We want to relocate. What do you think of these places?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My entire life I’ve been sheltered by the Rockies, never venturing to the other (east) side. The very idea of moving to the east is a bit frightening - with all the people, sprawl, racial tension, humidity, and toll roads…

That being said, my SO and I are thinking about relocating. He’s a software developer, and though he can find a job easy enough in the Seattle area, the cost of living is making it hard to get ahead, or even stay on top of things (the latter having more to do with me). The issue is that we’re not really sure where to go. At first we were wanting to stick to the west end of the US (Portland is very likely), but now we’ve decided to be adventurous and not overlook the rest of the country. We would like to live by a major city (for job reasons), but living outside of the city isn’t out of consideration. What I’m trying to do is start with a pool of maybe 10 cities, and go from there.

I’m asking anyone who lives or has lived in the cities listed below, or knows a lot of about them to tell me what they think. The major things I’d like to know about, are:

Crime rates
Economy
Transportation
Recreation (any and all)
Aesthetics

Of course, throw in anything else you think would be useful information.

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Austin, TX
Boise, ID
Virginia Beach, VA
Chicago, IL (Chicago scares me, but I still wanted to list it)
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Nashville, TN
Savannah, GA
Atlanta, GA (Again, kind of scares me)
**Athens, GA
Charleston, WV
Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio
Huntsville, AL ** (only because he has had a few legit job offers there…though I’m not exactly excited about it.)

So, there you go. If I haven’t listed cities you think would be good places to consider, please feel free to mention them. Same goes for places that are pretty horrid. I’ve lived in Utah and Nevada, and have a “been there, done that” attitude toward those states.

I should also mention that we are both pretty indifferent to politics and religion - though we are on the liberal side.

I tried to make this easy to follow, I apologize if it isn’t. :slight_smile:

2

Welcome to the boards.

When mrsgnu and I were thinking of relocating, Savannah ended up tops on her list, while I really enjoyed Chicago when we visited. We’re staying put for now, though.

I grew up in the suburbs of Portland, OR, and I heartily recommend it.

3

I moved from the east of the Rockies (Kansas City) to Portland. :slight_smile:

4

Anywhere in GA, AL, or TN will have SEC football on television. Nothing anywhere else has tops that.

5

I think Chicago is the greatest American city, but I’m hopelessly biased. (I do not live there now)
Crime rates
Like any other city, crime is there. But no where near what some think. I hear silly stories of Al Capone, gangs and other nonsense. Some neighborhoods are dicey, sure. But if you are an urban dweller, it is a absolutely wonderful city to live in. I don’t think I could ever tire of living there.
Economy
Like Boston, SF and others, it is expensive. Over the last 4 months I’ve spent the majority of my time in Seattle, and I have a sense that housing costs are similar. A starter home in a nice suburb or nice city neighborhood will start at 400K, and likely higher than that. $600K and higher is common. (Though Evanston, Elk Grove, Oak Park and some others may have some gems)
Transportation
Very good public transportation. Many city dwellers choose to have no car at all. Many suburbanites commute. The Dan Ryan and other highhway commutes suck. The traffic is the only thing I don’t miss about Chicago.
Recreation (any and all) & Aesthetics
First class. Fantastic. Some of the best architecture in the country. Drive into Chicago at night on the Dan Ryan. At 22nd street pick up Lake Shore Drive. Coming into Chicago from the south off of LSD is a beautiful sight. The Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Hawks, the Art Institute, Field Museum, Museum of S&I, Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, Adler Planetaruim, some of the best jazz clubs anywhere, Reggae, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Steppenwolf, 25 miles of beaches, and I haven’t scratched the surface. Chicago in the spring is a wonderful thing.

I read in the WSJ once that** the second hardest** thing for a high level (Pres/CEO) recruiter was to get an executive to move to Chicago. (reputation for gritty, crime, Al Capone, smokestacks, slaughterhouses etc) The hardest job for a recruiter? To get a high level executive to leave Chicago.

If you’ve never been there, and you’re considering moving, do your self a favor and spend a long weekend there in Mid/Late May.

