Tell me where to move! (or brag about your hometown)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I will move to wherever the first person to respond suggests. Oh man that would be AWESOME

But, unrealistic I suppose.

So, I am getting antsy again. I am getting terribly sick of Minnesota and I feel I must be away from here within a year. Problem is, I have become somewhat picky.

I am from Memphis, which was too hot/steamy and far too murder-y.

I love Saint Paul, but the winters are far too long and too frigging cold. And the summers are too bloody hot!! Worst of both worlds! :frowning:

The criteria:

-Unmurder-y

-Doesn’t get too hot(or else I would have moved to Austin, TX by now)

-Doesn’t get too cold

-It can snow, but the shit needs to be gone within a few days.

-Excellent public transportation (I hate driving)

-I need to be able to get a 1 br apt for less than $700 (so, I guess San Francisco is out)

-People should be at least somewhat friendly (I had a really bad experience in MA a few years ago)

-Pretty liberal (unless your town is filled with extremely open-minded conservatives…that would work)

I guess that’s really it. I just need somewhere to settle for a few years, or until I get my degree and can hightail it out of this country (at which time there will probably be another thread like this–the International Version!)

I have been reading the Seattle thread with interest, because I think that may be the ticket…or better yet, Portland OR.

But, I hate rain.

Am I too picky? Will I get any answers?

2

That leaves Orlando(ish) out, I suppose. We’re in the middle of an uptick in crime…enough to bring down the Guardian Angels and some feds. :frowning:

3

How about somewhere in North Carolina? I hear people make list similar to yours frequently and they often pick there. It does get hot though in most places.

4

Denver fits all your criteria, except probably public transportation, which though not excellent, is not bad, either. Plus, you can be in the mountains in half an hour.

We have hot spells (we’re in one right now), but not much humidity; we have cold spells, but they don’t last long either. Heavy snows are usually in early or late winter when it melts off quickly.

Rents are on the increase lately, but still reasonable.

The city of Denver itself is fairly liberal; the suburbs not so much.

5

North Carolina? I suppose it would have to be Charlotte, right? Would there be decent public transportation anywhere else? Interesting…but, too far south to not be super hot and humid I would assume (although Ma would love for me to move south).

I had thought about Denver before…and forgot. It’s back on the list.

6

Bloomington, Indiana. I loved it there, and my requirements were about the same.

7

How about Ohio? Specifically, a little place called Vinton County. It’s not interesting, really, but it is a nice little place.

My emphasis is on little.

If you live in the county seat, you don’t need to worry about public transportation ever! The whole town is less than 2 miles across, so ride your bike! Traffic your problem? Ha! They only have one stoplight in town (two in the whole county)! Weather isn’t too bad (it is Ohio…) and by the time you’ve lived there a year, you know every guy that plows roads for the town or county, so you can call him up and check when it will be clear! Liberal-ism is not the highest, but Athens is a short drive away, so usually there is enough mix of people around that it’s definitely tolerable. Un-murdery isn’t too big of an issue. There are only 2k people in town, so murders aren’t common because most people are related or been around for years. Of course, that means people are friendly (mostly) because they have been there for years, either they love your family or they hate your family, usually due to actions that took place in 1982 by some random uncle…

Of course, the job market isn’t exactly booming, and it’s 45 minutes to any 24 hour store (well, there is a 24 hour gas station 30 minutes away, but their pizza sucks). Also, not much nightlife within a half-hour or so, but there are a few bars in town.

Or, try Bloomington, Indiana. I wanted to move there to go to IU, but my wife and I found out she was pregnant and that put a stop to an 8 hour move…

Brendon Small

8

Sorry, I clicked post when I came back to the desk - but I’d already posted…

Brendon Small

9

Well, excluding the cold/snow angle, Burlington, VT meets and BEATS all those criteria.

But yeah…days of sub-zero temperature, months with several feet of snow, etc… :frowning:

10

I gotta give my plug to Fayetteville, NC. You like sports, we got cheap tickets on all major sports. You like fishing? We got lake, and saltwater a couple hours away. You like history? We got that too. You like good eats? Check out Skibo Rd. Ever see a HMMWV dropped from a plane? PM me and I will give you the schedule. Move to Fayetteville, NC. You may find you can never leave.

SSG Schwartz

11

I guess Tucson’s out- it was 112 today, albeit dry as a bone.

So I’ll go with my old standby- Asheville, North Carolina. In the mountains right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, beautiful, small town but a surprising number of big-city amenities, a very diverse population, friendly, artsy and new-agey yet surrounded by old-southiness, good weather, good music, cheap rents.

I’ve heard a lot in favor of the Research Triangle area, on the other side of the state, so if the mountains aren’t for you maybe you should check that out.

12

Here is the site for the Chamber of Commerce in. Check it out- it makes me miss Asheville so bad.

13

That’s too bad. . . we’ve got (if you ask me) the best weather in the continental US. (Also, the most liberal people by a mile). Perhaps this is WHY it’s so expensive.

I have every intention of dying here, but if I had to go somewhere else, it would be somewhere in North Carolina. (My list would look much like yours)

14

Let this one go and you can have a pretty nice apt in Fresno, CA for $700 maybe even a 2BR. You can still find 1BR and studios in dodgy neighborhoods for less than $500/month It does get pretty hot here during the summer but you get used to it.

15

You should come to Chapel Hill, North Carolina! I am SO sad to be leaving. It does get pretty hot in the summers, though, and while there’s a great free bus system in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, public transit in the rest of the area can be a bit limited. (Getting around by bus is doable, except on Sundays, but it takes a while.)

That said, it’s a lovely college town that’s a lot less conservative than the rest of the state, we don’t get much snow or rain, and people are generally very nice.

16

I’m a big fan of North Carolina - especially Chapel Hill. I’ve never had to use the public transportation system there but otherwise it’s just a magical place to be.

17

Recent transplant from Seattle (11 years) to Chapel Hill, NC. I hate it here and totally long for Seattle. To me North Carolina (at least the Triangle area, consisting of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) represents the worst combination: all the disadvantages of a city (traffic, smog) but few of the cultural advantages. This area has been developed so as to eliminate any sense of living in an urban environment; it’s a series of isolated neighborhoods connected by highways and surrounded by thick and impenetrable forests (they’re beautiful, but only hunters ever actually go in them).

18

Ok, not to hijack the thread too much, but could you please tell me what I’m missing? I mean, downtown CH is ok (a pretty run-of-the-mill and quieter-than-most college district), and renting right down there would be sort of interesting, but I just can’t get over how there are absolutely no neighborhoods, no sense of being in a community anywhere around here. The great thing about Seattle was that tons of people really lived in each of the funky areas – there were lively neighborhoods stretching out for miles around the commercial centers. I think the basic problem is the small population, but DAMN if only Chapel Hill/Carrboro actually had some nice neighborhoods in walking distance to the downtown cores, how vastly much better it would be to me. As it is, I can’t see staying, and I don’t get what people love about it.

19

Charlottesville, VA? Might be too hot and I can’t speak for the bus system. Otherwise, it’s a keeper.

20

Baltimore meets most of your criteria. The murder-y parts are in areas where there’s a lot of drug trade, which you probably won’t frequent unless you’re a druggie.