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I think that you define a City that has good public transit and are costly places to live as too broadly. I live in the Denver area. Denver is considered expensive but the public transit available here is provided through multiple counties and some areas of the suburban cities are less costly to live than some places in Denver and have good public transit. Denver itself is composed of many neighborhoods and they do differ in the cost of living.
It is all a matter of choosing wisely. Essentially you really create your own small city, within a metro area with reasonable housing, a walkable area and next to basic shopping and has good public transit. I started a thread on the Denver forum, a few years ago, and I just revived it to add more current information and new ideas. I suggest you review it, perhaps it will help.
As I mentioned on the other current thread about living without a car, I have re-checked City Data's detailed profile of Denver and revised my earlier estimation that it is too expensive. Beyond that however, Denver is too cold and snowy for my tastes and doesn't really have any other characteristic that compels me, personally, to want to live there. Of course, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be perfect for someone else and I do know that lots of other people love it.
I like what you say about choosing wisely and creating your own place within a metro area with a majority of desired characteristics. And yes, I do think that reading your previous thread on Denver will be helpful for my general purposes of finding the right place within a city.
Yea City Park is to the north Mid-City (just to toot, it's 50% larger than Central Park in NYC).
Yea there are many shotgun houses throughout the city.
Houston has a great bus system, really great. I really like Montrose, but my favorite is The Heights, which is what I think you mean, or it might be West University. The Heights has that architecture that I like and the feel of the neighborhood reminds me of back home. Montrose doesn't do that for me. Downtown is kind of boring to me, at least for such a big city. The area west of downtown (fourth ward and Washington Ave), is nice, but not fully developed with the necessities of a walkable neighborhood, at least from what I've seen. There are lots of new townhouses and mid-rise developments, not much great old buildings at all.
If you're not close to a freeway, it probably would be shorter. The freeways are very fast if you're destinations are near them and it's not rush hour. My main problem with surface streets is the condition, it's like they made them bad on purpose. Almost EVERY street looks like a over-sized popcorn ceiling while the freeways are top notch.
I LOVE Galveston, not for what it is now, but for the simple things about it. It's structurally dense, smells like salt water (), and really has some beautiful areas, along with a streetcar that is now out of service. I wish Galveston a prosperous future.
I'm not keen on it's job market at all, it has suffered for many decades but it may have captured some growth from Houston. Depends one what your field is I guess. If you could work in the oil/engineering industry you would be fine traveling to Texas City or somewhere along that area to the shipping channel. I wouldn't want to travel to Houston daily for work, that's 2 hours round trip with no traffic. Possibly 3+ with rush hour traffic.
Thanks, annie-himself,
Good to know the Houston bus system is great. At the time that I was doing my most intense research on Houston, it was having its problems and reviews from riders were mixed, at best. I had a good impression of the Heights too but it seems like something, maybe a higher cost of rentals, forced my attention elsewhere.
Most times, I try to avoid the freeways when I can, cause of the intense traffic jams I've heard about, (only drove in Houston once), and I've heard that even at 3a.m. Houston freeways resemble a NASCAR track. Though I have been quite the hell-raising driver in the past, I don't do that kind of stuff anymore cause it doesn't seem like as much fun as it used to.
Yeah, I've gotta say, though I've never been to Galveston, it seems very nice. In fact, I think it's calling me, at times. I realize that it doesn't have the job opportunities that Houston would offer but I just need a basic sort of job that will keep a roof over my head and food on my table while I concentrate on my real life's work in my spare time. I have done some administrative/communication office-type work for oil companies before, so that might be a possibility. And yeah, the impression I got of the daily rush hour commute from Galveston to Houston was not good. A three hour drive to go 45 miles kind of defeats the purpose of living there.
You are correct, New Orleans is more walkable/bikeable and compact than half the cities on that list. It's an old city with narrow streets outside of the more wide boulevards like Canal, Elysian Fields, Esplanade, etc.
The main things keeping people out of NO are high crime, bad schools, weak economy. As far as urban framework goes...NO again is very old and compact with lots of stuff, more so in about a 10-20 sq mile area than any city in the South IMO.
New Orleans is very urban and walkable it just isn't a huge metro population wise, but it can hold it's own festival wise, art, music, food, etc.
Hi Garfieldian,
Yes, New Orleans just seems to have some kind of hold on me, though I've only driven through it once and didn't even see the best parts. In some dreams I have actually wandered through its back streets and loved the architecture and atmosphere. I started out years ago with it at the top of my relocation list and kept eliminating it for one reason or another, only to find still another reason to reinstate it.
As for the negatives, crime is something I have to consider but a low crime rate is not my top priority as I believe that I can cope with crime by using common sense, being aware of my surroundings and thinking/planning ahead. Also, the fact that I'm crazy seems to help, in my experience. The bad schools are not a big issue cause I don't have any kids....that I'm aware of. Of course, the weak economy is a problem but it appears that situation may have actually started to improve as a result of the hurricanes. I'm sort of a 'jack-of-all-trades' but unfortunately, none of them is construction-related. Though I don't have advanced degrees and professional licenses, I do have a university education and a sort of innate knowledge and am told by some natives that I could find a job pretty quickly in New Orleans. As I mentioned in my post above, all I really need is something to support my habit. Oh, and on that note, I should probably mention the fact that New Orleans is a muse for me of a kind that I'm not sure I could find anywhere else.
I prefer culture that I can interact with and I think that's what really sets New Orleans apart. There's just no other affordable place I can think of where one can, as you say, experience one-of-a-kind, perhaps, world-class festivals, art, music, food and more, all in a relatively compact, yet vibrant place.
