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A new 1100SF luxury 2 bedroom Apt in downtown Raleigh with garage parking, a gym, pool, business center, etc. will run you ~$1800-2000+.
That's funny, a basement with no utilities, street parking, and possibly no cable or W/D will run me about $1600 around here. Womp womp.
I do hear Raleigh is rather quiet though, and while talking about all this is great information, I do plan on taking a trip down there to see how exactly the night life and city is. Everyone will have a different opinion, but to know there's a lot of praise is always appealling. Are there any downsides to the area?
That's funny, a basement with no utilities, street parking, and possibly no cable or W/D will run me about $1600 around here. Womp womp.
I do hear Raleigh is rather quiet though, and while talking about all this is great information, I do plan on taking a trip down there to see how exactly the night life and city is. Everyone will have a different opinion, but to know there's a lot of praise is always appealling. Are there any downsides to the area?
Weekend nights are actually pretty busy downtown and lots of people are out at bars, clubs, restaurants and other venues. Weekday nights are getting busier and busier as more and more housing stock is added downtown. Now I'm not talking NYC busy but it's not dead by any means and the city is full of people your age. The opening of Citrix in the warehouse district will only amplify the trend of activity.
This activity is a pretty recent phenomena. 15 years ago it was quite dead anywhere in the core of the city. It's simply not the case anymore.
Downsides will based on your subjective opinion because, frankly, Raleigh does really well in almost all objective measurements that tend to get published.
Since I split my time between South Beach and DT Raleigh, I know a thing or two about what an active night life means and there are still some things that need to come to the core of Raleigh. While Raleigh has a DT Imax, it doesn't yet have a multiscreen cinema. I'd also like to see a Lucky Strike located there. That said, the things that are mainly missing are retail oriented. However, retail is not far away via Cameron Village (a mile to the W/NW of DT). As I said before, big boxes, malls and mixed use centers are also pretty convenient but not by foot.
Weekend nights are actually pretty busy downtown and lots of people are out at bars, clubs, restaurants and other venues. Weekday nights are getting busier and busier as more and more housing stock is added downtown. Now I'm not talking NYC busy but it's not dead by any means and the city is full of people your age. The opening of Citrix in the warehouse district will only amplify the trend of activity.
This activity is a pretty recent phenomena. 15 years ago it was quite dead anywhere in the core of the city. It's simply not the case anymore.
Downsides will based on your subjective opinion because, frankly, Raleigh does really well in almost all objective measurements that tend to get published.
Since I split my time between South Beach and DT Raleigh, I know a thing or two about what an active night life means and there are still some things that need to come to the core of Raleigh. While Raleigh has a DT Imax, it doesn't yet have a multiscreen cinema. I'd also like to see a Lucky Strike located there. That said, the things that are mainly missing are retail oriented. However, retail is not far away via Cameron Village (a mile to the W/NW of DT). As I said before, big boxes, malls and mixed use centers are also pretty convenient but not by foot.
Thanks, I'm not too worried as far as by foot or not, as I'd probably bring my car with me wherever I go (can't really survive on LI efficiently without a car, so it's mostly necessary). Things are a good walk away within the city, so that's good. Do they have a transit system as far as subways go or is it not that big of a city just yet?
Also, any other major cities around that aren't like, an hour's drive away? I figured if the night life is a bit more booming in neighboring cities, that can also be a good alternative for a change of scenery, as you mentioned. I'm also thinking in the mindset of getting friends, so even if I make friends in neighboring cities, at least I know I wouldn't be driving hours to meet up with them or have them come by me, ya know?
Thanks, I'm not too worried as far as by foot or not, as I'd probably bring my car with me wherever I go (can't really survive on LI efficiently without a car, so it's mostly necessary). Things are a good walk away within the city, so that's good. Do they have a transit system as far as subways go or is it not that big of a city just yet?
Also, any other major cities around that aren't like, an hour's drive away? I figured if the night life is a bit more booming in neighboring cities, that can also be a good alternative for a change of scenery, as you mentioned. I'm also thinking in the mindset of getting friends, so even if I make friends in neighboring cities, at least I know I wouldn't be driving hours to meet up with them or have them come by me, ya know?
No rail yet. Probably 5 years+ away.
I think I said before but there is a free DT loop bus among the 5 DT districts that runs until 2AM.
Atlanta. It meets your criteria except for the train which stops running at 1am. We are a foodie city with tons of new restaurants opening this year. We have a cheap cost of living, good nightlife and a nice tech community. The city is beautiful with rolling hills and trees everywhere, decent weather, nice skyline, etc
I've read through a few different threads on here about what the best cities are for single guys, etc. I know not all the cities are good for software engineering jobs. I live on Long Island, and the female situation around here isn't the best, i.e. in my experience, they're not the most extroverted/friendliest women in the US.
