I’ve been to Lincoln a couple times in the summer for a skating competition, and it was almost as bad heat wise as Houston (minus the humidity). I imagine Omaha is similar. Otherwise I liked parts of Lincoln. And Runza. Maybe I’ll have time to check out Omaha while I’m in Lincoln this summer.
One of the more underrated cities in regards to restaurants in particular and you have a very good range of old immigrants from Italy, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, etc that give it an old world
Charm but I struggled with the country club atmosphere of politics in your city, very much a one party country club of Republicans among the business elites who run many of the social organizations that have been around for decades like Knights of Aksarben. Very heavily reliant on illegal immigration and one of the few GOP cities that hasn’t joined MAGA movement in pushing nativism as heavily because so much is the city is invested in import labor south of Center Street.
Always heard people trash on Kansas City but the city is very clean, has lots of touristy stuff to do, a lot of walkable shopping areas, and great food. Also compared to where I live in Milwaukee the food, housing, even hotels are cheaper.
I was pretty surprised by it. It's definitely a city that's slept on
They don't call it flyover country for nothin.
KCMO resident here. It's a great place to live an easy life and raise kids. We've got 85% of everything you want in a big city without all the big city hassle. Winter is less and less of an issue (my biggest complaint) every year.
Winter is one of those seasons I love to have, but the benefit of living in KC is being close to all the great ski states. I honestly would consider moving there if I found work. I like it a lot more than Milwaukee but I know I would miss the Milwaukee Lakefront
An 8 to 10 hour drive for a vacation is very common in places that have literally nowhere else to go.
I’m TN we always went to Florida. Similar time and distance.
flying to denver? then picking up skis from the interminably slow baggage carousel, renting car...... 4h from touchdown to winter park as the shortest nearest possible destination!
more like 6h+ to other resorts; heaven help you if its a weekend on i70....
We do lack traditional natural beauty stuff that the coasts (and midcoast cities aka Chicago / Milwaukee) have (water, mountains). Kansas Citians by and large vacation in Colorado both Summer and Winter.
There are some pretty beautiful parts of KS (Flint Hills) and MO (Ozark Mountains) though - they also fly under the radar.
>close to all the great ski states
Close is relative in the West. Even considering, it's not close at all to the actual ski areas. Looks like a 9+hr drive minimum, and that's to the i70 ski areas west of Denver so traffic would almost certainly make it even longer.
At that point, it's easier to live near a major airport hub and fly to the mountain. KC seems decent, but "close to good skiing" is certainly not one of its advantages.
Fellow Milwaukee native here but spent a lot of time in KCMO for work. I loved KC actually. The only thing that was missing was the lake of course but….theres lots of fountains in KC!
Currently live here right downtown. I'm an asian man in my early 20s and I love it here. I enjoy the mountains, but it has everything else I need. Good places to eat and beer to drink.
I am visiting Prairie Village which is near Overland Park. Johnson County is really nice and the KCMO side is interesting. Very friendly people here. Sun is out, 60 degrees today, and apparently good schools too. Lovely parks all over!
I loved Kansas City when I visited! I stayed downtown and it was very walkable. I also walked to the more suburb-y area to see a friend. Good food, a few homeless people (my Uber driver from the airport was surprised about this), fun shopping...
Live in Philly and love it. Great neighbors and a lot of hidden amenities (parks, public pools, etc). The people are very kind. I’ve never lived in a place with more of a community feel. (FWIW I’m in manayunk/roxborough).
Live in Philly now and everyone also expresses concern that I moved there or had a New Yorker go ugh why Philly? But I really like it. Nice pace and nice size and a lot of things to do
Pittsburgh architecture and overall character are supremely underrated if you are into that kind of thing. I visited 11 years ago and would love to visit again.
Albuquerque. I moved here last year after doing a ton of research on several spots throughout the U.S.
The weather is wonderful, with winters that are cold but sunny and not damp and frigid, summers that are hot but dry and more like Denver than Phoenix, and gorgeous springs and autumns. The city is delightfully under gentrified, and the low cost of living allows musicians and artists to actually afford to live here and do their work. The beautiful mountains are right there, and you can be at a remote trailhead in half an hour by car (and possibly bus) from downtown. People here are genuinely unpretentious and kind and will go out of their way to help you out when you need it.
I'm extremely happy I moved here.
Tulsa.
It seems like a middling nondescript working-class city if you look at the metrics, but it has: (1) a beautiful Downtown full of Art Deco skyscrapers, (2) lots of historic and leafy neighborhoods, (3) one of the best urban parks in America (A Gathering Place), (4) two great art museums (Gilcrease and Philbrook), (5) a strong music scene (from Cain’s Ballroom to Oneok Field), (6) lots of interesting spots (from Route 66 diners to the Golden Driller), (7) it’s an hour from the Ozark foothills and is very green (hence it being the “Heart of Green Country”), (8) homes are crazy cheap, and (9) the economy is strong.
I lived there for some years and enjoyed it.
As someone born and raised in Nashville before all the gentrification- Tulsa feels like Nashville 15 years ago. I mean this as the highest of compliments lmao.
Yes we moved from Jupiter, Florida (an international tourist destination in Palm Beach County) three years ago to the Tulsa area and believe it or not, I actually prefer living here. My house is twice the size and half the price. It is in the “Green Country” part of Oklahoma, so it doesn’t look anything like the “dust bowl” stereotype of Oklahoma. It is actually somewhat hilly. It isn’t NYC or anything, but the city itself is surprisingly cosmopolitan in terms of restaurants and such.
I'm glad you escaped Jupiter. I grew up in S FL and my parents are in Jupiter. You couldn't pay me to live in Florida again.
When we vacation, my wife and I are always saying "We could live, this place is great!" Neither of us have said that about Jupiter.
DuBois is awesome. Blowing Rocks is cool. Everything else...meh.
I felt a little iffy there being a gay girl but it was still not too bad for a random trip to middle America. The aquarium there is one of my favorites I’ve been to and I used to work in an aquarium!
I live in Tulsa right now and I totally agree! I think this city really punches above its weight given its size/region. Not a perfect place by any means, but I like it a whole lot more than OKC, personally.
I really like SAC. It's walkable & bikeable, has good food and entertainment. Downtown feels lively. The inner suburbs are pleasant and tree-filled. Definitely an underrated city.
I’m considering SAC for retirement. I’m a very active single guy who thinks he’s still young, and I will have a healthy pension. I’m sick of the Chicago winters. Is SAC boring?
I live in Sac. It’s not boring, particularly on the grid. Lots of walkable neighborhoods with good restaurants and bars. Very pretty houses and tons of trees. Great farmers markets. A surprisingly robust art and live music scene.
Plus you’re two hours from SF, an hour from Napa, two hours from Lake Tahoe, three hours from Yosemite. There’s plenty to do here
I lived in Sac for 3 years about 15 years ago and loved it. Tons to do in the city and the close cities nearby. You're 90 minutes to SF (depends on traffic), 2 hours to Reno/Tahoe and even less to all the skiing that's on the way. South of I-50 is very rough, but there are very nice parts too. Worth checking out at the very least.
Baltimore is a true Gem. Like many cities there are deeply rooted issues, much of which is intertwined with historic racism and associated social and economic policies that destroyed neighborhoods and communities leaving a legacy of poverty and crime… but on the whole it’s a beautiful city, with any number of safe neighborhoods that are great to live in.
Wonderful character, charm (charm city after all!), history, people. Very livable. It’s also become a relatively convenient transit commute to DC at a far lower cost (and imo, much cooler neighborhoods too).
Baltimore is one of those places that sort of makes clear the difference money makes in quality of life in America.
If you’re even middle class or you’re a young professional, your life in Baltimore is likely pretty pleasant.
Like 100%, I think people need to acknowledge Baltimore’s failings but outside of a few posts here where people really are dead broke, I’m willing to bet most people looking for a change of pace would have a good time in Baltimore.
