where to live

[iRachel]

Chicago (does have winter, though)

Madison, WI (has winter and no major league team, but a great college sports town, and you can get to Milwaukee or Chicago pretty easily to see a pro ballgame).

 

[Aniej]

Riiiighttt, why do you people hate on philly? I mean i understand Waukesha, WI is a hotbed of culture and all but come on.

 

[livingfortoday]

You would love Chicago. It's all of those except for warm in the winter! I pretty much commute by bike here, and the public transit is fantastic as long as you don't live in the 'burbs. I moved here from Miami, and I've gotten used to the winter and winter biking. You'll love it!

 

[dukebound85]

I'm telling you anyplace without mountains is not a place worthy to live in lol. Snowboarding, mtn biking, rock climbing I mean try doing that in the midwest. I should know, I skied on a golf course before when I lived in nebraska/kansas. How sad is that


COLORADO ALL THE WAY
well the front range i mean lol

 

[Aniej]

A proud Philadelphian, but I have to second Chicago.

I think a more important question is how old are you and what do you do?

 

[andysc]

Riiiighttt, why do you people hate on philly? I mean i understand Waukesha, WI is a hotbed of culture and all but come on.

lol. we actually just got 8 inches of snow yesterday and are expecting another 8 tonight. and yes, we're officially under a blizzard watch from this evening until tomorrow afternoon.

 

[4np]

I'm telling you anyplace without mountains is not a place worthy to live in lol.

Well, don't move over here then

 

[furcalchick]

just butting in for a moment.

for the ones that said fort collins and santa barbara, is there public transportation options to get me and my bike down to the big city easily for a day out on the town?

and just an interesting one i want to have analyzed is new orleans. you think it will ever get back to where it was before, or is it avoid for that place?

love the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

 

[true777]

Pretty obvious:

San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, or San Diego.

Last two are cheaper and have nicer weather, but are a tad boring.
First two are fantastic culturally and in terms of transportation, as well as the "specialness" and small-town/community feel, but cost of living is a factor, and the weather can be dreary (though not near as bad as Seattle or Portland -- yuck).

 

[johnmartin78]

and just an interesting one i want to have analyzed is new orleans. you think it will ever get back to where it was before, or is it avoid for that place?

Once again,brings me back to Savannah GA.Its like a mini New Orleans.Full of culture,beautiful downtown,and WARM.

The more I think about it the more I want to move there.Heres some pics.

http://community.webshots.com/album/170180414CgHYWf

Oh ya,has a nice beach too.

 

[leekohler]

You would love Chicago. It's all of those except for warm in the winter! I pretty much commute by bike here, and the public transit is fantastic as long as you don't live in the 'burbs. I moved here from Miami, and I've gotten used to the winter and winter biking. You'll love it!

Yep- I've been here a long time myself- great city. Winter here doesn't get that crazy anymore since global warming kicked in. You won't ever need or wish you had a car here either.

 

[bananaquit]

Well I never took my bike down to LA for a day trip, if that's what you mean. But when I lived in SB my bike was my primary transportation year-round. Let me put it this way - in the six+ years that I lived there, I never got used to the place; it never felt ordinary. Like gauchogolfer, that pretty much defines "paradise" for me.

 

[Baron58]

why do you people hate on philly?

Because it abso-effing-lutely sucks. If you lined up 100 hookers, gave them each a $20 and said 'Go!', Philly would still suck more. It is a pimple on the ass end of the east coast.

If you live in the city you will pay 2% 'wage tax'
If you work in the city you will pay 2% 'wage tax'
If you live AND work in the city you will therefore pay 4% 'wage tax'.
Workers & companies flee the city for Montgomery county to escape this, furthering the decline of Center City.


If you want to be a freelancer or have your own business, you will pay a 'business PRIVILEGE' tax AND you will pay a 'GROSS RECEIPTS' tax (that's right, a tax on the $$ you take in, even if you massively lose money in your business). And you will pay the wage tax on top of that.

It is filthy dirty. It's run down. It's soul-suckingly oppressive to look at. There is NOTHING visually appealing anywhere. Public transportation in the area is nothing like DC, Chicago, Boston, NYC. PATCO trains look like Soviet leftovers from the 1950s.

It has amazingly high crime rates, particularly murders in the in-town neighbourhoods. It is not a safe place to walk at most times, particularly at night. South Street between about 10th and Penn's Landing is somewhat of an exception, but that's only because it's the tourist bar scene area and policed accordingly.

The main artery highways are only 2-lanes in each direction in lots of places (Schukill) which leads to serious daily congestion with no hope of relief since the short-sighted people here neither want nor have begun to plan for expansion. Roadways, bridges, and every other piece of infrastructure is visibly crumbling.

