Best City in U.S. to Live

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Cities I've visited which come close, but no cigar:

1. Scottsdale, Arizona. Has just the right ambience, lots of fabulous
shopping centers. Unfortunately, not intellectual or academic
particularly.

2. San Diego, California. Housing costs too high. (True for anywhere
in California, I presume.) And not particularly intellectual.

3. Boston, Massachusetts. This is actually a possibility, but the
housing costs are kind of high, and the traffic is definitely
"horrendous".

4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another possibility, actually. What do
you think?

What I'm hoping is that there is a city in the U.S. which has the look
and feel of Scottsdale or San Diego, with a university or two, but low
housing prices and not bad traffic, and intellectual people.

(I don't think the presence of a university guarantees an intelligent
populace. For example, Austin, Texas has a huge university but the
people are typical narrow-minded Texans, for the most part.)

Thanks in advance.

Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland

On 1 Jan 2004 09:19:48 -0800, (Matt Beckwith)
wrote:

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Almost anywhere on the San Francisco Peninsula if you can afford
it.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

How about Omaha? Or Des Moines? Kansas City would be
another choice, although more traffic there.

On Thu, 1 Jan 2004, Matt Beckwith wrote:

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Cities I've visited which come close, but no cigar:

1. Scottsdale, Arizona. Has just the right ambience, lots of fabulous
shopping centers. Unfortunately, not intellectual or academic
particularly.

2. San Diego, California. Housing costs too high. (True for anywhere
in California, I presume.) And not particularly intellectual.

3. Boston, Massachusetts. This is actually a possibility, but the
housing costs are kind of high, and the traffic is definitely
"horrendous".

4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another possibility, actually. What do
you think?

What I'm hoping is that there is a city in the U.S. which has the look
and feel of Scottsdale or San Diego, with a university or two, but low
housing prices and not bad traffic, and intellectual people.

(I don't think the presence of a university guarantees an intelligent
populace. For example, Austin, Texas has a huge university but the
people are typical narrow-minded Texans, for the most part.)

Thanks in advance.

Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(Matt Beckwith) wrote:
(I don't think the presence of a university guarantees an intelligent
populace. For example, Austin, Texas has a huge university but the
people are typical narrow-minded Texans, for the most part.)
Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hi Matt -
It sounds like you are a bit narrow-minded yourself. :-)
Are you running away from the high medical liability insurance in PA?
PA -$40,000 MD - $8000 - one of my doctors just got quotes.
If you want to add quality of life to your formula - add nice weather -
nice plants - good beaches - good taxes - try Tallahassee FL. It has FSU
(medical and law school) and FAMU and TCC. It also has the capital and
the world's most beautiful beaches about one hour away via empty roads.
Also Florida has no state income tax and low property taxes (with a
homestead exemption) - they live off the tourist taxes. Tallahassee has
very clean air - palm trees and live oaks - magnolias and Spanish Moss .
You are 4 hours from all the entertainment of Orlando - and 8 hours from
Miami. Florida has excellent roads and highways. Tallahasse is more
stable than the rest of Florida - with its tree-covered hills - it
reminds you more of Alabama.

PS - I lived in PA for the last 55 years and am moving to Tallahassee
this year. Wife got a job as a professor there.

Matt Beckwith wrote:
I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.



Intelligent people with lots of movie theaters & shopping centers?
Lots of luck!

Small college towns come to mind, of which there are many. Although, they
are very cliquish. A larger college town & state capitol like Madison, Wisc
would fit.

MTV

"Matt Beckwith" wrote in message
om...
I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.

All large Cities have their "Dirty" areas, & Crime Problems.

3. Housing costs reasonable.

Compaired to What? and What range compaired to area cost of living?

4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.

4, 5, & 6 Can be found in most cities.

7. Traffic not horrendous.

Lotsa luck.

8. Lots of intelligent people.

What is your definition of "intelligent".

Cities I've visited which come close, but no cigar:

snip

Thanks in advance.

Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland

Your standards don't seem to fit any city. You seem to be hooked on
"intelligence" Your name is followed by "MD" so I will assume that your
search for intelligent people will be concentrated in the Medical
Profession.
Start your search in cities with top rated health care & medical centers.
Although, judging by your requirements, you won't be relocating very soon.