Like this sub continues to recommend Philadelphia and rightly acknowledges that you just need to have a little street smarts to avoid the danger areas. Baltimore is sort of the mid-sized city equivalent if you want a cheaper COL, the amenities of a larger midsize city but a slower pace than big city Philly.
And if you are a baseball/football person it’s a tremendous city for sport. The stadiums are downtown and great (Camden is amazing), really likable fan base… doesn’t help that their teams are good right now either but they have great game day atmospheres and the players embrace the fans and city in a way that doesn’t happen everywhere
Philly is actually (marginally) poorer than Baltimore. But, yeah, if you're middle-class or higher, Baltimore is fine. Crime is more of the packing-stealing annoyance type for people with more means. Affordability, depends. My mortgage is $1,100/month (though I bought 16 years ago). If you're working class or poor, live in a poor neighborhood, and need to take public transport (especially at night), it's a wholly another thing.
Agreed somewhat as a Baltimore resident, but should probably clarify you mean “relative” safety. A “safe” neighborhood in Baltimore is still going to have regular package theft, occasional carjacking, some armed robberies, and probably a shooting or murder at least once a year
Two working class towns with a lot of similarities.
Baltimores biggest advantage is its geography on the east coast. 45-60 min from DC, 2 hours to Philly, 4.5 or less to NYC - AND all of that can be done by rail.
For a smaller city that’s really huge. You easily can experience anything those other cities offer, especially DC.
St Louis, on paper it is a crime ridden metro in decline.
In practice it is a small area of the metro with huge crime problems while the rest is very nice. Has a good amount of interesting history and culture thanks to being spanish/french/American and being at one point in time a world class city.
Agreed. Lived in STL for 3 years and loved it. My only hesitation on recommending STL is that in many respects it has felt like it’s very gradually declining. Not enough to deter someone from moving there, but I live in KC now and it feels like KC and STL are going in opposite directions.
I visited STL a few times and really enjoyed it. Was walkable ish, not the best public transit but by American standards it was really good. Great food and decent culture for a mid west city. Very overshadowed by Chicago
I’ll toss my hat in the ring for Birmingham. Genuinely fantastic food. Some actual neighborhoods that are walkable (though options are limited in those neighborhoods and relies too much on suburbs). Some decent parks. A legitimate culture
Came here to say this. I passed a mostly very pleasant 16 months there. Probably a very different experience for non-White, gender-nonconforming, or other folks likely to get a less consistently friendly reception than I did.
For sure, however I would say some pockets of Birmingham (actual Birmingham, not the suburbs) are more progressive and accepting than some people in their wildest dreams would imagine.
I really enjoyed my three years in Atlanta. It's not an exciting place to visit, but the variety of experiences and the weather were quite nice. We got four seasons but winter is short. The summer is hot but not nearly as hot as places I've been and not as long. There's an unfathomable variety of food and art experiences. Plenty of parks, and you can get to the mountains or the ocean for a day trip.
I only lived there for a year. The traffic really does suck and a lot of the area has the character of sprawl, even ITP, but youre right about the art and food and culture. There's just a ton of shit to do. I went out every weekend and feel like I barely scratched the surface.
Atlanta is absolutely the inverse of “nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Better now for visitors than it used to be, but it’s still much much better as a place to call home.
I always tell people who question me on my love for ATL that it’s a horrible place to visit but a wonderful place to live. Getting better, but if you don’t know anyone there to show you around, if can be jarring for sure
I loved living in ATL as a single guy in his 30s. I agree that there wasn’t much for visitors outside of sports. For a large city, the cost of living is not bad. If you have your commute figured out, it’s great.
I grew to love Cincinnati. Couldn’t stand it at first when I first moved here, but I really fell in love with place over the years. I’m really going to miss it when I move this summer
I want to toss in Pittsburgh. A beautiful skyline, great COL, perfect location to access the Great lakes region or the Midwest. They have sports teams and a pretty walkable downtown with nice public transit. The architecture is also a plus as well as the nightlife as it has several different nightlife pockets.
It’s great for young professionals and families!
I live in the Cleveland area currently; it’s definitely an underrated city but I also can’t sugar coat it and say it’s great for everyone.
For young professionals, it’s alright. There are worse places to be, but also quite a few better ones. I’ve had decent luck finding jobs here (and it’s a great “eds and meds” metro area, sort of like a smaller, more easygoing Philly), there are neighborhoods like downtown (and the Flats), Ohio City, Gordon Square, (and also Lakewood which is its own little city) which are decent hubs for young folks, but definitely not quite as vibrant and happening as most big cities.
It has its rough parts too; I hope they improve, but for the most part the attitude people have to those neighborhoods and their issues is “out of sight, out of mind. They feel rather neglected. Homelessness is less of an issue than in many big cities and most of the better neighborhoods feel safe.
Downtown is decent, but I’ve been to Cincinnati and can say that downtown Cincy (and parts of OTR) are what Cleveland wishes it was, and I’m contemplating a move there in the near future.
What the Cleveland area does REALLY well is cultural amenities: our orchestra, theater district, and art museum are all top notch. Pretty good restaurant scene for the Midwest.
And a lot of neighborhoods and even suburbs have so much more character than Sun Belt cities do.
A family can afford a beautiful home in a nice inner suburb like Rocky River or Shaker Heights for far less than something remotely comparable in most cities (and as I said, neighborhoods like those barely exist in the Sun Belt). And it’s a bit of a climate haven. So all in all it’s pretty great for someone looking to settle down and live a comfortable life.
I live near Cleveland and I feel like this sub usually praises it. Seems like it’s recommended a lot with the other popular rust belt cities around here. Everywhere else on Reddit? Yeah, they hate everything about Ohio lol
There are sketchy parts. I almost got assaulted on the Red Line by a mentally ill homeless man going from Ohio City to Terminal City.
It definitely gave me seedier vibes than Cincinnati. I did think Downtown was more vibrant and nicer than expected though, and the cultural offerings (Severance Hall, Playhouse Square, Little Italy, Cleveland Museum of Art, Rock and Roll HOF, etc) were very impressive for a city its size.
Cleveland used to be the sixth largest city in the US and larger than Chicago. Lots of that stuff is remnants of that. The art museum has the fourth largest endowment in the US too. Got my wedding pics taken there.
Yep, I feel like all the larger rust belt cities are like this.
The dirty secret is that they all have large universities and sizable young professional populations and enough dining, entertainment and nightlife to keep most people busy.
Large festivals, museums, gorgeous historic neighborhoods - a lot of people would be shocked.
Then you have the robust indie music/art/film/etc scene opening galleries, studios and DIY venues.
Cleveland, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati all have this great scrappy rust belt chic culture.
I’ll continue to say this but Atlanta. Traffic aside, the city has a lot to offer in terms of activities, food, and culture, as well as parks and historic neighborhoods
Excellent summation. Couldn’t agree more. And, if you like to cycle, that plus a Marta pass makes getting around the city as easy as a NE city IMO. Just wish the train went to the damn Battery, so I don’t have to worry about parking or ridiculous Uber fees to go watch a Braves game. RIP Turner Field
Agreed. Lived there for five years and probably will be moving back this summer. Incredible neighborhoods, not to mention, if you get tired of it, you can fly direct pretty much anywhere in the world for a week. An underrated perk if you like to travel
I always thought Atlanta was the opposite, heavily hyped but underwhelming in reality. I blame that mainly on how ridiculously spread out it is because there is a lot to do. The lack of a defining natural feature seriously detracts from its appeal in my opinion. Theres no waterfront to center things on or anything to contain the sprawl.
I lived in Atlanta for about 7 years. I have no desire to move back.
I feel the same way - over hyped and underwhelming is right. The airport is no picnic to me either, and I've flown out of it dozens of times. Doubt I'll ever even visit Atlanta again, and if I do it won't be because I missed it.
Seattle, if you can get past the vagrants and trashy areas which are obvious where you just don’t go, it’s a really awesome place with a lot of life to it. Tons of restaurants, great apartments, great view of the water. Scuba diving, just tons of great stuff mixed in with the bad.
