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You need affluence to have the vibrant walkable center. Most of the places cited in this thread have significant tourist economies. A college can also do it. A lot of gold plated suburbs in high cost of living areas have a vibrant Main Street. Lots of people who make well into 6 figures who have lots of discretionary income to spend. There's a huge premium on living on a leafy street walkabout to the vibrant town center. Lexington MA is like that. Andover MA. West Hartford CT. Dozens of places in the NYC tri-state with the combined commuter rail and shopping district. Philly Main Line.
You do not need lots of people making six figures to be vibrant. That would mean basically nowhere could be. Since especially outside major metro areas nobody makes that. And College students even have less disposable income than say a 25 year old
You need a pretty dense walkable build. Lawrence, MA is far more vibrant than Acton or Burlington. But like 1/3rd as wealthy.
I found Albany quite busy too but it has basically no high end jobs.
You do not need lots of people making six figures to be vibrant. That would mean basically nowhere could be. Since especially outside major metro areas nobody makes that. And College students even have less disposable income than say a 25 year old
You need a pretty dense walkable build. Lawrence, MA is far more vibrant than Acton or Burlington. But like 1/3rd as wealthy.
I found Albany quite busy too but it has basically no high end jobs.
Not true...Albany's average annual wage as a metro is on par with, give or take, areas such as the bigger Texas metros, Charlotte, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and Atlanta. So, there is more money in that area than realized. Source: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm
It also has a pretty above average/high educational attainment as well.
It also has a metro median household income is above state and national figures.
You do not need lots of people making six figures to be vibrant. That would mean basically nowhere could be. Since especially outside major metro areas nobody makes that. And College students even have less disposable income than say a 25 year old
Exactly. Frankly, that's probably one of the most classist and simply false pretenses about urbanism I've ever read.
The city itself certainly isn't wealthy, and the broader area is overwhelmingly just middle-class, but it has an incredibly well-preserved, vibrant and walkable core because of the people in the area that have worked hard to cultivate and support it. It's not filled with high-end boutiques, but it's still very attractive and inviting, with tons of diverse small businesses.
In fact, I'd argue that cities with more economic diversity are more vibrant, given that they have a much broader cross-section of offerings. And we all know that upper-crust type areas keep out anything fun given their puritan-like sensibilities about noise and anything to do with alcohol.
Not true...Albany's average annual wage as a metro is on par with, give or take, areas such as the bigger Texas metros, Charlotte, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and Atlanta. So, there is more money in that area than realized. Source: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm
It also has a pretty above average/high educational attainment as well.
It also has a metro median household income is above state and national figures.
That’s because Albany is full of NYS employees which get paid well. Everyone has a good job but few have *great* jobs. By high end I mean Fidelity Investments, Google, Key Bank, Microsoft, Exxon-Mobile, etc high end 100-200k annual salary+.
Even Albany doesn’t have quite the wealth of Rochester’s Eastern Suburbs. Like Colonie or New Scotland, and Bethleham all have household income in the range of 63,000-66,000. That’s pretty typical for Albany. Webster, NY has one of $79,000, Rush is 73,000, Mendon has a median household income of 98,000. Pittsford is straight up Rich with a median household income of $110,000.
And I would say the immediate Downtown of Albany is better than Rochester despite having less high end wealth.
Portland Maine...One of my favorite smaller cities to visit. I would rank that close to #1 for me. And generally very friendly people.
Charleston, Savannah and Ashville also come to mind.
I am in the minority on this one, but I've found Savannah to be quite a bit rougher than its counterparts. There are some stunning streets and parks, but its easy to wander into a less than desirable stretch. It took away from my overall experience a little bit. Something I didn't experience in the other 3.
Lancaster PA is another underrated rated option.
Yes, Savannah and Asheville both have a bohemian (see grungy/homeless) vibe in parts of the city, moreso than some other cities
That’s because Albany is full of NYS employees which get paid well. Everyone has a good job but few have *great* jobs. By high end I mean Fidelity Investments, Google, Key Bank, Microsoft, Exxon-Mobile, etc high end 100-200k annual salary+.
Even Albany doesn’t have quite the wealth of Rochester’s Eastern Suburbs. Like Colonie or New Scotland, and Bethleham all have household income in the range of 63,000-66,000. That’s pretty typical for Albany. Webster, NY has one of $79,000, Rush is 73,000, Mendon has a median household income of 98,000. Pittsford is straight up Rich with a median household income of $110,000.
And I would say the immediate Downtown of Albany is better than Rochester despite having less high end wealth.
No...There are other companies like Regeneron, Global Foundries, General Electric, the Knoll Atomic Power Laboratory and AMRI Global that provide high paying jobs as well.
Well-off urban people nowadays live in condo complexes that have yoga studios, nail salons, tax offices, theaters, pools, offices, garages standard. They participate in building binding activities and have parties in said buildings-they are almost by definition economically homogenous. They have rooms dedicated to their Amazon UPS and FedEx packages for their endless orders. They use Uber eats. Wealthy people actively work to take themselves out of the public realm as much as they can afford to. They come out to dine at expensive places or do other exclusive, private stuff.
If suburban cities outside of bigger cities are in play, places like Royal Oak MI, Evanston IL, Cambridge MA and White Plains NY would fit.
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