Need to find a city, find myself a city to live in

[nxylas]

My wife and I have started talking about relocating in 2 or 3 years time, because Columbia just isn't doing it for us any more, and the city's crappy public transportation and lack of walkable neighborhoods is a large part of that. The city we move to must have five things:-

1) The ability to get around easily without a car. This is crucial to me, since I can't drive. I'm talking about frequent public transportation with high route density and sidewalks on the majority of streets.

2) A thriving Greek Orthodox community. Don't worry too much about this one, since there aren't many Orthodox DUers and we can do the research on that ourselves.

3) Reasonable cost of living.

4) A healthy job market with low unemployment.

5) A warm or mild climate.

Sadly, 3 and 5 rule out my first choice, Boston, but my wife has health problems that means she needs to stay away from cold climes. That was the reason she moved from West Virginia to South Carolina in the first place. Does anyone know of an American city that would fit the description I've just given?

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Parts of the DC area may qualify now that the RE market is tanking.

Unfortunately, most of the very good walkable/great mass transit cities are either in high cost or cold winter areas. There are warmer, lower cost (but not necessarily low cost) cities with decent mass transit -- Fresno,CA comes to mind and there are probably others in the South and Southwest. What I've observed as a visitor is the mass transit options are often better in some portions of a metro than others and if one is careful about location a combo of public transit and walking can work in cities where most residents insist that there's no option other than driving. It's all a matter of perspective. As an example, I live in a small suburban city area and most people here would claim that there's no local transit, just BART. There is in fact a regional bus system that works quite well for connecting to BART and major shopping and service areas on weekdays but the system does not have many weekend routes. Still, it's good enough to let us be a one car household.

The cost of living is prohibitive here though so it's not a good option for your relocation.

[nxylas]

2. Don't know much about Fresno

But isn't it the home of Freak Republic? That'd put me off living there.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. It is, but they aren't the whole place.

There are some DUers who are happy there. It does have a dry climate most of the year (winter being the exception) and it's not that cold or wet in the winter.

[nxylas]

4. What about Sacramento?

I work in state government, so a state capital would suit me better. Public transportation looks OK on paper, looking at the RTA's website, but can any DUers tell me what it's like from personal experience?

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Post the question in the California forum.

There are quite a few Sacto area people here. I lived only an hour and a half away but know bupkis about living there.

[nxylas]

6. Done

Thanks

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Portland, Oregon

1. Probably the easiest medium-sized city in America for getting around car-free. I should know. I did it for ten years. Even the burbs are unusually well served.

2. There's a large Greek Orthodox church, which sponsors an annual Greek festival and a professional singing group that specializes in Orthodox and other Eastern music

3. About the same as Minneapolis

4. That I don't know, since I'm self-employed

5) From the point of view of a Minnesotan, Portland has only three seasons, no real winter.

[unc70]

8. Chapel Hill, NC -- And the buses are FREE

Chapel Hill and adjoining Carrboro might meet your needs.

1) For a small city, Chapel Hill has an excellent public transit system and it is free (no fare) for most trips (exceptions for special buses to sports/concerts and for the late night shared ride service). It is an impressive system. Much of Chapel Hill has sidewalks and every effort is made to promote walking, biking, and using public transportation. New development in town is by in-fill or in planned neighborhoods with walkable shopping and dining (e.g. Southern Village, Meadowmont). Chapel Hill Transit provides services within the towns. The Triangle Transit Authority runs connecting busses to Durham, Raleigh, and the Research Triangle. The regional systems still need considerable improvement.

2) The Durham/Chapel Hill Greek Orthodox community seems healthy. A new church is under construction. There is a Greek festival, etc.

3) The cost of living is higher here than Columbia, mostly in housing, but ours is still much lower than places like Boston or even Portland.

4) This area has a relatively good job market.

5) The climate in Chapel Hill is slightly cooler than Columbia, but not really that different.

Be glad to answer any other questions in this forum or by PM.


BTW I live in one of the newer neighborhoods with sidewalks. A side effect is that we get over 300 kids at Halloween! Of course, downtown Chapel Hill is famous for its Halloween street party drawing 70-80 thousand people each year.

[nxylas]

9. Chapel Hill sounds like a good option

Another bonus is that it's within commuting distance of the state capital. My work experience is mostly in state government, so that's where I would be looking for jobs.