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I currently live in the Chicago area, and even though I love it here, I want to try something new.
I'm currently in high school, and I want to move to a new city where I'll live as a young adult and attend university (so there should be a vibrant downtown), and then settle down and raise a family (so I want nice suburbs too).
I'll try to describe my dream city as well as possible.
WEATHER
My preffered climate is humid subtropical - short winters with highs in the 50s and long, hot, humid summers in the 80s/90s. However, I'm also open to hot summer humid continental and tropical climates.
SPORTS
I want the city to have as many professional sports teams as possible, but NFL and NHL are musts.
CRIME
I don't care about the crime rate, as long as there are some safe neighborhoods.
EDUCATION
I want the schools to be good. What's especially important is a good but relatively cheap university.
MUSIC
I want the city to have a rich history in smooth jazz, urban blues and the likes, but also a lot of pop and rock concerts nowadays.
BIG CITY FEEL
I don't want it to be sprawled all over the place. It should have a lot of skyscrapers in the city center, with lots of high-rise apartments, offices, restaurants, bars, etc.
DIVERSITY
I want it to be rather diverse, and although I like all ethnicites, I especially want a rather large Jewish community.
PREFFERED LOCATION
If you were to split the USA into two halfs vertically, I'd want it to be in the eastern half.
WEATHER
My preferred climate is humid subtropical - short winters with highs in the 50s and long, hot, humid summers in the 80s/90s. However, I'm also open to hot summer humid continental and tropical climates.
SPORTS
I want the city to have as many professional sports teams as possible, but NFL and NHL are musts.
CRIME
I don't care about the crime rate, as long as there are some safe neighborhoods.
EDUCATION
I want the schools to be good. What's especially important is a good but relatively cheap university.
MUSIC
I want the city to have a rich history in smooth jazz, urban blues and the likes, but also a lot of pop and rock concerts nowadays.
BIG CITY FEEL
I don't want it to be sprawled all over the place. It should have a lot of skyscrapers in the city center, with lots of high-rise apartments, offices, restaurants, bars, etc.
DIVERSITY
I want it to be rather diverse, and although I like all ethnicites, I especially want a rather large Jewish community.
PREFERRED LOCATION
If you were to split the USA into two halfs vertically, I'd want it to be in the eastern half.
So, what city do you think is for me?
Tampa/St Petersburg matches up quite well with your criteria. It has the warmer weather, three major sports franchises (NFL, NHL and MLB), plenty of safe neighborhoods, good affordable colleges (USF and USF-St Pete), a varied music scene, two distinct urban downtowns with highrise cores that are growing and a diverse population with a significant Jewish population.
Thank you all for the replies. I was hoping that you guys would give more details rather than just typing the city name, but whatever.
I did consider Florida, and I see I got a lot of suggestions for Tampa and Miami. However, now that I think about it, tropical vibes just aren't for me.
I considered all of the other cities that were mentioned here too, but it seems like I'm leaning towards St. Louis. I'll explain my decision.
I think that rust belt cities have this certain type of charm of a city where there were gangsters smuggling alcohol in the 1920s, where teen beatniks danced all night at diners in the 1950s - you know, this type of historical pizzazz. But of course, this applies to a lot of other cities.
Another reason is the sports. The Cardinals are a very good team, the Rams are okay, the Blues aren't very good - but it seems like they have very dedicated fans, and I don't mind not having an NBA team, basketball doesn't interet me that much.
Other than that, St. Louis is close to Chicago, so I'll have it close to my family.
Also, the area has great universities.
A rich history in music is another great thing about this city.
I'm not an expert on Memphis and sports but it has a notable Jewish population. Your congressman will be Steve Cohen. Seems to meet a lot of your other criteria. Definitely worth exploring further.
St Louis is a great city on the "comeback" with a lot of history, character and probably among the best sports fans in the country. Good luck!
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