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Where's the right place for me to move to? I am planning to move this spring or summer once I can save up or borrow $2000. I'm sick of the bad transit, ill-health inducing weather, boring culture and horrible economy in Oregon. I want to live in a totally different environment, so I plan to head to the eastern half of the country.
Some of the places I've thought of are Richmond, Providence, Raleigh, Boston, Burlington, Chicago, and DC.
Some things to keep in mind:
*I don't have a car or a license yet, so the transit has to be decent.
*I'd like to live in a place that has culture and stuff to do.
*No more than 3 or 4 months of hot weather, and the place has to get at least a little bit of snow in the winter
*A city where the people are friendly
*Affordable cost of living. I don't mind roomsharing though.
*Easy access to natural areas
*An active economy
Where's the right place for me to move to? I am planning to move this spring or summer once I can save up or borrow $2000. I'm sick of the bad transit, ill-health inducing weather, boring culture and horrible economy in Oregon. I want to live in a totally different environment, so I plan to head to the eastern half of the country.
Some of the places I've thought of are Richmond, Providence, Raleigh, Boston, Burlington, Chicago, and DC.
Some things to keep in mind:
*I don't have a car or a license yet, so the transit has to be decent.
*I'd like to live in a place that has culture and stuff to do.
*No more than 3 or 4 months of hot weather, and the place has to get at least a little bit of snow in the winter
*A city where the people are friendly
*Affordable cost of living. I don't mind roomsharing though.
*Easy access to natural areas
*An active economy
I can feel for you regarding this. Portland is extremely boring. No one stays out late, little if any night-life and hopelessly non-diverse. That and you can't get a cab without calling them, and they often never show up.
Chicago is fun, though it may be a bit more snow than you'd like. We had a doozy this week, I'm sure you heard. It can get hot here for a couple of weeks, the worst is when it is high humidity.
Car ownership within the city is nearly totally unnecessary. I don't, many people I know don't, and the bus system is top-notch for the US. All my German friends here don't own cars either. The blue and red line are 24/7.
We have 4am bars, and a very diverse ethnic makeup. It's a very worldly city.
Natural areas, is where you won't have much access, unless you fish. You can fish the Chicago River, Lake Michigan and a few other places without a car, but beyond that, it's a haul to nature without a car. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of parks here and green areas, but if you want hiking etc, we are in the flatlands for the most part. Far west of the city there are bike trails that are nice and through forested river valleys. Depending on what you mean by natural areas, and what importance that is for you. Once you get away from the river valleys in rural IL it's pretty much corn-fields and wind turbines. Down Hwy 20 on the northwest side of the state there are some hills, but you need a car to get there.
I seriously would consider Buffalo with its rail and bus service, 4 am last call and its neighborhoods west of Main are fine. A happy medium could be Kenmore, a very dense suburban village just north of the city(it is one of the top 100 most dense municipalities in the US according to the 2000 census). A straight shot down Elmwood puts you into this area: Elmwood Village - Buffalo New York - YouTube
If Portland's transit isn't good enough for you, you're limiting yourself to very few cities. NYC is way too expensive for you. Chicago might work, but you still should really have more than $2000 in your pocket if you're going to attempt a move this major.
If Portland's transit isn't good enough for you, you're limiting yourself to very few cities. NYC is way too expensive for you. Chicago might work, but you still should really have more than $2000 in your pocket if you're going to attempt a move this major.
Yeah if you want to be able to access a lot of areas without a car (or else deal with mostly buses) Chicago, Philly, Boston, DC are really your only options at this stage. In terms of being interesting places and for employment they're probably best too.
Last edited by The Postman; 01-08-2014 at 07:15 PM..
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