My current area has quick public transit access to Manhattan(Midtown in less than 15-20 minutes) and yet, almost as quiet as a suburb at nights.
Yes, there’s an occasional siren, but that’s more due to the fact my area is next to a major roadway and has a large population of senior citizens and families with young children.
While there’s a few notable historical sites to see and a few TV shows have filmed in my area(i.e. The Americans), it’s not a place I’d recommend for tourists…too residential.
I know what you mean, @HarvestMoon1 . My next-door neighbor has a condo in Las Vegas and another in Cabo. The people on the other side are the opposite with a spread out in Forks, driving on weekends to an even rainier climate. Both grew up in this area. Another friend has places in Arizona and Cape Cod.
We are the poorest neighbors. Our net worth is an embarrassment compared to the those around us.
Indeed, we have enough for my (used) powder skis and climbing ropes, plus two tuitions. Not enough for new carpets or vacations in Hawaii. Poorest in my neighborhood is still kinda cushy.
The original question asked us to assume we’re in our 20’s. Twenty something me would choose NYC for all it offers those with the means to enjoy it.
Late 50’s me would like to live in New York for a few months to take it in but then I expect I’d move on.
I react to Miami the way many on this thread react to Seattle; I’m turned off by the weather.
I got to know LA during my years at one of the Claremont Colleges and dislike the smog and the sprawl. But if I’m young and rich a nice place on the west side would be hard to say no to.
I like Seattle a lot but the traffic is aggravating. Given that there are train tracks running from Vancouver, BC to well south of Tacoma, is there any reason there aren’t a reasonable number of trains moving people north and south?
Traffic is really aggravating, however, you can avoid much of it depending upon where you live and when you travel. Many more people using bus, light rail, carpools. But people still want to live within commuting distance to the major workplaces (Bellevue, downtown Seattle), Amtrak isn’t that fast, reliable or convenient to do on a daily basis. It is far cheaper the further you live out of the city, so if people can work outside of those major areas, it’s far better. My niece was commuting from Monroe to downtown, which sometimes took her over two hours one way. Was pretty awful, but she just got a job that was closer.
I remember smog. I remember the laws that were put in place to lower the dirty air (smog). We do have good air, most of the time.Waay back I read a comment that Los Angeles is bereft of intellectuals. Seriously? Horse manure. One can be beautiful and have an IQ. Although the self importance thing…everyone thinks that they are the bees’ knees.
I remember when I first got to San Bermardino the joke that if you arrived in summer you didn’t know there were mountains next to the city until the winter from all the smog.
Regarding Seattle, when I hung out with my friend’s supervisor during the reception, he gave the following advice about finding housing in the Seattle area if we decided to move there:
If you’re young and single, live within the city limits of Seattle so you’re within walking/public transportation distance of bars/nightlife and access to plenty of other singles. He strongly advised against any single person living in the suburban areas around Seattle because one will need a car to get around which will cut down on some nightlife activities and most of the social groups in the suburban areas are geared mainly for families with children so a single person risks feeling socially isolated.
If you’re already married/in a serious LTR and thinking of starting a family with public schools under consideration, move to the suburbs with the best public schools as most of the ones in the city limits aren’t good.
What do the Seattle folks here think of the above?
cobrat, your friend is correct. If you wanna to be able to hit the bars until closing, Belltown and Capitol Hill are your best bets. Although Kirkland and Redmond are becoming more appealing to the single/younger crowd.
cobrat, some of the Seattle public schools are very good, no reason to move the kids if the job and activities are in the city. Downtown Kirkland is pretty hip and young but not nearly on the Seattle level. Redmond and Bellevue both have their young hangouts but does not collect a street scene the way Kirkland does.
Just watched back to back episodes of Love it or List it with interior designer Jillian Harris and real estate agent Todd. They kept showing to die for views of mountains and bays and I was dying to figure out what city they were in. They wouldn’t mention it on the show for some reason! So I looked them up online and discovered they film in Vancouver, Canada. Breath taking! The huge cruise ships in the bay! The snow capped mountains!
It made my current living situation seem so lame. LOL.
I would have guessed they were filming in Portland because it had that NW feel about it where nature is running the show and mankind just kind of fits into the grand design of things.
The first episode I saw they gave Jillian a $140,000 renovation budget and gave Todd a $1.5M budget to find a different place. So they end up looking at a 1,600 square foot place in a high rise that was stunning and jaw dropping and made me all envious. Then Todd mentions that the HOA fees are $550 a month! You drop $1.5M on the place and end up paying $6K a year in HOA fees forever. Oh, let’s not forget that property taxes must be just fabulous.
Suddenly, my current living situation looked a hell of a lot better. Then, Jillian’s crew discovers mold which they have to fix off budget so even though the house has a FMV of $1.5M (the one they currently live in) it had major problems. Think about that. The house was worth $1.5 but needed to be redesigned and had mold problems. You would think for $1.5M it would be perfect!
@GoNole85, there used to be a show calling “Buying in New York” or something that I loved. One place in NYC had the usual several million dollar purchase price plus monthly fees of TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS-every month. I could not believe it. Most places in NYC don’t carry that high of a monthly assessment, but many were in the thousands.
DH and I visited Vancouver, and yes, it’s stunningly beautiful. Much prettier than Toronto, where the original Love it Or List It was filmed in their first several years.
I like seeing what Jillian can do with those big remodel budgets.