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Forgive me if some sort of contradiction is apparent to you, but I'm looking for places to live with this kind of vibe from the people. I am originally a New Yorker and proud of it, but I moved away due to the crazy high cost of living and pretentious vibe I always got. I didn't like how insanely crowded and long it took to do everything but errands and would constantly run around with my head cut off. No sleep, tons of stress and anxiety, but food and convenience are top notch. I moved away to be able to get a better sense of myself and stop the drowning noise that sucks you in.
Now I'm in a suburb and have been living a suburban lifestyle for the past 7 years. But I always choose neighborhoods near shopping centers for convenience. I enjoy the peace and greenery but I can't get over the lack of drive or ambition about things. People here really do care about their families and work life balance. But with all my free time, as a single young person, I find a lack of engagement in my surroundings and it's been adversely affecting my health.
I have been considering LA for the similar NYC vibe but have concerns about traffic and status related stressors. Seattle was nice but too cold. Philly was cool but sketchy af. Nashville seemed cool but didn't visit downtown. Austin I've only seen on the internet.
Any ideas?
Other pros I would consider:
- Temps not too extreme, eyeing southern CA
- not too conservative environment
- good environment for casual sports like volleyball, soccer
- biking or walking as options to commute as opposed to driving
- food and convenience options
Cambridge MA is the most driven people who are not nearly as hard going as Bostonians. If you want to work on something, people are so open minded here. Theres 120k people in Cambridge in 6 square miles... so theres a lot to accomplish. It also has the 2nd highest patent production ... for the city of its size its wild.
-Temps CAN be extreme but summers are unbeatable.
-Cambridge is like 90%+ Democrat lol
-Cambridge has tons of recreation, especially with 6 universities.
-Cambridge has thehighest % of workers who walk to work in the country, and the second highest % of people who bike. And its one of the few places with bike lanes in most of the city.
-Nothing beats the food in Central Square and neighboring Harvard Square... and Davis Square.. oh and Kendall Square.
I dont think you can beat a city like Cambridge, maybe Berkeley.
Just some images of Cambridge + Neighboring Somerville, which together are 210k people at just 11 square miles. (They both border Boston)
In all between Cambridge and Somerville you have the following institutions to fuel innovation and growth:
-Harvard University (#1)
-MIT (#3)
-Tufts University (#20)
-Lesley University (#175)
-Hult International Business School
-Longy School of Music
Does it take as long to do errands like in New York? Absolutely not.
Is it dirty like New York? Absolutely not.
Are people more easy-going than New York? Very much so.
More innovation than New York? Well, its the biotech hub of America.
Last edited by masssachoicetts; 02-10-2020 at 10:09 AM..
LA, Seattle, and Austin are also petty expensive. One of the reasons for that is these areas being too liberal in fiscal matters (given that you solely mentioned not wanting an area that's "too" conservative). So you would get much (not all) of what you're fleeing from in those 3 areas, just on a smaller scale compared to NYC.
Would a politically moderate metro be a good fit? That might be the road to take. There is a monumental gap between what some would consider "too" conservative and "too" liberal. So that would be totally up to you, your research, and your tolerance level.
Just be careful about fleeing an area like NYC, going to a new area that is inexpensive, voting for the same policies in the new area that drove up the cost of living and diminished aspects of the quality of life for you in NYC, then the new area gets expensive, a call for "affordable housing" is sent out, taxes and regulations further drive up the cost of living, native residents get resentful/angry, then the newbie complains that the native residents "hate newcomers"; then the cycle continues. The absolute worst thing you can do is move to a new area and not properly assimilate; trying to "change" the qualities that are already there. It's blatantly disrespectful, will just recreate the same mess you just left, and is a sure-fire want to be hated by native residents.
If you're not fiscally conservative and not willing to budge in that area, it would be in your overall best interest to go to a place like Austin. It's already fairly liberal and pretty expensive, but not nearly as much as NYC.
Hope it all works out for you. I just want you and the residents in your new city to all be able to have what you want. Portland, Seattle, and Denver are poster children of once affordable metros not too long ago. But now with an influx of Californians (sorry guys) who hated the high cost of living there, but still thought and acted the same way politically in these 3 cities, they're no longer affordable on many levels, they have horrible homelessness, and tons of social ills (Portland and Seattle more so than Denver, but it will get there at some point). I know some will get angry at this, but the proof is in the puddling. I've seen all of these cities within the last 14 months first hand and know what I saw and experienced. Anyway, good luck and hope you find the best place for you.
Atlanta city proper, areas like Inman Park, Old 4th Ward, West Midtown, Midtown, etc. It has a lot of northeasterners (the drive you want), in a laid back southern setting with good 4 seasons weather and mountains and ocean nearby.
