jim124

I really appreciate all the inputs. I guess i do have to weigh the cost of living alittle more heavier into my equation. What i am looking for is Utopia but probably could only afford a happy medium.

AverageCommuter

Absolutely do not move to Indianapolis. I grew up in Indy, and between the useless public transportation and the sprawl, you've got to be majorly commited to the car-free life to do it there.

Satyr

+1. I have visited Burlington numerous times, and always felt it to be a wonderful place. Though I did not do much cycling, as I was visiting a friend on those occasions.

Satyr

As an aside, perhaps consider a smaller city, by American standards. That is to say, less than 200,000 people or so.

Smaller cities tend to be designed such that you can do almost anything on a bicycle. Having lived in a large city and a small town I can say that, biking in the smaller places was much more enjoyable.

Food is probably close, your work is likely within distance, not as much congestion, etc.

I do not recall the nearest hospital, but the Eureka/Arcata area in northern California is a phenominal place to live. I would guess the area would suit your professional needs too, since Eureka is the largest city that far north, so it must not be too
far from most health care facilities.

Not too much rain by Oregon or Washington standards, very mild climate year round, beach is close, mountains are close, some of the most beautiful forests (coastal redwood) in the world, and pretty progressive and friendly people. A lot of students that go to Humboldt State university in Arcata end up staying in Arcata.

However, I know little about the public transit. I never needed to use it since I could bicycle everywhere, but there are numerous bus lines. Nothing spectacular like, say, Portland. Also, the cost of living is pretty cheap compared to other parts of California, especially areas of Los Angeles and San Fran.

shishi

This is far from an exact science, but might help shed some light on the COL in different areas.

https://www.bestplaces.net/col/

nathank

nice to see an interesting thread -- it's great to see so many people that have something simliar to my perspective...

I think as has been said, region is a big thing. It's something you can't describe. I spent my first 26 years in Texas, then 3 years in Portland OR, then 1 year in Boston and now 4 years in Munich Germany... I am pretty much a West Coast and Rocky Mountain person. (although i like the Northeast and the South has it's charm but i could probably never live there again)

yes, i like Philly where my sister lives and Boston was ok, and NYC is interesting - and i'm sure there are other great places...
but i just prefer the laid-back relaxed mentality of the West Coast.

I think the descriptions of Portland are pretty decent. on the one hand it is somewhat homogenous but then not anything like somewhere like Idaho --- and to be fair, when i visited I found Burlington VT to be even more white-bread (i think Burlington is pretty cool so i'm not dogging it) --- coming from Texas i guess i didn't notice much i think mainly just because i never witnessed any major incidents of racism -- as i said, i grew up in Texas where unfortunately racism can be witnessed pretty easily - but these attitudes APPEAR less prevalent in Portland...
BUT, i had one friend in Portland who told me he HAD to leave Portland ASAP b/c of the continual harassment b/c he was black. at first i really didn't believe him and thought he was exagerrating, but he told me he had never encountered such serious racism down in Southern California (he had studied in LA) -- he received death threads and the police refused to take any action and then they burnt his house down...
BUT this was also a ways outside of Portland (towards the coast in a small town) and he then moved into the city before i met him...

ok, kind of off track here, but all in all i found Portland to be REALLY open-minded and laid-back and accepting of other people. plus of course the great support for Cycling (Bicycle Transportation Alliance!!)

as someone else commented: when you're on your bike it Portland you have the feeling that every person in a car is jealous that they for whatever reason HAD to drive instead of being the lucky one who gets to bike. in other cities (Munich, Dallas, Austin, Boston, etc) i have never gotten this feeling. (ok, Boulder CO)

as someone else suggested, IF you can get a job in a smaller place AND you don't require a big city for yourself (some people NEED that big-city feeling) that's the way i would go. I unfortunately work in a field (computer software) where almost all the jobs are in major cities... (my ideal would be say 500,000)

as to the Seattle/Portland thing -- they are pretty similar. i think the difference is the big/small city thing. if you like a "real city" then choose Seattle. if not, then you will probably prefer the smaller, homier feeling of Portland. if you visit Portland you will notice pretty soon --- either you will think "wow, this is awesome" or "hmm... kind of boring and there's nothing going on" (the latter i can't personally understand but i heard it a lot from those from SF or NYC or Seattle)

I have never lived in Cali, but i've visited a lot. SF is cool but the cost is just crazy (almost moved there many times). otherwise (as someone else also suggested) smaller places in Northen California are pretty cool with a reasonable combination of good weather, liberal culture, not SO expensive cost-of-living, great destinations closeby (SF and mountains/coat/nature)... i can't recommend much here specifically as i never lived there.

on the East Coast, of cities, I like Philly the best...

