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I dunno, Boise is more a medium city than big, but everything else you wanted fits it. Good art scene/lots of artists, quiet, great scenery, in fact awesome scenery.
Unfortunately I can't have a driver's license again until August, my bad, but I get around just fine. Just live in the downtown area or the North End and you'll do fine. All you need is a bike, biking is pretty big, so there are paths and ways to get around without a car. Check it out, a little bit off the map. but with a pretty good arts scene. It's definately not Like NYC or most these other big cities where artists are a dime a dozen. It's also a lot cheaper.
I can think of several: Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Portland (OR), Kansas City, Lousiville, Memphis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City. Although they are probably only mid-sized cities, they are 'quiet' relative to their population. Dont know the other cities very well, but I grew up in Indianapolis and its downtown is bustling on SAT nights with plenty to do. Its come around nicely over the past dozen years or so.
. Dont know the other cities very well, but I grew up in Indianapolis and its downtown is bustling on SAT nights with plenty to do. Its come around nicely over the past dozen years or so.
Despite San Jose having a population of over 1 million people, that city feels more like a suburb than a big city. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are very few skyscrapers in San Jose hence it eliminates that big city feel.
I'd nominate the Paulus Hook section of Jersey City. It has subway access to NYC (5 minutes to World Trade Center), light rail system, ferries. So it's connected to everything. But the neighborhood itself is nice and quiet. It's on the water, and there are walking paths leading into Liberty State Park and to the Hudson River-front. The homes consist of brownstone rowhouses built in the 1860s-1890s, and newly-built low-rise condos that fit in nicely. There's no bustling street scene, rather there are little restaurants and taverns on nearly every corner. Occasionally a gallery. It's quite a quaint, quiet, and peaceful retreat, yet so close to everything.
On two recent trips there, no car alarms (I believe they're illegal), $350 fines for honking your horn in a residential neighborhood, never heard a loud, thumping boom car the whole time I was there, no police sirens either.
Don't listen to this guy. Loud cars and sirens absolutely exist. When I lived in that old building all the wood on the building would vibrate when strong car subwoofers passed. Without regulation I sincerely believe that the old wood buildings would collapse 1 century earlier from the subwoofers (i.e. if a building would've lived 1900-2200, it'd collapse more like 2100, if it would've lived 1900-2300 it'd collapse in 2200 and so on). I've recall hearing a car alarm as late as September 2013 (did they ban them? I didn't realize) They went off so much in the past that I unintentionally knew exactly how many times each wow sounded and in what order by high school — "wow-wow wow-wow wow-wow wow-wow (higher pitched) wow-wow wow-wow wow-wow wow-wow (lower pitched) wow! wow! wow! wow! wow! wow! wow! wow! (pitch 1 again) woooooup! (accelerating rising pitch) woooooup! (ditto) taw TAH! taw TAH! taw TAH! taw TAH! (repeat until the thing turns off)". Taws are low pitched, TAHs are high. Some of my earliest toddler memories are of car alarms. They're not free by the way and no one ever pays attention to them because it was 99+% likely that someone just bumped the car or touched it without any intention of stealing.
You will always hear other peoples' music in New York City. Often stupid music. Often Spanish. Often grandpa music that hasn't been new in 40 years. God forbid your upstairs neighbor walks on your ceiling alot and blasts dumb songs like Stevie Wonder's I Can Feel It All Over and has a powerful sound system. Also ice cream trucks. You might hear the ice cream truck jingle for an hour every night. Even in April or November. I once lived where a school bus drove a whole block backwards very, very slowly every 4 pm while beeping (not weekends). What the hell is wrong with that guy? It's not a dead end street.
And people will honk if you jaywalk improperly. Since you didn't grow up in it, I sincerely suggest that you don't choose New York.
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