I’m at a total transition point in my life, with a couple different options on the table for the next couple of years. Part of that is moving back to the US, after having spent the bulk of the past five years abroad. I may head abroad again with the next two years, or I may stick around.
If I do stick around in the US, I’m going to need a place to live, and I’m completely open to new options.
Places I’m considering:
Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston (maybe too expensive), Chicago (maybe too expensive), Denver, Detroit (though I have major concerns), Milwaukee, Minneapolis (maybe a bit small), Seattle (again, maybe too expensive), Washington DC. That list is largely thrown together based on places I’ve visited and liked, or where like-minded friends have lived and been happy.
Here’s what I’m looking for, in rough order of importance:
Not crazy expensive: someplace I could rent a 1-bedroom or share a 2-bedroom for less than $1000/month. I’m willing to share a place and I’m willing to deal with a rough (but not too rough) neighborhood. I’m also willing to compromise with an inner suburb rather than a city itself, but that brings me to the next point…
Adequate public transit. I have neither the means nor desire to own a car.
Medium-large to huge: a population of, say, 400k is about as small as I’m willing to consider.
Reasonably liberal with an existent queer scene and fairly multicultural.
Ideally someplace that gets all four seasons but definitely not somewhere that gets too hot in the summer. No Florida, Texas, or deep south.
Not Philadelphia. I grew up in the area and it’s actually quite a nice city, but I want something new.
Again, I’ve never even been to many of the places on my list of possibilities, so I’m completely open to suggestions as to ruling them out, or adding to the list. I get back to the US in December and will be staying with my parents rent-free, so it’s not an urgent matter, but I know it’s only a matter of months before I need to move out for the sake of everyone’s sanity.
So, please, pitch me your city! Or tell me why I don’t want to live there! Or suggest another place! I want as many opinions as I can get.
If you’re willing to live in a smaller city, Missoula, MT (approximately 70k) is pretty much dead-on in every other respect.
[ul]
[li]Cheap: A one-bedroom apartment in a reasonable part of town is $600/month, utilities included but not electricity or Internet. That’s for a clean, new construction place which isn’t a crackhouse or crackhouse adjacent, and is on the bus line.[/li][li]Mass Transit: Mountain Line is clean, reliable, and free to ride, with reasonable schedules.[/li][li]Liberal: Think Austin, except Montana is nowhere near as rabid as Texas. We’re a nice little university town liberal bubble in a red state. I’m personally not conversant with the GLBTQ community, but I’ve been in and out of here literally my entire life and I can’t imagine Missoula is homophobic or transphobic.[/li][li]Seasons: Yes, we get more than winter. Summers range into the high 90s, but it’s a dry heat, and as long as you have water, shade, and a breeze, it’s quite pleasant. Actually getting autumn is a bit iffier, but springs tend to be pleasant.[/li][/ul]
Winter might be a deal-breaker, but Missoula tends to be milder than the rest of the state. We have sushi, Thai, French, and other non-White American food, and lots of little restaurants, and plenty of boutique shopping downtown, but if you demand Ethiopian takeout or something you’ll be disappointed. You can check the details online, and I’ll answer specific questions.
Missoula is walkable and bike-friendly. Without a car, you won’t be seeing much of the rest of the state, or much outside of town, but this city does have art museums and arthouse theaters and clubs.
DC! It’s too expensive (but you could definitely share a 2 bedroom for $1000- and that’s a totally normal thing to do here) and the summers are miserable, but it’s an incredible place to live.
Jobs are abundant and well-paid. The people are intelligent and interesting. It’s extremely international. There is more to do than you can shake a stick at. You definitely don’t need a car. And it’s all just a very fun, grown-up, internationally focused city.
Just pointing out that Minneapolis is really “Minneapolis + St. Paul.” The cities are contiguous and you really can’t tell when you pass from one to the other when the border isn’t the river. You seem to be looking at city proper population figures, so Mpls looks small; in reality the Twin Cities population is larger than Albuquerque 's and maybe even a little bigger than that of Boston, Seattle, Baltimore, or Denver…same ballpark anyway. I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss it because of size…not without getting your options down to Chicago and precious little else, anyway!
