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As the title says, I am a single, white male in my 20s and plan to move to a southern city in the next couple of years. I live in San Antonio and while it's not bad I would like to live somewhere with a more happening party scene. I will probably move back to South Texas when I get out of my party stage but for now I just want to see where life takes me. I won't be moving for a few years as I still need to graduate.
Main things I am looking for are a fun party scene, unique city (I hate sprawled out cities and cities that are bland), decent job opportunities, decent cost of living, and nice people I suppose. I don't know many people outside of Texas so I'll probably have to make new friends wherever I go.
These are the cities I've considered:
Austin - very close to SA and I have some friends here. It might be more fun for people in their early 20s though, and COL is high
Dallas - close to SA and I have friends and family here. LOTS of jobs. I feel like it's sort of bland though
Houston - close to SA and lots of jobs. Don't like the hurricane problem and it is also sort of bland. I do like how it's near NOLA
Nola - not too far. Not the best economy and high COL. Might be the most fun on this list though, which is why it appeals to me
Memphis - sort of far. Not the best economy but COL is low and I visited when I was a kid and thought it was cool. Maybe it doesn't belong on this list but how is the party scene?
Nashville - Pretty good economy and decent COL I think. Perhaps more fun than Memphis but less culture? I had an uncle that lived here and we visited him. Thought the city was cool
Atlanta - I have a buddy that lived here and thinks this is where I should go. Says the party scene is better than NOLA. Not sure if that's true, but it probably is at least close. He recommended the buckhead area. I do like how they have a good economy but it's pretty far from home.
Other places I've considered - Charlotte (although I've heard it's bland), Charleston, DC (not technically southern but heard a lot of southerners move here? And it's probably tons of fun), Richmond, maybe Savannah, Raleigh, Louisville?
And yes, I realize some don't people consider Texas the south. For the sake of there being no arguments, let's just talk about geographically for a second
Austin seems like a good fit on paper, but if you're looking for a complete change in scenery (I feel like it's not much of a move from San Antonio geographically), Nashville would be the next good choice IMO.
Nashville, Memphis, and NOLA are all great picks here. Honestly, NOLA is probs the most fun- Memphis has a lot of similarities but is cheaper and has an all around better economy compared to NOLA. Nashville is great but pretty expensive, fantastic economy as well.
Austin seems like a good fit on paper, but if you're looking for a complete change in scenery (I feel like it's not much of a move from San Antonio geographically), Nashville would be the next good choice IMO.
You are completely right. It is a good and bad thing. Basically all of my family lives in south Texas so it would be nice being close to them. Same with my friends. I even have friends that have recently moved to Austin, and if they still live there when I'm finished up with school it would be nice to be in the same city as them. Still, I feel like it could be fun experiencing something completely new for a while. So many decisions...
You are completely right. It is a good and bad thing. Basically all of my family lives in south Texas so it would be nice being close to them. Same with my friends. I even have friends that have recently moved to Austin, and if they still live there when I'm finished up with school it would be nice to be in the same city as them. Still, I feel like it could be fun experiencing something completely new for a while. So many decisions...
Seems like you need to think about the "nice to be close to family" vs. "fun experiencing something completely new". Austin seems like the fit for the former, but maybe some of the other options make more sense for the latter.
What does the employment situation look like? The other way to approach this would be to apply to jobs in all of the cities that you are interested in and then consider what the outcome of that is...
Nashville, Memphis, and NOLA are all great picks here. Honestly, NOLA is probs the most fun- Memphis has a lot of similarities but is cheaper and has an all around better economy compared to NOLA. Nashville is great but pretty expensive, fantastic economy as well.
Is Memphis comparable at all to Nola when it comes to the party scene? Or do Dallas, Houston, and Nashville blow it out of the water?
Austin, Nashville or NOLA would be my picks. Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta are just to spread out of my liking. Plus they all have that bland corporate feel to them. What about Miami?
I've never partied up in Dallas- only Houston, Nashville, Memphis, NOLA, and Atlanta.
Atlanta has more of a high end scene compared to NOLA or Memphis I've heard. I wouldn't say any of these places blows the other out of the water- I'd say NOLA is the most fun though. Beale is cool, Midtown is really a lot of fun if you are younger; as for NOLA, the quarter and frenchmen st are awesome, as is basically a lot of places in uptown. In Nashville I've only ever gone out near Broadway and Vandy, it was comparable to Memphis. Houston I went out near Rice and in Atlanta in Druid Hills and one other area I don't know the name of. I'd be going off hearsay for a lot of the Houston or Atlanta scenes though. I had fun in all of them, but the most fun out was in NOLA for me (I'm also bias and know the things to do there more/ spent way more time there).
My partner totally disagrees with me- she prefers Nashville.
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