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Otherwise I agree with your assessment of both Austin and Chapel Hill..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport
Austin, TX gets a lot of recommendations, but my sense is that Dallas and Houston (within their city limits) are just as progressive, yet more diverse and offer more in terms of amenities. Houston, for example, has a lesbian mayor, world-class performing arts, and the largest Vietnamese population in the country.
Chapel Hill, NC gets a lot of recommendations on here too. Though Chapel Hill is cute and has some great restaurants, I found it to be rather sprawling and suburban. And, outside of Franklin Street, not very walkable. In terms of that region, I'd take Charlottesville over Chapel Hill and Richmond over Raleigh.
Indianapolis. A lot of people on here have associated Indianapolis with Columbus, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Though I have nothing against Indy, I find it to be considerably duller and less vibrant than the other three, especially Minneapolis.
My vote goes to the PNW. The stereotypical PNW is a small sliver of the overall region. As already mentioned, large swaths are brown, arid, and remote. I even find Portland and Seattle to be remote. They're kind of cut off from the rest of the country. (Yes, I know the irony of this statement coming from someone who lives in Montana.)
I'm from Seattle. I also think the PNW is overrated for a lot of people. It's incredibly beautiful here, but it also has rotten weather most of the year (some people aren't affected by the perpetual gray, but for people who are, it's crippling), the traffic is horrible, the cost of living is getting crazy high, and it's isolated. I would actually like to move to the east coast for a change of scenery. Being a third generation Seattleite, I'm surprised at how popular this area has become.
Austin, TX gets a lot of recommendations, but my sense is that Dallas and Houston (within their city limits) are just as progressive, yet more diverse and offer more in terms of amenities. Houston, for example, has a lesbian mayor, world-class performing arts, and the second largest Vietnamese population in the country.
Chapel Hill, NC gets a lot of recommendations on here too. Though Chapel Hill is cute and has some great restaurants, I found it to be rather sprawling and suburban. And, outside of Franklin Street, not very walkable. In terms of that region, I'd take Charlottesville over Chapel Hill and Richmond over Raleigh.
Indianapolis. A lot of people on here have associated Indianapolis with Columbus, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Though I have nothing against Indy, I find it to be considerably duller and less vibrant than the other three, especially Minneapolis.
I'm from Seattle. I also think the PNW is overrated for a lot of people. It's incredibly beautiful here, but it also has rotten weather most of the year (some people aren't affected by the perpetual gray, but for people who are, it's crippling), the traffic is horrible, the cost of living is getting crazy high, and it's isolated. I would actually like to move to the east coast for a change of scenery. Being a third generation Seattleite, I'm surprised at how popular this area has become.
Agreed! Plus the region just lacks a culture or production of much of anything, I think.
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