I’m looking to relocate in the next year or so. I figure if I don’t do it soon, I’m going to be stuck here forever. Do not want! So, help me out. There’s nothing really keeping me here, so why not?
If you enjoy where you live/lived, please tell me the following:
Where is/was it?
Pros/Cons?
Colleges in area?
Your favorite place to go to have fun?
Cost of living?
Jobs?
Weather?
How’s the music scene?
I plan on researching every city that catches my eye, but I want real people’s inputs first, not just what some website says. Haha.
I was born and raised about an hour outside Milwaukee Wisconsin. I try and get back as often as possible; it’s a great city.
The job market is iffy; like anywhere’s but there’s plenty of jobs to be found.
Tons of colleges, both community, state, and private. UW is a great school.
Places to have fun is difficult as I left when I was 18. I have a bunch of friends who still live there, and they’re always dragging me out to do something. From night/bar life to spending time out in the country partying, fishing, boating, hunting, snowmobiling, hiking, etc. There’s tons of crap to do there. In summer there’s always a festival going on either in the city or in one of the surrounding towns. The place is a LOT larger than buffalo though, so getting from one side of the city to another can take a solid hour on a good day. Plus you’re only an hour from Chicago.
Cost of living is about the same, but taxes are a lot less; but houses are more expensive.
Weather is about the same as here.
Music scene… HUGE!!! They have an awesome concert scene, as well as the Worlds Largest Music Festival is held on the waterfront every year there. www.summerfest.com.
If you want to go check it out, it’s about an 11 hour drive from here; I’ve done it in 9, but that was flying. July 4th timeframe is when Summerfest is.
I’d move back there if the opertunity presented itself… Imagine buffalo if they pulled their head out of their ass and did something with the lakefront and about 10X the size.
Where is/was it? Raleigh, NC
Pros/Cons? Warm weather,good jobs/not a major metro city(not sure if that matters to you), far from family
Colleges in area? NC State University, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill
Your favorite place to go to have fun? Mountain bike trails, DT bars, hockey games, hiking, boating on the lakes
Cost of living? a little bit more than buffalo. In general, though the pay is higher.
Jobs? Plenty…Lots of healthcare related positions.
Weather? AWESOME
How’s the music scene? Not sure…depends what kind of music you like but there seems to be some shows
Take a long weekend and go check it out. Like I said it’s about 12 hours if you just cruise out there. Hotel’s can be found cheaply.
The scenery outside the city is like being down in the southerteir here; nothing’s flat just as a warning; lol.
I suggest checking out the city; maybe head west to Wisconsin Dells for a day; that’s a great tourist town that’s about 2 hours from the city; great for quick day/weekend trips.
I’m going to try and get out there for Summerfest this year; it’s going to depend how my recovery from Knee surgery in May goes.
Where is/was it? Ft Collins/Loveland CO (2005)
Pros/Cons? Drive thru beer stores / Lots of illegals
Colleges in area? Yeah, one of the CO State colleges was in Ft. Collins
Your favorite place to go to have fun? Tons of microbrews, national parks, random places in the mountains to get lost.
Cost of living? Cheaper than NY, though tolls were more expensive pretty much everything else was cheaper
Jobs? The area is booming, or was when I was there.
Weather? Fantastic. Summers are decently hot. Winter they get tons of snow, but also have weird days of 70 degrees mixed in.
How’s the music scene? I have no idea, I haven’t been to a concert in years.
If I was offered a job in the area I would DEFINITELY go back. I wouldn’t want to live there indefinitely, but for a few years sure.
Yeah, Cleveland is not on my list. I was there last week, and I wasn’t feeling it. I’m not really looking for places “better” than Buffalo. Just somewhere else. Something different. Something new.
I’m thinking:
Eugene, OR
Milwaukee, Wis
Nashville, Tenn
Seattle, WA
Morgantown, WV
I would love to live in California, but right now I don’t think I could survive there. I need to finish school and get a job to live comfortably there.
Economy is better; weather is a little nicer than here. You’re an hour from Chicago; the city itself is a lot nicer, modern, friendlier, with more to do than here. Within a 2 hour drive there’s so much to do it’s unbelieveable.
If you took Buffalo; removed all the backroom politics; rebuilt & modernizied the city and surrounding areas, and moved it within an hour drive of NYS; lowered the tax rate dramatically; and made it about 10X larger… then you’d have Milwaukee.
what are you looking for, other than a good music scene?
Personally, I like cities that are close enough to the ocean that I can at least make a day trip to go surfing or lounge. I also like being outdoors and going hiking and stuff. I also like good nightlife to get out the bars and cut loose a bit. So near a decent city that is a cab-ride away from the nightlife. Dog friendly cities are a plus for me too. I like taking my dog places and not getting harassed about it.
That is just touching the surface of what I would look for in a city…now it’s your turn. You need to really think about what your goals are and what your ideal lifestyle is.
A good college to get my bachelor’s, and master’s. Job opportunities. New experiences in life. I don’t know. A place to do things I’ve never done. One with a good nightlife. I don’t really know what I want. I just know I want to get out of here and live other places.
There’s nothing really keeping me here, so why not?