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Downtown core: I'll actually go with St. Petersburg. Honestly, it looks to be the most consistently vibrant of these, and there is continuous development happening as well, and by FL standards, it definitely has historic charm.
Weather: Hmm.. my answer, the general public's answer, and my wife's answer might be three different things Similar to ProjectMaximus lol. For me.. I'd take St. Paul. However, that can get extremely cold-St. Augustine and St. Louis actually aren't all that different for me-I know how hot that part of the US can get during the summer.. whereas at least St. Augustine has a sea breeze and gets very comfortable and longer winters than St. Petersburg. So, taking everything into account, maybe St. Augustine.
Desirability: This one is hard to say because of subjectivity-but St. Louis is the only primary city of this group-it is also the most nationally and globally visible, so I'll go with that.
Cost of living: Also St. Louis
Entertainment/recreation: I feel these are two different categories. Entertainment is actually pretty comparable across 3 of the 4, depending on your tastes... recreation I think goes to St. Paul for my tastes, but I could see where someone would pick St. Petersburg depending on tastes.
Livability: St. Paul as an overall
Career outlook: St. Paul (because proximity to Minneapolis) or St. Louis
Overall: I think out of these, I personally would choose St. Louis. I don't dislike any, but St. Louis seems to offer the best ratio of opportunity to COL, things going on/entertainment/history/culture, surrounding scenery, location, etc. That said, I don't dislike any and I like St. Petersburg quite a bit-if I weren't factoring for weather/scenery (personal preference for topography and forest)/opportunity/cost, I very well might pick that here.
I voted for St. Augustine, FL. I love the history of the city (oldest US city!!), the Spanish Colonial Architecture and it's beaches!
Also, you can get in your car to drive to these other places:
approximate drive times to other interesting locales (I used Google Maps):
6.50 hour drive to Montgomery, AL
6.50 hour drive to Mobile, AL
6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach, SC
5.75 hour drive to Atlanta, GA
5.75 hour drive to Pensacola, FL
4.50 hour drive to Charleston, SC
4.50 hour drive to Miami, FL
4.25 hour drive to Fort Lauderdale, FL
3 hour drive to Savannah, GA
3 hour drive to Tallahassee, FL
3 hour drive to Tampa, FL
2 hour drive to Orlando, FL
45 minute drive to Jacksonville, FL
Downtown core: St. Petersburg, FL
Weather: St. Augustine, FL
Desirability: St. Augustine, FL
Cost of living: St. Petersburg, FL
Entertainment/recreation: St. Augustine, FL
Livability: (A guess) St. Paul, MN
Career outlook: (Another guess) St. Louis, MO
Overall: St. Augustine, FL
Downtown core: St. Petersburg
Weather: Depends on the person
Desirability: Depends on the person
Cost of living: St. Louis
Entertainment/recreation: St Paul - all professional sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, MLS), performing arts, lakes, bike trails, outstate MN (Boundary Waters), etc...
Livability: St. Paul
Career outlook: St. Paul - it's part of the Twin Cities metro, which has a stronger and more diverse economy than the others
Overall: St. Paul
Agree, poll should include San Diego, San Francisco, San Antonio, San Jose, and San Juan, PR.
St. Augustine doesn't belong in this poll, it's tiny. If you are going to include St. Augustine, you might as well include places like Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Ana, CA; St. Joseph, MO; San Angelo, TX; St. George, UT; St. Cloud, MN; Santa Maria, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Santa Clarita, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Port St. Lucie, FL; San Clemente, CA; and San Bernardino, CA; all of which are bigger than San Augustine, most considerably so.
Out of the big ones, I'd probably pick San Diego, of those
listed I'd go with St. Paul. It is my favorite suburb of Minneapolis- nice houses, good schools, great neighborhoods, and good parks.
Agree, poll should include San Diego, San Francisco, San Antonio, San Jose, and San Juan, PR.
St. Augustine doesn't belong in this poll, it's tiny. If you are going to include St. Augustine, you might as well include places like Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Ana, CA; St. Joseph, MO; San Angelo, TX; St. George, UT; St. Cloud, MN; Santa Maria, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Santa Clarita, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Port St. Lucie, FL; San Clemente, CA; and San Bernardino, CA; all of which are bigger than San Augustine, most considerably so.
Out of the big ones, I'd probably pick San Diego, of those
listed I'd go with St. Paul. It is my favorite suburb of Minneapolis- nice houses, good schools, great neighborhoods, and good parks.
St. Augustine is smaller than the others by any measure, but to put it in greater context, it's the secondary city of its metro of 1.5M.
Just for clarity's sake, I want to note that St Augustine is part of Jax's metro. The 45 minute drive you mention is from downtown St A to downtown Jax...otherwise you could say 1 second drive since the two cities border each other. In fact, the very popular suburban residential portions of St Augustine (Palencia, communities around the World Golf Hall of Fame, etc) are just 25 minutes to downtown Jax. Likewise, downtown St Aug is 20-30 minutes from popular Jax suburbs in the Southside, Bartram, or Ponte Vedra areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
St. Augustine is smaller than the others by any measure, but to put it in greater context, it's the secondary city of its metro of 1.5M.
Right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
For those who may not, I mentioned Charleston because it's actually called The Holy City. That is probably its most well-known nickname.
Yep. Like several other city nicknames, its origins meant something a bit different than the way the story is usually told today but it was easy enough to capitalize on for marketing purposes.
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Similar to ProjectMaximus lol. For me.. I'd take St. Paul. However, that can get extremely cold-St. Augustine and St. Louis actually aren't all that different for me-I know how hot that part of the US can get during the summer.. whereas at least St. Augustine has a sea breeze and gets very comfortable and longer winters than St. Petersburg. So, taking everything into account, maybe St. Augustine.
