This question is for Umiat please.

What is the best city to live in the Midwest and/or South with the
following conditions or paramaters?

City with at least 500k metro population.
City that is gay friendly.
City with the overall lowest cost of living including housing and taxes
City that has a pleasant climate
City that is relatively pollution-free

Umiat, I've been leaning towards the Tampa-St. Pete area or Sarasota
Florida, but recently, I've heard positive things about Columbus Ohio,
among other areas. Columbus had been referred to as a gay friendly
city and ranks lower on the cost of living scales. In addition, I have
quite a few family members in Ohio.

However, I would like you to compare various areas in the Midwest,
Mid-Atlantic and Southern states to provide more information on a
future and , possibly last move.

Thanks Umiat

Ask any questions you have.

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Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 15 Mar 2005 19:50 PST

Hello, johnster!
 It is so great to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well! I
also want to thank you for requesting me to research your question.
 Unfortunately, I am tied up for the next few days and do not want to
leave you waiting for an answer which I may or may not be able to
provide. If it is okay with you, I will leave this question open for
other researchers who have the time and expertise to tackle your
question. If there is still no answer in the next few days, I will
certainly try to set aside some time to research an answer for you.
 Again - thank you for thinking of me. All the best to you!
umiat

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Clarification of Question by johnster-ga on 16 Mar 2005 08:05 PST

Hi Umiat,

No problem. 

Take Care 

John

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Clarification of Question by johnster-ga on 16 Mar 2005 08:34 PST

Umiat is unable to answer this question due to time concerns.

Can someone else answer this question in her place.

Thanks

Johnster

Please check out Austin, Texas. I have not lived there myself, but I
know people who swear by Austin as a great place to live.

Thanks, Pinkfreud, for plugging my fair city!  :-)

Johnster, I am one of those people who think Austin is a great place
to live. You might like to check out a previous rave of mine, where I
commented on another question, here:
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=447013 In addition
to what I said there, let me add that Austin is also an extremely
gay-friendly city.  About the only difficulty I can think of w/regard
to your criteria would be cost of living, as it's not the cheapest,
especially in the area of housing. But at this time, housing costs
*are* coming down from where they were, and hopefully will continue to
do so.

But do take a serious look at Austin before making up your mind. I
sure wouldn't want to be anywhere else - and I've lived in enough
places to know!  :-)

Good luck!
Byrd-ga