Not crazy expensive: someplace I could rent a 1-bedroom or share a 2-bedroom for less than $1000/month. I’m willing to share a place and I’m willing to deal with a rough (but not too rough) neighborhood. I’m also willing to compromise with an inner suburb rather than a city itself, but that brings me to the next point…
Cleveland. It’s very inexpensive to live here in the city and in the inner-ring suburbs. Cleveland has very nice neighborhoods and most aren’t rough. Even the rough ones aren’t really that rough. We’ve had a rash of violent crimes, but honestly most of them involve people that are “In the game”, so to speak. The vast majority of regular law-abiding citizens have little to worry about.
2) Adequate public transit. I have neither the means nor desire to own a car.
Cleveland. Public transportation here is pretty good, and thorough if you live in the city or inner-ring suburbs. Not crowded either.
3) Medium-large to huge: a population of, say, 400k is about as small as I’m willing to consider.
Cleveland…
4) Reasonably liberal with an existent queer scene and fairly multicultural.
Cleveland! We are arguably the must multi-cultural city in the entire Midwest, outside of Chicago. The queer scene here is pretty established as well. You’d like Lakewood if that’s your scene.
5) Ideally someplace that gets all four seasons but definitely not somewhere that gets too hot in the summer. No Florida, Texas, or deep south.
Cleveland. We get all four seasons, sometimes in the same week!
6) Not Philadelphia. I grew up in the area and it’s actually quite a nice city, but I want something new.
Cleveland is definitely not Philly.
Seriously. If you like large, inexpensive housing, good neighborhoods, world-class cultural institutions, thriving arts districts, high-quality dining, etc etc etc, checkout Cleveland. The caveat? Don’t come here without a good job lined up, but I could say that for any city.
Another benefit to Cleveland is its central location. This might not mean much if you don’t own a car or have a desire to drive, but we are within close driving distance to Pittsburgh (2 hr), Detroit/Windsor (3 hr), Niagara Falls (3 hr), Toronto (5 hr), Chicago (7 hr), and DC (6 hr). It is extremely easy to to get around without flying.
Denver would be a ‘go’ on all of your points except #1. The population is growing like crazy and as a result, rental units are scarce and thus expensive. However, a little advance work in seeking out a roommate would probably make it workable.
Denver is surprisingly liberal, considering how conservative the state of Colorado is. The music and arts scene here is vibrant, jobs are plentiful and pay fairly well. If you don’t have personal reservations about it, I’d suggest looking for work in the mj industry. It’s going no where but up, both in size and in financial strength, and there’s still time to get in pretty close to the ground floor.
There’s a very strong gay community here. There’s a huge expansion of the light rail system underway now, expanding to the airport and the farther 'burbs. It’s already more than adequate within the metro itself. When I worked downtown, I took the light rail for years because it was so much cheaper and easier than parking.
Don’t let the news fool you about the weather here. The mountains get slammed with a lot of bad weather, but it only occasionally involves the city. We are not sitting directly at the base of the mountains as some folks think. Summers will have a few hot days, but there is little to no humidity, so they are more tolerable than you’d recall from Philly summers.
We are definitely multicultural, having a wide open door for immigrants - both legal and otherwise - and have vibrant ethnic communities of all types (and the great restaurants that go along with that ).
And…the scenery! It still takes my flatlander (originally from the Chicago area) breath away just a little bit every morning as I look out my car window and see the beauty of the Rockies all around me. Purple mountains majesty, indeed.
The “what do you do for a living” question is important for two reasons: both actually finding a job, and (really important for this discussion) whether or not it’s a career that sees major cost of living adjustments when you do it in different places. The best choices from a public transit perspective are DC/Boston/Chicago, and they cover everything else you’re looking for too… but if you’re making the same amount of money, it’s hard to recommend that group over Minneapolis/Cleveland/Indianapolis when you don’t already have an attachment to the more expensive areas.