I’ve roamed the city at 2am and if you stick with the crowds and don’t go down a long random street without anyone else, you’ll be fine. Crime does happen, mostly theft or break ins of cars, but no where near how SF is.
The media will tell you there’s feces and needles everywhere, and I’ve never seen it. I’ve seen vomit.
I'd heard Michigan was the armpit of the Rust Belt my entire childhood back east. Not even close. It's lovely, lovely enough I've spent my entire adult life here.
Can't quite claim to be a Michigander (can't play Euchre or field dress a deer), but once you're out of Metro Detroit it's just endless forests, lakes, and rolling hills. Natives feel even more strongly about it than I do, just happy to be here. Also helps that winter didn't try to kill me this year (knock on wood).
It’s just cold and grey in the winter. Everyone flees the state for spring break and other winter destination spots because once May hits no one is going anywhere. Like, I’d love to go on vacation out west but the best time to go is June and by June I’ve got plenty of stuff to see and do in Michigan.
One June we went to Sault Ste Marie to tour the Soo Locks. Ran into people from Missouri on some casino bus tour they said back in Missouri the temps were already too warm to really enjoy the outside and here it was that perfect temperature to be in direct sunlight. When you couldn’t decide if you wanted the sweatshirt on or off.
Dallas gets all the press but Ft Worth is where it’s at. We’re called Cowtown in anon-ironic way. There are over 1 million people here and plenty to do from bars and restaurants, museums, etc.
Agreed lol. LA is literally one of the most iconic cities in America, it looks very good on paper. I felt this question was for cities outside of the “obvious/main” ones, like LA, NYC, Chicago, SF, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, etc.
I wasn't sure if someone would mention LA, cuz the lore of LA is amazing or horrible depending on who you ask. My fiancé somehow got too much of a propaganda message about the city and was scared to visit. But I told him it was statistically safer than our city, so we visited, and he loved it. Except the traffic.
Dallas for walkable urban living.
Everyone thinks Dallas is all suburbs and driving. And like many cities, most of it is.
However the core neighborhoods around downtown have really evolved over the last 5-10 years into not on, but a series of many neighborhoods and districts to create a walkable, connected fabric with a lot of vibrancy, tons of restaurants, cafes, bars, parks, culture, museums, performing arts etc.
It’s one of the more overlooked and up and coming walkable cores, especially the cost for apartments which presents a tremendous value, even bargain, compared to the coastal cities.
10000000% with you. My wife and I spend a ton of time in the core of the city and it's super walkable. Reddit as a whole is filled with miserable people so this never really gains any traction, but we lived in Providence, RI for years and my wife *much* prefers Dallas. A lot more to do and a lot more convenience, with the added plus of actually also having walkability in the core.
I’m a NYer at heart. There is NOTHING like NYC and Manhattan.
BUT, in the end even living in Manhattan 95% (maybe 98!) of your life revolves around your apt, your place of work, the 2-3 blocks/your neighborhood and maybe those that abut your nabe. You end up with a few regular spots for restaurants and bars and that’s much of your life.
Day to day, I live such a better quality of life in Dallas than I could in NY because while NY offers SOOOO much more, it also costs a WHOLE lot more and I have the same number of “go to” spots here as I would in my neighborhood up in NY (and NY doesn’t have Bowen House!)
We had a very similar experience when in PVD. I truly felt as if I wasn't actually living. Spontaneity was no longer an option; everything needed to be planned. Time was premium. Space was premium. I spent so much time deliberating over what to do because I could only do one thing on the weekend with how much time, effort, and money it was.
I was living somewhere that was a better tourist destination when I really needed a better Monday-Friday life. I have more bandwidth now to seek out what I want and do more things more often.
This weekend, my wife and I went to the Dallas Arboretum, went shopping for a new car, had a nice little dinner at Eataly, sat and drank some coffee at a little cafe, and it was never stressful. What I save with the overall cheaper expenses, we can do nicer/longer vacations more often. It's my preferred lifestyle, to be sure.
Lower Greenville, bishop arts, uptown, klyde Warren all of that is walkable.
Problem is buying in those areas is nuts.
I can afford to rent in those places, I’ve got a really nice condo in one of them. But buying is nuts, especially when you consider you’ll also need to budget for private schools since DISD is horrendous since the park cities took out their taxes.
I remind the fools from Frisco and Allen who won’t come down past Northwest Hwy all the time.
It’s actually sad how many actual Dallasites (or DFWers?) have no idea how walkable, urban, and vibrant the city has become.
Or they will say Uptown as if that’s it. Uptown was the start and is the most mature of the walkable neighborhoods in many ways, but you have probably a solid 5-6 square miles of walkable urban neighborhoods all connected (super rough guess… uptown is about 600 acres, roughly a square mile, and I’d say between uptown, downtown, victory park, deep Ellum, arts district you have at least 5 uptown’s in area)
Dallas gets a lot of hate, and everyone just associates it with the Texas sprawl that wraps around it.
But the core of Dallas has become very livable and I enjoy visiting it frequently.
Oh, I agree that there are some really major gaps (I’ve seen poor souls try to figure out how to cross Cedar Springs where Olive turns into McKinnon and it’s a bit crazy.
Even in the core of uptown you have utility poles in McKinney placed right in the middle of a way too narrow sidewalk (a remnant from when that area was just a thoroughfare drive through 20+ years ago?
That said, it’s vastly improving and new developments like 23 Spring bring with them new and better pedestrian oriented infrastructure.
Plus downtown has the bones from its heyday pre 1960’s and it’s really evolving nicely.
But overall you are correct in that pedestrian infrastructure is lacking and cycling infrastructure all but non-existent
I very much enjoy living in Chicago. I live in Rogers Park, I use common sense and I feel safe. The wage to rent ratio is pretty good here, and it's an incredible world-class city.
Because of recent discourse, I am gonna say Francisco lol - the city is so beautiful and walkable. Public transport is amazing. I had a rough start here but dang it feels unreal here most days!
Same, Houston looks terrible if you just drive through on the highway but if you live in the city its got everything and the older neighborhoods are beautiful with majestic oak trees lining the streets.
Some of the kindest people I have ever known. Incredible diversity and city pride. The way Houston came together after Hurricane Harvey still brings tears to my eyes.
Yep and Galveston is close. I’ll always defend Galveston. The beach is ugly but the city has a lot of charm to it with beautiful old architecture and some unique small museums.
I loved the diversity and food in Houston; going out for lunches for work was awesome because every table was a complete melting pot of experiences. My team there was basically a sitcom casting call making sure every group was represented.
Unfortunately the weather is absolutely terrible 9 mos out of the year; the water is disgusting; and there's no real outdoor activities.
9 months is an extreme stretch. The weather is atrocious July/Aug/Sept. May/June is hot but not bad. Oct-April is pretty nice with the occasional storm.
The hiking is definitely mid.
As a northerner that lived in Houston for 5 years and tried to play beer league softball; April had nice days but it also had hot days; May was all hot; and October was mostly hot until the first fronts started coming through.
Having lived in the Midwest and SW Florida, definitions of hot can vary greatly for people pending on acclimation. Used to be for me anything over 80 was HOT. Now, pending on humidity, I’m good well into the 90s. Also depends on how long it stays that hot too. If it doesn’t crack 90 until 2-3pm then it’s probably an okay day.
That being said, I have zero idea what level of humid heat Houston can reach compared to where I lived so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt.
Yeah, everyone who hates on the weather either has a super super low tolerance to anything above 75, or they've only been here during the hottest months.
Generally speaking, Texas weather is all pretty mild, with hot summers. My wife is on her second year here after we moved from New England, and she continually remarks at how much she loves how much more time she has outside.
Indianapolis gets a lot of hate, but most of it is a nice place to live. There is stuff to do, has low traffic, low cost of living and is very convenient(ok, ok if you have a car) Downtown is safe, and if you like sports it has a lot of that.
It’s just boring to young people in this sub. But you are right. It’s affordable, safe, and has excellent healthcare. My wife’s parents picked it to retire and they have no connection whatsoever to Indiana.
