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I have to work out of our company office most of the year (Lansing, Michigan), but in the next few years I'll be able to take 1 month per year and work remotely. With that in mind, my wife and I were talking about spending that month renting a place in a new city where we could try and experience what it would be like to live somewhere new.
I'm 30 years old, married with a 1 year old daughter, and we love to travel and explore cities with great downtowns. We've done a lot of traveling abroad and love European cities, but we really haven't seen too many of the great American cities except for NYC, DC, Chicago and Austin.
So, my question to all of you is which US or Canadian cities would you suggest we consider spending a month in? This is potentially something we could do each year, so the more suggestions the better.
Here's what we're looking for:
-We want to live downtown in a cool city. We want to be able to explore the city by foot without needing to get into a car every time we leave our house or apartment. We prefer dense/walkable cities to sprawling cities like LA and Phoenix.
-Our budget is ~$3,000/month for rent and we'd ideally have a 3-bedroom place. Manhattan or San Francisco is likely out of our budget.
-Proximity to nature and outdoor activities. Water and/or mountains nearby would be great. We like the less extreme sports (paddle boarding, downhill skiing, trail biking, etc), but we're not really the type that will go whitewater rafting or rock climbing all the time.
-Kid friendly...lots of parks, playgrounds, museums, festivals, etc.
-Crazy night life isn't important to us, but we still like to go out and grab a few drinks every now and then.
-Great local restaurants and shopping. We try to avoid chain restaurants if we can, and we're fans of the "farm to table" concept.
-We are open to small cities and big cities, but the small cities would need to be big enough to keep us interested for 30 days.
-A short drive to other cool cities is a plus.
-Close to a major airport in case I unexpectedly have to travel for work.
I'm curious to see which cities get suggested that we might not have thought of yet. Thanks!
Quebec City without a doubt. That is an amazing city with great history and the difference in culture is great. Closest thing to Europe without leaving the Continent. Brush up on your French before you go though, it helps.
After that I would hit (In no particular order) Boston, Seattle, Denver, Philly, Toronto, Vancouver BC.
The month can be whenever I want since my kid is only 1 right now. Once she's in school it'll probably just be summers, but for now it can be any time.
I was in Seattle for a wedding a few years back and loved it. I didn't really get to see much of the city though since we had to do wedding stuff the whole time. The proximity to Portland and Vancouver is very appealing too.
Bydand: Quebec City looks beautiful. We've been talking about taking a 2-week trip and flying to Quebec City, then taking the train to Montreal - Toronto - Windsor on our way back to Michigan.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a place to rent in some of the larger more popular cities without spending more than I'd like to. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing my dollar will go further in a smaller city like Asheville or Boise than in a bigger city. Which of the smaller cities would you want to spend a month in?
If you want a smaller city, then I'd suggest Bloomington IN the closest major airport is about 45-50 mins away in Indianapolis. Now why Bloomington? It simply fits all of your criteria,
1- Very vibrant downtown.
2- 3-bedroom can easily be found under 3,000. they'll range from 900 to 1,300.
3- There's Lake Monroe (biggest lake in Indiana) and Lake Lemon, other outdoor acitives can be easily found in Southern Indiana.
4- Very kid friendly, there's pletny of parks and playgrounds.
5- lots of local resturants that are organic and can offer you the "farm to table concept" your looking for.
6- It is home to one of the most beautiful college campuses in the nation, Indiana University.
6- It is a small city, but I think with the university events and things to discover in Bloomington can keep you interested for 30 days, ok maybe a little less.
7- Close cities, Indianapolis 50 mins, Louisville 1:50 mins, Cincinnati, 2 hrs, Columbus OH 3:40 mins, St. Louis 4 hrs, and Chicago 5 hours.
Grand Rapids, MI during "Art Prize" which is the Worlds largest art competition and named by TIME magazine as one of the 5 festive events not to miss in the World.
Madison, WI. Very cool city with a unique feel to it.
Portland, ME. Another small city with a cool feel and close to Boston for day trips if wanted without the expense of Boston. Plus a short drive up the coast toward "down East Maine" will net you some beautiful scenery and in the right season the freshest lobster you can get anywhere.
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Another small city that is surrounded by natural beauty. Day trips to Cape Breton Highlands, Sydney, NS. Close to Prince Edward Island for some beautiful scenery and history. New Brunswick is close by as well.
I would choose Montreal. US cities aren't much different from each other but Montreal is pretty unique in North America. Quebec City is also but it's too small.
Yeah, I'd go with Montreal too, which is a wondeful, worldly place and, as someone pointed out, larger and with more things to do than Quebec. Just don't go in the winter! Similary, I'd choose New Orleans for an extended visit because of its unique combination of cultures. Just dont go in the summer! And out on the Left Coast I'd be happy spending a month in San Diego, which has perfect weather, plenty of things to do, is on the ocean, and is also an easy drive to Mexico, LA,or even Vegas. (Don't know housing prices in any of these burgs, however.)
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