Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
FWIW - a cautionary tale for people doing research regarding re-location.
Don’t believe everything you see on internet..
You were on RI forum - where 2 people - out of only 6-8 regular forum posters (could be even the same person ) absolutely creates a very wrong impression about Providence violence due to their unexplainable obsession with crime.
They create multiple repetitive threads of overblown and exaggerated scary sounding headlines where they copy and paste every single occurrence of shooting, fights and yes, violence - mostly in certain areas and mostly unsavory individuals knowing each other.
They attach the Google street view with comments how unsavory those people look - captured by Google years ago and having nothing to do with the crimes they post about
If you judge CD’s RI forum by its threads- it looks like very very high crime area.
In reality - Providence much safer than the cities of similar size.
Actually, they do it on MA C-D forum as well - to a lesser degree as that forum has more regulars as well as new posters…
MA thread is just more populated so their terrorizing factor isn’t as noticeable compare to RI.
Those 2? 1? posters use scary maps of crime from internet. When you go into details of those maps those sites include an identity thefts, animal cruelty reports, petty thefts to make the map “crime ridden”
Once they scare you - then they offer you to purchase the crime report by zip code - this is what they try to scare you into buying.
Sometimes I wonder if those posters own that business - otherwise I don’t have any explanation for their obsessive repetitive multiple every crime announcing separate threads.
One could just creat 1 crime thread and post there?
Providence is much better than a lot of cities of the same size crime wise.
Not that you shouldn’t be not cautious and not aware of your surroundings and to hang out in sketchy places at 2 am after the clubs close.
Traffic wise it is exaggerated as well. Small town - less tolerance for traffic.
I have a friend who lives on the lake in a very unpopulated area.
They say if they have to wait for 5 cars to pass when they are trying to make a left turn from their street onto a local highway - they will move as “traffic becomes intolerable”
TL;DR: RI forum is not to be trusted regarding crime - and it is a very weird forum overall - with just a handful of individuals who bicker regarding every single post each of them makes - basically it is a funny would be “fight club” - better called bickering club of 6-8 individuals.
Just a 3-4 of those are helpful; they are trying to show real issues and positive changes as well.
Everyone should visit the place they are considering to move.
Internet could be helpful or could be very misleading..
It wasn't on here it was a different site, but good to know. thanks.
That's sad given how ideal it probably is for you and would really reconsider your misperception there.
As a trans person I just don't think I would feel safe there. I'm already living in a liberal city in a conservative state and it seems illogical to go to another one. I'm sure it's nice. Might visit sometime.
I really don't think that's accurate at all; no region has a monopoly on a widespread mindset that's naturally occurring in the human population.
There's certainly liberal-minded areas across the country. On the contrary, I also think Northeastern "liberalism" is extremely overrated, especially in New England. This region is generally accepting of people, but still has many regressive and reactionary tendencies, even in the supposedly most "liberal" areas. It's also extremely segregated for a reason.
In particular, classism is also rampant throughout the much of the Northeast (easily the worst part of the country for that issue), which is decidedly NOT a liberal trait.
I don't entirely disagree. That said, Google the 2014 Pew chart which ranks cities of over 250k on the political ideologies of their citizenries, based on the aggregated results of 7 public opinion surveys conducted from 2000 to 2011. Top 5 most liberal: SF, DC, Seattle, Oakland, Boston. Zero real surprises there. Then we get into the Midwest with Mpls and Detroit...Buffalo's 9th, seemingly almost tied with NYC at 8 and Baltimore at 10, if one looks at the chart. 51 cities are included. Portland being at 12 is probably 10 or 11 spots lower than most would expect. That said, the data is slightly dated. It's fair to imagine that Portland's gotten a bit more liberal over the past 12+ years. Also, the fact that Detroit and Baltimore (and Buffalo to an extent) rank as highly as they do makes me suspect that the questions may have somewhat skewed towards issues of economic inequality as opposed to social issues/civil liberties. Not that there'd be anything wrong with that
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 09-23-2023 at 03:57 PM..
It amazes me that people base there moving to another place whether or not it is liberal or conservative. Who cares!!! I would worry more about cost of living, crime, weather etc.
It always amazes me that people think politics doesn't apply to their everyday lives. See? We're both amazed!
I was set on Providence for months and then I met someone from there and well I don't remember word for word what they said, but after telling them I was thinking of moving there they told me why they had left and why they hated it so much and convinced me not too.
It had a lot to do with city infrastructure, apparently high crime rate, and terrible traffic.
I do still look at it...but now like, cautiously.
Providence is correctly among what you’re looking for.