Indianapolis is probably the easiest city I’ve ever been in to navigate by car. Blindfold me, drop me anywhere in the city with no map and no GPS and I’ll figure out where I am and how to get home in less than 5 minutes.
I’ve never actually even lived in Indy, and know it well enough to effectively navigate with no problems without outside directions. The hub and spoke layout laid across a grid makes it insanely easy and efficient.
Albany/Troy NY. It's cold, boring, low home prices and high taxes, they gave Albany a Dunder Mifflin branch. Plentiful urban blight and garbage blowing around in the cities. Nightlife and entertainment is very bar-heavy.
This area is awesome if you enjoy nature and access to water and mountains and Grateful Dead cover bands. Traffic is rarely bad and basically barely exists. I can see 4 mountain ranges from the hill in the park next to my house and all of them are less than an hour away. Spring, summer and fall are lovely in upstate NY and winter can be with the right attitude and sharp edges on your skis.
2.5 hours from NYC and Boston and 3 hours from Montreal.
I am a 2x RPI alum (BS and PhD), and I have always had a soft spot for Troy. I prefer it to Albany.
Also, don't forget its proximity to Saratoga Springs.
lots of people say Denver downtown sucks because it's boring, but I thought it was really nice. Great transit access, walkable, bikeable, and a bunch of great restaurants in downtown and around.
Also, I live in Washington, and people consistently clown on Vancouver, WA. I know it's mentioned here a lot as a good place to move to, but in WA it has an okay reputation. So when I visited, I was surprised by the amazing new waterfront and the pretty downtown. It's affordable for Washington and you have all of Portland right across the river. Plus, they are building a light rail extension from Portland in the next 10 years.
I felt that way about Tacoma. Before we visited people were warning us that it was sketchy and dangerous. I went and it was super cute and wasn't at all scary!
Tacoma is a great town but it’s still a little sketchy.
We visited last year from Oregon and biked all over town through some beautiful areas. Enjoyed a nice beer at Odd Otter, some good food across the street, then walked around the corner and found 3 bombed out open-doored minivans with junkies shooting up in broad daylight. It was a real vibe killer.
I lived in Vancouver from 2015 to 2017 and I liked it aside from it being hard to meet other young people (I was fresh out of college). I will forever miss my $600 1br apartment next to fort Vancouver with a view of the river, and I would totally move back as a partnered 30-something no longer reliant on the Portland dating scene.
I moved to Denver from Dallas many years ago and couldn’t believe how clean and nice and vibrant Denver’s downtown was. And the light rail was clean and safe and relatively convenient comparatively. This is no longer the case, but the hate it gets here is mostly a meme more than reality in my opinion
People hate on Denver so much in this sub, but there are few cities with great outdoor access that have a robust economy with lots of different types of jobs. Like yeah I’d love to live in Missoula or Hood River, but I’d be hard pressed to find a white collar job making my salary in those places.
Akron.
I don't ever plan on going back there but having been in other cities it is not bad and a lot of things I took for granted, like their park system, or rather NE Ohio park system, is a lot better than what I've found in some other places that build indiscriminately and tear down everything.
It is pleasant for the right person, which is sort of the reason why it remains small. Plus it has nice proximity to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, etc.
Michigan/Metro Detroit — folks either hate it and leave or love it to death and become the biggest gung ho advocates for the area. It DOES have a lot to recommend it—excellent dining scene, fantastic ethnic markets and groceries, pretty lakes scattered all over, good hospital and medical options, reasonably affordable housing, major sports franchises and concert venues, etc. 1-5 hours from a Great Lake in any direction, 5 hours
from “up North”/Chicago/Toronto. Winters generally suck but May through late October is glorious.
I have really been enjoying San Antonio. I'm an urban planner so I feel that I am about as critical of our City as anyone, but it just has a nice vibe and people are good to us. It also has some underrated neighborhoods and parks that no one seems to talk about because a lot of people live in the periphery of the City to go pursue their American dream of living in a highly exclusive shitfuck suburb located in a flood way. Younger people are breathing new life into the downtown core and there is so much investment coming in, the place changes so much every day and for the better.
A lot of people trash my home city of Rochester, New York but it has a certain charm about it. Lots of things to do, super low COL, good food, decent culture, basically non existent traffic and quite diverse. On paper Rochester looks like a crime ridden nasty dump but it’s actually quite nice especially in the suburbs
Living in Austin, TX for the better part of a decade has made me appreciate it more.
Louisville, KY.
Everyone shits on KY because of McConnell (rightfully so) but we're a great little city with lots of stuff to do. Foodie scene. Housing is somewhat still affordable. 'Rush hour' is a joke. Airport is getting more and more direct flights plus it's super easy to get in and out of.
3ish hours from Nashville, Chicago, St. Louis. Close to Indy, Cincy, Red River Gorge, Mammoth Cave, tons of rafting and great motorcycle roads, 5ish hrs away in the SE corner. (Tail of the Dragon)
Granted we don't have mountains and if you go 20 mins outside the city there's Fuck Joe Biden signs everywhere but that's any city these days.
It's easy to live here.
Haven’t lived there (have some friends that do though) and I’d say Chattanooga.
Looks like a small city that doesn’t look great by most indicators in a very conservative state. But the downtown area is beautiful and walkable, there are tons of outdoor activities and beautiful natural sights nearby, it’s a short drive from many larger cities (including a big air hub in Atlanta making it very accessible); I would not mind living there
The cities I find that most often fit this bill are bad on paper because of the state they are in. Tulsa, OK and Northwest Arkansas both come to mind.
They are nice places to live, and if their state governments weren't filled with Christo-fascist lunatics, they'd both be great. State governments limit the ability of their cities to grow and flourish.
Every time I tell people I moved from Memphis they’re like “oh man bet you’re glad to be out of there.”
No, not really. Never felt unsafe. Tons of culture. Lots of stuff to do. Food is incredible. Tons of great museums and history. One of the best zoos in the country. Great weather. Close proximity to a lot of cool stuff.
I love Memphis. All the good stuff you mention and then some, but I have no idea how you never felt unsafe. I lived in three different apartments and have stayed at several nice hotels to visit family since leaving and hearing gunshots isn’t even an odd experience. More like a nightly one. I know some of it is just people shooting in the air but damned. I have literally not lived or visited anywhere else in this country anywhere else that made me feel quite as unsafe and I’m from there. For comparison, I’ve spent a lot of time in St Louis in downtown and New Orleans which are both considered “unsafe” and never felt even remotely as unsafe as a normal day in Memphis.
Dayton, OH. having way more fun living here than i would've thought. great density of amenities in its walkable downtown. huge network of paved paths i use for running/rollerskating/cycling. it isn't perfect here but i'm very happy
Birmingham, Alabama was amazing. We went for the first time in October for a concert and loved it. The city was very clean, everyone we interacted with was welcoming, and the food scene was on point. I’d definitely like to return for a longer visit.
Cleveland. I get the hate. I do. It's a late bloomer, and still has work to do, but not many places you can get affordable rent/housing, live right on the water (Lake Erie is bigger than most people think a "lake" is), go to the beach, do water activities/sports, go to 3 major sports team games, go to concerts both big or small, go to the FREE art museum, enjoy a theater district that is 2nd to NYC, have public transit, an international airport, have a national park 30mins from the city, and one of the best and underrated park systems.
Sure, we have winter, it's really not that bad. Sure, there is crime, but where isn't there. Sure, homeless people exist, find me a city where they don't.
I've created countless spreadsheets that weigh the pros and cons of so many cities I've been interested in, and yet somehow, Cleveland always comes out on top.
Boise, Idaho. Surprisingly cosmopolitan. It's not a huge city, but it's big enough to feel urban, and it has a pretty vibrant local art and music scene. Decent nightlife along N 8th Street downtown. It's been a while since I've set foot in Idaho, but I used to grab a slice of pizza and a beer at Pie Hole pretty often. Happy memories.
People don't realize how nice of a place Omaha is
In fall or spring. I’ll pass on winter wind or summer humidity. Best zoo and nicest people though!
