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I'd also suggest Pittsburgh, which is basically a northeastern version of Birmingham. PA is a moderately progressive state which should work well for you, and gets plenty of snow in the winter. The beach is still a good six hours away, but Pittsburgh's airport is better in terms of destinations, plus Lake Erie is just three hours away and has its own beaches. Pittsburgh has an underrated food scene, and has some nice natural scenery in and around town. There are quite a few studios/1BR's in nice neighborhoods within your budget except for the most desirable like The Strip District and Squirrel Hill.
I'd also suggest Pittsburgh, which is basically a northeastern version of Birmingham. PA is a moderately progressive state which should work well for you, and gets plenty of snow in the winter. The beach is still a good six hours away, but Pittsburgh's airport is better in terms of destinations, plus Lake Erie is just three hours away and has its own beaches. Pittsburgh has an underrated food scene, and has some nice natural scenery in and around town. There are quite a few studios/1BR's in nice neighborhoods within your budget except for the most desirable like The Strip District and Squirrel Hill.
Oh I had no idea Pittsburgh was like that, i'll def check it out!
Just to add, if you are interested in upstate NY and want “progressive”, places like Ithaca, the Westcott/University/University Hill/Downtown/Franklin Square core area of Syracuse; the SE Quadrant/Downtown area of Rochester; Downtown/Allentown/West Village/Elmwood Village/North Buffalo(Hertel Ave) area of Buffalo and Center Square/Hudson-Park/Washington Park/Central Ave/Pine Hills area of Albany, among others. These are neighborhoods that run together within these cities and there are others that could work within them and in other cities.
Thanks for the suggestions! Upstate NY and PA are looking really, really good, and would be a decent bit closer to my family than I already am.
OP, what would be considered to be high snowfall? Pittsburgh's average snowfall is 49.5 inches between 2010-2019 and 41.9 inches between 1981-2010. To put this into perspective, Buffalo averaged 94.7 inches and Rochester 99.5 inches in the 1981-2010 period. So, that is why I'm asking as to what constitutes enough snowfall for you.
This also isn't considering the proximity to water(lakes. rivers, waterfalls, etc.), beaches, mountains, other cities, etc. This isn't to knock any other suggestions, in which all have been good, but to clarify what you really want.
Go with Providence. I like Ithaca, but it's too isolated.
Ithaca gets hurt because it doesn’t have immediate interstate access, but it is maybe an hour from Syracuse and an hour and a half-40 minutes from Rochester, with some similarly sized areas nearby. With that said, I’d go with one of those bigger Upstate NY cities instead.
I’d also say that Syracuse allows for access to the western Adirondacks within an hour and a half or so to a place like this: https://oldforgeny.com/index.html
Go with Providence. I like Ithaca, but it's too isolated.
Nice little city but yea it’s boring- CT and all of its cities are exceptionally boring. What’s to do in New Haven? Yale museums… and? Most places I’ve been to or heard of in the south are festive/outgoing by default. That’s why I recommended Prov.
Thanks for the suggestions! Upstate NY and PA are looking really, really good, and would be a decent bit closer to my family than I already am.
I used to ride Amtrak a lot between Philly and Hartford. 3 or 4 weeks in advance on a saver fare, it was a pretty easy way to do that trip. Philly is the most affordable of the large Northeast Corridor cities and somewhere you can live without a car.
Nice little city but yea it’s boring- CT and all of its cities are exceptionally boring. What’s to do in New Haven? Yale museums… and? Most places I’ve been to or heard of in the south are festive/outgoing by default. That’s why I recommended Prov.
Arts, Food (and not just Pizza too), Music, Theater, Nature nearby - tons of stuff actually and there are good Southern food spots just in case the OP misses Alabama a little bit even though they are from CT.
Providence seems like a better fit for the OP though given that apt. rental prices are rising rapidly in New Haven given the rise of biotech and proximity to NYC.
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