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We would love to have good restaurants in the area as we love the food scene (and a variety of cuisines), but especially Mexican, Italian and burger joints. Asian food to a lesser extent. Outdoor and cultural amenities would be great too. None of these things are vital to our happiness, though.
I have some food intolerances, so I don't venture to many restaurants. But I've found a few good ones.
Mexican food:
La Hacienda. I feel like I am back in Denver when I eat there.
La Escollera. Authentic Mexican food including menudo, fish and carne de lingua, as well as more usual offerings. Open until 11 PM!
Chipotle and Qdoba are here, too.
Italian:
I don't eat much Italian--it's too carby for me. But Jockamo's Pizza is very popular. There are about a dozen different pizza joints near my house.
Burger joints:
Punch Burger. They use grass-fed beef from cattle raised here in Indiana. Terrific salads, slaw and sweet potato tots, too.
Castleton Grill. Good variety of burgers, salads, etc.--American cuisine.
The Mug just opened up--they serve burgers, pulled pork, chicken, etc. all from pasture-raised animals. I need to go there.
Chef Dan's Southern Comfort. Not a burger joint, but they serve catfish, meatloaf, gumbo, crawfish, and the like. It's food of Louisiana and Mississippi, where Chef Dan is from.
Outdoors--there are meetup groups here who go kayaking and backpacking. There's also boating at Eagle Creek Park, running/walking/biking on the Monon Trail. I should say, though, that the roads here are for cars. There are bike lanes here and there, but for the most part, the roads are too narrow and dark at night to safely walk or ride a bike.
Culture--there's the Indianapolis Art Museum, Indianapolis Symphony, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the University of Indianapolis, which puts on quite a few performances, 10 Johnson has folk music and bluegrass, there are some jazz places around town, the Irving Theater has some offbeat stuff, and a lot of national acts and expos come through Indy on their tours. Communities have little festivals, craft fairs and historical home tours; the Irvington Halloween Festival is a big deal with dozens of food trucks, vendors and witches parade. Lots of pro and college sports. Indy is still home to Gen Con (gamer convention) and the Indy Bacon Fest is returning in January.
No subway. That's the big one, and the ferry is a PITA.
It can't be that bad to get to Lower Manhattan. I live in Baldwin (Long Island) and don't even mind commuting to Manhattan, which can be well over an hour with the combined LIRR and subway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbb749
The job offer is on the north shore! We are having a tough time deciding between living close to everything NYC is despite the higher cost of living, in beautiful desert scenery in Phoenix with plenty of outdoor opportunities and Mexican food, or in Indianapolis with the lowest cost of living and access to multiple medium to large-sized cities for weekend trips.
There is actually a lot of good Mexican food in NYC these days, including Staten Island. There are an estimated 500k Mexicans living in NYC. In terms of cuisine, there's really not much you can't find in NYC, with people from all over the world living there.
As for outdoor activities, when it's warm out there are options not too far, the Catskills are a few hours away and it is BEAUTIFUL up there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by killakoolaide
Structurally speaking SI is by far the most suburban part of nyc, but socio-culturally it is a throwback. It's largely lower middle class whites, with a decent amount of racial diversity. It's what the vast majority of nyc was like 30-50 years ago, before the hipsterization, and wealth stratification that occured around the turn of the century. It reminds me of NE Philly complete with a heroin problem.
I still don't think I agree with that comparison. NYC was already super diverse 30 years ago, and it's not like the Staten Island of today has anything like the old school Greenwich Village or Lower East Side. And not all of Brooklyn and Queens are gentrified.
I kinda feel like South Shore Staten Island is NYC for people that don't like NYC, lol.
I believe the OP said he has the option of living and working on Staten Island so subway service to Manhattan is NOT important. Plus the Fresh Kills Landfill has been closed and is being turned into a 2,200 acres park.
Advantages of Staten Island to the OP:
- Close to Manhattan and the other boroughs but not as crowded and expensive
- Real estate taxes less then NYC suburbs in New Jersey, Long Island, Hudson Valley and Connecticut
- good NYC water from the Catskills (I believe)
- One third of the Island is City, State and National parkland (!) and that amount is growing Parks | Staten Island Tourism Official Website: Visit Staten Island
- Lots of local wildlife on the Island, including deer, turkey and seals (off the coast)
- Lots of local history with many buildings from the 1600s and 1700s
- Close to friends and family in New England
- Local beaches on the Island plus can travel to the Jersey Shore and Long Island beaches
- Four season climate
I have no idea of what the suburbs of Phoenix vs Indianapolis are like but I think Indianapolis is probably far less crowded and expensive then the Northeast. Plus it has the 4 season climate.
Some people prefer highly populated, high density places to live, so don't assume that those are negatives for the OP, with regard to the NYC and Boston areas. I would not write them off. It is likely that the OP will be making a substantially higher income in those areas, too. But the OP has to be willing to commute a bit farther....although, we cannot just assume that the OP's job is located in the urban core. Lexington is in the outskirts of Boston. Staten Island is also a bit separated from the core of NYC, giving him more options for commute and cost of living.
Honestly, Phoenix is no longer a cheap place to live. And the job will likely pay substantially less than in NYC or Boston. So he has to do some calculations to determine all that. It is hard for us to determine that right here, right now. Also, the summers in Phoenix really are just as bad as winters in NYC. Boston is pretty damn cold though, for too long.
Indianapolis is definitely a cheap place to live, likely accompanied by lower pay though. Indianapolis is a mid sized metro with probably the easiest lifestyle out of the four choices. Probably not the most stunning scenery though. The whole metro area is kind of bland and vanilla looking, if that matters.
Where do you live now?
Is salary equal in all 4 destinations?
I live in Southern Maine. Salary is $15k higher in Staten Island and Lexington.
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