A good place to live?

Factual Questions
1

I’m thinking of returning to the US (another country is a serious option), but I haven’t got a clue as to where to settle. After living in Japan for several years I’ve become quite enamored with safety, and my wife doesn’t drive which puts safety and good public transportation on the top of my list. I suppose a low cost of living and a little culture rank up there as well. While could live in the country, my wife is pretty much city (no we are not Donny and Marie).

Any suggestions?

There is no course of life so weak and sottish as that which is managed by order, method, and discipline. -Montaigne

2

I’m sure you are going to get tons of responses to your question. I have found, in general, that college or university towns are the best places to live. Columbia, Missouri has always been my favorite place to live. It is the cultural hub of the state, and is not too large to be annoying. Madison, Wisconsin is my other choice. Both cities are consistently rated highly by various agencies (if you actually believe those things).

I would like to take this opportunity to tell whoever will listen to NEVER, EVER set foot in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is a dirty, has-been little pit whose biggest claim to fame was the horses that left town 130 yrs ago(pony express) and the local hero (murderer and thief, Jesse James).

Actually, comparing St. Joseph to the other towns solidifies my point (live in college towns). St. Joseph’s main focus is industry, which means the people who live there are typically uneducated and want nothing more out of life than to get their paycheck, get in fights at the local bar and die of a heart attack on the shop floor after spending 30 years without seeing sunlight.

3

erm… Nope, sorry, its gone again.

It only hurts when I laugh.

4

I don’t know how long you’ve been gone, but these four things are completely exclusive of one another. Fact is the places with culture are the big cities. Safety and cost of living are subjective terms, and are directly dependant on one another. Living in a college town is a excellent suggestion. They have the best public transportation, and are quite cheap in comparison to major cities. Saftey is usually quite good with the exception of loud drunks and petty vandalism. Culture depends on the University, but most large schools do have alot of history, and the students are big fans of pop culture. There you will likely find planty of ecclectic stuff, art, poetry, theater and lots of live bands and bars. Now the obvious downside is the deluge of us rowdy kids and frequently there is little skilled work outside of the university system. If you considering a major city I highly recommend the Chicago area. It is not cheap to live in a good safe area, but there are some very nice safe regions. The north side of the city is ideal, Lincoln Park/Ravenswood/Gold Coast/Wrigleyville are the neighborhoods to look in. They are expensive $700-1200 (cheap compared to Japan I assume) a month for a single apartment rent, condos are common as well but i have never priced them. These prices are pretty good for a large city. Similar areas in San Fransico and New York cost $1200-$2000 a month according to friends who have recently moved to those regions. Chicago has culture in spades, and the El system (mass transit) is top notch. A big plus for major cities over college towns is the community. In college towns you can expect a new group of people every year and seasonal changes are wholesale. Avoid the suburbs at all costs, they fit none of the requirements as you described. They are very safe and wonderful places for a family, but they have no culture, no public transportation, and usually are no cheaper and frequently more expensive from a property standpoint. Good luck, I take it a job is not a high priority for you? That type of info could be important.

The facts expressed here belong to everybody, the opinions to me. The distinction is
yours to draw…

Omniscient; BAG

5

If you have the money to afford it, New York City might just be the place for you. The “high crime” stereotype that it has is still stuck there from the 70’s; these days, NYC has one of the lowest crime rates of any U.S. city with more than 100,000 people.

And the public transportation system can get you almost anywhere for just $1.50.

Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com

“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective

6

I’d recommend the Chapel Hill / Carrboro, NC area. It fits all your requirements except one: the public transportation is lousy, especially in the summer. On the other hand, my housemate has gotten along without a car for seven years, so it’s doable if you don’t mind walking a lot.

7

Baltimore, MD is cheap, has culture, and has a decent transportation system. Of course, you will sacrifice some of the cheap for safety. Choosing a location in a suburb like Towson or Glen Burnie would reduce (but not eliminate) the availability of public transportation while increasing the safety.
Baltimore is one of the cheapest large cities in the nation. Crime is bad but largely localized and avoidable. Though the local music scene has been somewhat lacking in recent years they have plenty to offer culturally and easy access to Wash.D.C. (expensive and dangerous but nice for an afternoon).

Having moved from Baltimore to Minneapolis/St.Paul I find that what I miss most is the food. Baltimore has a great and diverse food culture.

I do agree that Columbia, MO is another good choice but, it’s not a city. It’s a college town. Consult your wife. If she wants city, real city, you better focus you attention on the East Coast of the States or Europe.

If men had wings,
and bore black feathers,
few of them would be clever enough to be crows.

  • Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
8

I’ve never lived there myself, but Portland, OR, seems like a nice city. I know that watching the Portland local news is much less jarring than watching the LA or Chicago news on cable. Sure, we’ve got the Bloods and Crips here, but it’s been years since I recall them making any headlines. And I believe there’s a lot less traffic than other metropolitan areas (at least, that’s the impression that I get from out-of-staters who say things like, “You call this traffic?? You Oregonians don’t know what traffic is!”)

Oh, oh, and Oregon doesn’t have a sales tax, AND NO self-service gas stations are allowed! And I haven’t noticed that either of these conditions have raised our cost of living appreciably. Furthermore, it only costs about (ahem) $40 to register your car. I hear other states base the registration fee on the value of the car or some such horsepucky like that, and fees can run into the hundreds of dollars. In fact, the Washington State Police are even cracking down on Washingtonians who buy and register their cars in Oregon for the lower fees and then take them back to Washington.

Portland also puts you close to the beach (such as it is in Oregon), the mountains, and other recreational type areas. Plus, Portland has culture. I personally love the Portland Art Museum. And… Everclear is from Portland. Maybe that’s not culture. Well, if you decide you need a taste of big city life, Seattle is a mere 3 hours away (5 hours by train, 8 hours by broken down train–but that’s a story for another day).

