I'm looking for a small city with outdoorsy feel (2015, movies)
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-I'm in my 20s, so I would like a city that has a lot of people in their 20s and 30s.
-Somewhere where the people are nice and easy to talk to. Where's it's easy to make friends to hang out with and a decent/good dating scene.
-I've been to Chicago and hated it. I hate big cites that are fast paced and the streets are filled with people in business suits rushing to their next corporate meeting. A laidback city that has at least 50k people but definitely no more then say 300-400k. Just don't want to live somewhere where everything revolves around your career.
-A variety of outdoor activities like hiking, biking, snowmobiling, camping, skiing, or fishing, etc.
-But I also like going shopping, to the movies and going to eat. A city where you're not stuck going to the same few restaurants all the time. I'm not into clubbing and partying.
What's your budget, ie; do you want to avoid more pricey areas?
What part of the country are you drawn to? East coast? New England? West coast? Inter-mountain west? Northwest? Mid-west? Just anywhere?
Greenville SC, near the Appalachian mountains and 3 great lakes, and a fantastic tree lined Main Street with a natural waterfall and a huge suspension bridge over it. There are not a lot of corporate buildings in downtown Greenville.
there is a great state park, Paris Mountain, 10 minutes from downtown.
I'm actually not planning on moving for a couple years. I want to finish college first. But I just want enough time to research places, maybe visit cities I'm interested in , and save money.
As long as it's not New York/California expensive, price doesn't matter. If I like somewhere enough, I'll make it work.
Definitely not the Midwest, that's the region I want to leave. I'd like be somewhere near mountains though. I like cold, or least least chilly/rainy winters, and warm summers.
Asheville, Boulder, Santa Fe, Burlington (VT), Portland (ME). But my first inclination was Asheville. Though Boulder may be too expensive, it's up there with California cities. Ft. Collins might be a cheaper alternative.
Portland, Oregon is way more populated that you say you want but consider it anyway. It's vibrant, young, very diverse, liberal. Unlike say, Chicago, you'd be able to find a niche in the city that fits you and you wouldn't feel marginalized by the fact that career isn't everything to you. There's room for any kind of life-style. Very individual and freedom to be yourself. Seattle is another option. or Salt Lake City.
Those 3 come to mind.
Although cool places others have listed large metros so I'll add a few smaller cities. To me a place like Albuquerque comes to mind. Very scenic, outdoorsy but seems to lack a lot of young professionals but still a college presence there and a healthy outdoorsy mindset. Colorado Springs is another area. Hung out in Missoula Montana once and a smaller scaled city than the other 2 but a cool place. Obv I like the western part of the U.S. Lol
Portland, Oregon is way more populated that you say you want but consider it anyway. It's vibrant, young, very diverse, liberal. Unlike say, Chicago, you'd be able to find a niche in the city that fits you and you wouldn't feel marginalized by the fact that career isn't everything to you. There's room for any kind of life-style. Very individual and freedom to be yourself. Seattle is another option. or Salt Lake City.
Those 3 come to mind.
I don't think Seattle comes close to meeting the upper limits of population the OP wants. Salt Lake County's population is > 1 million. The OP doesn't want more than 300K to 400 K.
I would agree with that list, and easily add Bellingham, WA to it. 80k in the city; 200k in the vicinity, and although close to Seattle and Vancouver, BC, it is completely separate from both of them and has its own flavor. When we lived in Denver and realized that the metro was too big for our tastes we looked into most of the cities you listed, as well as Eugene, Bozeman and Santa Fe. Then we visited a friend in Bham and realized that we loved trees and water, as well. It tends to get overlooked on this thread, but it's as much, if not more accessible to a wider variety of outdoor activities as any of those listed above. It's an artsy college town (a lot of people say it feels like a mini-Portland- the nickname is "The City of Subdued Excitement")with excellent hiking, mountain bike riding and paddling in the city limits and great skiing nearby on Mt. Baker. Given your preferences, it would likely appeal to you quite a bit.
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