Best City in U.S. to Live

Small college towns come to mind, of
which there are many.

I was thinking the same thing; consider some of the many
small college towns that are located within easy driving
distance of large cities.

In a small college town you'll find lower housing costs and
less traffic, but still have the intellectual resources of a
university. And while you may not find "lots" of theaters
and ethic restaurants in these smaller towns, most college
towns have at least some, and you'll have all the resources
of a large city nearby to give you more options.

(And in many large cities you'll find lots of shopping centers,
theaters and restaurants located on the outskirts of the
city anyway, close to the city's outerbelt and/or the interstate
highway, making them easily accessible if you're driving in
from a nearby town.)

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"Hatunen" wrote in message
...
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.

He thinks San Diego is too expensive.


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

"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.
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.


How about Minneapolis. Minnesotans are one of the most open minded people
in the US. There is the big U. of M. Mall of America. Plenty of ethnic
restaurants. It also seems to fit your other requirements.


Matt Beckwith, M.D.
Hagerstown, Maryland

I would second that suggestion of the Twin Cities. Reasonable accommodation
costs in near proximity too! Not quite as mild (temperature wise) as the other
cities you noted. However, in the year or so, while I lived there as a
Canadian, alien graduate student, I found the climate downright balmy, as
were the Minnesotans ;-)

The friendships made back in the 1980s continue to this day - with plenty of
cross-border visiting. Wisconsin was pretty good too, but we only travelled
there.

To receive better answers, re-think your original post, re-formulate and
expand your questions. I'll bet that you will get many more possibilities....

Ken

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.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is one possiblility.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, is another.

The "intelligent people" criterion, and your elaboration of it,
betrays a certain lack of intelligence on your own part. I have lived
in many parts of the world, in big and small towns, in academic
environments and in working class environments. I have never lacked
intelligent company. I have never been to Austin, Texas, but I imagine
that you let yourself be deceived by the social conventions of the
place and didn't spend the time necessary to find congenial company.
In any large concentration of people, there are plenty who don't fit
the mold. They may assume a certain camouflage to allow them to live
comfortably there, but a little patient effort will allow you to
penetrate that.
--------
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

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


lLOL good one. Myabe try the glass bubble city.



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

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.


Portland, Oregon, gets my vote. I live near Seattle, and like it, but
it misses on #3 and #7.

Matt Beckwith wrote:

2. Not a big dirty city like New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.

Aw, shucks. Obviously the loss will be ours.

(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.

I can only assume that someone must be trying to get the real Dr.
Beckwith some unwanted attention. Oh well. Still, not a bad trolling
effort, as they go.

So, to summarize the non-insulting responses received so far:

Madison, Wisconsin
Omaha
DesMoines
Kansas City
Davis, California

and the many small college towns located near large cities. Which are?

Thanks.
Matt

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.

Did you not know that Tempe, AZ. is home to ASU and borders Scottsdale?.
ASU is a very large university. Scottsdale has a community college.
As far as ethnic goes I suppose that depends on what you're looking for.
Scottsdale is home to almost 100,000 winter residents from other parts
of the country and Canada for almost 6 months of the year. Traffic is
only bad in certain areas during rush hour. Because the metro Phoenix
area is laid out in a grid it is extremely easy to get around even when
the freeways are busy. Many streets run across the entire metro area.


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

The weather is great there, very pretty city. You will not like the
horrendous traffic nor the smog. People that live there will say 'what
smog?'!


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'm not sure what you mean by intellectual people. Scottsdale does have
an above average education level. It is also one of the more wealthy
parts of the metro Phoenix area 2nd only to Paradise Valley.

I love it here. The summers take getting used to but is far better than
the easts cold winters or Texas or the Souths hot humid summers. Since
the northern 1/2 of the state is high elevation mountains it is an easy
1 or 2 hour drive to escape the summer heat. The opposite is true in
the winter when I want to play in the snow but don't want to shovel it!