Finally, we have trees. Wait, I’m thinking of Salem. Portland has lots of trees, but not as many as Salem. You can’t see the city for the trees (or something like that) in Salem. But Portland is pretty clean and green. And if you get life-threateningly ill, OHSU is a pretty decent hospital, and it’s very high high up on a hill so you have a fantastic view of the city which I show to people even when they’re not sick.

Wait, wait, wait, I just remembered, our state motto is, “Thanks for visiting, but please don’t stay.” Sorry, I take back everything I said. Oregon is full up, there’s no room at the inn.

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

9

Let me put in a plug for Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Portland, Maine. These are both very small, very safe cities with excellent restaurants; happening music scenes (actually its the same music scene, since the cities are only 50 miles apart); various cultural diversions; lots of small, funky shops, bars, movie theatres, etc; not to mention rather rich traditions and venerable histories (Portsmouth was founded in 1623, Portland was first settled in 1632). They both have a city feel, while being very close to the beaches and mountains. Don’t know about the cost of living, but I’m sure they’re cheap relative to other east coast cities. Also, they’re small enough that public transportation isn’t really an issue - just about everything is within walking distance. And if you long to spend time in a “real” city, Boston is only a 1-1/2 hour drive away. By the way, Money Magazine, the Utne Reader, and Cosmopolitan all ranked Portsmouth as one of the top 10 cities to live in in the U.S.

One other thing: Portsmouth and Portland both have relatively large and active gay communities. I’ve found that there’s a correlation between cities with large gay populations and good restaurants, music scenes, culture, etc. Don’t know why that is - just an observation.

“For what a man had rather were true, he more readily believes” - Francis Bacon

10

Um… Portland, OR, has lots of gays, too. Yeah, I’ve even been to The City night club.

But stay away, stay away, we don’t want you! :wink:

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

11

What is the winter like in Portsmouth? I want to move back to east coast somewhere but haven’t decided where.

I ride my bicycle all year long for transportation (not recreation). Minnesota winters have been rough. Cold I can handle with proper equipment, but pushing a bike through snow and slush is torture. I can even do that for a day or two at a time.

Also, employment is an issue. The reason I’m not in Baltimore now is I couldn’t find a good job. Minnesota has tons of jobs.

If men had wings,
and bore black feathers,
few of them would be clever enough to be crows.

  • Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
12

If I lived in Portland Or. for about 1 year, 20 years ago, would that be ‘returning’?

On the other hand, I am doing a little on-line trading and I got lucky with a OTC-BB stock. I haven’t reached my target yet where I can switch to safer investments and go after a measly 20% a year, but I can’t stop daydreaming
about moving to a country where I can live out my days on that 20%. In that case I would add the need for getting on-line to my crieria and others such as are the natives friendly, do they run around naked and can the bartenders make a decent margarita?

There is no course of life so weak and sottish as that which is managed by order, method, and discipline. -Montaigne

13

Although it is the only place I’ve lived (therefore very biased opinion) I LOVE Milwaukee, WI Other then the southside (sometimes refered to as Taco City (no offense), it is pretty safe, it’s got great transportation and suits a wide varitety of tastes. It is also a college town which makes it that much more fun. And one of the suburbs is bound to fit just about every taste from very conservative to very liberal, upper class to lower class and if you just don’t fit in anywhere the east side is the most accepting community I’ve ever seen. (Also it has the nicest people I’ve ever met)

14

How about Albuquerque? Not a big city, but the University of New Mexico makes it a great cultural town. Tons of great restaurants, safe and clean.

Taos, only a short drive away, has more art galleries than people (well, that’s an exaggeration . . . )

15

I dunno… where did you live before that? If not Oregon, sorry :wink:

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

16

Gr8Kat,

Dare I say California? But my parents were from Portland–born and raised. If second generation American/Irish are being offered Irish citizenship (i think), then wouldn’t it be quite magnanimous of Oregon to welcome me home?

Lived in Taos–thinking of Santa Fe as well as Austin, TX and San Diego. I should have clarified my wife’s concept of culture–shopping. So when I say, ‘wouldn’t Grenada be a cool place to live?’ She just pats me on the head and says, ‘that’s a nice thought, Pooch’.

There is no course of life so weak and sottish as that which is managed by order, method, and discipline. -Montaigne

17

If you lived in Taos, I don’t need to tell you that Albaquerque is a bloated, cultureless, vegatationless, sauna of a suburb called a city?

As for shopping, all I need to say is the “Magnificent Mile”. Chicago is the place for you.

If getting wired is the top priority college towns are always very wired and high tech, find a school with a strong engineering department and a large student population and you will be set. Granted in a few years everyplace will be wired with cable modems, but until then.

The facts expressed here belong to everybody, the opinions to me. The distinction is
yours to draw…

Omniscient; BAG

18

Baltimore is not the place for department store shopping, which is what most people mean when they say shopping. If you want little, hard-to-find, shops where the proprietor will remember your name. Then Bmore is the place to be. It takes effort though and that is generally not what recreational shoppers want. Go with Chicago, New York, or Minneapolis/St.Paul.

If men had wings,
and bore black feathers,
few of them would be clever enough to be crows.

  • Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
19

Mmm. The university’s arts programs, the art theaters, the museums, the Native American cultural exhibitions are all cultureless?

Ah. That explains it.

20

If you don’t mind paying around $400K for a house (that’s the median price hereabouts), there’s always the San Jose area… About an hour from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco. and we’re usually rated amongst the top 10 cities in which to live.

Of course, the cost of living is through the roof, and California’s gas prices are sky-high… and did I hear $40 for car registration? I pay $350…