Columbus is similar), more to do without driving to Chicago or Cincinnati. KC's arts and cultural scene is way above what is typical of a metro of 2 million. More pro sports teams, amusement and water parks etc. I can tell you that my gay friends and relatives are very happy there.
Now KC is not perfect. It's isolated from other major metros and destination outdoor recreation and probably has some of the most extreme weather of these cities. While it has many very urban districts (plaza, westport, downtown, crossroads, river market etc), it's lacking in high quality urban single family neighborhoods that Columbus has. It's also lacking in urban recreation (urban bike trails, river trails, bike lanes, vibrant parks). I would say it comes in last in that category compared to these (and most) cities.
But it has enough urban recreation to keep a person happy, St Louis is not too far away, the Ozarks area of Missouri is a nice weekend trip and it's the closer to Colorado and the west coast.
Omaha is a fantastic city. It's quite urban and has many active parks and bike trails etc, but it's much smaller than the other cities so it just offers a lot less overall. Columbus and Indy both have really done a great job building up their downtown parks and rivers and both have busy downtown districts. Columbus being a giant college town has more urban viable neighborhoods outside of downtown.
None of these cities have great transit systems, but KC's is better than Omaha, Columbus and Indy, at least in the urban core.
So KC it not perfect, but I would still go with KC. I feel KC is just a bit more cosmopolitan and metropolitan than the other three cities.
So for the next phase of my career, I have the option to move to any of the Midwest cities listed in title. I currently live in a smaller-sized city right here in the Midwest and is looking forward to a bigger city with more of a cosmopolitan/metropolitan feel and plenty to offer in terms of cultural, art, dining and entertainment options. I find that I tend to enjoy living in or very close to walk-able and vibrant urban core neighborhoods.
I should mention that I am a single gay male in my early 30s. My life doesn't revolve around gay bars/clubs but it would be nice to find a city or area that was tolerant of homosexuality and where I would have a decent dating pool consisting of other young professionals.
I've recently visited all 5 cities and had a very good first impression of Columbus, Indy and KC but I liked what I saw in Omaha and MKE as well. I've heard that Columbus has one of the largest gay communities in the Midwest so that definitely will figure into my final decision. All of these cities have some very nice little neighborhoods that I am looking for.
I'll be looking to buy a single family home wherever I end up moving to. I also like to go out and try different restaurants on the weekends. Where would my money go the farthest? I'll be making ~$3000/mo take home.
Thank you all for your input!
I would say Indianapolis would be your best bet. Biggest of these and best nightlife and bar scene out of those cities . I would also think Indianapolis and Milwaukee are good for young people. Milwaukee prolly growing the fastest out of these. Columbus is okay but I reccomend Indianapolis or Milwaukee, both growing pretty big cities with good nightlife scene and job opportuntities .
I would say Indianapolis would be your best bet. Biggest of these and best nightlife and bar scene out of those cities . I would also think Indianapolis and Milwaukee are good for young people. Milwaukee prolly growing the fastest out of these. Columbus is okay but I reccomend Indianapolis or Milwaukee, both growing pretty big cities with good nightlife scene and job opportuntities .
KC is biggest although relatively similar in size to Indy and Columbus, Indy is growing the fastest, although Indy, Omaha and Columbus are all growing about the same (KC is lagging in growth).
Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area 2,054,473 2,009,342 +2.25%
Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area 1,967,066 1,901,974 +3.42%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area 1,953,961 1,887,877 +3.50%
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metropolitan Statistical Area 895,151 865,350 +3.44%
KCMO left Milwaukee off...it's MSA is also over 2,000,000. The upside to Milwaukee may be its proximity to Chicago. Amtrak Hiawatha makes 7 round-trips daily between the two cities...a nice option if you want to spend the day in Chicago. Also, the suburbs touch, so depending where you would choose to live in the city, you could be in Chicago within minutes, or within half an hour to downtown Chicago. Something for you to consider.
KCMO left Milwaukee off...it's MSA is also over 2,000,000. The upside to Milwaukee may be its proximity to Chicago. Amtrak Hiawatha makes 7 round-trips daily between the two cities...a nice option if you want to spend the day in Chicago. Also, the suburbs touch, so depending where you would choose to live in the city, you could be in Chicago within minutes, or within half an hour to downtown Chicago. Something for you to consider.
Oops
Here you go. 2013 Census estimates
MSA
Kansas City 2,054,473 +2.25%
Columbus 1,967,066 +3.42%
Indianapolis 1,953,961 +3.50%
Milwaukee 1,569,659 +0.88%
Omaha 895,151 +3.44%
CSA
Kansas City 2,393,623 +2.16%
Columbus 2,370,839 +2.70%
Indianapolis 2,336,237 +3.07%
Milwaukee 2,040,498 +0.70%
Omaha 931,666 +3.28%
Urbanized
Kansas City 1,581,000
Indianapolis 1,560,000
Columbus 1,418,000
Milwaukee 1,392,000
Omaha 754,000
Here's a link to population within whatever mile range you choose to use. For example, I typed in within 100 miles of Milwaukee, and the population came up at over 12 million. Interesting, as you can see how isolated you might be in certain cities.
Here's a link to population within whatever mile range you choose to use. For example, I typed in within 100 miles of Milwaukee, and the population came up at over 12 million. Interesting, as you can see how isolated you might be in certain cities.
Interesting. But Chicago is not part of Milwaukee, although it would be nice be right up the road from Chicago.
If you do a 40 mile radius, which should catch 95% of a metro, All but Omaha are right around 2 million with KC being slightly larger. Omaha is under a million.
But once you start going 50-75-100 miles away, Indy, Columbus and Milwaukee pull away from KC. Even at 100 miles, KC is only about 3 million, not much larger than the CSA. KC is truly in the middle of nowhere. Once you leave KC, it's very rural.
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