On one hand, as a post-industrial northeastern American city within a 1hr drive of a successful, large city, Providence has some unique challenges. Its infrastructure IS pretty bad. The city has bad flooding whenever there’s a lot of rain. There’s also more traffic than PVD deserves just because of its role as a Boston bedroom community.
On the other hand, some of your post is overstated. Particularly crime. When compared to New Haven and Portland, Providence might seem dangerous. But compared to most similarly-sized cities in the US and Canada, it’s really quite safe.
And there are a few big wins over other cities mentioned. The biggest is a bus network. PVD has supposedly a pretty big bus infrastructure compared to the smaller cities and college towns suggested in the form of RIPTA. It’s definitely a city with 3/4 seasons and one that’s very arts/community-focused even in the face of corporate greed. Though Boston is very close to provide some balance.
About Fresno: it's not close to water, the Central Valley is very hot and dry. It's also not close to any larger cities --- the OP could live in Clovis and have Fresno as the major city, but Clovis isn't really liberal or walkable AFAIK.
Reno could work, though. Similar size to Fresno (in terms of how it feels) but does get 4 seasons and has Tahoe 50 minutes away.
Not at all. I live in Washington and Eugene is more progressive than any of our college towns. To give you an idea, they were considering putting in a light rail system (the plans fell through), despite being a city of only 150k. There are multiple vegetarian/vegan restaurants in town, and biking is huge. Eugene would be a solid choice for your criteria except that it's 2.5 hours from Portland.
People boat millerton lake year round. Nothing burger of a drive from north fresno. Lakes are clean ways to enjoy water.
Fresno summers are noticeable nicer than austins overrated swamp weather, too.
But fresno is still probably too hot for the op. Hes probably better off elsewhere.
I think suburban san diego or suburban seattle make the most sense(if they can afford them)
Eugene is too far away. And outside of eugene it's way more conservative than people realize. A blue oasis in a purple landscape. Pass.
Maybe folsom would be a good choice for op?
I'd say most important is finishing your education and seeing where you can get a job in your new career field. You aren't picking an easy one to break into, so getting the job is probably the most important factor to determine where to move to. Then if you hate NYC, Chicago, Washington DC, etc. where the best opportunities for work are, then in a year or two, with experience, you can try to move to a place of your choosing for your long-term home. Until you finish your education and secure a new job all this talk of moving is a fantasy. Isn't this the third time you've posted about moving out of Austin for a new job and new city, under your current user name and a previous one, but you are still in Austin and still haven't finished your education?
Lawrence, KS-- great college town, really close but separated from Kansas City. 4 seasons and Clinton Lake for recreational water sports.
Savannah, GA-- growing city, medium sized port city. 4 seasons. Close to Hilton Head, Tybee Island and St. Simon Island.
Asheville, NC- very quaint. Not too far from the cities in the triangle. Really walkable and feels like a tiny Portland, OR. Water is a little far but lakes are around.
Lawrence, KS-- great college town, really close but separated from Kansas City. 4 seasons and Clinton Lake for recreational water sports.
Savannah, GA-- growing city, medium sized port city. 4 seasons. Close to Hilton Head, Tybee Island and St. Simon Island.
Asheville, NC- very quaint. Not too far from the cities in the triangle. Really walkable and feels like a tiny Portland, OR. Water is a little far but lakes are around.
Just curious, are these good towns to start a new career doing: "work in books/writing/theatre. Editing. Proofreading. Literary agency."? That's the biggest limiting factor in OP's desires. He's got to find a job in this new career field in his new city.
I'd say most important is finishing your education and seeing where you can get a job in your new career field. You aren't picking an easy one to break into, so getting the job is probably the most important factor to determine where to move to. Then if you hate NYC, Chicago, Washington DC, etc. where the best opportunities for work are, then in a year or two, with experience, you can try to move to a place of your choosing for your long-term home. Until you finish your education and secure a new job all this talk of moving is a fantasy. Isn't this the third time you've posted about moving out of Austin for a new job and new city, under your current user name and a previous one, but you are still in Austin and still haven't finished your education?
I have my BA. I graduated 2 years ago but have been working in another field. I'm going to go back to school to hopefully help myself get the type of job I actually want. I had planned to teach abroad and had gotten a job that was supposed to start in February, but it fell through. So I'm preparing myself just in case I can't find another job teaching abroad. Finances are a big struggle and I basically live paycheck to paycheck, so I don't have the ability to save any money in order to move yet.
And I don't hate NYC/Chicago, I just don't want to live there because I don't want to pay several thousand dollars to live in a shoebox.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