Gotta say, if I don't wind up making it my home, I will definitely make it one of my vacation destinations!
Last edited by I. B. Trippin; 11-08-2011 at 11:49 AM..
you can definitely live without a car there and find plenty of apartments below $1,000
Hi im_a_lawyer,
In the beginning, I had maybe 120 candidate cities on my list and have slowly narrowed it down to a more workable, though constantly evolving, list of finalists. Chicago just never has really been on my radar.
My research and the facts bear out the things you say: Chicago is one of the more walkable cities, you can definitely live there without a car, and surprisingly, it is more affordable that I expected, according to City Data's detailed profile, though it is still just slightly beyond the outer reaches of my housing budget. Those figures are medians and averages and there are likely some individual Chicago neighborhoods which would match many of my criteria, including housing costs. My current next-door neighbor is a huge Chicago enthusiast and between he and some of the members of these fora, I have really come to have a much more positive view of Chicago in recent years.
The biggest reason I've avoided Chicago is the cold, harsh climate. Though this criteria began as a preference, it has evolved into a health issue which is gradually approaching a non-negotiable status as I age. Beyond that, though it does have many outstanding qualities in my opinion they are not of a type or level that I cannot find in all of my finalists which do, on the other hand, have other compelling characteristics that strongly attract me.
At this point, it would probably seem to many readers that I should have specified my climatic preferences/needs early on. However, while it is true that I much prefer a mild to warm climate, there are many places in generally cold regions which have a strong appeal for me in terms of other characteristics while also having a relatively mild climate in comparison to most cities in their regions. Therefore, I remain open to other suggestions.
Good to know the Houston bus system is great. At the time that I was doing my most intense research on Houston, it was having its problems and reviews from riders were mixed, at best. I had a good impression of the Heights too but it seems like something, maybe a higher cost of rentals, forced my attention elsewhere.
Most times, I try to avoid the freeways when I can, cause of the intense traffic jams I've heard about, (only drove in Houston once), and I've heard that even at 3a.m. Houston freeways resemble a NASCAR track. Though I have been quite the hell-raising driver in the past, I don't do that kind of stuff anymore cause it doesn't seem like as much fun as it used to.
Yeah, I've gotta say, though I've never been to Galveston, it seems very nice. In fact, I think it's calling me, at times. I realize that it doesn't have the job opportunities that Houston would offer but I just need a basic sort of job that will keep a roof over my head and food on my table while I concentrate on my real life's work in my spare time. I have done some administrative/communication office-type work for oil companies before, so that might be a possibility. And yeah, the impression I got of the daily rush hour commute from Galveston to Houston was not good. A three hour drive to go 45 miles kind of defeats the purpose of living there.
I believe you can find small houses in many of Houstons inner neighborhoods for under $1000. The freeways always feel like race tracks but when they're slow comes the issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by I. B. Trippin
Hi Garfieldian,
Yes, New Orleans just seems to have some kind of hold on me, though I've only driven through it once and didn't even see the best parts. In some dreams I have actually wandered through its back streets and loved the architecture and atmosphere. I started out years ago with it at the top of my relocation list and kept eliminating it for one reason or another, only to find still another reason to reinstate it.
As for the negatives, crime is something I have to consider but a low crime rate is not my top priority as I believe that I can cope with crime by using common sense, being aware of my surroundings and thinking/planning ahead. Also, the fact that I'm crazy seems to help, in my experience. The bad schools are not a big issue cause I don't have any kids....that I'm aware of. Of course, the weak economy is a problem but it appears that situation may have actually started to improve as a result of the hurricanes. I'm sort of a 'jack-of-all-trades' but unfortunately, none of them is construction-related. Though I don't have advanced degrees and professional licenses, I do have a university education and a sort of innate knowledge and am told by some natives that I could find a job pretty quickly in New Orleans. As I mentioned in my post above, all I really need is something to support my habit. Oh, and on that note, I should probably mention the fact that New Orleans is a muse for me of a kind that I'm not sure I could find anywhere else.
I prefer culture that I can interact with and I think that's what really sets New Orleans apart. There's just no other affordable place I can think of where one can, as you say, experience one-of-a-kind, perhaps, world-class festivals, art, music, food and more, all in a relatively compact, yet vibrant place.
Gotta say, if I don't wind up making it my home, I will definitely make it one of my vacation destinations!
You should be able to find a job relatively easy, the economy isn't as weak as some other cities and shows promise. Anything related to tourism/hospitality would be very easy.
I believe you can find small houses in many of Houstons inner neighborhoods for under $1000. The freeways always feel like race tracks but when they're slow comes the issue.
How about, under $700?
You should be able to find a job relatively easy, the economy isn't as weak as some other cities and shows promise. Anything related to tourism/hospitality would be very easy.
I do happen to have some experience in tourism. I'm not really a PR-type, though. More down-to-earth, straight-forward.
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), and really has some beautiful areas, along with a streetcar that is now out of service. I wish Galveston a prosperous future. 
I realize that it doesn't have the job opportunities that Houston would offer but I just need a basic sort of job that will keep a roof over my head and food on my table while I concentrate on my real life's work in my spare time. I have done some administrative/communication office-type work for oil companies before, so that might be a possibility. And yeah, the impression I got of the daily rush hour commute from Galveston to Houston was not good. A three hour drive to go 45 miles kind of defeats the purpose of living there.
I do happen to have some experience in tourism. I'm not really a PR-type, though. More down-to-earth, straight-forward.
Very good, Glasshoppah!
