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Here's me list of important criteria. This city can be anywhere in the world. If you can help narrow my search with your firsthand experience of cities, it would be appreciated.
Population: at least 500k
At least somewhat thriving gallery/fine art scene; at least one top notch museum nearby
Generally highly educated population
Around 60-80% Caucasian
Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter (rain and some snow is okay though)
Low prevalence of casual sex, strip clubs, sugar daddies etc.
Low prevalence of very religious people
Not notoriously expensive
A good amount of interest in sustainable living
Mostly liberal viewpoints (support taxes, welfare, green infrastructure)
Good public transportation
It seems the only place in the world that closely fits this description would be the Bay Area. Am I right? Or can you suggest any places I'm missing?
Further notes:
-Portland and Seattle fit my description in a lot of respects...BUT according to this survey, they both have the highest prevalence of casual sex: Which U.S. Cities Have The Most Casual Sex?
-Vancouver fits my description in many ways, but the art scene is lacking, too expensive, and becoming increasingly Asian (50%).
-I could never live in the southern states of the US; too many poorly educated people. I don't think it's a good idea to live on the US East Coast either, due to hurricanes (apparently).
If it weren't for
>Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter (rain and some snow is okay though)
I'd say Twin Cities, but you'd probably freeze to death other than that it fits most of your criteria.
11-15-2012, 06:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peudedieu
Here's my list of important criteria. This city can be anywhere in the world. If you can help narrow my search with your firsthand experience of cities, it would be appreciated.
Population: at least 500k
At least somewhat thriving gallery/fine art scene; at least one top notch museum nearby.
Generally highly educated population.
Around 60-80% Caucasian
Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter (rain and some snow is okay though).
Low prevalence of casual sex, strip clubs, sugar daddies etc.
Low prevalence of very religious people.
Not notoriously expensive.
A good amount of interest in sustainable living.
Mostly liberal viewpoints (support taxes, welfare, green infrastructure)
Good public transportation
These cities have an excellent correlation to your criteria/standards with being Progressive/Liberal, Focus on smart sustainable living, Highly educated, Relatively affordable cost of living/not expensive, etc.:
Lyon
Seattle
Portland
Berlin
These cities go well with most of your criteria and are good enough to consider:
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Brussels
Geneva
Zurich
Nice
Lille
Grenoble
Paris
Vienna
Melbourne
You said recently in another topic/forum you decided on moving to France. There is plenty of pleasant, inviting places to choose from in France such as Lyon, Nice, Grenoble, Paris, Lille and other places too.
Lyon overall seems to be the all time best possibility and option for plenty of reasons, so I hope you are considering Lyon.
Paris is 6th most expensive according to this 2012 list Top 10 Most Expensive Cities In The World 2012 | Elite Daily
Top 10 most expensive cities:
1) Zurich
2) Tokyo
3) Geneva
4) Osaka
5) Oslo
6) Paris
7) Sydney
8) Melbourne
9) Singapore
10) Frankfurt
In all the places I've lived with a large 'minority' presence, people tend to most often hang out with people of their own ethnic group. Like all the ethnic neighborhoods of larger cities. Why? Because they feel more comfortable around people who understand their cultural background. It's not just me, it's most people. Once an immigrant has moved to a new country and has had time to adapt, and really integrate into the new culture, establishing relationships beyond the ethnic enclave they've found in their own city, culture doesn't make much of a difference anymore. Usually when I see Asians here in Vancouver, they're hanging out with other Asians. Does that make them bad people? No. Does that make me less likely to try to establish a relationship with them, if the circle of friends they've chosen are basically all of their own ethnic background, speak a language I don't know, eat foods I'm unfamiliar with, and so on? Yep. It would be great if the global community could come together, learn a common language, settle major differences, adopt the same religion/moral code (or better yet, one that simply comes from the heart rather than a book), but it looks like we've got a long way to go.
I second this.
Even as an Asian myself, i just don't get why most people including Asians are so caught in this preconceived idea that they can only click with people of their own ethnic groups.
Not gonna lie, but OP - you sound very narrow minded and not very progressive at all.
THIS.
I would help the OP since I lived in places that fit some of his criteria, but since I'm a black gay guy, I doubt he would want to be anywhere near me or build any type of rapport with me if he saw me in public.
Living in Bloomberg-era Brooklyn for many years I ran into lots of transplanted white folks (and nonwhite folks[!], trust me, I've lived with one) who were just like this dude. Buddy Holly glasses, beards, faux-vintage clothes and all. Oh well.
Here's me list of important criteria. This city can be anywhere in the world. If you can help narrow my search with your firsthand experience of cities, it would be appreciated.
Population: at least 500k
At least somewhat thriving gallery/fine art scene; at least one top notch museum nearby
Generally highly educated population
Around 60-80% Caucasian
Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter (rain and some snow is okay though)
Low prevalence of casual sex, strip clubs, sugar daddies etc.
Low prevalence of very religious people
Not notoriously expensive
A good amount of interest in sustainable living
Mostly liberal viewpoints (support taxes, welfare, green infrastructure)
Good public transportation
It seems the only place in the world that closely fits this description would be the Bay Area. Am I right? Or can you suggest any places I'm missing?
Further notes:
-Portland and Seattle fit my description in a lot of respects...BUT according to this survey, they both have the highest prevalence of casual sex: Which U.S. Cities Have The Most Casual Sex?
-Vancouver fits my description in many ways, but the art scene is lacking, too expensive, and becoming increasingly Asian (50%). -I could never live in the southern states of the US; too many poorly educated people. I don't think it's a good idea to live on the US East Coast either, due to hurricanes (apparently).
How do you expect to fit in with a "Generally highly educated population" ?
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