Best big cities to live?

[Goldfsh84]

My husband and I will be moving next summer. I will be graduating with my master's and he will be able to work from home wherever we live.

I have traveled quite a bit, but there are many places I haven't been. What I'm looking for is- in your own opinion, what are some great big cities to live in with a population of at least 800,000-1,000,000.

Thanks! :)

[curiouskev]

in my opinion it depends what your looking for, what your MA is in, if you can get a job somewhere with it, and what type of climate you want. To state some of the obvious big cities ive been to.

New York- probably the best city i've been to. Huge, never a dull moment, land of opportunity. You have access to sports teams, beaches, theatre, arts, music. Public Transportation is excellent. Lots of options to get away for the weekend, skiing up north, or suburbs. Downside is the expense and weather depending on where your coming from.

Boston- great city although tends to be more geared to a younger crowd seeing as there are tons of universities and colleges around. May be harder to find jobs or job market may be more specialized than other large cities. Not as overwhelming as new york, sports teams, beaches. Downside is also it expensive and the weather in winter and summer are harsh.

Philly, pretty cool city, havent spent much time in it.

Denver- nice city with great view of mountains. Slower pace of life than other Big cities which is a + or - depending on where your coming from. Cheaper city to live in. Downside may be job market and that your next big city isnt close by.

San Diego- beautiful weather, great beaches, low key type of life style. Not really sure what the job market is like there but overall i know in California its not good. Traffic is a big problem but in what city is it not?

San Francisco- another beautiful city, weather is pretty good besides the morning fog, again not really sure what job market is like, nor have i spent enough time here to really get a feel for things.



sorry my thoughts are all over the place, as you can see im from the east coast so i dont have much to say about the places out west. There are lots of possibilities.

[Goldfsh84]

I really am interested in NYC, although the last time I was there was a long time ago. I am also possibly interested in Boston or Denver.

My master's degree is in public health (MPH), so I am looking for jobs at health departments, non-profits, etc.

[Tayl405]

I am always a big advocate for Philly, so if you have any questions about living here, I'd be happy to answer them. :)

[curiouskev]

I really am interested in NYC, although the last time I was there was a long time ago. I am also possibly interested in Boston or Denver.

My master's degree is in public health (MPH), so I am looking for jobs at health departments, non-profits, etc.

where are you from?

[Goldfsh84]

I'm from central Illinois. I've lived in Chicago (not a fan) and overseas. I really am sick of smallish town Midwest (the population where I live in 150,000), but I wouldn't mind Indianapolis, St. Louis, or KC in the Midwest. I just want to get out of Illinois! :) I also would like somewhere a little warmer than here.

[curiouskev]

I'm from central Illinois. I've lived in Chicago (not a fan) and overseas. I really am sick of smallish town Midwest (the population where I live in 150,000), but I wouldn't mind Indianapolis, St. Louis, or KC in the Midwest. I just want to get out of Illinois! :) I also would like somewhere a little warmer than here.

haha yeah i want to visit chicago but i think ill wait till the summer. Boston may not be the right choice if u want warmer, because boston winters are brutal. 150,000 isnt small townish though?

[Empressallie]

Los Angeles! I thought LA would be totally overwhelming, but it's really very livable.

A few ways to live well in LA:

-Commute - your husband doesn't have to worry about this, so live close to your office. LA commutes are a bitch.

-Income - I wouldn't move here if you have an income on the lower end. LA can be expensive and worrying about money really sucks.

-Get involved - it's a huge, spread out city, with no central downtown area so join clubs, a gym, a church, whatever, to meet new people.

The weather is great, can't beat it. Not super hot, never cold, just sunny and warm. :)

[Goldfsh84]

150,000 isn't small-you are right, but it's too small for me. I really need culture, lots of restaurants (ethnic,chain, coffee shops, etc), shopping, and professional sports teams. I want there to be a lot to do. Where I live, there isn't much and the population is 150,000.

My sister and my husband's sister both live in LA. I do like it there, especially Santa Monica and I have seen some good job possibilities there for me. I just don't know if I'm sold. My sister makes good money (six figures) and she can't afford a house-she is having to save up quite a bit to afford one w/ her boyfriend.

I think I want a big city w/ a good COL! I know these aren't too common...but I'm hopeful!

Has anyone been to Austin, TX? My cousin lives there and I'm a little interested.