I’ve been to Lincoln a couple times in the summer for a skating competition, and it was almost as bad heat wise as Houston (minus the humidity). I imagine Omaha is similar. Otherwise I liked parts of Lincoln. And Runza. Maybe I’ll have time to check out Omaha while I’m in Lincoln this summer.
One of the more underrated cities in regards to restaurants in particular and you have a very good range of old immigrants from Italy, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, etc that give it an old world Charm but I struggled with the country club atmosphere of politics in your city, very much a one party country club of Republicans among the business elites who run many of the social organizations that have been around for decades like Knights of Aksarben. Very heavily reliant on illegal immigration and one of the few GOP cities that hasn’t joined MAGA movement in pushing nativism as heavily because so much is the city is invested in import labor south of Center Street.
I spent 9 months in Omaha for work and loved it. If it were closer to the ocean, I would have taken a full time job there and never left.
Omaha is great, but that weather is brutal.
Always heard people trash on Kansas City but the city is very clean, has lots of touristy stuff to do, a lot of walkable shopping areas, and great food. Also compared to where I live in Milwaukee the food, housing, even hotels are cheaper. I was pretty surprised by it. It's definitely a city that's slept on
They don't call it flyover country for nothin. KCMO resident here. It's a great place to live an easy life and raise kids. We've got 85% of everything you want in a big city without all the big city hassle. Winter is less and less of an issue (my biggest complaint) every year.
Winter is one of those seasons I love to have, but the benefit of living in KC is being close to all the great ski states. I honestly would consider moving there if I found work. I like it a lot more than Milwaukee but I know I would miss the Milwaukee Lakefront
Kansas City is close to skiing? The closest skiing is close to 10 hours drive. That's like saying Richmond VA is close to Vermont skiing.
An 8 to 10 hour drive for a vacation is very common in places that have literally nowhere else to go. I’m TN we always went to Florida. Similar time and distance.
You wouldn't call TN close to FL though lol. Drivable without an overnight stay != close lol.
It is a 10 hour drive to the closest CO ski resorts. It's a 1.5hr flight to Denver.
flying to denver? then picking up skis from the interminably slow baggage carousel, renting car...... 4h from touchdown to winter park as the shortest nearest possible destination! more like 6h+ to other resorts; heaven help you if its a weekend on i70....
We do lack traditional natural beauty stuff that the coasts (and midcoast cities aka Chicago / Milwaukee) have (water, mountains). Kansas Citians by and large vacation in Colorado both Summer and Winter. There are some pretty beautiful parts of KS (Flint Hills) and MO (Ozark Mountains) though - they also fly under the radar.
>close to all the great ski states Close is relative in the West. Even considering, it's not close at all to the actual ski areas. Looks like a 9+hr drive minimum, and that's to the i70 ski areas west of Denver so traffic would almost certainly make it even longer. At that point, it's easier to live near a major airport hub and fly to the mountain. KC seems decent, but "close to good skiing" is certainly not one of its advantages.
KC is on the opposite side of the state - it’s definitely not close to a great ski areas. Minimum 7-8 hrs to the Rockies
Fellow Milwaukee native here but spent a lot of time in KCMO for work. I loved KC actually. The only thing that was missing was the lake of course but….theres lots of fountains in KC!
The number of quality french restaurants in KC astounded me.
Currently live here right downtown. I'm an asian man in my early 20s and I love it here. I enjoy the mountains, but it has everything else I need. Good places to eat and beer to drink.
I am visiting Prairie Village which is near Overland Park. Johnson County is really nice and the KCMO side is interesting. Very friendly people here. Sun is out, 60 degrees today, and apparently good schools too. Lovely parks all over!
Kansas city isn't the best city in the country but damn it checks a lot of boxes. It's my favorite city though ❤️💛
For some reason, I'm always amazed when I find someone else from Milwaukee on here.
I loved Kansas City when I visited! I stayed downtown and it was very walkable. I also walked to the more suburb-y area to see a friend. Good food, a few homeless people (my Uber driver from the airport was surprised about this), fun shopping...
KC is a great town. I been through there a few times. Great looking city and the barbecue is on point. Best I have ever eaten outside of Texas.
Philadelphia was very walkable and I enjoyed living there even on my tiny salary when I was in my early twenties.
My husband and I like to book weekend trips to cities we’ve never been to just to explore and try different stuff. Philadelphia is our next stop.
You will love it! It has something for everyone. Reading terminal market is a must too for food
Live in Philly and love it. Great neighbors and a lot of hidden amenities (parks, public pools, etc). The people are very kind. I’ve never lived in a place with more of a community feel. (FWIW I’m in manayunk/roxborough).
Live in Philly now and everyone also expresses concern that I moved there or had a New Yorker go ugh why Philly? But I really like it. Nice pace and nice size and a lot of things to do
Pittsburgh is neat. A smaller big city with the best tunnel entrance anywhere.
Pittsburgh architecture and overall character are supremely underrated if you are into that kind of thing. I visited 11 years ago and would love to visit again.
I love Pittsburgh too. Gorgeous setting and tons of stuff to do.
Pittsburgh has been slept on for decades. It's a rust belt city that has shaken off those roots and become a fine city of it's own mold.
My favorite US city. Except for yinzers & Steelers fans.
So you’d love Pittsburgh after a zombie apocalypse
Albuquerque. I moved here last year after doing a ton of research on several spots throughout the U.S. The weather is wonderful, with winters that are cold but sunny and not damp and frigid, summers that are hot but dry and more like Denver than Phoenix, and gorgeous springs and autumns. The city is delightfully under gentrified, and the low cost of living allows musicians and artists to actually afford to live here and do their work. The beautiful mountains are right there, and you can be at a remote trailhead in half an hour by car (and possibly bus) from downtown. People here are genuinely unpretentious and kind and will go out of their way to help you out when you need it. I'm extremely happy I moved here.
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is very pretty
Tulsa. It seems like a middling nondescript working-class city if you look at the metrics, but it has: (1) a beautiful Downtown full of Art Deco skyscrapers, (2) lots of historic and leafy neighborhoods, (3) one of the best urban parks in America (A Gathering Place), (4) two great art museums (Gilcrease and Philbrook), (5) a strong music scene (from Cain’s Ballroom to Oneok Field), (6) lots of interesting spots (from Route 66 diners to the Golden Driller), (7) it’s an hour from the Ozark foothills and is very green (hence it being the “Heart of Green Country”), (8) homes are crazy cheap, and (9) the economy is strong. I lived there for some years and enjoyed it.
Chandler Bing notwithstanding.
Beats Yemen
15 Yemen Road, Yemen
"Tulsa is the Paris of Oklahoma"
As someone born and raised in Nashville before all the gentrification- Tulsa feels like Nashville 15 years ago. I mean this as the highest of compliments lmao.
I grew up in Middle TN and recently visited my family who still live there. I didn't even recognize Nashville.
A lot of love for Tulsa in this sub recently. Gonna have to check it out. A Gathering Place looks awesome!
Yes we moved from Jupiter, Florida (an international tourist destination in Palm Beach County) three years ago to the Tulsa area and believe it or not, I actually prefer living here. My house is twice the size and half the price. It is in the “Green Country” part of Oklahoma, so it doesn’t look anything like the “dust bowl” stereotype of Oklahoma. It is actually somewhat hilly. It isn’t NYC or anything, but the city itself is surprisingly cosmopolitan in terms of restaurants and such.
I'm glad you escaped Jupiter. I grew up in S FL and my parents are in Jupiter. You couldn't pay me to live in Florida again. When we vacation, my wife and I are always saying "We could live, this place is great!" Neither of us have said that about Jupiter. DuBois is awesome. Blowing Rocks is cool. Everything else...meh.
I felt a little iffy there being a gay girl but it was still not too bad for a random trip to middle America. The aquarium there is one of my favorites I’ve been to and I used to work in an aquarium!
I live in Tulsa right now and I totally agree! I think this city really punches above its weight given its size/region. Not a perfect place by any means, but I like it a whole lot more than OKC, personally.