6

I lived in Austin for a couple of years and really enjoyed it. To me, it is the “right size” city (1 millionish), and on the West side of town the views can be dramatic. Hip community, too, although it is more conservative now than it used to be, I’m told by old-timers. Lots of outdoor recreation, primarily hiking and boating.

“Atlanta” covers a lot of ground. I live about 50 miles outside of the heart of the city, near Lake Lanier. Much of it here still feels “country”, although serious shopping is within 15 minutes. Crime increases substantially in Dekalb and southern Fulton counties.

You might consider Jacksonville, FL. I lived there ten years and really enjoyed it, for many of the same reasons I enjoyed Austin (city size). Lots and lots of boating and beach and similar recreation.

I found pay for software development a bit better in Austin than Atlanta, but property tax rates in Travis County (Austin) are quite high compared to where I am now.

7

But is the Atlanta area really that bad? I mean, I understand that the crime rates are higher than what I’m use to, but how is it spread out? Is it easy to avoid crap areas, or is it really spotty all over the place?

Where are some nice areas outside of the city (that aren’t outragously expensive)?

8

Charleston, WV is a nice small town of 50,000 or so. The downtown is very nice. It is somewhat “split” by the interstate which runs perpendicualr to the river and the city lies mostly along the river. The economy of WV is not great, but cost of living seems pretty low as well.

9

If you are from the west coast you will almost certainly find Atlanta to be outrageously cheap. Look to the north and north-east of the city. Crime levels are pretty low out there.

10

I grew up in Texas. Austin is in my opinion the best place to be in Texas. A nice little city. BUT I don’t care for the rest of the state, so I would pass on Austin just from that.

I don’t know what the software-development situation is, but I notice you’ve left the Southwest off the list. The Southwest is my favorite part of mainland US.

11

Yet another Austinite checking in

Crime rates

Not too bad, all thing considered

Economy

busy busy right now. It does have major swings both up and down

Transportation

Best bus system in Texas! Three trains a week! I-35 runs right through downtown! On the plus side, there’s halfway decent bicycle facilities :wink:

Recreation (any and all)

Go Horns! Live music capital of the world[sup]tm[/sup]. Decent amount of green space in the city. Hill Country. Plus, Texas has real BBQ.

bAesthetics

pink-hot capital of Texas :eek:

12

I lived in Raleigh for a couple of years. Raleigh and Durham are two very distinct cities. There’s also Cary (known locally as the Containtment Area for Relocated Yankees), a slew of bedroom communities, and Chapel Hill, a college town that houses the flagship university of the UNC system. Were I to move back to the area, I’d most likely live in Durham.

All of my answers are based on my perception of what things were like 5 years ago, so you may want to take them with a grain of salt.

Crime
Fairly low in Raleigh, a little higher in Durham. Both have neighborhoods you wouldn’t want to go in as well as very nice areas. There’s a perception that Durham is a bit sketchy, but in my experience, this is not true.

Economy
Lots of tech and corporate jobs in the Research Triangle Park, lots of academic and admin jobs at the colleges and universities in the area.

Transportation
You will need a car. Traffic can get pretty lousy at times.

Recreation
How do you feel about college basketball? 'Cause it approaches the status of a religion around there. Both cities have a small but vibrant arts scene. Lots of good local theater. The NC Museum of Art is located in Raleigh and has a good permanent collection as well as bringing in blockbuster exhibits. There used to be a good live music scene in Chapel Hill–don’t know how true that is. Durham has a ton of African-American cultural stuff. There are decent public parks in both places. You’re only a couple of hours away from the beach.

Duke University and North Carolina Central University (a public, historically black college) are both located in Durham. North Carolina State University, Peace College, Meredith College (both women’s colleges), St. Augustine’s College and Shaw University (both historically black colleges) are in Raleigh. All of the colleges offer a variety of cultural events.

Aesthetics
Both Durham and Raleigh have some lovely historic neighborhoods, but be prepared for lots and lots of new subdivisions. (Cary seems to consist of nothing *but * subdivisions.)

What else? The area has large immigrant population. Lots of Latinos have moved there recently, and many Asians (from all over Asia) have moved there as well–many because of the universities or jobs at RTP.

