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Yeah, well, Nashville and Austin are absolutely booming, and they are booming for good reasons.
Strong economies, job magnet areas, highly educated demographics and high amount of metro area wealthy regions.
Tampa-St Petersburg is a fast-growing region as well, of course, with tons of job opportunities, a strong economy and a super bright future.
But the region does attract a high retirement population, and does have folks that move there to just live life near the beach to chill and get by. Nothing wrong with that at all, and we could all probably use that after these almost 2 years dealing with the pandemic.
But, I say all that meaning the Tampa region is a bit different than Austin or Nashville, in general, and has an overall lack of tech/digital/creative job options that Austin/Nashville have.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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For a supposed dumb city, Miami sure seems to attract a lot of successful and wealthy from the US and abroad along with high end urban amenities…then again, it’s not a nerdified city which might explain why it ranks high as a top fun and exciting—if not expensive and if you can afford it—place to live with fewer restrictions (better and later nightlife, no happy hour bans, better looking populace, less Covid business closures, less homeless etc) than many male dominated higher educated cities…..trust me, I went to a highly educated Ivy university with a 2:1 male to (predominantly ugly) female populace (thank god for “dumber” and prettier coeds at nearby Ithaca College), awful weather and so so nightlife which eventually brought me to a more fun and exciting city I live in now. I’m not hurting but maybe I should be as dumb (or is street smart rather than book smart) as some of the people living on any dozen and more barrier islands, Cocoplum, Gables Estates, etc.
Sticking with Nashville for the OP based on “reasonable” COL and his stated “creative” background which I take to be more arts, possibly music, design, advertising, film/video etc oriented.
That said, Miami is almost identically ranked, and Nashville is also middling on that metric.
Yep. Tampa is ranked like flyover country. Cleveland is the same ranking. Low job skill/low education area. And I’ve certainly been to Tampa a lot over the years. My father bought his first condo on Longboat Key in 1970.
Nashville has Williamson County as “Fancy Middle Tennessee”. I didn’t realize how affluent it was until I spent a lot of time there. I was expecting Hee Haw. Tampa doesn’t have anything like that. It also doesn’t have Vanderbilt and all a world class university brings to the table. Austin is a tech center. I worked for a company that had a development group there recently and was there a lot. I can’t handle their summer but it’s otherwise a high intellect, high job skills place.
That said, Miami is almost identically ranked, and Nashville is also middling on that metric.
That ranking shows the Miami and Tampa metros with almost the same score as the Dallas metro and above the Houston and Los Angeles metros. Not saying I agree or disagree but Florida did rank 1st on the 2021 U.S. News Higher Education Rankings and 16th for Pre-K - 12th.
I think Florida is just advancing at such an incredibly high rate that many people aren't able to grasp the vast scale of improvement that's taken place down there across virtually all metrics. (Or they just don't want to grasp it) I can only imagine what it's going to be like in a few years. You better buckle up
Some background: I'm a single, early 30s male, and work from home in a creative industry. I’m looking for a place with a reasonable cost of living, moderate politics, and mild winters. Otherwise, I’m really just looking for a city where it’d be easy to meet people, particularly people in creative fields.
Nowhere in here does it say OP is looking for a city of a high percentage of the population being educated. Therefore it shouldn't matter. This argument has nothing to do with OP's question.
These arguments should stick to the city vs city threads and not hijack a somebody's thread who is seeking advice .
Yep. Tampa is ranked like flyover country. Cleveland is the same ranking. Low job skill/low education area. And I’ve certainly been to Tampa a lot over the years. My father bought his first condo on Longboat Key in 1970.
Nashville has Williamson County as “Fancy Middle Tennessee”. I didn’t realize how affluent it was until I spent a lot of time there. I was expecting Hee Haw. Tampa doesn’t have anything like that. It also doesn’t have Vanderbilt and all a world class university brings to the table. Austin is a tech center. I worked for a company that had a development group there recently and was there a lot. I can’t handle their summer but it’s otherwise a high intellect, high job skills place.
Most people unfamiliar with the area think the same about Nashville. Nashville has quite a few wealthy areas. Brentwood, Franklin, Belle Meade, Forest Hills, and even suburban areas (Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, North and West Murfreesboro).
Yeah, well, Nashville and Austin are absolutely booming, and they are booming for good reasons.
Strong economies, job magnet areas, highly educated demographics and high amount of metro area wealthy regions.
Tampa-St Petersburg is a fast-growing region as well, of course, with tons of job opportunities, a strong economy and a super bright future.
But the region does attract a high retirement population, and does have folks that move there to just live life near the beach to chill and get by. Nothing wrong with that at all, and we could all probably use that after these almost 2 years dealing with the pandemic.
But, I say all that meaning the Tampa region is a bit different than Austin or Nashville, in general, and has an overall lack of tech/digital/creative job options that Austin/Nashville have.
Yeah but the OP was not looking for the tech/digital/booming job markets.. that seemed to be assumed given the amount of press and attention Austin and Nashville receive.. ..he seemed mostly concerned about affordability and moderate politics which are two things both Austin and Nashville do not have in their favor especially compared to Tampa.
I live in the Austin metro and I agree its doing great but its not someplace I would venture to without being in tech or making a fairly strong salary.
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 01-15-2022 at 05:04 PM..
Yeah but the OP was not looking for the tech/digital/booming job markets.. that seemed to be assumed given the amount of press and attention Austin and Nashville receive.. ..he seemed mostly concerned about affordability and moderate politics which are two things both Austin and Nashville do not have in their favor especially compared to Tampa.
I live in the Austin metro and I agree its doing great but its not someplace I would venture to without being in tech or making a fairly strong salary.
You have to take into account the state the cities are located in when considering politics.
Austin has that vigilante abortion law which seems pretty radical to me.
You have to take into account the state the cities are located in when considering politics.
Austin has that vigilante abortion law which seems pretty radical to me.
Florida seems like the more moderate area.
I stated that Austin was not a moderate place to live, both inside and outside the city limits. Tampa is definitely going to be the more moderate / affordable city and more closely aligns with the OP's requirements compared to Austin and Nashville.
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You better buckle up 
.
