What’s the best major major metropolitan area for someone who wants to live in a no income tax state?
Criteria
Economy:
Seattle, while smaller in overall economic size than Dallas, has perhaps more notable/innovative companies overall, and ranks 4th in the US in per capita income while Dallas, the next city down the list, ranks 12th. I'll lean towards Seattle with consideration for Dallas here, too.
Recreation: Are we, I'm assuming, talking parks and recreation, natural areas, hiking, etc, or general outdoor activities one might want to pursue? Obviously, the answer is going to be different for everyone, but to me personally the Top 3 would be
Seattle followed by Vegas followed by Nashville.
Education: Hmmm... I'm torn here. Seattle stands out initially. Washington state ranks 11th for K-12 education, whereas Florida (16th), Tennessee (31st), Texas (35th) and Nevada (48th) are kinda down the line (USNWR). However (and I'm sure this sort of thing could be messed with, but Miami Metro ranks 2nd in the US only behind San Jose, with 57% of its schools ranking in the Top 25% nationally. Florida metro areas do pretty well here in general. Seattle is the most educated city, by the percentage of residents with a college degree, 44.1%. That's partially due to workforce attraction though. Houston and Nashville have the most elite school out of any of these, with Rice and Vanderbilt being the schools in these areas able to claim Ivy League status. However, it's worth looking at all levels. For that reason, I think I'm going to go with
Miami here, surprising myself actually, but just paying attention to the metrics. MDC is the second largest single public university in the US, and serves the county and diverse area well with 8 campuses.
https://www.mdc.edu/about/facts.aspxEntertainment: You can read more here, but honestly this motivates or matters more to me (access to opportunity, upwards mobility, etc.) overall to a city's/metro's health than having a single powerful Ivy level campus, IMO. FIU also does some great things, and you do have a fairly elite campus present in the form of UMiami also, even if not quite as esteemed in national rankings as Rice or Vandy. So, you have a little bit of everything in the area. This aspect Miami area really seems to be getting right, and it would seem to set it up for a brighter future.
Dining: Hmm... where can I get the most variety of "good" things... and it doesn't take me long here, if I was forced to only eat in one of these for an extended period of time,
Houston, and I would not have to think hard about that. As American food, Mexican food, Asian food, Seafood, and other/ethnic food options come to mind, Houston has a pretty broad selection and is literally stronger than most or all these other places, in most of these areas.
Urbanity: Seattle and Miami are duking it out clearly above the others on this-to me,
Seattle pound for pound is a little more human scaled/pedestrian vibrant, and a little (not a lot) more connected to wider region by transit, and so that's what I'd have to go with. But honestly, it's pretty close. I'm also thinking that Seattle has urbanized over the last 7-8 years since I last saw it. If I had to go with what I saw when in Miami in Nov 2021 and Mar 2022, vs. what I saw in Seattle in July 2014, I might just say Miami. But, I'm kinda leaning on the fact that Seattle has probably evolved and gotten more urbane, also.
Weather: So subjective lol, but for my tastes, I'll definitely say
Seattle definitely. Nashville would probably be runner up, because of the seasons present and relative proximity to Appalachia (about 3 hours to climate altering mountains during the hot summers). Las Vegas I might actually put third, even though the summer months in the immediate city might be more miserable than some of the others, because of the fact that climate altering nature and topography is so close at hand, with Mount Charleston only 45 minutes out, and likely some other natural areas/mountains within a 3-4 hour radius where the climate would be completely different.
Looking back at my picks, some of which I'll definitely say were specific to me, I would have to say if cost weren't a factor, I'd probably live in
Seattle of these, but if forced to think about cost, I'd give
Nashville some serious thought (though, it ain't cheap either nowadays), and perhaps Las Vegas a little bit of thought. Miami (and frankly all of these cities) have reasonably positive qualities, but where I'm at now, my tastes and what I'm looking for would definitely lean towards places with an absence of a long stretch of hot months, and reasonable proximity to some level of topography, even at the expense of some other city related factors that I'll admit I would weigh, too.
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