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So I might have done this a long time ago, but I'm just curious what suggestions people might give me today since some things have been "updated" in my life.
A little background about myself: I'm a 33-year-old guy living in the Lansing, MI area. My initial degree was in chemical engineering. I tried the high school science teaching route for a little while, but during my internship I found that this would not end up working out. I'd like to do something scientific or technical - work in a chemistry lab, for example, but I'm not entirely sure that's possible.
I've lived most of my life in the Lansing, MI area. It's okay, but I find it a bit boring and uninspired at times. The other places I've lived though were State College, PA for grad school, and I spent a few weeks this past summer in the city of Detroit (yes for real.) State College was nice although a bit isolated. Shocking to some, I really liked midtown Detroit - there was a lot of stuff going on, things to do, and places to explore, although it's kind of expensive to live there nowadays.
In terms of what I like to do, I'm a big fan of walkability. Having a grocery store within about a mile would be very beneficial to me. Having more stores and restaurants within 1-2 miles would be a bonus. I like walking/biking/hiking trails and try to explore as many as possible. I also like ethnic restaurants and local establishments. I'm not really club or scene guy. That being said, while I appreciate individual ingenuity, I'm far from a hipster. I drive a truck, watch football (especially college), sometimes go to sports bars, and listen to country music at times as well. I also will mention that I'm gay, but definitely the more masculine type - not into fashion and that sort of thing. Politically, I would say I'm slightly left of center.
So what type of place would I fit in? I want to live in an area that isn't sprawled out (or at least somewhere in a city that's not sprawled) where I have to drive everywhere, and have access to the things listed above. I'm flexible with weather, but I like hot and humid weather, cool and crisp weather, and occasional snowfalls. In terms of size, I don't need a major city - something the size of Lansing or larger would be great. I'm hoping for somewhere down-to-earth but accepting of me being a little bit of an oddball who likes walking places to get his groceries. It also doesn't need to be somewhere super trendy like Denver, Austin, or Seattle - even though those might be reasonable suggestions.
So I might have done this a long time ago, but I'm just curious what suggestions people might give me today since some things have been "updated" in my life.
A little background about myself: I'm a 33-year-old guy living in the Lansing, MI area. My initial degree was in chemical engineering. I tried the high school science teaching route for a little while, but during my internship I found that this would not end up working out. I'd like to do something scientific or technical - work in a chemistry lab, for example, but I'm not entirely sure that's possible.
I've lived most of my life in the Lansing, MI area. It's okay, but I find it a bit boring and uninspired at times. The other places I've lived though were State College, PA for grad school, and I spent a few weeks this past summer in the city of Detroit (yes for real.) State College was nice although a bit isolated. Shocking to some, I really liked midtown Detroit - there was a lot of stuff going on, things to do, and places to explore, although it's kind of expensive to live there nowadays.
In terms of what I like to do, I'm a big fan of walkability. Having a grocery store within about a mile would be very beneficial to me. Having more stores and restaurants within 1-2 miles would be a bonus. I like walking/biking/hiking trails and try to explore as many as possible. I also like ethnic restaurants and local establishments. I'm not really club or scene guy. That being said, while I appreciate individual ingenuity, I'm far from a hipster. I drive a truck, watch football (especially college), sometimes go to sports bars, and listen to country music at times as well. I also will mention that I'm gay, but definitely the more masculine type - not into fashion and that sort of thing. Politically, I would say I'm slightly left of center.
So what type of place would I fit in? I want to live in an area that isn't sprawled out (or at least somewhere in a city that's not sprawled) where I have to drive everywhere, and have access to the things listed above. I'm flexible with weather, but I like hot and humid weather, cool and crisp weather, and occasional snowfalls. In terms of size, I don't need a major city - something the size of Lansing or larger would be great. I'm hoping for somewhere down-to-earth but accepting of me being a little bit of an oddball who likes walking places to get his groceries. It also doesn't need to be somewhere super trendy like Denver, Austin, or Seattle - even though those might be reasonable suggestions.
Any recommendations?
Seattle is going to be very expensive if you think midtown Detroit is. Maybe look into some of the smaller trendy metros like Boulder, Asheville, or something like that?
Lafayette, Louisiana might actually work for you except the snowfall thing since we might get an inch of snow every 6-7 years.
Otherwise there are neighborhoods close enough to amenities that you can walk to them, although its certainly a car-centric city overall. If you want access to food and especially ethnic choices, then this is a great city to find it in with Cajun, creole, traditional offerings, and then more exotic cuisines in abundance such as vietnamese/thai/indian and more recently latin american.
It can get humid in summer, quite so, but definitely cool and crisp in the winter. Not overly cold except on rare occasions. There are also two Rouses markets, which is a Louisiana specific marketplace, and a Whole foods, Fresh Market, several farmers markets, and soon Costco, so you would have lots of places to buy groceries and particularly organics. There are quite a few gyms within various walking distances depending on the neighborhood, and a few existing biking/hiking trails along with a few bike lanes, but there is a lot of planning in the works to expand on that as well as make downtown more walkable.
Since you said you are a truck driver, into football and sports bars, and like country music it would be perfect and you should check out the live cajun music around here. I know Lafayette doesnt fit many peoples wants, especially climatically, but it really does seem to fit what youre after.
Average commute time is 25 minutes or less if you do use a car, since Lafayette is still a medium sized city but not sprawled to ridiculousness. It has about 125k people in it but is growing fast since the fiber network was laid down and tech jobs are starting to appear.
Politically though it does lean right, but there are enough well educated individuals around here to converse with. Its a growing city that still has a smaller town feel but bigger city amenities. Quite an interesting dynamic.
Lafayette could be what you seek but even if it isnt, its worth checking out and there is a whole lot I havent even mentioned about stuff to do and see around here that makes it a really fun little city to be a part of.
Really think you should do some research here.
You legitimately have like the coolest username ever. Just wanted to say that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o
Sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their frickin heads?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanuckInPortland
If was literally a shark with lasers attached to my head I'd move to The Bahamas. Seems like it'd be a target rich environment.
I 100% thought (without seeing the OP's name from the General U.S. page of course when seeing this thread) that this person was looking for a place to live that has sharks with lasers, then my next thought was that this was a troll thread.
How about Louisville, KY? I've never been there myself but I think it might have a lot of what you're looking for at a reasonable price.
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