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It's about downtown cores that are walkable and have services nearby to alleviate or eliminate the use of a car. That's not an automatic with larger populations. FYI Madison's population is 258K, St Louis is at 302K...not exactly much "much bigger".
City population is not an accurate measure of true market size. If we go by cities proper, then Jacksonville is bigger than Boston and Louisville is bigger than Atlanta. Metro population is what matters- that’s how many people depend on the urban center- and St. Louis has nearly 3 million people in its metro- far bigger than any other on this list.
greenville s.c What makes it look smaller due to the annexation laws of South Carolina, but in reality bigger than several of those cities, it is only surpassed by San Luis Kansas Richmond because a city must be measured by metropolitan area not by city limits
no one talks about weather,Mid west and NE have bloody cold weather
seasons*
Il take Seasons any day over groundhog day weather. No need to omit the Midwest/Northeast over weather unless one specifically states they don't prefer cold weather.
Il take Seasons any day over groundhog day weather. No need to omit the Midwest/Northeast over weather unless one specifically states they don't prefer cold weather.
You can have seasons without experiencing bloody cold weather.
- St. Louis, which wouldn't be my choice but most truly represents the intent of the thread in terms of being both urban and affordable.
- Des Moines, my favorite from the list although I'd prefer to live in the suburbs.
- Boise, which is a stretch to call "affordable" but would be my favorite city in the country to live in if I had to live in the more urban part of the city (near downtown).
I’d start with a place with no state/local income taxes. It doesn’t align with my skiing and recreational interests but Nashville would make the list. By high COL major metro standards, real estate is still reasonable there and has relatively low property taxes. With white collar professional telecommuter comp and today’s low interest rates, I’d be comfortable in Franklin walkable to the center. Good high end local retail. Good airport. An NFL stadium 25 minutes away. The vibrant music scene isn’t all country these days. I prefer dense suburban with a good walkability score.
Sticking with what's on the list and even beyond, Kansas City and St. Louis are standouts.
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