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Hello, I'm trying to find a large city to move to, but I'm having great difficulty finding one which matches my preferences. And bear with me, because some of these are a bit unusual. What I'm looking for is a city that matches the following:
Absolutely Required:
*At least 200,000 people in the city and around 600,000+ in the metro area, preferably larger. If the city has really great amenities and a good mass transit system and is very nice in general, this isn't so sticky a point.
*Good mass transit system (I know noone thinks their city has a decent mass transit system, for some reason, no matter how good it is, but all I require is that it basically gets me to most points of interest - I don't care how long it takes.), since I don't have a car.
*Affordable housing - has to be around $450 a month or less. Difficult, I realize, but I know it's possible also. Size of apartment/house/whatever is utterly unimportant. I'm used to humble living quarters and spend most of my time either outdoors or on my computer anyway in my free time.
*Either thick, healthy forest OR good wetlands with abundant aquatic vegetation and wading birds like egrets and herons (doesn't have to be right downtown - can be on the outskirts of the city)
*NOT in the far north (Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, etc are right out). I live in Northern Ohio currently, hate the cold and have zero intention of moving any further north. Although I would tolerate cold winters if the rest of the year were nice and the city were attractive enough, so keep that in mind.
*Abundant parks and greenspace. Even if the architecture is blah, if there are enough trees and gardens planted, it would make it liveable for me.
*At least one really good Conservatory, Zoo or Aquarium.
Ideally:
*BOTH good wetlands as described above AND healthy, solid, thick forest
*Affordable, good quality colleges
*Neither noticeably ultra-conservative, nor ultra-liberal population
*Aesthetically pleasing architecture. I really would prefer to live in a city whose buildings aren't all just giant grey and brown termite mounds. The cities in Ohio seem to almost all look like this and it's utterly oppressive and depressing.
*Preferably in the Eastern United States, but I'm open to the West to some degree.
If a city comes to mind that fits ANY of these criteria, please make a suggestion. I'm sure there probably won't be a city that matches everything I'm looking for.
Yeah, the only city that can even begin to fulfill these requirements is Atlanta. As a general rule, good public transportation + cheap + in the South = pretty much ONLY Atlanta or Houston.
Good public transit tends to be rare in the South, for too many reasons to list.
1. Saint Louis, MO In terms of transportation, they have an alright light rail system. But they have fantastic conservatories, museums, a great zoo, world-class parks. Very inexpensive, close to rivers and forests. Washington U is a great school, but I don't know much about public options. Fantastic old architecture. Liberal city in a moderately conservative state.
2. Wilmington, DE If we count SEPTA trains, than there's as good public transportation. Very cheap, close to wetlands, forests, and the Delaware Bay. The University of Delaware is inexpensive and very strong in business (if that's what you're looking to study). Quick, easy access to Philly. A little bit of a crime problem, but there's no sales tax. Delaware leans left, but is politically moderate.
3. Louisville, KY Much like Saint Louis, but without the light rail and not as many public amenities, though there are some great parks and you're relatively close to the Appalachian Mountains. Louisville is also cooler and funkier than Saint Louis (in my opinion) and safer. University of Louisville is a solid, good value public university. Liberal city in a very conservative state.
Last edited by Dawn.Davenport; 12-22-2013 at 10:01 PM..
I don't know most cities across the country well enough to answer with regard to your more specific desires, so I'll just reply regarding Jacksonville, FL.
Required: -Almost 1.4 million metro population.
-Terrible mass transit system but if you really don't care about how long it takes, you can get to most corners of the city by bus.
-$450 can get you, at the very least, a tiny studio in any of the walkable parts of town.
-There's plenty of woods, forest, and wetlands either within the city or nearby. (don't know about the aquatic vegetation though, or the accessibility without a car.
-Not cold...today it was in the high 80s.
-Has the largest city park system in the country. But beware that most of the parks are poorly maintained and unattractive.
-There's a very nice and well regarded zoo. Also a decent arboretum and gardens while the zoo is building its own major botanical garden.
Ideally:
-Wetlands and forest in the general area.
-A decent state university.
-Basically split right down the middle politically
-Some of the historic architecture is absolutely amazing. Much of the current/modern architecture is quite disappointing.
-On the east coast.
Been busy lately, so haven't had a chance to thank everyone for contributing. Please, keep the suggestions coming. I'd like to know what the cons of these places are also, so I don't have any surprises awaiting me. I'm really leaning towards Florida. It has a lot of what I'm looking for. Although it doesn't really have the kind of forests I like and mass transit in Florida seems to be quite poor. I think I just really like the look of it. I love a place where you can plant tropical vegetation like palms. Where would probably be the best place to live in Florida?
Been busy lately, so haven't had a chance to thank everyone for contributing. Please, keep the suggestions coming. I'd like to know what the cons of these places are also, so I don't have any surprises awaiting me. I'm really leaning towards Florida. It has a lot of what I'm looking for. Although it doesn't really have the kind of forests I like and mass transit in Florida seems to be quite poor. I think I just really like the look of it. I love a place where you can plant tropical vegetation like palms. Where would probably be the best place to live in Florida?
I don't know much about plants but I think for palm TREES you'd want to stay in South FL...IIRC they aren't indigenous to northern FL. Maybe that's totally not what you're talking about though.
Miami easily has the most comprehensive public transit system. It's really not all that bad relative to other cities in the south, especially considering how spread out the entire SoFL region is. Orlando is working on a commuter rail system that will likely greatly improve transit in the area in the next couple years. Tampa has a short streetcar line, and one of the few places it goes is the aquarium haha.
Really don't know where the BEST place to live is in the state, but those are my thoughts.
Portland, OR would work if you're willing to spend your $450/month for a room in a shared house.
Yeah, I'm not. That's ridiculous.
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