What Towns Or Cities Are Good For Moving To?

[bluewizard]

Would I be ready for city life by myself never having lived in one and living in a small town my whole life? i plan on moving away somewhere after I get done with college and then I'm going to go to law school after that and graduate there. i live in Tennessee and am not sure where Id like to move to and all i know is im moving away from my current town sometime. Ive considered moving to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a small mountain town similar to my old one plus Id have things to do as its like a city because its a resort town. Ive also considered moving to Las Vegas or St Louis but Im not a good driver and would have to drive an hour just to get to work. What towns/cities would be good for moving to?

[Mike D]

Would I be ready for city life by myself never having lived in one and living in a small town my whole life? i plan on moving away somewhere after I get done with college and then I'm going to go to law school after that and graduate there. i live in Tennessee and am not sure where Id like to move to and all i know is im moving away from my current town sometime. Ive considered moving to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a small mountain town similar to my old one plus Id have things to do as its like a city because its a resort town. Ive also considered moving to Las Vegas or St Louis but Im not a good driver and would have to drive an hour just to get to work. What towns/cities would be good for moving to?

Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities I go there about 2 or 3 times a year for fun. Because it's also known as sin city there's not too many fundies there (compared to where you live now anyway), so you can pretty much live your life however you want and nobody is going to bat an eye. Plus it's a booming city and I think has been one of the fastest growing cities in the US for like 10 years or something so there will always be decent jobs to be had. I guess it really depends what you want though. Fun city? Employement? Laid back people? It has all those things. The drawbacks of course are it is in the desert so it's hotter than hell in the summer (many days over 100, although its a dry heat though so it's bearable), and I guess if you dont' like traffic that might be bad. But you can always live close to where you work or go to school. Just my 2 cents if it was my choice between Vegas and those other towns it would be no contest.... hands down it would be Vegas for me.

[Mythra]

I like Las Vegas, too. But it is a big place - well over a million people there.

 

One word of advice, though. I've lived in Nevada since 1970 - I went to college at UNLV -

 

If there is any chance in hell that you have an addictive personality and might like to gamble, this is not somewhere you should live. I've seen many lives wrecked by addictive gambling.

 

If you live here, you learn to leave that shit alone.

 

I've never been to Saint Louis, so I can't say anything about that place.

 

Boise Idaho is a nice city. Good weather, and enough people to have any freakin thing under the sun.

 

If you're not into a million people, Twin Falls Idaho is a good town. (Probably around 50,000 or so)

[bluewizard]

Citites seem good as I stayed in a moderately sized one alone for a week for Boys' State and enjoyed it. I like cities better than small towns but the drawbacks are I cant drive good and Id rather get to work in 5-10 minutes instead of an hour. My parents said they'd want to move to where I go just to see me and didnt want to see me once a year but I doubt theyd really do that. When I was gone for that week my parents said they were sad and my Mom cried. I guess they need to adjust that Im not gonna be there anymore after this year cause Im gonna live on campus.

[nightflight]

Ah, Gatlinburg, where a plate of nachos is only $10.

[I Broke Free]

Bluewizard,

 

Everyone likes different things. You have half a continent to choose from with every kind of climate and city

 

What kind of weather do you like?

What kind of jobs are available?

What is the cost of living?

 

I grew up on the outskirts of Los Angeles, lived in San Francisco and its suburbs, and now in semi-rural New Hampshire. There are things I liked and hated about all of them. No place is perfect, but you can find one the suits you.

 

I loved living in San Francisco where I could walk to work, not bother owning a car and had great food, but I hated the homeless problem and the cost of housing. I hated the traffic of LA, but loved the nice weather. Now I live in New Hampshire and have grown fond of the weather variability and the rural lifestyle, but I really miss the better restaurants and entertainment available in San Francisco. No place is perfect.

 

And I don’t care how “dry” the heat is in Las Vegas. 110 degrees SUCKS big time!!

 

IBF

[ped]

be aware that moving to a city will be weird after a while until you get really used to it. there will shit you cant stand after a few months or so. it takes quit a bit of time to really get used to and settled in.

i moved from a town of 2000, 6 street lights in the whole county. after living there all through middle and high school, i moved back to the same city i was born in. only this time i moved to the inner city where before i was 30 miles outside of it. at first i liked it a whole lot better. i used to have to drive 75 miles one way to get an un-edited CD. then i thought this is geat al kinds of stuff to do. i can drive (or even walk, damn that was weird) to go almost anywhere i would generally need. after a while it really becomes terrible though. i took me 1.5-2 years to really start getting used to it. now i wouldnt go back to living in the country if you paid me, except if i were to retire or had a second house.

as for what city the main variable i can think of is climate. others are crime and pollution (say L.A. or something). i would say most medium size cities are generally the same.