13

Austin, TX
You don’t want to move here. It has already been seriously screwed up by all the other assholes who have moved here. What once used to be a weird, funky, cool enclave in the middle of Texas is now just an overcrowded, dirty clone of every other Texas city.

14

Just wondering, what about Chicago scares you? I’ve lived and worked in and around the town for most of 46 years, and haven’t found anything particularly scary.

It is a big metropolitan area, if you are not used to that, covering parts of 5-6 counties in 2-3 states. But most folks essentially carve out a particular portion of that metroplis within which they do most of their living, working, and recreating.

15

The Atlanta metro area is comprised of 28 counties, although I think that might be a bit broad. So, it is pretty spread out, with the North (along GA400/US19) corridor seeing some of the highest growth.

In the area where I live, a 3,000 sq. ft. house with 1/2 to 1 acre sells for $400K-$500K. You can find new 2,400 ft. houses on smaller lots for the mid-to-high 200’s, depending on how far out of town you want to go.

Property taxes on my house in Forsyth County are about $2700, considerably cheaper than Fulton and Gwinnett, which is part of what drives the boom around here.

16

Be prepared for the heat and humidity if you choose GA. However, SEC football is mighty compelling.

17

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN — Lots of wonderful public art, terrific people, strong liberal/progressive culture, seriously long & cold winters. seriously. long. cold.

Chicago, IL – Amazing and wonderful with all kinds of interesting people (from yuppies to eccentrics) but it takes a lot of work to live there, both in terms of making enough money to enjoy it and dealing with constant crowds and traffic and an overall competitive atmosphere. We lived in Palatine for 6 years, and I was involved in activities all over Chicagoland, there is SO much to do, it was fantastic.

Atlanta, GA – Really humid in the summer and flat, with lots of terrible driving/drivers - the roads are poorly labeled, and people do strange things while driving.

Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio – I lived in Cincinnati for 10 years and loved it, still love the city. West Chester is the “hot” real estate right now, but I like the near east side better. The downtown is beautiful and the people are very nice and ordinary, not difficult to know. The air is pretty dirty, though, and it’s fairly conservative in general. Columbus - yucko, ugly and flat. Cleveland - was pretty rough years ago when my husband was a student at Case, but they keep working on changing it and I have no idea what it’s like now.

18

Minneapolis/St Paul - Lived in or near for most of my life
Crime rates
Like most large cities, there are better and worse areas of town. There are a few neighborhoods I won’t walk through at night. No areas I won’t drive through.

Economy
Stable. There does seem to be a loss of manufacturing jobs (some surprise, huh?) but there is also a good sized hi-tech job base.

Transportation
The mass transit system is pretty bad. Buses exist, but unless you are traveling into a high employment area, during rush hours, you will end up with a long trip with transfers. We are in the process of building a light rail system (1 route right now, hopefully more to come).
The freeway system is generally pretty good, for a city this size. Unless you work at matching your jobs to your housing location, a car will be a must.

Recreation (any and all)
If you are in or can get to one of the downtowns proper, lots of theatre, concerts, bars/clubs, museums. The suburbs have restaurants and movie theaters.
Lots of opportunity for outdoor recreation. Lots of lake, rivers and parks, both inside the cities and in the surrounding areas.
Check out City Pages for an idea of what is going on.

Aesthetics
The Twin Cities are a very pretty area. Lots of trees, lakes and parks. There is a lot of suburban sprawl, but at least it has green.

Other
Until maybe 15 years ago, the Twin Cities were not very culturally diverse. That has changed quite a bit since then, but it’s still very northern European. Not particularly bigoted, but still very white.
Chicago vs Twin Cities housing market - Assume that the Twin Cities will cost you 20% less for a house then Chicago. Maybe more then that.
Winter - yes, we get it. Yes it gets cold and lasts from about December to early April. What we don’t get is ice though. We get snow, you shovel it, and everything goes on. This area is very well able to handle winter.
Education - The University of Minnesota is based here, as well as a number of other colleges. Lots of educational opportunities.

19

Why are you even THINKING about going east?!? Have you seen the weather out there?
Portland. It’s a no brainer.

20

I grew up in the southwest. It’s pretty, but I don’t want to live in the desert again.