Which of these cities seems most fit for me?: Boston, Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago (crime, compared)

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

1. A city that is, for the most part, liberal and open-minded?
- San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and Austin ( I think the first three are especially liberal and open minded but even people not like that can be found there. Chicago and Austin dont see nearly as liberal and open minded.

2. Public transportation?
- Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin. I think all of them have good public transportation, except for Austin.

3. Nice beaches (although I know none of them would be as great as the ones in Orange County)?
- San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, and Austin (All have great beaches, but not as much for Boston. Austin doesnt do well in this category, unlike you like small lake beaches.

4. Environmentally friendly?
- San Francisco/Seattle tied, Austin, Chicago, Boston (All of these cities do especially well for American cities in this category)

5. Nice bookstores?
- Boston/ San Francisco/Seattle tied, Chicago, Austin. ( Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle have especially nice bokstores. Chicago does ok in this category. Austin doesnt do well in this category.

6. Low crime rate?
- Seattle, Boston, Austin, San Francisco, and Chicago (However, if you only consider Chicagoes safe neighborhoods, it would be number 1 or 2)

7. YUMMY, loaded, & varied cuisines/restaurants?
- San Francisco/Seattle tied, Chicago, Boston, Austin(All of these cities do really well in this category and some of the best in the country, except for Austin. However Whole Foods is from Austin!

8. Beautiful architecture?
Chicago/Seattle/San Francisco tied, Boston, Austin (I think all the cities have great architecture. However, to a lesser extent with Boston and Austin.

9. Cultural/ethnic diversity
San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle/Boston tied, Austin(I think of all of these cities do well for this category, except for Austin. Austin does ok in this category.

10. Awesome music scene?
-Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Boston(All of these cities have some of the best music scenes in the country, except Boston)

11. Walkability?
-Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Austin(I think all of these cities have lots of walkable neighborhoods, but not so much for Austin

12. Good nightlife
San Francisco, Seattle/Boston/Chicago tied, Austin (I think all of these cities have plenty of good nightlife

13. Nice waterfront
-Seattle/San Francisco/Chicago tied, Boston, Austin (Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicagos waterfront is truly amazing and wow'd me. Boston, not so much. Austin doesnt really have a waterfront.

14. Accessibility to outdoor activities (camping, hiking, etc.)?
Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, Chicago(Seattle and San Francisco are at the top for outdoor accessibility for a big city. Boston does well in this category. Austin and Chicago does ok.


15. Beautiful landscapes/natural scenery
Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Austin(Seattle and San Francisco are at the top for major cities in this category. Boston does ok. Chicago and Austin doesnt do so well in this category.


16. Exciting downtown area?
Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Austin(I think Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle's downtown are especially exciting and awesome. Boston does ok in this category, for me. Austin doesnt do so well in this category.

17. Nice parks
-Seattle/San Francisco tied, Chicago, Boston, Austin (All of these cities have nice parks but especially Seattle and San Francisco.

18. Friendly people
-San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Chicago,and Boston

19. Lots of entertainment and things to do leisure wise?
-Chicago/San Francisco/Seattle tied, Boston, Austin (I think all of these cities has tons of fun entertainment and leisure options, but Austin not so much.

20. Nice coffee shops
- Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Austin (Seattle, and San Francisco has many awesome coffee shops. Boston, Chicago, and Austin does ok in this category.

21. Which city has the better climate?
San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Austin

22. Other unique things that make the city stand out?
Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco have many unique things about them. Boston to a slightly smaller extent. Austin is very unique for Texas, but other than that...

NaturalUrbanBalence, you did a thoroughly great job but I found some minor mistakes in your listing.

Austin has great bookstores, to say it doesn't is really undermining Austin's credibility.

On majority of the surveys taken Chicago and San Francisco tie and come in second to NYC on the food scene. As well as Chicago's credibility in hot dogs and pizza. Not saying Seattle is bad, but just that Chicago is better. And it's rated better. It's always tied with San Fran in that aspect.

I find the music scene question really hard to believe, Austin is regarded as the Music Capital of the World. Surely it deserves to be higher on the list.

