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- is diverse, with a good mix of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians
- has a vibrant, walkable downtown with at least some form of public transportation
- is near a large body of water, whether it’s the ocean, river, or lakes
- is clean, with minimal trash on the streets or an overwhelming amount of graffiti tags Dallas>Charlotte>Boston>DC
- doesn’t have a large visible panhandler/homeless population Im not sure. Homeless people are everywhere.
- doesn’t see much snow every single winter Charlotte>Dallas>DC>Boston
- has at least one professional sports team in NFL, NBA, or MLB Boston>DC>Dallas>Charlotte
- is growing in population (for property value increase in case I decide to buy a home) Dallas>DC>Charlotte>Boston for population Boston>>>>>DC>Charlotte>Dallas for home value increases
I know some of these may seem picky but I don’t care! I’ve earned the right to choose.
Im not sure what will be great for you but I think DC is the best fit now. At first I would have said Boston, but your parameters narrowed me to DC or even the Virginia sidde of DC.
D.C. has some of the highest crime rates of the country's largest cities. Maybe I just associate more crime with more potential blight. Not sure.
Homestead, FL, Daytona Beach, FL, Wichita, KS, and Myrtle Beach, SC all have higher violent crime rates than DC and most likely have little to no graffiti or blight to speak of (I know Myrtle Beach doesn't). South Salt Lake, UT has a slightly lower violent crime rate and I'd be shocked if it had any graffiti or blight.
Although DC's violent crime tends to be restricted to the southeast and northeast quadrants which are less polished than other parts of the city, they aren't blighted with graffiti everywhere.
I'm actually surprised that your're surprised Boston is not running away with this. I may have voted that way (love it as a city, checks your other boxes), but your explicit callout for a place that does not get much snow in the winter immediately ruled it out in my mind. If not for the snow, would have been a tossup honestly.
I'd suggest this order, from best city fit for you, to least:
5. Dallas: public transportation is not great, but downtown getting better and the city is huge, and growing well. Good economy.
4. Nashville: amazing boom continues and the downtown is like a huge construction zone with new office, residential and hotel towers opening quarterly. Only getting better--strong job market and economy and decently low housing (but is rising). Minimal public transit though.
3. Charlotte: amazing growth and incredible quality of life. Booming economy and job market, low cost living and a new rapid rail in uptown (Charlotte's downtown area)
2. Washington, DC: in a different league than the other cities (except Boston). Offers world class culture, public transportation and city living. Solid strong economy.
1. Boston, hands-down, out of these picks. The only major downside I think is the weather in the winter--it can be super cold with tons of snow. But the water is right there, and the city is booming with some of the best amenities of any US city. Love Boston in general.
- is clean, with minimal trash on the streets or an overwhelming amount of graffiti tags Dallas>Charlotte>Boston>DC
I'd say they are all more or less equal here.
Quote:
- has at least one professional sports team in NFL, NBA, or MLB Boston>DC>Dallas>Charlotte
Boston, DC, and Dallas are equals here with each having one team in each of those three leagues. Charlotte is just missing MLB but it's supposed to be getting an MLS team.
Quote:
- is growing in population (for property value increase in case I decide to buy a home) Dallas>DC>Charlotte>Boston for population
Actually for city proper population growth since 2010, Charlotte has the fastest rate of growth while Dallas has the largest raw increase. DC grew faster than Boston and also added more people. So it should be Charlotte/Dallas > DC > Boston
I'd suggest this order, from best city fit for you, to least:
5. Dallas: public transportation is not great, but downtown getting better and the city is huge, and growing well. Good economy.
4. Nashville: amazing boom continues and the downtown is like a huge construction zone with new office, residential and hotel towers opening quarterly. Only getting better--strong job market and economy and decently low housing (but is rising). Minimal public transit though.
3. Charlotte: amazing growth and incredible quality of life. Booming economy and job market, low cost living and a new rapid rail in uptown (Charlotte's downtown area)
2. Washington, DC: in a different league than the other cities (except Boston). Offers world class culture, public transportation and city living. Solid strong economy.
1. Boston, hands-down, out of these picks. The only major downside I think is the weather in the winter--it can be super cold with tons of snow. But the water is right there, and the city is booming with some of the best amenities of any US city. Love Boston in general.
Obviously you have a personal preference for Boston but I'm not seeing how it's the top choice here, let alone "hands down" seeing as though it has a downside with the amount of snow it gets in winter whereas DC really doesn't have any downsides. Some winters it can have a few snow events but they tend to be manageable mostly and this past winter it didn't have any at all.
To be fair Boston only got like 8 inches of snow this winter and 2 of those inches was a random once in a generation snow we got like 2 weeks ago. It’s not THAT snowy and cold. Some years it’s honestly not that snowy and some days/weeks can be up in the 60s (even the low 70s!) in February...