[bluewizard]

San Francisco sounds good because Ill no longer need a car and I wont have to pay car insurance. I dont think the cost of hosiung would bother me that bad since Im a cheap person plus a lawyer tends to make good money. i dont mind it being a gay town either, im not prejudice towards gays.

[RankStranger]

bluewizard- I'm sorry to hear that you live in a small town in Tennessee. I know that sucks. I grew up in Lake City TN, which is about 2000 people.

 

I've never lived in St. Louis, but I've driven through there lots of times, and I don't think I'd want to live there. Driving through, it's 30 miles of unbroken ghetto. I'm talkin' abandoned factories, grafiti, falling-down houses, neighborhoods where I wouldn't get out of the car (and I've lived in some hell-holes). I think you can find a better city. I've never been further west than Leadville Colorado, so I can't tell you anything first-hand about Vegas.

 

I moved to Houston TX right after high school. It's a damned big city- several million people. It took a LOT of getting used to... it's a wonder I didn't get shot more than once... but it was quite a revelation too. I didn't care much for Houston during the year and a half I was there, and was glad to get back to TN(that didn't last long though), but looking back on it- I learned a hell of a lot by moving there that I never would have learned in TN.

 

Since then I've lived in Knoxville TN for a few years, then Colorado Springs CO for a few more years, and now I live out in BFE Kansas. I've pretty much decided that I won't be completely satisfied no matter where I live. In about a year and a half the wife will be done with school, and we'll move to a city in eastern Kansas where I'll finish my degree. After that I'll likely be putting up a board similar to this one. Maybe we'll give the left coast a try.

 

I'll agree with most other people here that it depends on what you want. My experience has been that mid-size cities are worst of both worlds. In Colorado Springs or Knoxville, they didn't get many good concerts, the politiks were pretty conservative, and nothing much interesting ever happened- but I still had to deal with long commutes and all the standard big city problems. Houston was big enough though that I could find pretty much anything I wanted at any time- there were plenty of interesting goings-on there. So I think that next time we move, we'll go for the biggest city where I can pay in-state tuition... which will be Kansas City.

[All Gods Fail]

Don't forget Chicago - I hope to be moving there myself soon. It's really a great town, and you can get by w/out a car as well.

 

I used to live up & down the east coast (D.C., Baltimore, Philly), and it is a great place (well, maybe not Philly ) if you're making decent money. But it really sucks to be scraping by.

 

NYC would be awesome if you were making a couple million a year or better, but Chicago isn't a bad town to be relatively 'poor' in. You could prolly get by nicely on 80K a year! Just make sure you're not too far from the nearest L station.

[ped]

lake city is that north of knoxville? i lived in scott county. just west of cambell co. hmm small world.

though i would consider knoxville a small city.

[Chad3232132]

Would I be ready for city life by myself never having lived in one and living in a small town my whole life? i plan on moving away somewhere after I get done with college and then I'm going to go to law school after that and graduate there. i live in Tennessee and am not sure where Id like to move to and all i know is im moving away from my current town sometime. Ive considered moving to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a small mountain town similar to my old one plus Id have things to do as its like a city because its a resort town. Ive also considered moving to Las Vegas or St Louis but Im not a good driver and would have to drive an hour just to get to work. What towns/cities would be good for moving to?

 

Wow, you lived in a small town your whole life and aren't a fundie? Quick, someone call the Guiness Book of World Records.

[Ex-COG]

Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities I go there about 2 or 3 times a year for fun. Because it's also known as sin city there's not too many fundies there (compared to where you live now anyway), so you can pretty much live your life however you want and nobody is going to bat an eye.

 

My brother is one of those "not too many fundies" in Las Vegas. He's pentecostal (Church of God, Cleveland, TN.), so I know you will run into a few holy rollers out there. But I'm sure there's not as many as in TN.

[bluewizard]

I'm used to the people all around me being nearly poor. The community i live in probably has an average income of 20 K a year. Theres no rich people here, only poor and middle class. My family isnt poor but isnt well off, Mom makes 16 K, Dad makes 24K.

[odintim]

I used to live in Rhea Co., just outside of Chattanooga. The town I lived in was village sized, but both close and far enough from Chatty for all purposes, such as shopping, working, etc. You being a Tennessee native as I was, it's an option, or something similar to that. Then again, you could always move to a small Norwegian island like I did.

[BlueGiant]

Ok, my input on St. Louis and Chicago.

