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I am from South FL, and feel it is not urban enough, yet this is the most urban metro area FL has. What are the best urban metro areas in the country? When I say best, I mean with lots of museums, cultural/educational activities, events in general, safety, good jobs and cost of living. I'd like to hear your opinions.
I would say as in metros OVERALL, imo these are the best/most interesting metros:
1. LA Metro
2. Bay Area
3. NYC Metro
4. DC Metro
5. Chicago Metro
With NYC and Chicago I don't find their suburbs to be that great but that's because the actual cities are fantastic. But if you are looking for overall metro I think LA and SF are the best.
I am from South FL, and feel it is not urban enough, yet this is the most urban metro area FL has. What are the best urban metro areas in the country? When I say best, I mean with lots of museums, cultural/educational activities, events in general, safety, good jobs and cost of living. I'd like to hear your opinions.
As a South Florida native myself I get your dilemma. I moved to Washington, DC and loved it, having lived there nearly 10 years. It's a nice middle ground without the 24/7 madness of NYC, which I do love to visit but find overwhelming vertically as well as sensory. The cost of living is up there, but so are salaries typically as most seem to live quite comfortably in DC with a thriving dining/nightlife scene and busy retail sector. The Northwest section of the city is my favorite with vibrant neighborhoods such as Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle and Logan Circle. The SE side near Capitol Hill is also desirable with neighborhoods such as Eastern Market and the inner ring neighborhoods around the Capitol itself (7th Street or lower). Culturally DC ranks nearly on par with NYC in my opinion with every facet of similarity other than Broadway obviously. Most of the museums are free and exhibits change often. There are a multitude of concerts and live performances at some great venues like the Verizon Center, Kennedy Center and the outdoor venues at Wolftrap and the Carter Barron Amphitheater. It's an hour and a half from the Shenandoah/Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia as well as surprisingly very good Virginia wineries (about an hour away) and a couple of hours to the Maryland beaches. NW DC is quite safe for an urban area with not only DC Police protection/patrol but also Secret Service Uniformed, US Park Service Police and Federal Protective Services Police patrolling 24/7 with jurisdiction. The Dupont Circle area in particular (because of all of the embassies) is rife with uniformed patrols. I never felt unsafe walking at night in the area and never had any bad experiences personally (or anyone I knew for that matter). The job market is the best in the country in terms of the "big cities", sitting around 5% currently. A common misconception is that all work is government related, as there is a diverse jobs market befitting such a large population area...even in DC itself. I would highly recommend checking it out and visiting as a local versus a tourist. Walk the neighborhoods and get a feel over a weekend. It's a great place to live.
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