So in your opinion I would like to hear your reasons why. Removing NY and LA to make room for less known cities as I'm curious to explore America more in the near future.
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What's the best city to live in the US? (excluding NY, LA)
- Thread starter SliChillax
- Start date
This is 100% true. I love LA, it'll always be home but I'm never living there again.
I'd say it's the other way around. Things being relatively far apart and weak public transportation makes visiting things take a long-ass time. Living there though, find yourself a nice neighborhood and life is amazing. So good it almost makes me forget I'm poor.
OP
OP
I agree that's why I'm removed it from the list immediately. The US has so much to offer and I wanna hear some opinions about less known cities
Sedona for the hiking without huge crowds
San Diego for the southern Cali living
Kansas City for great art, sports, food, affordable-ish housing, decent jobs, safe, pretty accepting, etc
Wisconsin for all the above reasons but no sports but better temps in the summer
Portland, Maine
Dallas ain't too bad, but I prefer San Antonio
Chicago if you have New York money, anyway
San Diego for the southern Cali living
Kansas City for great art, sports, food, affordable-ish housing, decent jobs, safe, pretty accepting, etc
Wisconsin for all the above reasons but no sports but better temps in the summer
Portland, Maine
Dallas ain't too bad, but I prefer San Antonio
Chicago if you have New York money, anyway
I suppose it depends on what lifestyle you prefer for starters. There's city life, suburban, rural and so on.
But do you live in LA, or when people ask you where you're from you give a town and then when you realize that they have no idea what you're talking about you say LA because it's in the county and close enough?
I love it here and hell no the weather is perfect
(Unless you're in the Valley but don't live there)
oh I know right my fam has a house in Windermere and we just uber 5 min to the Contemporary hotel and skip the monorails getting to Magic Kingdom.
Los Angeles is the single most overrated city in the US. Salton City, CA is the real winner. So you can live next to human arrogance in the form of a toxic, inhospitable, inhabitable "sea". The midday toxic dust and the piles of dead fish just seal the deal.
for real tho, I just spent the night in Flagstaff, and I wouldn't mind giving a few years of my life there. Grand Canyon around the corner, get to have all 4 seasons, outdoor recreation close by. Sounds good
for real tho, I just spent the night in Flagstaff, and I wouldn't mind giving a few years of my life there. Grand Canyon around the corner, get to have all 4 seasons, outdoor recreation close by. Sounds good
If you can handle the cold then somewhere like Portland, Maine. Or maybe Milwaukee or Indianapolis for cost of living reasons.
If you can handle the heat then I really enjoyed Houston if you live inside the loop.
Outside the places on the west coast with a somewhat Mediterranean climate, most US cities are either too hot or too cold. Usually both depending on the time of year.
If you can handle the heat then I really enjoyed Houston if you live inside the loop.
Outside the places on the west coast with a somewhat Mediterranean climate, most US cities are either too hot or too cold. Usually both depending on the time of year.
Wow, loaded question - do you prefer mid-sized cities or large cities?
I personally prefer to live in mid-sized cities and visit large cities, but anyways...
For now, I'll assume you mean large cities - so here a few that haven't been mentioned yet.
Minneapolis routinely gets rated highly for livability - it also has a fairly robust bike culture with some public transit to boot.
Not to mention the awesome city of St. Paul is right by. Cool winter culture (no pun intended) that seeks out being as cozy as possible, with lots of natural forests still around. And lakes. Tons of lakes.
San Diego is a tourist's dream in Southern California. Things are much more compact than LA, has great food, weather, beaches, attractions, and food! For living, it is slightly more cost effective than LA, but it's still coastal California.
It's the full package. Highly recommended if you're going to California.
Nashville is an up-and-coming southern city that I've heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone who's visited.
Great nature close by, good shopping, and tons of local great Southern food (think American BBQ and whisky) is what I hear. Lots of music is based there, but also lots of country western music - which...yeah...not my favorite.
My personal favorites for a true Southwestern experience are:
Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
New Mexico just has a culture all to its own - for better or worse. ABQ isn't exactly a safe city, but most tourists shouldn't find too much trouble.
Both cities have amazing New Mexican food and unique sites to see, including some excellent old towns and Native American culture. Even better, they are both connected by a one-hour train ride called the Rail Runner Express, so it's easy to check out both.
If you had to pick one for tourism, though, it's probably gotta be Sante Fe - just google some pictures to find out why.
Not to mention, along with the culture, they are both by the far southern Rocky Mountains, so you can feel free to take hikes while you're there.
Denver is out there too, but I think New Mexico is the more unique cultural experience in the Rockies - that said, Denver also has a good transit system and a fun downtown, so that's a plus. Denver would be the more livable city.
I could go on for many hours - try to list some preferences to narrow it down! There are easily 50 decent sized cities that you could get a different experience from in the US.
Edit: I based this off of your location and mostly assumed you wanted to visit some more cities - do you want to find a place to live in the US?
I personally prefer to live in mid-sized cities and visit large cities, but anyways...
For now, I'll assume you mean large cities - so here a few that haven't been mentioned yet.
Minneapolis routinely gets rated highly for livability - it also has a fairly robust bike culture with some public transit to boot.
Not to mention the awesome city of St. Paul is right by. Cool winter culture (no pun intended) that seeks out being as cozy as possible, with lots of natural forests still around. And lakes. Tons of lakes.