Jim Davis Sr.
Houston, TX

(Matt Beckwith) wrote in
om:
I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Davis, California

Santa Cruz and Berkeley are more fun, but also more expensive

On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 10:37:24 -0700, Hatunen wrote:
On 1 Jan 2004 09:19:48 -0800, (Matt Beckwith)
wrote:

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Almost anywhere on the San Francisco Peninsula if you can afford
it.

Criteria #3 rules out anywhere within 100 miles of S.F.

In article , Matt
Beckwith wrote:

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

I'd nominate Madison, Wisconsin.

My $.02. YMMV.

-Lynne

In article , Matt
Beckwith wrote:

I'm looking to move to another city in the U.S., which satisfies
certain criteria.

1. An academic center.
2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.
3. Housing costs reasonable.
4. Lots of shopping centers.
5. Lots of ethnic restaurants.
6. Lots of movie theatres.
7. Traffic not horrendous.
8. Lots of intelligent people.

Cities I've visited which come close, but no cigar:

1. Scottsdale, Arizona. Has just the right ambience, lots of fabulous
shopping centers. Unfortunately, not intellectual or academic
particularly.

2. San Diego, California. Housing costs too high. (True for anywhere
in California, I presume.) And not particularly intellectual.

3. Boston, Massachusetts. This is actually a possibility, but the
housing costs are kind of high, and the traffic is definitely
"horrendous".

4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another possibility, actually. What do
you think?

It's an interesting question, although as someone else said it reveals
a slight narrow-mindedness on your own part. :-) No matter. If you're
looking at moving and have a wide range of choices, certainly it's
worth trying to find out where would fit best your preferences.

One, I'm not sure what you're looking for as far as
intellectual/academic. Do you want everyone you meet to seem a certain
way? I challenge you to find anyplace that fits that. Thus, I'm not
sure where you would conclude that Scottsdale and the surrounding areas
of Arizona (outlying Phoenix, that would be) couldn't fit that
description. Seems a bit of an arbitrary conclusion. May be correct,
I don't know. I have only spent a small amount of time there. I dunno
about the housing costs there either.

Certainly San Diego and Boston don't have reasonable housing costs.
Trust me. I was once looking to move to Boston area. The amount of
extra income I would have had to get to maintain same standard of
living as here (Pittsburgh) was not a likely thing for me to obtain.

Pittsburgh, well, I live here, and it really isn't bad. The shopping
isn't spectacular, but it's more than adequate. Ethnic restaurants are
not as varied, perhaps, as some other places, but they're here (more in
some areas than others). Traffic is decent. It's an academic center.
Not a big city, but not too small either. Crime is low. Housing costs
are very reasonable. All in all, it's a pretty good place to live.
(I've been here 12 years now.) It's not particularly cosmopolitan,
though. It's probably more socially conservative than the other places
you mentioned. And it has its other quirks, parochial ways, etc. as
many places do.

And that brings up some other things: you need to get more detailed
with this probably. What sort of political leanings do you have? You
might as well look into that. What kind of weather do you prefer? You
have places here that are varied in that regard. As an MD, what sort
of medical facilities? Boston is good for that, as is Pittsburgh.
(Dunno about the other two.) Are you concerned about schools for kids
you have or may eventually have? And of course, these four choices are
only what you have so far. As a side note, Pennsylvania, as you may
know, is apparently having a slight crisis in the area of malpractice
insurance premiums. Just an extra thing you need to be aware of before
moving here, assuming you are going to continue to practice medicine.

I suggest you give this web site a whirl: http://www.findyourspot.com/
I tried it once a couple years ago. It's quite fascinating what it can
dig up, actually. You answer a few pages of questions, and it matches
up your responses with a database of info about cities and small places
all over the country. The questions do a good job of picking out
certain things. I know when I did it several of the resulting places
sounded very appealing to me. Try it out, worth a little while of your
time. (I have no association with it, just found it insightful.)

Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland

Heh. I grew up in Shepherdstown, WV, not far away from there. Still
pretty familiar with the area. What's wrong with Hagerstown anyway?
:-)

Good luck, feel free to email if you have more questions about the
Pittsburgh area (remove the SPAMX bit).

--
CrazyOne | "I say what it occurs to me to say
aka Greg Pacek | when I think I hear people say
Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Earth | things. More I cannot say."