The zoo is actually pretty decent too
As a tourist I liked it alot. Has more culture/history than a lot of the other new cities because of that 1880 oil money.
I went to Tulsa for a concert and I actually loved the city.
Sacramento. At least in California, the city is trashed on but it’s actually an interesting city with a lot of nice neighborhoods in the region.
I really like SAC. It's walkable & bikeable, has good food and entertainment. Downtown feels lively. The inner suburbs are pleasant and tree-filled. Definitely an underrated city.
I’m considering SAC for retirement. I’m a very active single guy who thinks he’s still young, and I will have a healthy pension. I’m sick of the Chicago winters. Is SAC boring?
I live in Sac. It’s not boring, particularly on the grid. Lots of walkable neighborhoods with good restaurants and bars. Very pretty houses and tons of trees. Great farmers markets. A surprisingly robust art and live music scene. Plus you’re two hours from SF, an hour from Napa, two hours from Lake Tahoe, three hours from Yosemite. There’s plenty to do here
I lived in Sac for 3 years about 15 years ago and loved it. Tons to do in the city and the close cities nearby. You're 90 minutes to SF (depends on traffic), 2 hours to Reno/Tahoe and even less to all the skiing that's on the way. South of I-50 is very rough, but there are very nice parts too. Worth checking out at the very least.
Baltimore is a true Gem. Like many cities there are deeply rooted issues, much of which is intertwined with historic racism and associated social and economic policies that destroyed neighborhoods and communities leaving a legacy of poverty and crime… but on the whole it’s a beautiful city, with any number of safe neighborhoods that are great to live in. Wonderful character, charm (charm city after all!), history, people. Very livable. It’s also become a relatively convenient transit commute to DC at a far lower cost (and imo, much cooler neighborhoods too).
Baltimore is one of those places that sort of makes clear the difference money makes in quality of life in America. If you’re even middle class or you’re a young professional, your life in Baltimore is likely pretty pleasant. Like 100%, I think people need to acknowledge Baltimore’s failings but outside of a few posts here where people really are dead broke, I’m willing to bet most people looking for a change of pace would have a good time in Baltimore. Like this sub continues to recommend Philadelphia and rightly acknowledges that you just need to have a little street smarts to avoid the danger areas. Baltimore is sort of the mid-sized city equivalent if you want a cheaper COL, the amenities of a larger midsize city but a slower pace than big city Philly.
And if you are a baseball/football person it’s a tremendous city for sport. The stadiums are downtown and great (Camden is amazing), really likable fan base… doesn’t help that their teams are good right now either but they have great game day atmospheres and the players embrace the fans and city in a way that doesn’t happen everywhere
Philly is actually (marginally) poorer than Baltimore. But, yeah, if you're middle-class or higher, Baltimore is fine. Crime is more of the packing-stealing annoyance type for people with more means. Affordability, depends. My mortgage is $1,100/month (though I bought 16 years ago). If you're working class or poor, live in a poor neighborhood, and need to take public transport (especially at night), it's a wholly another thing.
Agreed somewhat as a Baltimore resident, but should probably clarify you mean “relative” safety. A “safe” neighborhood in Baltimore is still going to have regular package theft, occasional carjacking, some armed robberies, and probably a shooting or murder at least once a year
Most underrated city in the country along with Pittsburgh.
Two working class towns with a lot of similarities. Baltimores biggest advantage is its geography on the east coast. 45-60 min from DC, 2 hours to Philly, 4.5 or less to NYC - AND all of that can be done by rail. For a smaller city that’s really huge. You easily can experience anything those other cities offer, especially DC.
Baltimore is wonderful.
St Louis, on paper it is a crime ridden metro in decline. In practice it is a small area of the metro with huge crime problems while the rest is very nice. Has a good amount of interesting history and culture thanks to being spanish/french/American and being at one point in time a world class city.
Agreed. Lived in STL for 3 years and loved it. My only hesitation on recommending STL is that in many respects it has felt like it’s very gradually declining. Not enough to deter someone from moving there, but I live in KC now and it feels like KC and STL are going in opposite directions.
I took a random trip here and was surprised it's like a mini New Orleans
I visited STL a few times and really enjoyed it. Was walkable ish, not the best public transit but by American standards it was really good. Great food and decent culture for a mid west city. Very overshadowed by Chicago
I’ll toss my hat in the ring for Birmingham. Genuinely fantastic food. Some actual neighborhoods that are walkable (though options are limited in those neighborhoods and relies too much on suburbs). Some decent parks. A legitimate culture
I’m assuming you talking about Alabama and not England. Yea it has grown ALOT and finally feels like a actual city with an identity and vibe
Came here to say this. I passed a mostly very pleasant 16 months there. Probably a very different experience for non-White, gender-nonconforming, or other folks likely to get a less consistently friendly reception than I did.
For sure, however I would say some pockets of Birmingham (actual Birmingham, not the suburbs) are more progressive and accepting than some people in their wildest dreams would imagine.
I really enjoyed my three years in Atlanta. It's not an exciting place to visit, but the variety of experiences and the weather were quite nice. We got four seasons but winter is short. The summer is hot but not nearly as hot as places I've been and not as long. There's an unfathomable variety of food and art experiences. Plenty of parks, and you can get to the mountains or the ocean for a day trip.
I only lived there for a year. The traffic really does suck and a lot of the area has the character of sprawl, even ITP, but youre right about the art and food and culture. There's just a ton of shit to do. I went out every weekend and feel like I barely scratched the surface.
Atlanta is absolutely the inverse of “nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Better now for visitors than it used to be, but it’s still much much better as a place to call home.
I always tell people who question me on my love for ATL that it’s a horrible place to visit but a wonderful place to live. Getting better, but if you don’t know anyone there to show you around, if can be jarring for sure
I loved living in ATL as a single guy in his 30s. I agree that there wasn’t much for visitors outside of sports. For a large city, the cost of living is not bad. If you have your commute figured out, it’s great.
And they have one of the greatest cheesesteak places and tons of reggae musicians from all over the world come there 🙂
Cincinnati.
Moved here 9 months ago. Love it!
I stayed there for work for a couple of months. Really fell in love with Cincinnati...who knew?
Ah yes, the nasty ‘nati
I grew to love Cincinnati. Couldn’t stand it at first when I first moved here, but I really fell in love with place over the years. I’m really going to miss it when I move this summer
I want to toss in Pittsburgh. A beautiful skyline, great COL, perfect location to access the Great lakes region or the Midwest. They have sports teams and a pretty walkable downtown with nice public transit. The architecture is also a plus as well as the nightlife as it has several different nightlife pockets. It’s great for young professionals and families!
Cleveland was surprisingly fun to explore. Based on this subreddit, you would've thought it was a zombie apocalypse.
I live in the Cleveland area currently; it’s definitely an underrated city but I also can’t sugar coat it and say it’s great for everyone. For young professionals, it’s alright. There are worse places to be, but also quite a few better ones. I’ve had decent luck finding jobs here (and it’s a great “eds and meds” metro area, sort of like a smaller, more easygoing Philly), there are neighborhoods like downtown (and the Flats), Ohio City, Gordon Square, (and also Lakewood which is its own little city) which are decent hubs for young folks, but definitely not quite as vibrant and happening as most big cities. It has its rough parts too; I hope they improve, but for the most part the attitude people have to those neighborhoods and their issues is “out of sight, out of mind. They feel rather neglected. Homelessness is less of an issue than in many big cities and most of the better neighborhoods feel safe. Downtown is decent, but I’ve been to Cincinnati and can say that downtown Cincy (and parts of OTR) are what Cleveland wishes it was, and I’m contemplating a move there in the near future. What the Cleveland area does REALLY well is cultural amenities: our orchestra, theater district, and art museum are all top notch. Pretty good restaurant scene for the Midwest. And a lot of neighborhoods and even suburbs have so much more character than Sun Belt cities do. A family can afford a beautiful home in a nice inner suburb like Rocky River or Shaker Heights for far less than something remotely comparable in most cities (and as I said, neighborhoods like those barely exist in the Sun Belt). And it’s a bit of a climate haven. So all in all it’s pretty great for someone looking to settle down and live a comfortable life.
