Small/Medium Liberal Cities?? (chapel, neighborhoods, theater)

[ceresc21]

Today I found out a job I had accepted overseas fell through. I'm still applying to other overseas jobs, but I may end up having to stay stateside, and so I need a new place to go. I've been living in Austin TX the past several years, and I'm over the long swealtering summers and the traffic.

Wants
-3/4 Seasons
-Within an hour of a large city
-Close to water
-Low risk of natural disasters (i think this might be hard to find)
-Liberal state (open to liberal city in conservative state)
-Good arts/theatre/book culture
-Walkable neighborhoods, at least a good city bus system
-Low traffic

I love the look of places like Ithaca and Burlington, but they're so far from everything.

[FL_Expert]

Bellingham, WA could be a good fit.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Asheville
Eugene
Ann Arbor


Possibilities are endless

[ckhthankgod]

Ithaca came to mind right away. It is only an hour from Syracuse, if that. While Syracuse isn’t huge, it is the 5th biggest city in NY State and a top 100 metro area in terms of population. On a side note, if open to Syracuse, the Eastwood neighborhood has a couple of bookstores, a couple of cafes, a theater with some events and solid bus coverage on James Street(it’s Main Street), among other things: https://www.eastwoodneighbor.com/
Westcott east of Syracuse University also has a somewhat crunchy/artsy feel to it: https://westcottsyr.com/
There’s also Downtown: https://downtownsyracuse.com/
Good sources for information about the city/area Art scene: https://www.syracusearts.net/default.cfm
https://cnyarts.org/

Rochester which is a metro of over 1 million people is about an hour and a half. So, it isn’t too far either and if interested, it’s SE Quadrant, SouthWedge, Monroe Village, Park Avenue and NOTA(Neighborhood of the Arts) in particular, would be a good fit.

Both of these NY areas have a low natural disaster risk as well.

Burlington is about an hour and a half from Montreal. So, that may be something to consider.

I would also look into Ann Arbor and East Lansing MI(Old Town and REO Town in Lansing, with the Michigan Avenue corridor puts you in between both Downtown Lansing & Downtown East Lansing). Detroit isn’t too far far from either area as well.

[Kmanshouse]

Large college towns would work.

Madison, Ann Arbor, Eugene come to mind.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by ceresc21

Today I found out a job I had accepted overseas fell through. I'm still applying to other overseas jobs, but I may end up having to stay stateside, and so I need a new place to go. I've been living in Austin TX the past several years, and I'm over the long swealtering summers and the traffic.

Wants
-3/4 Seasons
-Within an hour of a large city
-Close to water
-Low risk of natural disasters (i think this might be hard to find)
-Liberal state (open to liberal city in conservative state)
-Good arts/theatre/book culture
-Walkable neighborhoods, at least a good city bus system
-Low traffic

I love the look of places like Ithaca and Burlington, but they're so far from everything.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro NC

4 seasons, 30 minutes from Raleigh/15 minutes from Durham, close to Jordan Lake and the Eno River, liberal and surrounded by other liberal areas, diverse cultural scene, walkable generally with an excellent free-fare bus system, minus traffic issues.

[Boston Shudra]

Don’t know if Providence would be too big for you, but it checks a lot of the boxes!

[jjbradleynyc]

Northern NJ--it's ideal for what you need.

Try New Brunswick or Morristown. Both are under 45 min to NYC by train. Progressive university towns.

Or Princeton in NJ, close to Philly, and NYC.

[jaxrivers]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

Northern NJ--it's ideal for what you need.

Try New Brunswick or Morristown. Both are under 45 min to NYC by train. Progressive university towns.

Or Princeton in NJ, close to Philly, and NYC.

Having commuted to the AT&T highrise building Exit 9 I was like "WHY?" but then I remembered that was EAST Brunswick.

[Crazybreakfast]

NOLA meets a lot of your criterion, but natural disasters... Maybe Oxford, MS; Chattanooga, TN; Asheville, NC; NW Arkansas? They meet a lot of your checklist but no public transport.