[Empressallie]

My sister and my husband's sister both live in LA. I do like it there, especially Santa Monica and I have seen some good job possibilities there for me. I just don't know if I'm sold. My sister makes good money (six figures) and she can't afford a house-she is having to save up quite a bit to afford one w/ her boyfriend.

I think I want a big city w/ a good COL! I know these aren't too common...but I'm hopeful!



Yeah, Los Angeles is super expensive for real estate. We won't settle here long-term, due to that. It's just crazy what homes cost around here, and one good quake and it's all gone! If you are looking at 3-5 years though, it's a great place to sun yourself for awhile, while enjoying the cultural aspect and good job opportunities.

[hoodie]

Aw, I was totally gonna shout out Chicago. :cry: I love it here. Oh well, to each his/her own.

[winneythepooh7]

Definitely NYC. It has so many awesome neighborhoods that are not part of the "island of Manhattan". I have my Master's in social work, and have never ever had trouble finding employment, even prior to getting my professional degree. I live on Long Island though now.

[wordsmith]

I'm from central Illinois. I've lived in Chicago (not a fan) and overseas. I really am sick of smallish town Midwest (the population where I live in 150,000), but I wouldn't mind Indianapolis, St. Louis, or KC in the Midwest. I just want to get out of Illinois! :) I also would like somewhere a little warmer than here.

I'm from north central Illinois, a much smaller town than you. I lived in Chicago for a few years after college, and really enjoyed it. I live in KC, now, which is obviously nowhere near as big, but has a surprising number of decent cultural amenities given how much smaller it is, and is quite a bit less expensive (we bought a house this fall, which is something that wouldn't have happened had we lived in Chicago). It's also generally a bit warmer than where I'm from, although we've gotten flukish amounts of snow and ice this winter.

I really enjoy Kansas City...a lot of bang for your buck, here.

I used to live on the Country Club Plaza, which is pretty upscale shopping by Midwestern standards (although mostly it's not locals, ie residents of the neighborhood, who do the bulk of the shopping there, it's tourists and people who come in from the suburbs). There's lots by way of varied dining (although it's heavily slanted toward meat-eaters). I've always found there to be a lot to do, here, year-round. Lots of neat neighborhoods that each have their own flavor and personality.

The COL is pretty great for an urban area, to be honest, but it's not a huge city. The bi-state metro as a whole is more than two million, but the metro area is also suuuuuuuper spread out, geographically, so you don't always get the sense that the metro is that big, population-wise. KC covers a ton of area. It's so spread out that traffic issues are pretty much nonexistent...the "worst" commutes in the city are laughable by Chicago standards.

The main complaints people have about the urban core itself are that it's apparently a bad place to be single, not that it's really applied to me and my situation or would apply to yours, and that the city school districts are in pretty rough shape. Because of this, a lot of people don't stay in the city proper and ship on out to the suburbs. Our sports teams are mostly terrible, but nobody seems to really care, people just go and have fun. I'm told that jobs are hard to find, but can't speak to it myself, because I've had two different jobs since I moved here, and both were gotten with ease.

My SO moved here from Austin (by way of Boston and Buffalo, NY), and he loves it here, too.

[drummer]

I'll have to second Kansas City. It's a really great place. Growing up I lived in the suburbs of Kansas City. I've never lived more than 45 minutes away from where I grew up, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I think Kansas City is a great place. Fairly cheap and a good amount of stuff to do. Easy to get around. Sports teams and plenty of events/concerts going on.

I almost moved into an apartment near the Plaza a year ago. We could've been neighbors, Wordsmith. :p

[gemma-dahl]

Queens, NY. I will end up there someday if I don't end up in San Francisco. It is amazingly diverse and there are a lot of affordable neighborhoods. Plus, if you live on a good train line, you can be in Manhattan in minutes.

[winneythepooh7]

When I lived in NYC, my whole time was in several Queens neighborhoods. I lived in Elmhurst, Flushing, Woodside and Sunnyside.


All of them were close to public transportation, great food, shopping and as you pointed out----I could be in Manhattan fairly quickly.

Rent also for the most part is a lot more affordable in the "boros".

[FishOutOfWater]

If good weather is a good priority, I would definitely check at California. LA and San Francisco both sound like they might fit your criteria. Both are great cities, although each attracts a different sort of person. It depends on where ou feel more comfortable. They are, however, obscenely expensive. Perhaps check out Portland? The weather isn't quite as perfect (but still better than the east coast or Chicago), but the COL is lower.