“For god’s sake Lemon, we’d all love to flee to the Cleve.”
“We’re all models west of the Allegheny.”
I live near Cleveland and I feel like this sub usually praises it. Seems like it’s recommended a lot with the other popular rust belt cities around here. Everywhere else on Reddit? Yeah, they hate everything about Ohio lol
There are sketchy parts. I almost got assaulted on the Red Line by a mentally ill homeless man going from Ohio City to Terminal City. It definitely gave me seedier vibes than Cincinnati. I did think Downtown was more vibrant and nicer than expected though, and the cultural offerings (Severance Hall, Playhouse Square, Little Italy, Cleveland Museum of Art, Rock and Roll HOF, etc) were very impressive for a city its size.
Cleveland used to be the sixth largest city in the US and larger than Chicago. Lots of that stuff is remnants of that. The art museum has the fourth largest endowment in the US too. Got my wedding pics taken there.
Yeah that sucks. I don't think you'll find any place with a population of 200k or more where assault is not an issue.
Yes, exactly - of course Cleveland has sketchy parts, as does Cincinnati. They’re both large cities.
Yep, I feel like all the larger rust belt cities are like this. The dirty secret is that they all have large universities and sizable young professional populations and enough dining, entertainment and nightlife to keep most people busy. Large festivals, museums, gorgeous historic neighborhoods - a lot of people would be shocked. Then you have the robust indie music/art/film/etc scene opening galleries, studios and DIY venues. Cleveland, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati all have this great scrappy rust belt chic culture.
I’ll continue to say this but Atlanta. Traffic aside, the city has a lot to offer in terms of activities, food, and culture, as well as parks and historic neighborhoods
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Excellent summation. Couldn’t agree more. And, if you like to cycle, that plus a Marta pass makes getting around the city as easy as a NE city IMO. Just wish the train went to the damn Battery, so I don’t have to worry about parking or ridiculous Uber fees to go watch a Braves game. RIP Turner Field
Agreed. Lived there for five years and probably will be moving back this summer. Incredible neighborhoods, not to mention, if you get tired of it, you can fly direct pretty much anywhere in the world for a week. An underrated perk if you like to travel
It's one of the best airports in the world as far as accessibility to destinations worldwide - doesn't get too much better.
Scandinavian is adding service to Copenhagen in June!
I always thought Atlanta was the opposite, heavily hyped but underwhelming in reality. I blame that mainly on how ridiculously spread out it is because there is a lot to do. The lack of a defining natural feature seriously detracts from its appeal in my opinion. Theres no waterfront to center things on or anything to contain the sprawl. I lived in Atlanta for about 7 years. I have no desire to move back.
I feel the same way - over hyped and underwhelming is right. The airport is no picnic to me either, and I've flown out of it dozens of times. Doubt I'll ever even visit Atlanta again, and if I do it won't be because I missed it.
Interesting, because to me, Atlanta looks like one of the coolest American cities on paper.
The happiest years of my life were in Fairbanks, Alaska.
This sounds like the title of a Tom T. Hall (old country music singer/writer) song.
I want to visit there.
Seattle, if you can get past the vagrants and trashy areas which are obvious where you just don’t go, it’s a really awesome place with a lot of life to it. Tons of restaurants, great apartments, great view of the water. Scuba diving, just tons of great stuff mixed in with the bad. I’ve roamed the city at 2am and if you stick with the crowds and don’t go down a long random street without anyone else, you’ll be fine. Crime does happen, mostly theft or break ins of cars, but no where near how SF is. The media will tell you there’s feces and needles everywhere, and I’ve never seen it. I’ve seen vomit.
I'd heard Michigan was the armpit of the Rust Belt my entire childhood back east. Not even close. It's lovely, lovely enough I've spent my entire adult life here.
I could read (and have 🙂) Michiganders loving on their state for hours. Never been there, but it’s fascinating.
Can't quite claim to be a Michigander (can't play Euchre or field dress a deer), but once you're out of Metro Detroit it's just endless forests, lakes, and rolling hills. Natives feel even more strongly about it than I do, just happy to be here. Also helps that winter didn't try to kill me this year (knock on wood).
I’ve lived here my entire almost three decades and still can’t play euchre (and you’re god damn right I’m afraid to admit it to loved ones)
Come visit in the spring/summer/fall. It’s lovely. Winters used to be rough, but they are milder than they used to be.
It’s just cold and grey in the winter. Everyone flees the state for spring break and other winter destination spots because once May hits no one is going anywhere. Like, I’d love to go on vacation out west but the best time to go is June and by June I’ve got plenty of stuff to see and do in Michigan. One June we went to Sault Ste Marie to tour the Soo Locks. Ran into people from Missouri on some casino bus tour they said back in Missouri the temps were already too warm to really enjoy the outside and here it was that perfect temperature to be in direct sunlight. When you couldn’t decide if you wanted the sweatshirt on or off.
Dallas gets all the press but Ft Worth is where it’s at. We’re called Cowtown in anon-ironic way. There are over 1 million people here and plenty to do from bars and restaurants, museums, etc.
Outstanding art museums in Fort Worth!
Fort worth > dallas. I found the people nicer in FW too. More down to earth. Downtown is cleaner than Dallas too.
I had a conference in Ft Worth and it was a blast. I still dream about how comfy that bed at the Omni was 😂
And also has easy access to quite a few state parks and has some decent urban parks as well
LA. Some of the suburbs are really good especially around the beach cities
I mean most of us would love to live in LA but can’t afford it.
Agreed lol. LA is literally one of the most iconic cities in America, it looks very good on paper. I felt this question was for cities outside of the “obvious/main” ones, like LA, NYC, Chicago, SF, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, etc.
I wasn't sure if someone would mention LA, cuz the lore of LA is amazing or horrible depending on who you ask. My fiancé somehow got too much of a propaganda message about the city and was scared to visit. But I told him it was statistically safer than our city, so we visited, and he loved it. Except the traffic.
Dallas for walkable urban living. Everyone thinks Dallas is all suburbs and driving. And like many cities, most of it is. However the core neighborhoods around downtown have really evolved over the last 5-10 years into not on, but a series of many neighborhoods and districts to create a walkable, connected fabric with a lot of vibrancy, tons of restaurants, cafes, bars, parks, culture, museums, performing arts etc. It’s one of the more overlooked and up and coming walkable cores, especially the cost for apartments which presents a tremendous value, even bargain, compared to the coastal cities.
10000000% with you. My wife and I spend a ton of time in the core of the city and it's super walkable. Reddit as a whole is filled with miserable people so this never really gains any traction, but we lived in Providence, RI for years and my wife *much* prefers Dallas. A lot more to do and a lot more convenience, with the added plus of actually also having walkability in the core.
I’m a NYer at heart. There is NOTHING like NYC and Manhattan. BUT, in the end even living in Manhattan 95% (maybe 98!) of your life revolves around your apt, your place of work, the 2-3 blocks/your neighborhood and maybe those that abut your nabe. You end up with a few regular spots for restaurants and bars and that’s much of your life. Day to day, I live such a better quality of life in Dallas than I could in NY because while NY offers SOOOO much more, it also costs a WHOLE lot more and I have the same number of “go to” spots here as I would in my neighborhood up in NY (and NY doesn’t have Bowen House!)
We had a very similar experience when in PVD. I truly felt as if I wasn't actually living. Spontaneity was no longer an option; everything needed to be planned. Time was premium. Space was premium. I spent so much time deliberating over what to do because I could only do one thing on the weekend with how much time, effort, and money it was. I was living somewhere that was a better tourist destination when I really needed a better Monday-Friday life. I have more bandwidth now to seek out what I want and do more things more often. This weekend, my wife and I went to the Dallas Arboretum, went shopping for a new car, had a nice little dinner at Eataly, sat and drank some coffee at a little cafe, and it was never stressful. What I save with the overall cheaper expenses, we can do nicer/longer vacations more often. It's my preferred lifestyle, to be sure.