Austin is the most pedestrian friendly city in Texas, it's one of the most bike friendliest and walking friendly cities in USA. L. Armstrong (The famous biker) resides in Austin for these reasons.

You can definitely go river rafting, hiking, and boating in the Hill country which is where Austin is located. It does better than okay, lol.

Austin has some of the prettiest natural scenery out there in Texas, in fact to say it doesn't do well in the category would be an insult, lol.

Lincoln Park in Chicago is the 2nd most visited park in USA after Central Park in NYC. Lol.

I'm not trying to attack you, but I really feel that your listing doesn't display all the information accurately, especially for Austin. Please don't take this offensively though, because you had a very nice post.

This is what Austin looks like outside of residential areas:

To Omshahi:

Seattles food scene is great and one of the best in the country. I hate hot dogs and pizza, and that is one reason why I rated Chicago lower on my list. I dont see why so many people like food like that. Food like that isnt healthy for people compared to other foods.

I find Austin's music scene overrated.

That is a nice picture of the Hill country.

I still have the same opinions in my post.

[Brooklynlove]

To the OP: I've lived in Boston for a while (4 years) and I've spent a considerable amount of time in Chicago and San Francisco. I've visited Seattle once for two weeks. Never been to Austin, so, of course it's not fair to rank it. As to the other 4, here's how I'd say it breaks down:

If I were to give a point to each one of your criterion (so 21 points), the cities would rank San Francisco with 17 points, Chicago with 16, Boston 13, and Seattle 12. I tried to be as objective as possible - I personally happen to like Chicago best, for example. But Chicago loses points here for its (not high but certainly not low) crime rate, not so great walkability IMO, not a lot of access to hiking and outdoor activities, and its climate.

Boston probably has better access to outdoor activities and, being smaller, is more walkable, but Boston also has some pretty harsh winters (some people I know in Boston from Chicago actually think it's colder in Boston with the wind). And those harsh winters means you only get to enjoy those outdoor activities and beaches a few months a year.

Seattle is a beautiful city with very friendly people, and I think probably provides the best access to outdoor activities and is definitely the most eco-friendly. But, being the smallest of these cities, I personally found it a bit lacking in terms of nightlife and entertainment - especially an exciting downtown area.

All in all, I think San Francisco is your best bet. Definitely very liberal (watch out for occasional smugness though!), semi-decent public transportation, great beaches within an hour's drive, eco-friendly, great bookstores, relatively low crime, great restaurants, beautiful and distinctive architecture, fairly diverse (though I think Chicago probably takes the cake there), good local music, pretty walkable (as long as you have good knees! They're not exaggerating about those hills), pretty decent but not sensational nightlife, definitely an absolutely gorgeous waterfront. It's also surrounded by some of the most beautiful natural scenery in the country, IMO. Lots of parks and green space. Friendly people? Ehhh, depends on who you ask. I tend to find that San Francisco can remind me of home sometimes (New York) in that people are very no BS. I happen to love that idiosyncrasy, but you may not. Great coffee shops? Of course. And for climate, I think San Francisco wins here, hands down. It's not Southern California, but it's not New England!

And for the runner-up most exciting downtown area? I again say San Francisco. Take into consideration everyone's input, though. Good luck!

[bgrn198]

I would check out Austin here's some links to check out there's museums,shopping, 4 area lakes and you can go tubing on the Blanco and Guadalupe rivers,hiking and camping at the area parks and greenbelts and if your into golfing there's alot of nice golf courses around.