I want to move away from here, have a fresh change of scenery, and a fresh change of people. Long Islanders can be pretty irritating, and tiring, and I don't feel I'm on the level of most people here. I'd rather be a stranger in a new land, and so I'll be looking to meet new people, especially female. Here's my critera for what I want in a new city:
1. Friendly/extroverted people, both genders, more preferrably female
2. Good night life, i.e. trains and bars don't stop at midnight
3. Decent tech market or at least a decent amount of corporations to fall back on if one doesn't work out
4. Cost of living cheaper than LI/NYC (shouldn't be hard to fulfill, lol)
5. Good food, although me being a foodie I can probably find good food in any city.
I've heard different things about certain cities, so here's my list of what cities I want to look into, and what I've heard about them. I encourage anyone to comment on any of these cities and correct me if I'm wrong, or recommend new cities I haven't thought of looking in to.
1. Boston - Nice city, no real ghetto areas, more chill than NYC, but nightlife can be iffy, less people than both Chicago and NYC, and bars tend to close around 1am
2. DC Area - Big tech area, but I hear trains stop around midnight so would suck if I resort to trains, although I do own a car. Nightlife I hear can be decent, but I'm not big on politics, so I don't want to mingle with a bunch of politicians if that's mostly who lives there.
3. Chicago - I love chicago, nice people, good food and beer, nice people (hell, girls come up and actually start a conversation with YOU sometimes, that never happens to me in LI) cons are some ghetto areas and the cold, and little to no tech field (aside from Groupon and Pandora really)
4. Philly - The amount of "nice" area is less than the amount of "bad" areas, although def. cheaper than NYC, and a gun state, so I'd love to go to a range every so often, seemingly more laid back than NY as a whole
5. Seattle - Overcast, which I don't mind, most coffee shops in the US, 3rd highest paying area for software engineers, but I hear it's in the middle of nowhere, and that the people are hit or miss and can tend to keep to themselves. Not sure about nightlife either.
6. Portland- I hear it has a growing tech field, I hear the food is good, I haven't heard much about the pay rate, cost of living, or the people and nightlife. I know one girl there who's fairly attractive and she said she's had the worst dates since she's gotten there, so I question how the women are in that city
7. Raleigh, NC- I hear it's another growing tech area, and I know it's dirt cheap for housing, but I don't know much about the people, the good/bad areas, and nightlife
8. Baltimore, MD - I know there's a really nice inner harbor, some decent suburbs outside the city, and some really crappy ghetto areas surrounding the inner harbor. It's got a fairly bad rap for crime and violence, but outside the city I'm open to suggestions for different towns to look at. Dont' know much about the nightlife, I know cost of living is cheap, the people seem friendly enough (have one friend down there and visited him at a party of his). Also not sure how the commuting situation is, if they have subways and such which I doubt, it's a seemingly small city. Also, I hear it's good for tech jobs, but I haven't seen much in the way of "tech"
SO yeah, that's a lot on my plate to think about. I'd rather stay on the east coast, so at least I have a fair chance of seeing my family, and not having to move all my crap across the country, but I'm not closed to the idea of living out there. If there was a city that's kinda like NYC only not as....dirty, crowded, and filled with friendlier people, that would be my ideal. NYC has its advantages, a pretty good metro system (despite rising MTA prices and such), tons of social places, huge nightlife, but I really think I mesh better with people who are out of state, so I figured me being a New Yorker somewhere else can always have its advantages, plus chicks dig the accent . Anyway, thanks ahead of time, hoping to get at least a few replies on advice. Leaving the table open.
F-
I know you didn't mention Kansas City as one of your cities, but you should take serious a look at it. The city has by far the most engineers and architects per capita with some of the world's largest engineering and architectural firms based there and they all always seem to be hiring. Companies like HNTB, Burns and McDonnell, Black and Veatch and Kiewit Power. Also, nearly major pro and college sports venue is designed by Kansas City firms.
KC is a very livable city with a great cost of living yet all your big city cultural attractions, good nightlife till 3AM, great food (not just bbq), performing arts, pro sports, amusement parks, great zoo, world class museums etc. Plus the city has some really nice dense urban districts to choose from that tend to surprise anybody not from there.
The city is a bit remote, but it's also central to the entire country. East AND west coast are a quick flight. Colorado Rockies can be a weekend trip and places like St Louis and Chicago are not too far away.
KC is not even on most people's radar because its image is so off base from what the city is actually like.
Just something to chew on.
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. Anyway, thanks ahead of time, hoping to get at least a few replies on advice. Leaving the table open.
