Hello all. I am just about to finish up my master's degree and have no
obligations anchoring me to my current hometown (Albany NY). I am a 23
year old guy looking for the best possible place to live for my
situations. I've read other "best places to live" questions but I had
a few different points for my own...

 - Public Transportation. I prefer a city type area with good public
transportation rather than driving a car and paying for gas and
insurance. I do not even mind taking the bus, as long as the city is
not too crime infested. So a city like L.A. wouldn't work out too
well. It would also be nice if walking around could get you almost
anywhere.

 - Red States OK. I do not necesarily want to limit myself to the
"blue" states.  While I am a registered democrat and value science
over religion, I would not be oppossed to living in a progressive city
that resides in a "red" state. For example, I've heard good things
about Austin even though it resides in big red Texas.

 - Cool Weather. My most desired weather type would be a place that
seems mild/cool all the time. I also would prefer a place where the
weather does not change drastically over the seasons. New York has
horrendously cold winters (so bad that you cannot take in the charm of
snow and the season) and similarly uncomfortable hot/humid summers.

 - Large-type Size. My hometown has about a 100,000 population, which
to me seems really small. I'd prefer an area where the city population
(or at least the area limits) are at least twice as big as this. The
biggest reason for thisis to avoid cliques. Albany seems to be one,
big one.

 - General Mind-set: Down-to-Earth. Probably the most important
feature is the personality of the general male population. I'd prefer
a place where the people are down to Earth and not so concerned about
getting to the gym on time, shaving their body hair off or worry about
their caloric intake. Also would prefer if the population doesn't seem
uptight and reserved, especially towards strangers. So I guess San
Francisco (most of California) and Boston would be out. I've heard
good things about southern cities (except Atlanta) in this regard, but
I also don't want to live in a heavily religious-ruled conservative
place.

 - Price. In the field I am going into, I'm looking at about $40K
salary once I find a position related to my masters. I'm a single guy
and live low key, but can't be spending $2000/month on rent.

 - Canada OK. I'm open to Canadian cities, if it would be easy to get
in and find work. Also would be open to any international city if one
could get by entirely, or mostly, with English. I've visited Montreal
and loved it (since I can get by with Spanish, I think I could learn
French). Heard good things about Vancouver and also Sidney, Australia.

I know this seems like a lot of agenda. I love NYC but can't stand the
cold, and it is ridiculously expensive. The Californian cities seem
like a match, but I unfortunately am not made up of 200lbs of cut
muscle with 2% body fat. Does such a place with these qualities even
exist?

Seems like you may be asking for a lot of input for $3?

Because it is a $3 and I cannot think of a way that research would be
in any way I worthwhile, I will just refer to your remarks :

- Public Transportation: I was in LA as a tourist/researcher (a
conference) and it is not all that bad. regretted having rented a car.
Public transportation is not that bad.

- Mindset: In every metropole, you can find people of all kinds. Also
in California. From my observation (again, as a visitor, totally
anecdotal) the Silicon Valley is full of people who look just like you
;-)

On the other hand, what do I know? I live in a city which has the best
public transportation system in the world, very tolerant, cheap, cold,
and people are certainly down to earth if not lower than that. On the
other hand, they speak German.

You hate the cold and yet you say that Canada would be OK!

Haven't you heard?

Canada has ice and snow 365 days a year.

Yes, you might get one nice day in a Leap Year but that's only once
every four years.

Brayn, 

This reminds me of that football player who was recruited by the
Glasgow Rangers (or Celtics, whatever, that's not the point of the
story). He was asked in an interview how he deals with the weather. So
he said that his wife was also concerned that they'll come to Scotland
and won't see the sun. He went for the tests and phoned back to say
that it's all OK, people just exeggerate - the Scottish weather is
actually really nice, it was actually so warm that he caught a bit of
sunburn. So they all pack themselves and head up north. He summarised
the story with the sentence: "that sunny day was the last one I saw in
my X years with the Rangers".

Great story, Polly ...

And I really appreciate my new name ...

Would it be considered boastful if I were to add the prefix 'Mighty'?