Austin Texas - Events, Austin Hotels & Attractions, Convention Information, Guides, and More - ACVB

GACC | The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce :: Austin, Texas

ACL Music Festival ~ Oct. 8-10, 2010 ~ Zilker Park, Austin, Texas

SXSW.com

Music of Austin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Street_(Austin)

SoCo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SoCo (South Congress) Shopping District

Highland Lakes Visitors Guide

http://www.6street.com/

2ND Street District | Shop. Live. Dine | Austin TX

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...nchanted_rock/

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/greenbelts.htm

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...ckinney_falls/

http://rowingdock.com/

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t102

http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/

http://www.texasstarshockey.com/

http://www.turfcats.com/index.html

And there's a ton of good restaurants in Austin not just Whole Foods

[rxpwas]

Originally Posted by TweeHuhggar

Hi,
I'm a single male in my semi-late twenties, and I think the time has come for me to move out of the close-minded, homogeneous, stuck-up part of Southern California (Newport Beach) to a more liberal-minded city. Money probably isn't going to be an issue. However, some major factors include:
-A city that is, for the most part, liberal and open-minded
-Public transportation
-Nice beaches (although I know none of them would be as great as the ones in Orange County)
-Environmentally friendly
-Nice bookstores
-Low crime rate
-YUMMY, loaded, & varied cuisines/restaurants
-Beautiful architecture
-Cultural/ethnic diversity
-Awesome music scene
-Walkability
-Good nightlife
-Nice waterfront
-Accessibility to outdoor activities (camping, hiking, etc.)
-Beautiful landscapes/natural scenery
-Exciting downtown area (Chicago seems to be the obvious choice here, but which would be the runner-up?)
-Nice parks
-Friendly people
-Lots of entertainment and things to do leisure wise
-Nice coffee shops
-Which city has the better climate?
-Other unique things that make the city stand out?

Based on the criteria above, which city (the ones listed in the title) seems most fit for me and WHY? It would also be great if you can rank the cities in order of what you think my preference would be. Thank you in advance!

Note: I was browsing the forum and found another thread with a guy who had pretty much the same criteria as I do, except I added a few more details and switched one of his cities (I think it was NYC?) to Austin.

None of the above, with possible exception of Austin (warmer climate and in Texas, a much friendlier state).

[NEsananto]

Omshani, you do know that picture you posted is Lost Maples State Natural Area in San Antonio (Bandera County)...which is not Austin...

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by NEsananto

Omshani, you do know that picture you posted is Lost Maples State Natural Area in San Antonio (Bandera County)...which is not Austin...

No I was trying to portray the Hill Country, which it is still apart of the outer Austin area.

To be honest, Austin is close to San Antonio to the point where you have city like and nature like things to do in both regions with a hour drive you can cover all areas in between.

And since you're from SA, you know that the Hill Country locations near Austin are just as beautiful.

I simply searched Hill Country photos near Austin, landed with that picture, and from my experience it's similar enough, and posted it here.

[grapico]

since when is whole foods yummy cuisine, its a grocery store, all the ethnic products they carry are pretty garbage and not authentic, unless you like americanized hippy dippy versions of it like "thai kitchen" or "amy's burritos". what are you going to get their, a sandwich? a fresh atlantic salmon? lol

[AK123]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

I find Austin's music scene overrated.

That is a nice picture of the Hill country.

That was not a very representative photo of the way it looks around Austin. I posted a similar photo a while back in the Texas forum and got hammered for it!

Originally Posted by grapico

since when is whole foods yummy cuisine, its a grocery store, all the ethnic products they carry are pretty garbage and not authentic, unless you like americanized hippy dippy versions of it like "thai kitchen" or "amy's burritos". what are you going to get their, a sandwich? a fresh atlantic salmon? lol

I agree. In the OP's list:
-Public transportation
-Nice beaches
-YUMMY, loaded, & varied cuisines/restaurants
-Beautiful architecture
-Cultural/ethnic diversity
-Walkability
-Which city has the better climate

... Austin doesn't really have these. That's a pretty big chunk of requirements from his list.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by AK123

That was not a very representative photo of the way it looks around Austin. I posted a similar photo a while back in the Texas forum and got hammered for it!



I agree. In the OP's list:
-Public transportation
-Nice beaches
-YUMMY, loaded, & varied cuisines/restaurants
-Beautiful architecture
-Cultural/ethnic diversity
-Walkability
-Which city has the better climate

... Austin doesn't really have these. That's a pretty big chunk of requirements from his list.

Yeah that is what I was thinking as well, especially when thrown in with the other options in his list, pretty glaring.