Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
1.Large Dallas-Fort Worth or Phoenix
2.Medium: San Antone or Austin or Vegas
3.Small: Lubbock or Corpus or Waco or El Paso or Las Cruces or Abilene or Angelo or Albuquerque
If you were to move from the metro area in which you now live but stay within the same region, what small metro (under 1 million), medium metro (1-3 million), and large metro (3+ million) would you chose? Even if you only prefer a certain size category (ie I personally wouldn't want to live in a metro area under 1 million), for the sake of the list, give one for each category. If you really can't come up with one, that's fine. For me:
Large: Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL - I love their beaches, great cost of living, climate, the enormous number of recreational assets, and access to Orlando and its offerings. My wife and I are in our mid/late 50's and the Tampa Bay area is one of the best retirement regions in the nation, so that's a plus. Very close runner-up: Atlanta, GA
Medium: Nashville - I really like its feel and the people. Great economy. Great outdoor activities. Growing and vibrant. Reminds me a lot of where I live now (Charlotte). Runner-up: Orlando, FL
Small: Knoxville, TN - I just love this area, lol. I always have. It has such a great balance of things I love; outdoor activities, moderate 4-season climate, great buying power, very friendly residents, beautiful topography. Runner-up: Charleston, SC
I'm going to say "my" region is eastern Midwest/Great Lakes (Western NY, Western Pa., Ohio, Michigan, Indiana). Of those, there are quite a few I wouldn't mind living in.
Big (1 million plus): Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh are all ones I could see myself living, in that order. Not saying Cleveland is the best, but it's home. The rest are close enough where I could see myself relocating if the opportunity was right.
Medium (500,000-million): Akron (where I live) is the only one I would live, but that isn't because Akron is great, it's just that it's close enough to Cleveland which made living here for my job more convenient. Though, technically I live in the Cleveland MSA despite being in a suburb of Akron. Personally, I don't consider it a separate metro.
Small (less than 500,000): Nothing very appealing, IMO.
I personally wouldn't live anywhere in Indiana but have no ties to the state and I think Ohio, for me, has everything and more than Indiana does. I've heard great things about Grand Rapids, but I wouldn't have interest there. Toledo, while close, is a city I've been to quite a bit and probably would not be one I would choose. Dayton would be out mainly because if I'm moving to southwest Ohio, I'd go for Cincinnati. Rochester isn't a bad place either, been there a couple times, but I'd choose Buffalo if going to Western NY.
I didn't include anything west of Indiana, but I would relocate to Chicago for sure, but that would probably be it. Even there, for me, it's more of a great city to go for a long weekend trip. I know cost of living is great for its size, but it's still a lot more expensive than anything else in the MW/Great Lakes. The only other northern metro I would consider would be Philadelphia, because I have family ties there. Also have family in the DMV (though almost exclusively PG and Montgomery counties and that area to me seems like its almost a mirror image to the eastern Cuyahoga (Cleveland) suburbs.
If I were to leave this region it probably would be to the Southeast Sun Belt, though probably the Carolinas (crazy someone from Ohio saying that, lol). Probably wouldn't be Atlanta, did that once (though Clayton County) and it didn't do anything for me, though I know that is pretty far out there from downtown Atlanta especially with the traffic. South Florida (on either coast) would also be on the list just for the tropical weather. I won't lie, as much as I don't necessarily like most of the Sun Belt cities, can't deny the weather is a lot more mild than up here and the heat doesn't bother me. It may not be the politically correct thing to say, but I will say that climate change has definitely made the MW/Great Lakes more bearable during the winter. Growing up, winter was basically October through March. Now, it seems like January-February are the only unbearably cold months.
I'll consider myself a Houstonian/Austinite for this list.
Large: Dallas, Texas
Medium: Charlotte, North Carolina
Small: Lafayette, Louisiana
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