 

I was born in St. Louis, and I am not sure where you found the 30 miles of urban desolation, though that description does fit a fair bit of the inner city. I spent most of my life in St. Louis county. From what I know the commutes aren't that bad (for example I could go from Kirkwood to the Central West End of St. Louis, where I worked, in about 25-35 minutes depending on trafic). Grew up there. Then again this is kind of a place where people get trapped or decide to settle down and do the family thing.

 

Living in Chicago now, downtown. Cheap apartments can be found, but can take some work, also you have to be able to tolerate a nasty winter, other than that I like it here.

[Dianka]

Ok, this may not be a stretch, but I would recommend Chicago. It's a lovely town for people who can't drive. The transit system will get you to every square inch, and the cost of living here is not unreasonable, although it is rising at a pretty steep rate. There is a lot to do. Personally I hang around the museums but it's great for just about everything other than gambling, you have to drive out to Elgin to partake in that garbage.

 

I would say that if you cherish public transit, don't move to Milwaukee. St. Louis is a murky shit hole, don't move there unless you have a full syringe at all times (sorry I don't mean to offend anyone from there). Also, don't move to Newark, in fact, stay away from New Jersey completely. I swear to God I did not encounter one not-ugly person, and you will be hit by a car. There people have no mercy. Either you are in a dump-hole ghetto, or are in shopping mall suburban hell. I was on a train in Newark, and the fuckin door I was leaning against flew open when we were going like 50 mph. Just take my advice on this one, Newark is an American bowel movement.

[BlueGiant]

Isn't there a sign in Newark that gives you a welcome as you are leaving?

[Dianka]

Isn't there a sign in Newark that gives you a welcome as you are leaving?

 

I don't know, all I know is that about a half hour before we got into Newark, we passed through a town called Buttzville, and I thought anything East of that would be better. I didn't realize that Buttzville was the unofficial entrance into the large intestine of NJ.

[RankStranger]

bluewizard- I forgot to mention: Gatlinburg is probably a fun place to visit if you're into tourist-traps, but I doubt you'll find a place to live there if you make under $100k a year. I've known a few people who worked there, and they commuted from Pidgeon Forge or Sevierville.

 

Bluegiant- Sorry about picking on your hometown, but maybe you're just used to it? Maybe we have different standards as to what constitutes a ghetto... Seriously, most of St. Louis looked to me like somewhere I really wouldn't want to live- and I don't have high standards. I come from Lake City, TN after all. (claims to fame: highest murder rate in the NATION in 1995, and more meth labs than you can shake a stick at)

 

Ped- I guess I lived just down the hill from you. I have lots of distant relatives around scott county- we're probably kinned.

[Vigile]

I come from Lake City, TN after all. (claims to fame: highest murder rate in the NATION in 1995, and more meth labs than you can shake a stick at)

 

 

Buckle of the bible belt; fruits of the spirit.

[RankStranger]

You won't find a more Christian place than Lake City TN. Did I mention the my barber when I was a kid was a klansman?

 

You seem like a guy who's moved around a fair amount- got any suggestions for good places to live?

[Vigile]

You seem like a guy who's moved around a fair amount- got any suggestions for good places to live?

 

As everyone has been saying, it all comes down to personal preference.

 

A few years ago my wife and I spent about three weeks driving from DC to Seattle via the south and then up the pacific coast. We both loved the south west, especially NM and AZ. One city that really stuck out was Flagstaff, AZ. It is only about 4 hours from Pheonix so you could head for the sun on weekends virtually all year. At the same time it is only about an hour from the ski resort, from the Grand Canyon, and a day's drive from LA or SF and a few hours from Vegas. It is a university town and just seemed really cool. Our car broke down there and we stayed a couple of days waiting to get it repaired. The repair shop owners and everyone else we met were extremely friendly and we enjoyed our stay.

 

Montreal is also an awesome city. It has flavors of both Europe and the Americas and we both fell in love. It was so cheap compared to DC where we lived at the time we visited. If we ever return to NA we will seriously consider one of these two cities.

 

Olympia Washington is very cool as well for those into the counter culture. They have a wild left winger university and they have crazy earth celebrations that glorify evolution. My parents, who are xtians, lived there for years and just hated the "nutty greeners," but I thought they were a lot of fun and the lack of religion there is refreshing.

 

DC is great for high paying jobs but it had a lot of negatives for me (my wife still loves it). I didn't like most of the white bureaucrat types that lived there and pretty much was friends with only gays and black people (this is only about DC, not about race or sexual preference). The white people there are both overworked, workaholics, and in general just assholes. The black and gay communities there are great though. Other notes: drivers there suck and the food is great and of awesome variety. Also you can walk down the street and see people from 100 countries in a span of 10 minutes. That was cool for me.