San Diego is a tourist's dream in Southern California. Things are much more compact than LA, has great food, weather, beaches, attractions, and food! For living, it is slightly more cost effective than LA, but it's still coastal California.
It's the full package. Highly recommended if you're going to California.
Nashville is an up-and-coming southern city that I've heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone who's visited.
Great nature close by, good shopping, and tons of local great Southern food (think American BBQ and whisky) is what I hear. Lots of music is based there, but also lots of country western music - which...yeah...not my favorite.
My personal favorites for a true Southwestern experience are:
Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
New Mexico just has a culture all to its own - for better or worse. ABQ isn't exactly a safe city, but most tourists shouldn't find too much trouble.
Both cities have amazing New Mexican food and unique sites to see, including some excellent old towns and Native American culture. Even better, they are both connected by a one-hour train ride called the Rail Runner Express, so it's easy to check out both.
If you had to pick one for tourism, though, it's probably gotta be Sante Fe - just google some pictures to find out why.
Not to mention, along with the culture, they are both by the far southern Rocky Mountains, so you can feel free to take hikes while you're there.
Denver is out there too, but I think New Mexico is the more unique cultural experience in the Rockies - that said, Denver also has a good transit system and a fun downtown, so that's a plus. Denver would be the more livable city.
I could go on for many hours - try to list some preferences to narrow it down! There are easily 50 decent sized cities that you could get a different experience from in the US.
Edit: I based this off of your location and mostly assumed you wanted to visit some more cities - do you want to find a place to live in the US?
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Also, OP, are you interested in migrating to the US, or just visiting?
If you're just visiting, DC IMO is the best city for foreigners to visit. Los Angeles sucks for tourists, IMO.
Texas IMO is a great place to live if you're an immigrant. Houston and Dallas have high immigrant populations.
If you're just visiting, DC IMO is the best city for foreigners to visit. Los Angeles sucks for tourists, IMO.
Texas IMO is a great place to live if you're an immigrant. Houston and Dallas have high immigrant populations.
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Usually when people say this they mean it's freezing cold in the winter. There are four seasons in California too, but you can at least spend time outside year-round, which is extremely important to me as a dad with a young son. Fuck being forced to stay indoors for months on end because of the weather. If anything, California is still a little too cold for me--at night and in spring.
It has its problems, but I quite like living in the Phoenix metro area. I'd actually have a hard time choosing somewhere else to live.
You say no LA or NY, but I wouldn't want to live there, or anywhere else in those states.
You say no LA or NY, but I wouldn't want to live there, or anywhere else in those states.
nah. Besides the summer, I don't hate anything else here. I also hate hot weather + humidity, or humidity in general, which rules out a lot of places. I would never want to live anywhere on the east coast, I already spend too much time in the mid-west visiting relatives. The only place left is the west coast, and I want to live in a medium to large city. California hates modified cars, so I could never live there. That doesn't leave many places left. Seattle is nice, but really expensive. I haven't spent much time in Portland so I don't know much about it. There's Vegas, but is it really that much different than Phoenix? Probably not.
How so?
I like the cold but I'm curious as to why you would say this.
That's good to hear. Sometimes I wonder if my opinion on Phoenix is just clouded on bias because I was born and raised here, but yeah, aside from the summers, our city is pretty damn great.
OP
OP
I'm interested in moving to the US. Doing my masters and then maybe settling in after. I love New York, it's the only city I've been in the US but I wanted to see some alternatives because I hate cold winters. I come from a very lively city and I'm used to going out and interacting with people. I wouldn't fit in a quiet city where it's pretty but stale regarding social life.
Houston and Dallas sound like good choices for you. Summers are shitty in Texas, but Texans are friendly and outgoing, and you can find people from all over the world in places like Houston and Dallas. It's also very cheap to live in relative to New York and Los Angeles. Austin is also very good, UT Austin is one of the best schools in the state.
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I would maybe say Seattle.
Living within a 10-20 mile distance from downton is good enough, IMO. You're going to have the same amount of traffic almost everywhere and there's stuff to do all around that.
However we're not supposed to be talking about LA!
See how ridiculous the border is?
Only visited in summer. Not bad.
I mean, the actual city of LA is oriented kinda weird. So you can live within the vicinity (aka a "Neighborhood") and not even know it, or you can live in a different city and be really close, eg Pasadena or Glendale. You can technically be out in the boonies near the docks and still reside within the city of LA! I consider all the regions within 323, 310, 562, etc to be LA.
Living within a 10-20 mile distance from downton is good enough, IMO. You're going to have the same amount of traffic almost everywhere and there's stuff to do all around that.
However we're not supposed to be talking about LA!
See how ridiculous the border is?
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Having been to Pittsburgh dozens of times, it's overrated if anything. One of the worst cities I have ever been to.
Underrated is Columbus, OH.
Most places that get cold as shit, have tons of snow and ice or both have found ways to function through them. If you absolutely hate the cold then of course it'd be hell but because you've gotten several feet of snow or it's cold as hell doesn't mean the people just all get time off from work to just nope out and sit by the heater at home.
This. I found a quiet neighborhood in the northeast part and it's amazing. No annoying youtubers, wannabe actors, and dipshit transplants from the midwest, its all old people from NYC who are settling down in the west. Old money and no traffic.
