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I wonder if parts of the Philadelphia area would work?
I think you're about right - Philly is the cheapest of the NE corridor cities, has a Chinatown and quite a legal establishment. Certainly many neighborhoods and suburbs are insular and/or scary generally. Lush green albeit low hills are not far away at all.
Prioritize, in the order of your most important criteria to your least important. Also, add more criteria if possible.
1. Good for a family, as I wouldn't leave Utah until I'm married
2. Very good education, k12 and colleges
3. Good place for a law graduate
4. Reasonable cost of living compared to the average salary
5. Politically I would prefer somewhere that ranges from moderately conservative to slightly liberal
6. Green surroundings, I hate how dry Utah is.
7. No extreme weather, like tornados or hurricanes
8. Within an hour or two of the ocean
9. Well connected international airport
10. Reasonably strong Chinese presence and other cultures
11. Good public transit would be nice
12. At least a million people in the metro area
It's ranked now in order from most important to least. The top 6 are very important, I'm willing to compromise the last few. Other things to add: I like being able to go hiking and cycling, I like being in places with a sense of history, and national parks or similar within a few hours. Thanks for everyone's comments.
With the re-prioritization Harrisburg PA suburbs, such as Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Carlisle, and Hershey may be looking good as it only starts to fall apart on criteria 8 thru 12 (three hours from the shore, international airport means it has a Toronto flight, small but noticeable Vietnamese presence, transit not great in most areas but good passenger rail to Phila/NYC, and only slightly more than 1/2 million but within 2 hrs of all of Washington DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia)
The only criteria not met is the ocean--Atlanta is 4 hours from the ocean, instead of 1-2 hours. Close enough in my opinion.
There is a decent-sized Chinese presence in many of Atlanta's northern suburbs. Specifically look into Johns Creek, Alpharetta, South Forsyth, and East Cobb.
Atlanta
the city in a forest
Last edited by aries4118; 05-10-2011 at 08:11 AM..
I'd suggest Washington, DC, particularly the suburbs of Northern Virginia or Maryland. Virginia moreso than Maryland if politics is really a deciding factor (Maryland is more liberal, generally). My notes about the DC region are below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kangrui
Green surroundings, I hate how dry Utah is. Yes, very very green and humid.
Very good education, k12 and colleges. K-12 reputed to be about the best in the country, highly-regarded universities.
Within an hour or two of the ocean. About 3 hours can get you to several Maryland or Delaware beaches.
Well connected international airport. Dulles and BWI.Reagan National for convenience, but requires connecting flight for international travel.
At least a million people in the metro area. Yes, in the whole metro area.
Politically I would prefer somewhere that ranges from moderately conservative to slightly liberal. Northern Virginia has a range from liberal (but not generally San Francisco-liberal) to moderate conservative, to very conservative the further out and more rural you go from the metro core. In closer-in communities like Arlington and Alexandria, you'd be the minority if you express many conservative opinions. But there's a tendancy towards political pragmatism over fire-breathing ideology. I like that about Virginia. You will probably turn people off if you bring up Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck type of conservatism or anything like birth certificates, climate change denial, or whatever the rightwing radio topic of the month is.
Good place for a law graduate. Very much so.
Good for a family, as I wouldn't leave Utah until I'm married. Because of high quality public education, the exposure to many different cultures, and the amenities that DC offers (music and arts, museums, festivals, other things to do), many people consider the DC metro to be a great place for families. One caveat - because of high housing costs, many people decide to live further out in the suburbs in order to have a larger house and yard, and then they must endure a long commute to work. The hours spent commuting can detract from family time. The area has really bad traffic.
No extreme weather, like tornados or hurricanes. Rarely a tornado, sometimes heavy rain from a hurricane (maybe once in 10 years) but usually not damaging. Moderate to little snowfall in the winter is the norm, hot and humid summers. Not as hot temperatures as Utah, but the humidity makes it feel hotter.No massive fires, mudslides, damaging earthquakes, or volcanos
Reasonably strong Chinese presence and other cultures. Many other cultures. Don't know how strong the Chinese presence is, there may be more in Montgomery County Maryland. Many Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Pakistani, Indian, and then many from non-Asian countries as well. Absolutely great for cultural diversity, getting better every year.
Good public transit would be nice. Bus, subway/rail, reasonably good, subway and rail not as extensive as some other major metros.
Reasonable cost of living compared to the average salary. High cost of living particularly in housing - but then, salaries are typically higher as well (for professionals, at least). Virginia isn't so high with taxes, and groceries and gas often are pretty much the same from one metropolis to the next. It's the housing prices and rents that will shock you unless you are used to NYC or California prices.
This would not be for a long time, but I'd like to get opinions now. Thanks to any replies.
Good luck finding the place that's right for you!
Last edited by robbobobbo; 05-10-2011 at 07:55 AM..
1. Good for a family, as I wouldn't leave Utah until I'm married
2. Very good education, k12 and colleges
3. Good place for a law graduate
4. Reasonable cost of living compared to the average salary
5. Politically I would prefer somewhere that ranges from moderately conservative to slightly liberal
6. Green surroundings, I hate how dry Utah is.
7. No extreme weather, like tornados or hurricanes
8. Within an hour or two of the ocean
9. Well connected international airport
10. Reasonably strong Chinese presence and other cultures
11. Good public transit would be nice
12. At least a million people in the metro area
It's ranked now in order from most important to least. The top 6 are very important, I'm willing to compromise the last few. Other things to add: I like being able to go hiking and cycling, I like being in places with a sense of history, and national parks or similar within a few hours. Thanks for everyone's comments.
#1 can be lots of places. Since you rank education so highly at #2, that puts you in the northeast/east coast regionally. Not that other regions don't have good schools and colleges. It's just that top ones (like Ivy League schools) are concentrated in the northeast.
One thing to note is that #3 and #4 may conflict with one another. Successful law graduates, as you know, tend to earn high incomes. Places that are good for law graduates happen to be places where people in general earn high incomes. And those kinds of places tend to have a high COL for the average wage earner. Having said that, Philadelphia has a lower COL than NYC, Boston or DC. However, NYC has the highest number of lawyers and law firms of any U.S. city.
As for #5, realize that the main east coast cities I mentioned are politically liberal. Politically moderate places tend to be more in the outlying suburbs of these cities.
#6 - describes the east coast during the warmer months, as it is humid-subtropical. It's definitely greener and more humid than Utah and much of the western U.S. However, it's not so green in the winter when leaves have fallen off most of the trees (which are deciduous), although there's plenty of snow and other precipitation.
As for your additional criteria, you can go hiking and cycling in lots of places on the east coast during the warmer months. East coast cities are very historical, as this is pretty much the birthplace of the U.S. Most of the large and well-known national parks in the U.S. are in the western part of the country. However, one of the main national parks on the east coast is the Shenandoah national park, which is close to DC.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 05-10-2011 at 11:01 AM..
Seriously, if you wanted a small city, outside of the ocean criteria and the political aspect(within the city limits), Ithaca NY would fit. It's about 17-18% Asian, has a christian Chinese church, has Ivy League Cornell University(which has a good Law School), is great for the outdoors, is walkable with a good bus system in TCAT and is close enough to bigger cities for day trips.
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