The city government is sooooo corrupt and incompetent. There's corruption everywhere to some degree, and the former mayor of Atlanta was a primary example of that (and mayor Daley of Chicago can also DIAF for what he did to Meigs field, IMHO), but no matter how much corruption you may find in other places, they all look like saints compared to <spit>John Street</spit> and everything he represents in Philly.

I don't like the people at all. They are every bad stereotype you've ever seen on film, personified. It's a living caricature.

-----------------------

From what you've listed, it sounds like you want Chicago, San Diego or the SF Bay Area. Atlanta has better nightlife, better restaurants, better architecture, is cleaner, is more efficient, and actually *cares* to make itself better. Philly has given up. It is a dead city. Avoid it at all costs.

 

[johnmartin78]

I'm confused,do you like Philly or not?

 

[iLoveMyMBP]

Milwaukee, WI......we are having a huuuge blizzard

 

[ambience]

I went to Chicago a few weeks ago and its truly a great city. I have been comtemplating moving there and would even give up my car and driving to live there. Its really shocking to see how awesome a city can be since I'm so used to this hell hole called Detroit. Chicago is so far my favorite of the cities I've visted in the US, I've been to almost every major city east of Chicago (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, etc). My vote goes to Chicago.

 

[dukebound85]

just butting in for a moment.

for the ones that said fort collins and santa barbara, is there public transportation options to get me and my bike down to the big city easily for a day out on the town?

and just an interesting one i want to have analyzed is new orleans. you think it will ever get back to where it was before, or is it avoid for that place?

love the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

ft collins has a city wide bus system which is quite good. you can mount your bike to the front as each bus has a bike rack. if you happen to be a student, the bus system is free. otherwise the fares are $1.25 and free if under 17

im not sure about a bus system to get to denver. i would imagine there would be possibly. when i go to denver, i usually just drive as it takes like 45min to get there.

i know dia (denver international airport) provides shuttles to and from ft collins if thats any indication

 

[SMM]

Pretty obvious:

San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, or San Diego.

Last two are cheaper and have nicer weather, but are a tad boring.
First two are fantastic culturally and in terms of transportation, as well as the "specialness" and small-town/community feel, but cost of living is a factor, and the weather can be dreary (though not near as bad as Seattle or Portland -- yuck).

Hey man, do not go bashing my hood. The Pacific Northwest has beautiful weather, spectacular actually. We do have four seasons, but winter is pretty mild considering our latitude.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Not sure who decided that Santa Barbara was cheaper than the other cities on the west coast. Median home price = $979,000. Third most expensive in the country.

But all the other bits about paradise still hold.

 

[beatzfreak]

I'd go with Berkeley, CA or the surrounding area (anywhere in the East Bay or San Francisco). As much as it's known for its politics, Berkeley and the surrounding area is wonderful culturally, absolutely great for biking (a lot of people do it, so cars are used to bikers), and has Bart, as was previously mentioned for SF.

Really, I'm just a huge fan of Northern California, so I'd suggest looking around there

I'll second the East Bay. Check out Alameda. Great community, a little warmer than SF. There's a BART train that goes to SF that you can take your bike on.
my sister lives there, she loves it.

 

[Grakkle]

Boston or Boulder, Colorado.

 

[Schnebar]

Woa lots of people in Santa Barbara

I live there

It has most of the stuff you wanted but is not that big.

 

[fotografica]

If you can deal with winter,and remove your R's,Boston...

 

[jemeinc]

The points about the city wage tax in Philly are dead on accurate.. The unions are too powerful in Philly as well, which make things difficult as far as conventions and the like.. As far as it being filthy and run down- not even close.. NYC is filthy, Philly is not.. It's a major city for crying out loud- ALL of them have spots that are on the dirty, or run down side- that's just the way it goes- but Olde City is cleaner than most major cities in this country.. I've visited most of the MAJOR cities listed in this thread and I can say that with some certainty..

I can't stand John Street, but the allegations of corruption have been exageratted..He's a target no doubt, but the allegations don't seem to stick- though sometimes I wish they would;-)..

Philly's not perfect, but it's a very historical, cultural city with fantastic universities, great medical facilities, outstanding musical arts, world class dining, beautiful architecture and very friendly people.. I'm guessing the person who had all those negative comments about the people wasn't from the east coast- there's no doubt that the east coast has a different pace to it than the rest of the country- sometimes that can be perceived as rude, but it's not- don't take it personal..

Philly has it's problems, but what major city doesn't? I live here, and I love the place, and am proud to be from Philly..

As far as Santa Barbera goes- better bring some bank- beautiful place, but man is it pricey..

 

[fotografica]

there's no doubt that the east coast has a different pace to it than the rest of the country- sometimes that can be perceived as rude, but it's not- don't take it personal..

Ahh,yes..East Coast,particularly North East/Mid Atlantic,is definitely a different "pace" than rest of the country. Tho if you're a tourist asking for directions in Boston,God bless you