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I live in Baton Rouge, LA, and I am looking for new city to live in.
My ideal place would be:
-Affordable
-About 100K+ people
-Fun with things to do both in and relatively close to town (I also mean outdoorsy things; a mountain area would be nice, even if it's within a few hours drive)
-Good schools
- Liberal area (I know politics aren't perfect anywhere, but Louisiana's has worn me down)
- I'm open to any kind of climate
I live in Baton Rouge, LA, and I am looking for new city to live in.
My ideal place would be:
-Affordable
-About 100K+ people
-Fun with things to do both in and relatively close to town (I also mean outdoorsy things; a mountain area would be nice, even if it's within a few hours drive)
-Good schools
- Liberal area (I know politics aren't perfect anywhere, but Louisiana's has worn me down)
- I'm open to any kind of climate
Does anyone have suggestions?
Thanks!
You need to narrow your population range down further. There's a big difference between 100,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000.
Also, does the city need to be liberal, or the State as well? I assume the latter since, as Texas has shown, living in deep blue Austin means nothing when the State Legislature is extremely Conservative.
So if we take only States that Biden won by 5%+, there are 18 options:
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Since you want mountains within a few hours drive, let's cross off Illinois and Minnesota. You also want affordable so let's toss California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington (even though all have some affordable parts).
Delaware, Vermont, and Maine don't have 100,000+ cities, so they're out.
Which leaves us with:
Colorado
Connecticut
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Rhode Island
Virginia
Personally, I think your best bets are:
Albany, New York [Adirondacks and Catskills and Green Mountains all nearby]
Albuquerque, New Mexico [suburbs] [mountains/sky country to the nearby north]
Fort Collins, Colorado [mountains to the immediate west]
Hartford, Connecticut (suburbs) [2 hours to Green Mountains, and a little longer for White Mountains]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [surrounded by mountains, lots to do]
Roanoke, Virginia [surrounded by mountains]
Of course, there's a difference between a 2.6 million person city like Pittsburgh and a 100,000 city like Roanoke, hence the need to scope your preferences down further.
As mentioned, is 100,000+ the minimum for the city proper or at the metro level? If for the city proper, a place like Allentown PA meets the population criteria and puts you close to the Poconos.
Springfield MA also meets the city proper population criteria and is close to the Berkshires and Green Mountains. Worcester MA also comes to mind.
The 3 biggest Upstate NY cities(Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse) meet the city proper criteria and are close/close enough to mountains. Syracuse is the closest to mountains such as the Adirondacks(about an hour and 30/45 minutes), the Catskills(about an hour and 30/45 minutes) and Poconos(about 2 hours). Buffalo does have this area within an hour and a half or so to the south: https://enchantedmountains.com/
What the . . .? Six posts and nobody has mentioned Asheville yet?
It may be a matter of population in terms of city proper, as Asheville has about 95,000 people. I’m curious if cost of living/affordability play a part in that as well.
Even Albany would just miss due to having slightly less than 100,000 people in that city.
I did not know Baton Rouge has 220k population inside city, 860k in 9 county metro area.
Asheville could be too small, too big or good enough for OP or others depending on individual preferences. Unless you've lived in an area of pretty similar size and structure, it is a guess. The more study / thought / direct experience from visiting, the more likely the guess will be reasonably accurate for that person.
Last edited by NW Crow; 09-12-2021 at 10:46 AM..
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