But it’s still worse than every city here by a good margin
I need a place to live and for the first time since 2012, I get to choose! My job has moved me around from city to city for close to the last decade. I was set to go to San Antonio from Orlando this summer but that’s no longer an option due to COVID. I’m now going to be remote for at least the next year and maybe longer depending on social distancing guidelines. My job will pay for lodging.
With this newfound freedom, I’m looking for a mid-to-large city that:
- is diverse, with a good mix of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians
- has a vibrant, walkable downtown with at least some form of public transportation
- is near a large body of water, whether it’s the ocean, river, or lakes
- is clean, with minimal trash on the streets or an overwhelming amount of graffiti tags
- doesn’t have a large visible panhandler/homeless population
- doesn’t see much snow every single winter
- has at least one professional sports team in NFL, NBA, or MLB
- is growing in population (for property value increase in case I decide to buy a home)
I know some of these may seem picky but I don’t care! I’ve earned the right to choose.
I prefer not to live in a city I’ve previously lived in or traveled to many times, otherwise I’d live in San Diego, St. Pete, Chicago, Orlando, or Austin. And I don’t want to live in a large city that doesn’t meet the above requirements (SF, NY, LA, Seattle). Looking for a fresh start! I’ve narrowed it down to these cities I’ve never been to before:
Boston
Charleston
Charlotte
Dallas
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Nashville
Sacramento
San Antonio
Washington DC
Which of these cities fits the bill the best?
Oh boy. Lol.....well I've been to 8 of these cities, lived in three, and been to most of the eight multiple times. I'll probably scratch SA and Chuck (Charleston) off my list really soon, as I have imminent reasons to visit both once travel opens up...
Let me just put a plug in for Sacramento. Be advised, 99% of this board has never been to Sacramento either, so don't take the fact no one is speaking up for it as a referendum against it...
And while I'm not sure if is the best fit for you, you owe yourself the visit, especially given some of the other options on here...
•Sacramento is on any short list of most diverse cities in the nation, and given that point is important enough for you to specifically list as criteria, none of these other cities are more diverse nor more integrated. Not a single one, if you want high level diversity and integration, there's Sacramento, then there's everyone else...
•I think all of these cities have likeable downtowns,so it's a wash. However, if my transportation, you mean rail transit (because that's what I value), we can eliminate half the cities easily. So that means you have your pick of (no order) Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Sacramento, and Washington. Benefits to all, I guess research the spread of rail transit in all of them in correlation to downtown and find what fits you best...
Believe it or not, I've used the rail in all five of these cities. DC's stands out as comprehensively the best to me, then it's a pick'em. I didn't like Boston trains, old and rickety, but they have em and they are all over the city which is better than all the cities without. I wasn't impressed with Dallas, so after DC I'd go Sac then Clt but again the order is debatable amongst those five depending on what you value...
•large body of water, I mean I guess all these cities qualify as the are all in proximity to rivers, lakes, and/or ocean. Given you didn't really express tighter preference they'd all qualify for you...
•if you want a clean city, Charlotte is probably the most pristine of these. None of these other cities have particularly great reputations as clean, so this is more something you make a judgement call on, though I also wouldn't say any are hopelessly dirty...
•you're gonna see less homeless visibility in Charleston, Charlotte, Indianapolis. Charleston probably the best on this front simply because it's the smallest...
•if you don't want much snow, every city qualifies besides Boston, Indy, KC, or DC. I guess you then just judge and become strict with how much snow you are willing to put up with...
•all of the cities besides Charleston has a Big 3 major league franchise, so you're good there. Only DC, Boston, and Dallas have all three, so if you need all three (I know you didn't say that), its between those three cities...
•all of these cities are growing in population, can't gi wrong here...
Objectively
By my count and according to your initial listed criteria, you have, Charlotte is your best option, followed by Sacramento. People are I'm here voting for their favorite cities without really weighing everything you asked about objectively...
Note, which city truly fits you best could differ enormously if you had the time to actually visit these places, so I'm not plugging Clt or Sac as definitively "you", only that they seem to be your best two options given your initial listed criteria...
This board is amazingly and embarrassingly ignorant of Sacramento and what it offers. It's the second most likely given your stated desires. If you want a third-best option, I think its Dallas, then all the other cities are kinda grouped together...
There is no reason people are saying Nashville or DC fit you best given your stated criteria, unless they are considering criteria outside of what you personally listed for yourself, which also means they are considering other criteria in bias, selfishly...
So start your search as a three horse race between Clt, Sac, and Dallas, in that order. Find what appeals and doesn't appeal about all to your interests, and if you have time treat yourself to at least a 3-day trip to all. But that's my advice, these are your three best options...
Where do you currently live? I have a pretty good knowledge for most of these cities, so ask away if you have questions!
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