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Introduction
Hey guys, I've been looking for the best cities/town for a young man to live mostly to enjoy live, party and hook up and maybe date. I'm fully self-employed so work is not a factor.
Criteria
1-Relatively low cost of living
2-City/town orientated towards college grads, urban professionals or party people.
3- Less families, less retirees, less military.
4-Many of events going on(festivals, concerts, shows)
5- Hospitality/Openness(Generally friendly people)
6-Favorable female to male ratios demographics
7- Hipsterdom, some people interested in the arts like small record stores,small concerts.
8-Geekdom: some people interested in pop culture(like anime).
9-Walkable weather, if its too hot you can't walk and if its too cold either. I don't mind living in cold or warm places as long as its mostly walkable.
MUST read observations(of multiple cities I've gone to):
1-Las Vegas: It seems to meet a lot of these criteria; it is the low cost of living, target towards bachelors. However, there appears to be a lack of "local culture" where both the strip and Freemont feel very tourist orientated. This "resort feel" about it where most of the people you meet will be transitory.It is also too hot to walk! Though, I'd be open to staying for longer times if you guys think I should take a look.
2-Miami: while on the surface see to be "Bachelor Paradise," it seems that that's just a facade. It appears that the steep price scares a lot of young people away. It's mostly families and retirees who live there. While young people only go there to party on the weekends or holidays, the buildings have firm rules about guest/airbnbs. It might also be "too hot" to walk at times. (Though like Las Vegas, I'd be open to staying longer and see if I can make it work).
3-College towns: some CAUTION, I know many reading this will tell me, "Just go to a college town, man." However, there's implicit segregation in some of these towns. I stayed in a college town on the West Coast, and many college students would only go to 1-3 restaurants/bars aimed at themselves and staying within their cliques. There was a significant wealth disparity between the college kids and the townspeople. Many of the townspeople had a very different culture, and the bars/nightlife were primarily aimed at them. For instance, I ended up going to a country show.
4-NYC: one of my favorite American cities. There are lots to see, do, and experience. At the same time, NYC is primarily a "Rent City.' In that, most people go there for college or work, stay there for four years, and then leave. It does have many art colleges with bringing in lots of young women. However, you would have to share a tiny apartment with 3-4 people. It doesn't seem like the place to settle there if you want to buy a small apartment. I haven't explored Brooklyn or Queens that much so I'd appreciate any thoughts.
The Winner so far: Atlanta, Georgia
Right away, when I arrive in Atlanta, I sensed the friendliness of my Uber driver. When he left me at my Airbnb, I met my young professional hosts who were the artsy/hipster/urban professional types and lived in Atlanta. They had this beautiful 1920's European style house with lots of 20th-century novels like Catch-22 and Fahrenheit 451. I sensed their hospitality, and I enjoyed my stay. The climate was temperate, and I started walking. I actually across a Comic convention, and there were lots of like-minded people to talk to. For the rest of my stay, I went to restaurants and Piedmont park. The prices were affordable, and I felt welcome and enjoyed it. The city seemed like a microcosm of everything I like about America.
TLDR: Atlanta has been my favorite city, I wonder if there's other city or cities I should check out? My least favorite is LA; since it is too spread out, I saw a lot of inequality between rich/poor, there were too many safety concerns, I even sensed a sort of low trust society vibe going on. I run into homeless and addicts in the middle of the day; the people were a bit superficial. I don't dislike LA. I met some good people there. However, I felt that I resonated the least out of everywhere I've been to.
Last edited by AdamRanger; 12-24-2020 at 12:47 PM..
Just about any bigger Interior Northeastern city would work due to all of them having a pretty strong college presence, walkability, are generally more friendly than the Northeastern stereotype, are affordable, etc. Cities such as Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and even the Springfield MA area.
Introduction
4-NYC: one of my favorite American cities. There are lots to see, do, and experience. At the same time, NYC is primarily a "Rent City.' In that, most people go there for college or work, stay there for four years, and then leave. It does have many art colleges with bringing in lots of young women. However, you would have to share a tiny apartment with 3-4 people. It doesn't seem like the place to settle there if you want to buy a small apartment. I haven't explored Brooklyn or Queens that much so I'd appreciate any thoughts.
I had to address your inaccuracies regarding NYC. "Most people" do not arrive in the city and stay for a few years, then leave. Many do but it's not the majority and isn't any different from other major cities in that respect. The premise of sharing a tiny apartment among 3-4 people is way overstereotyped and more the reality is two share a two bedroom, like anywhere else. Furthermore nice two bedroom rentals are readily available in the cool, artsy neighborhoods like the Lower East Side, East Village, Astoria-Queens and Williamsburg-Brooklyn for around $2000 a month, or $1000 a month each....on a NYC salary base. In terms of buying it is not a cheap place to buy, which is why it makes more sense to rent for many.
I had to address your inaccuracies regarding NYC. "Most people" do not arrive in the city and stay for a few years, then leave. Many do but it's not the majority and isn't any different from other major cities in that respect. The premise of sharing a tiny apartment among 3-4 people is way overstereotyped and more the reality is two share a two bedroom, like anywhere else. Furthermore nice two bedroom rentals are readily available in the cool, artsy neighborhoods like the Lower East Side, East Village, Astoria-Queens and Williamsburg-Brooklyn for around $2000 a month, or $1000 a month each....on a NYC salary base. In terms of buying it is not a cheap place to buy, which is why it makes more sense to rent for many.
It would be an interesting statistic to know for sure, but NYC has long been seen as a jump off point for immigrants that leave after a few years and also for young people from across the US to live there for a few years. I'd guess that more than half the young people that move to NYC, Chicago, and LA stay less than 10 years and likely even less than 5 years. It's definitely a thing though. I don't know if you can go by Youtube, but if you can 75% of the people that move to NYC and LA stay less than 5 years.
It would be an interesting statistic to know for sure, but NYC has long been seen as a jump off point for immigrants that leave after a few years and also for young people from across the US to live there for a few years. I'd guess that more than half the young people that move to NYC, Chicago, and LA stay less than 10 years and likely even less than 5 years. It's definitely a thing though. I don't know if you can go by Youtube, but if you can 75% of the people that move to NYC and LA stay less than 5 years.
Agreed. I'm going by personal experience as to what I've seen. The most common room rental in Manhattan I've seen have been 3 people, including Queens. Seeing some acquaintances of mine who went there to study and then left for a more affortable city. They left to either start families, more space or to have more bang for their buck.
It would be an interesting statistic to know for sure, but NYC has long been seen as a jump off point for immigrants that leave after a few years and also for young people from across the US to live there for a few years. I'd guess that more than half the young people that move to NYC, Chicago, and LA stay less than 10 years and likely even less than 5 years. It's definitely a thing though. I don't know if you can go by Youtube, but if you can 75% of the people that move to NYC and LA stay less than 5 years.
The thing is, many young people may leave the city proper in time, but I’d bet most of them stay in the Metro area. They come here, start careers, get hitched, have kids, and when the can’t afford the space they need, they head to the ‘burbs. After five or ten years they may not stay in Manhattan or Brooklyn, but they’ll be happy commuting into the city from Westchester, Jersey, or Long Island.
I’ve seen the same dynamic play out in D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco.
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