Many thanks

Brayn

Oh, it's not a typo. I wanted to write "brain".

consider Portland, Orgeon maybe
http://www.city-data.com/city/Portland-Oregon.html

I think you will have issues finding a place that is generally cool
but has mild winters.  It would probably have to be something Maritime
but further south then NY, which is why portland might be reasonable. 
Speaking as someone who lives in NYC and went to college in Albany,
NY, I don't think the winters are bad here at all...It is very rarely
below 0F.

Where did I get the idea that Poly-guru lives in Stuttgart?

Denver would work for everything but the weather part.

Hi Myoarin

You've certainly got the wrong idea!

But, of course, I'm not telling.

Sorry!

PB

I haven't been on here ina ges- and I'm bored waiting for the West
Wing to start so here goes my shot at it as an Austin Native of 18
years- and a 2 year stint in London.

 - Public Transportation. Austin has a decent public transportation
system- pretty much all busses.  It is subsidized by the city- and is
free on "Ozone Action" days- where everyone is envouraged to limit
their driving by car.  I live in downtown Austin- which makes not
having a car VERY easy- since I can walk or ride my bike anywhere.  It
is also a very bike friendly city- but because of it's slight
hilliness- it's not always the easiest to get around.  For the future
there are plans to establish a light rail system that will connect the
north central part of Austin to downtown and the airport.

 - Red States OK. For example, I've heard good things
about Austin even though it resides in big red Texas.  Austin is the
ONLY part of this state I would live in.  It is kind of strange to be
in a such a heavy duty republican state- but Austin/Travis County is a
solid liberal/democratic stronghold.  The city has it's roots in
crunchy granola hippies and live music...and it has maintained that
culture even through the boom times when all the Claifornians moved
here.

 - Cool Weather. My most desired weather type would be a place that
seems mild/cool all the time. The weather in Austin does not change
drastically from season to season.  We go from VERY hot in the summer,
to hot and warm in the fall, to warm and a few days of cold and
freezing in the winter, then back to warm-hot and a little cool in the
spring and then back to HOT and VERY HOT again.  the heat is
relatively dry heat- (not desert dry- but not humid like the tropics
or NYC.)  I don't mind it-and I'm not a heat fan- as long as my AC
works.

 - Large-type Size. My hometown has about a 100,000 population, which
to me seems really small. I'd prefer an area where the city population
(or at least the area limits) are at least twice as big as this.  I
think the Greater Austin area is almost a million and Austin is about
500,000

 - General Mind-set: Down-to-Earth. Probably the most important
feature is the personality of the general male population. I'd prefer
a place where the people are down to Earth and not so concerned about
getting to the gym on time, shaving their body hair off or worry about
their caloric intake. Also would prefer if the population doesn't seem
uptight and reserved, especially towards strangers.  I like Austin
because although we have a large gay and lesbian community- we don't
have a gay ghetto like Dallas or Houston.  You will find ALL types of
gay people here who live and work and play all over the city.    It is
a very laid back town- not pretentious at all- most people live in
t-shirts, shorts and tevas(sandals).  It is a very politically minded
and aware town- and very environmentally concerned- and active.

 - Price. In the field I am going into, I'm looking at about $40K
salary once I find a position related to my masters. I'm a single guy
and live low key, but can't be spending $2000/month on rent.  It all
depends on where you live here- and how much space want- but if you
can get by without a car- you should do pretty well.

 I hope this helps in assessing Austin- it's definitely worth a visit-
and i suggest coming in the summer time.  That way you can decided
wether 6 months of Warm, hot and Very hot are tolerable.

>> This reminds me of that football player who was recruited by the
>> Glasgow Rangers 
>> ...
>> He summarised the story with the sentence: "that sunny day was the last one I 
>> saw in my X years with the Rangers".


This one reminds me of a joke about Seattle.  A tourist, frustrated by
the overcast, drizzly weather, asks a young boy, "Does the sun ever
shine around here?"  To which the boy replies, "How should I know? 
I'm only 6."  :-)

J.

Thanks for the comments all. Regarding the $3 bounty, I did not expect
any in depth research on this (discouraged it, actually). I just
wanted to hear people's general comments based on their experience,
not statistical data. So far it seems Austin and Portland are good
fits. Regarding Canada, yeah I hate the cold but loved the Canadian
cities I've visited I could overlook it in that case (Montréal in
particular).