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you never have to walk very far to catch a bus or train.
Unless they are suburban to a larger metro small cities aren't likely to have trains.
Bus services will vary but you can choose a home that is close to a bus line. Employment will be limited to downtown locations or on a convenient bus line. There will be a few places like Doctor offices where you will need to plan on a taxi or uber. Biking could be an alternative to busses if the city is compact. In many cities busses have bike racks.
you never have to walk very far to catch a bus or train.
Unless they are suburban to a larger metro small cities aren't likely to have trains.
Bus services will vary but you can choose a home that is close to a bus line. Employment will be limited to downtown locations or on a convenient bus line. There will be a few places like Doctor offices where you will need to plan on a taxi or uber. Biking could be an alternative to busses if the city is compact. In many cities busses have bike racks.
I've looked at Grand Rapids a lot. On real estate websites etc. The one thing that makes me hesitate the most is that I read a news story about how fast Lyme disease is growing in that area. Lyme disease is just barely getting started there, but is growing so fast that it will be a major problem in the near future. Most people haven't heard of any Lyme disease problem there, because they'll only become aware of it after it becomes a major problem.
Yeah this is the first I've heard of it. I don't know nuances with that, but it would seem to be a bit of an overstated concern. There doesn't seem to be anything on it in the last year and a half. If it were that much of a concern it would seem you'd hear about it in the other places that have gone through an epidemic. Not to mention the conditions for it aren't right for about 4-5 months a year.
The biggest problem with Lyme disease is that it's very hard to diagnose and very hard to tell when it's cured. Doctors misdiagnose it as something else, and it might take years to get a correct diagnosis. Then, when you finally do get correctly diagnosed, doctors don't really know how to cure it. The medicine they use sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. But, for the same reason it's hard to diagnose, it's hard to tell when the medicine works. On top of that, Lyme disease often affects the brain and makes the person seem borderline insane. And that makes the doctors even less likely to take continued complaints seriously. If they used the right medicine to cure the disease, a lot of doctors don't seem able to take into account the fact that the medicine only works sometimes. And that's why Lyme disease is such a sinister problem. Those who get it sometimes have their lives ruined by it, and can't find any doctors who will take their complaints seriously. To add to the problem, the deer ticks that carry Lyme disease are very small and likely to not be noticed.
In Kentucky, you can get Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick, but not Lyme disease. You can die from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but at least doctors know how to diagnose it and cure it. And it's very rare. When you do get it, it's like a bad case of flu. People often die of flu. But most people survive it, and then put it behind them. And the tick is much bigger and easier to see, so they often get rid of the tick before it gives them the disease. But those who have Lyme disease sometimes have it forever, and can never find a doctor who will really take it seriously and really solve the problem. As the disease progresses, it causes more symptoms. But too many of those symptoms give the vague impression of being psychosomatic. So people who suffer from Lyme disease have a huge credibility problem, and sometimes have symptoms that keep getting worse for the rest of their lives. And another factor that adds to how messy and complicated it is, is that different people get different symptoms from it, so you can't identify the disease by the symptoms.
You might look at the Oxnard/Ventura area of California. About 200k population combined, on the ocean (no smog), moderate temperatures year round, no snow, no bugs, and both cities connected to Metrolink (trains all the way to Los Angeles) and Ventura also has Amtrak. Oxnard especially is fairly affordable. Not many high-rise buildings, though, as they have forbidden them.
Location: Between 32.7 and 34.2 degrees north latitude.
52 posts, read 64,785 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eok
200,000 is an arbitrary number. What I'm looking for is a city instead of a small town. E.g. with dozens of buildings taller than 5 stories, and you never have to walk very far to catch a bus or train.
Oops, then the Sacramento suburbs won't work, they don't have tall buildings. Sacramento itself is very high crime. So is Reno. Irvine, CA has tall buildings but apartments 1500+ a month. Scottsdale, AZ is low crime, tall buildings, hot summers.
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