Austin Texas was mentioned- (i got my undergraduate at UT Austin)... Austin is a cool town and about the only place in the South i would want to live. weather is decent (if hot weather doesn't bother you which it doesn't me) and the people are nice and friendly and Austin has a great "feeling"... but the sprawl is pretty crazy AND you're surrounded by conservative CAR people for hundreds of miles in every direction. Austin can work car-free, you just have to be comfortable with the fact the 99% of the people you come in to contact with will think you are a complete FREAK. (my uncles and cousins and all just shake their heads when they hear about me riding a bike everywhere - or moving to Germany for that matter)

so my recommendation:
pick 1-2 regions (West Coast/northern Cali/B.C., Southern Cali/Arizona, Rocky Mountains, South, Midwest, Northeast, etc.)
choose a target city size- e.g.: real city (>2million); (city) 1-2 million; "big town" 500,000; 200,000
decide if you want to live in an urban area (NYC, SF proper, downtown Portland/Seattle), inner-city neighboorhood (e.g. Oakland, NE Portland) or suburban (yuck), or small community linked by rail (New Jersey offers such i think)...

but then i offer "great advice" as i cannot even decide which COUNTRY i want to live in!! my top choices: Fort Collins CO, Boulder CO, Portland OR, Munich Germany, Bozen Italy (no work), Innsbruck Austria, Vancouver BC, various Northern Cali towns... plus places where i can't get a job: Hood River OR, Flagstaff AZ, Durango CO...

carless

I am in the healthcare industry for 20 years, with technical degrees and I want to move for the same reasons. If you find the place let me know! I was born in Oregon, leaning towards Eugene. You can travel the entire city by bike.

Artkansas 

Utopia is in Texas. That's where my family came from.

sestivers

Seattle gets much less rain than Portland, but I do like both places. Seattle has several micro-climates induced by the Olympic Mountains. Sequim, which is linearly 80 miles away from Seattle, is technically a desert. Northern Kitsap county (across Puget Sound west of Seattle) is also quite dry... check out Kingston. From there you can take a 40-minute ferry directly to Seattle. Your new workplace is likely to pay for your monthly pass which would otherwise be $75 plus $1 surcharge per trip to take a bicycle.

someone

I have been living in Chicago my entire life and have grown quite fond of the city, mayor, corupt politics, bike lanes, tall buildings, public transportation, vast space, people, neighborhoods, lake front parks, beaches, architecture, and cultures. Im a student and attempting to straighten and figure everything out in my life, but have commited to staying in chicago because of the limitless possabilities and oportunities. And did I mention the most important aspect... the fast growing bicycle respect.

Mayor Daley has been atop and leading the forfront of bike advocatism in chicago for at least a decade and has thouroughly and successfully commitied to his goal of making the city the bike friendliest in the nation. There are over 100 miles of bike shared lanes on the streets (this number has been increasing steadily every year) over 10,000 city implanted bike racks, and one day of the year, Lake Shore Drive (LSD, a four lane major highway that rides along the beautiful lake front) is closed completely for cars while bikes are permitted to run rampant along the 30 mile stretch. Additionally, the chicagoland bicycle federation is an organization with members in the thousands and is just another example on how friendly the city is to bikers.

Furthermore, cost of living is bearable when compared to NY, Bos, or SF; nice single family homes can be found for 300-500K (even cheeper on the south and west sides). If renting is an option, beautifull apts can be found for 1000/mo give or take. And in addition to the thousands who comute daily, if you determine that bikeing is not your forte for the day, the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) has reliable, extensive, impressive, relatively cheep, convinient, rail and bus routes covering almost all the nooks and cranies of the city. "The CTA logs approximately 1.5 million transit trips a day. It has more than 2,000 buses and 222 miles of rail."

Over the years I have created a strong bond with my city and have learned to appreciate the good bad and ugly. The cold weather can be brutal, but it only makes you stronger. Im a messenger and this is my first winter, and if you properly prepare, its a lot easier than anyone would think. I have never owned a car because there is no need for one here. As long as i am living in chicago i am commmited to being car free!