If you’re going to make 20-30% more and/or your career will have better options in the more expensive cities? Those three are all really awesome places with their own culture and quirks, and places I’d love to set up a life (…valuing many of the same things you do). I love Seattle, too, but it’s a bit more of a car city than I’m comfortable with.
Detroit area might work. If you are committed to the city itself then things get complicated but the Woodward corridor suburbs north of 8 mile would fit pretty well, particularly closer on items 2 and 3 then the rest of the area. Ferndale, Berkley, Royal Oak, Birmingham(although that might be on the high end rent wise, I haven’t priced apartments there lately).
Based on your parameters for cost, I think you have to take Washington, DC off your list; if Boston, Chicago and Seattle might be too expensive, I think DC will be too. It’s usually in the top three most expensive cities in the US.
Portland fits all your requirements except for rent, unless you go in with some roommates. Rents have been spiraling upward rapidly lately, and people are being forced farther and farther east of the city, which is not the best place to live for a variety of reasons.
As for my “career” (I’m still at more of a ‘having a job’ phase than an actual career phase of my life), the past couple years I’ve been temping, working as an administrative assistant and/or working in the non-profit world. I’m still sorting out whether I just want to stick with that for a bit longer, or make a shift back into medical work (which I did in the military) as an EMT or possibly a pharmacy tech. Regardless, it’s the sort of stuff that as long as I’m in a reasonably large city, I can absolutely find work.
You know, that should definitely be on the list. Despite the fact that my best friend lives in the area, I always sort of forget that the non-Philadelphia parts of Pennsylvania exist. Added!
It does sound like it could work for me, but I think the combination of smaller population and remoteness would have me feeling a bit stir-crazy.
I do love DC – I have lots of family in the area (which is not necessarily a plus or minus). And from friends who’ve lived there, mostly for grad school, it seems like housing costs can be pretty steep, but in terms of entertainment there’s good odds you can keep yourself amused for cheap if not free. Does that line up with your experience?
Huh, never would’ve considered it (I’ve definitely got an east-coast bias), but I’ll add it to the list of possibilities!
Aha! My only real experience with Minneapolis has been repeatedly passing through the airport (which is really quite nice as far as airports go), and my dad used to fly out there a couple times a year for business. I have a vague notion of “twin cities” but didn’t realize they were so contiguous. It’ll definitely stay on the list.
This, and…
this, and…
…this have me kicking myself for not including it in the first place! My mom grew up in Lakewood, most of her family still lives in the area, and we go every year for Christmas. It’s a great city, and I have no idea why it slipped my mind, but it’s definitely going on the list!
Yeah, my friend who currently lives there has mentioned that the rental market is tough. I think it would be super challenging as a long-distance move, but doable. And yeah, that scenery is something else – you guys are spoiled!
How’s the transit situation there, if you know? Again, I’m pretty committed to not owning a car.
Hm. Noted, and filed as a data point. I’m still just starting to look (soon there’ll be big spreadsheets and everything involved).
One more thing in Missoula’s favor is scenery: If you like northern Rockies, we got all the northern Rockies you can want within walking distance of downtown. If you like river rafting, the Clark Fork runs right directly through town and one of the favorite summer activities is rafting in a big inner tube. There’s lots of little activities in places like Caras Park downtown including free concerts and other wingdings.
It’s a bit slower in the winter unless you like to ski, and I don’t know how you’d get to the slopes if you don’t have a car or friends.
The local truism is that you can’t eat scenery, but if you don’t have expensive tastes and you do have a love of the outdoors Missoula is a relatively cheap way to live in a big town in this part of the world.
Eh. I can certainly see both sides of the thing, and I won’t hype the place any more unless you have specific questions. I will say, though, that I think you’ve set your population preference a bit too high for your apparent budget, and smaller towns can offer charms in a very reasonable price range, especially if you get away from the coasts.
I was gonna say Cleveland, too. I grew up there and enjoyed it. You can definitely get great housing cheap. It seems to be undergoing an economic and artistic resurgence. And it’s got a great history in the arts. Lotsa radicals and free-love people and beatniks and hippies saw it as a great “in-between” place, like Denver, meaning “In-between New York and Chicago and San Francisco.”