I agree with Atlanta for this. Has a good mix of laid-back and hard-working IMO. Charlotte too. Honestly, most larger cities in the South will fit the bill.
I currently live in NYC (LIC currently but previously UWS in Manhattan) and used to live in both Chicago and LA. As far as finding something with driven people who also can be laid back with a touch of NYC vibe, Chicago is your best option and is heads and shoulders a better option than LA in this perspective. The downtown area of Chicago is dense but not as dense as Manhattan nor nearly chaotic, and also a bit cleaner. Outside of that, areas are more like nicer Brooklyn or Queens (on average) - mainly lower rise architecture although some areas do have some high rises, with more Queens levels of density - especially north of downtown. There are 8 train lines and 2 of them run 24/7 and the others run something like 21 or 22/7. People are very driven, and there's a reason why Chicago has the most Fortune 500 HQ of any city outside of NYC (Bay Area is close to the number of Chicago).
I would move back to Chicago in a heart beat and a BIG part of that has to do with the laidback-ness of the place. The summer especially, I felt like I was on vacation every single day - but at the same time people are driven to get stuff done. It is called "The city that works" for a reason.
The cost of living is half, or even better, than what you'd find in NYC. A 1 bedroom condo in downtown Chicago can be had for under $300K - prices similar or even cheaper than what you might get in Flushing or Inwood. The rent downtown could be cheaper than even places like LeFrak City in Queens. Of course, there's many expensive places and the downtown is booming, so prices are going up in some areas but still much, much cheaper than most areas of NYC. Outside of downtown is cheaper of course.
There is a giant lake next to Chicago which is essentially an inland sea with waves. The length of the lake is similar of the length between NYC and a little north of Richmond, VA and the width is larger than the distance between NYC and Philadephia. Simply put, it's not really a lake but a huge inland sea. There are actually 30 beaches in the city of Chicago including some right downtown. Surprisingly, the US Pro Beach Volleyball Tour actually comes to Chicago to the beach to compete. The lakefront is over 15 miles of public running paths, beaches, and other things like a few golf courses, huge parks, etc. There are also multiple museums along the lakefront downtown. There are tons of people with yachts, sailboats, and regular boats on the lake - even the Americas Cup had a race there a few years ago. There is also a river that cuts right in the middle of downtown that has a canyon of skyscrapers but has an amazing riverwalk on it that has restaurants, bars, etc. People kayak on the river. There is also a water tax on the river with most stops downtown, but has one in Chinatown which is just south of downtown.
Downside could be the winter, but on average it's only about 5 degrees colder than NYC. The difference is that you will get 2 or 3 random days of 10 or 15 degrees in Chicago and then next day it's back up to 40 degrees. The summer temps between NYC and Chicago are identical - Chicago might be slightly less humid than NYC. In terms of summers, I definitely prefer Chicago over NYC. Both are great, but the laidback nature of Chicago in summer is hard to beat between those two places.
If you were worried about shadiness of Philadelphia, then in Chicago I would stick to residential parts of downtown that are north of the CBD (Loop) such as Gold Coast, parts of River North, or Streeterville. Or I would go north of downtown along the lake to areas like Lincoln Park, Lakeview, etc which are less dense (still dense-ish) and even more laid back but have tons of restaurants, bars, things to do, etc.
Downtown drone
Lincoln Park (North Side)
Last edited by marothisu; 02-16-2020 at 11:07 AM..
Easygoing and driven used together form an oxymoron.
Not entirely. Being driven doesn't mean you have to be full of stress but at the same time it doesn't mean you are entirely easy going. Chicago has a very good mix of both and fits what the OP wants the best IMO. For people in NYC who want something with some similar attributes, but much less expensive and also a bit more laid back then Chicago is definitely an awesome choice as it shows both driven and laid back.
If it’s not too cold for you in the winter — or too cloudy, because it’s much more overcast in the winter than New York — Chicago would be a good choice. Not a place to move to though if you have seasonal affective disorder!
I’d also second Atlanta, but as has been said, choose your neighborhood carefully for walkability. I like Midtown and Old 4th, two neighborhood with very different vibes — one sort of New York, the latter mildly Boho.
Dark horse to consider: Baltimore. Despite its rep, there are several low key neat and safe neighborhoods, some nice parks, beaches nearby, cultural amenities, and a more relaxed vibe than New York or DC, even with a good number of professionals, many of whom work in the suburbs or Washington. Look at Federal Hill, Fells Point (touristy), Homeland, to start.
All three have a lower overall COL than New York, but only Chicago offers easy car-free living.
Good luck.
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