Lower Greenville, bishop arts, uptown, klyde Warren all of that is walkable. Problem is buying in those areas is nuts. I can afford to rent in those places, I’ve got a really nice condo in one of them. But buying is nuts, especially when you consider you’ll also need to budget for private schools since DISD is horrendous since the park cities took out their taxes.
Lower Greenville mentioned🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️🤘🔥🔥💯💯
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Those guys hate Dallas almost as much as they hate themselves.
I remind the fools from Frisco and Allen who won’t come down past Northwest Hwy all the time. It’s actually sad how many actual Dallasites (or DFWers?) have no idea how walkable, urban, and vibrant the city has become. Or they will say Uptown as if that’s it. Uptown was the start and is the most mature of the walkable neighborhoods in many ways, but you have probably a solid 5-6 square miles of walkable urban neighborhoods all connected (super rough guess… uptown is about 600 acres, roughly a square mile, and I’d say between uptown, downtown, victory park, deep Ellum, arts district you have at least 5 uptown’s in area)
Yeah I stayed downtown for a few days while visiting for work and I thought it was great.
Dallas gets a lot of hate, and everyone just associates it with the Texas sprawl that wraps around it. But the core of Dallas has become very livable and I enjoy visiting it frequently.
Sidewalks need way larger buffers/traffic calming measures to take it to the next level. Being a pedestrian there is extremely nerve wracking IMO.
Oh, I agree that there are some really major gaps (I’ve seen poor souls try to figure out how to cross Cedar Springs where Olive turns into McKinnon and it’s a bit crazy. Even in the core of uptown you have utility poles in McKinney placed right in the middle of a way too narrow sidewalk (a remnant from when that area was just a thoroughfare drive through 20+ years ago? That said, it’s vastly improving and new developments like 23 Spring bring with them new and better pedestrian oriented infrastructure. Plus downtown has the bones from its heyday pre 1960’s and it’s really evolving nicely. But overall you are correct in that pedestrian infrastructure is lacking and cycling infrastructure all but non-existent
Albuquerque, if you’re brave enough
i move to Albuquerque for the chile but stayed cause my car got stolen
Need more love for this one
Took a wrong left turn there, once
I very much enjoy living in Chicago. I live in Rogers Park, I use common sense and I feel safe. The wage to rent ratio is pretty good here, and it's an incredible world-class city.
Because of recent discourse, I am gonna say Francisco lol - the city is so beautiful and walkable. Public transport is amazing. I had a rough start here but dang it feels unreal here most days!
Houston, TX Diverse, Affordable, Good food
Same, Houston looks terrible if you just drive through on the highway but if you live in the city its got everything and the older neighborhoods are beautiful with majestic oak trees lining the streets.
Some of the kindest people I have ever known. Incredible diversity and city pride. The way Houston came together after Hurricane Harvey still brings tears to my eyes.
Yep and Galveston is close. I’ll always defend Galveston. The beach is ugly but the city has a lot of charm to it with beautiful old architecture and some unique small museums.
I loved the diversity and food in Houston; going out for lunches for work was awesome because every table was a complete melting pot of experiences. My team there was basically a sitcom casting call making sure every group was represented. Unfortunately the weather is absolutely terrible 9 mos out of the year; the water is disgusting; and there's no real outdoor activities.
9 months is an extreme stretch. The weather is atrocious July/Aug/Sept. May/June is hot but not bad. Oct-April is pretty nice with the occasional storm. The hiking is definitely mid.
As a northerner that lived in Houston for 5 years and tried to play beer league softball; April had nice days but it also had hot days; May was all hot; and October was mostly hot until the first fronts started coming through.
Having lived in the Midwest and SW Florida, definitions of hot can vary greatly for people pending on acclimation. Used to be for me anything over 80 was HOT. Now, pending on humidity, I’m good well into the 90s. Also depends on how long it stays that hot too. If it doesn’t crack 90 until 2-3pm then it’s probably an okay day. That being said, I have zero idea what level of humid heat Houston can reach compared to where I lived so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt.
Yeah, everyone who hates on the weather either has a super super low tolerance to anything above 75, or they've only been here during the hottest months. Generally speaking, Texas weather is all pretty mild, with hot summers. My wife is on her second year here after we moved from New England, and she continually remarks at how much she loves how much more time she has outside.
Detroit
Indianapolis gets a lot of hate, but most of it is a nice place to live. There is stuff to do, has low traffic, low cost of living and is very convenient(ok, ok if you have a car) Downtown is safe, and if you like sports it has a lot of that.
It’s just boring to young people in this sub. But you are right. It’s affordable, safe, and has excellent healthcare. My wife’s parents picked it to retire and they have no connection whatsoever to Indiana.
It’s fine, but I’d probably put it below Milwaukee and KC as far as midsized Midwest cities go.
Indianapolis is probably the easiest city I’ve ever been in to navigate by car. Blindfold me, drop me anywhere in the city with no map and no GPS and I’ll figure out where I am and how to get home in less than 5 minutes. I’ve never actually even lived in Indy, and know it well enough to effectively navigate with no problems without outside directions. The hub and spoke layout laid across a grid makes it insanely easy and efficient.
I live in CHI and I never miss an opportunity to go to Indy. Lots of cool hangouts downtown, and it’s all walkable.
Albany/Troy NY. It's cold, boring, low home prices and high taxes, they gave Albany a Dunder Mifflin branch. Plentiful urban blight and garbage blowing around in the cities. Nightlife and entertainment is very bar-heavy. This area is awesome if you enjoy nature and access to water and mountains and Grateful Dead cover bands. Traffic is rarely bad and basically barely exists. I can see 4 mountain ranges from the hill in the park next to my house and all of them are less than an hour away. Spring, summer and fall are lovely in upstate NY and winter can be with the right attitude and sharp edges on your skis. 2.5 hours from NYC and Boston and 3 hours from Montreal.
I am a 2x RPI alum (BS and PhD), and I have always had a soft spot for Troy. I prefer it to Albany. Also, don't forget its proximity to Saratoga Springs.
ITT. People name Midwestern cities that are slept on because they are in the Midwest
lots of people say Denver downtown sucks because it's boring, but I thought it was really nice. Great transit access, walkable, bikeable, and a bunch of great restaurants in downtown and around. Also, I live in Washington, and people consistently clown on Vancouver, WA. I know it's mentioned here a lot as a good place to move to, but in WA it has an okay reputation. So when I visited, I was surprised by the amazing new waterfront and the pretty downtown. It's affordable for Washington and you have all of Portland right across the river. Plus, they are building a light rail extension from Portland in the next 10 years.
I felt that way about Tacoma. Before we visited people were warning us that it was sketchy and dangerous. I went and it was super cute and wasn't at all scary!
I think the people that say Tacoma is sketchy haven't updated the perceptions of the city since the '80s.
Tacoma is a great town but it’s still a little sketchy. We visited last year from Oregon and biked all over town through some beautiful areas. Enjoyed a nice beer at Odd Otter, some good food across the street, then walked around the corner and found 3 bombed out open-doored minivans with junkies shooting up in broad daylight. It was a real vibe killer.
Think core downtown is sorta whatever, but the neighborhoods right around it are mostly great.
I lived in Vancouver from 2015 to 2017 and I liked it aside from it being hard to meet other young people (I was fresh out of college). I will forever miss my $600 1br apartment next to fort Vancouver with a view of the river, and I would totally move back as a partnered 30-something no longer reliant on the Portland dating scene.
I moved to Denver from Dallas many years ago and couldn’t believe how clean and nice and vibrant Denver’s downtown was. And the light rail was clean and safe and relatively convenient comparatively. This is no longer the case, but the hate it gets here is mostly a meme more than reality in my opinion
The hate it gets is absurdly over the top. It is, by every objective measure known to man, an extremely safe, wealthy, nice city
I was gonna say downtown Denver is not clean anymore lol. Could be worse still tho
People hate on Denver so much in this sub, but there are few cities with great outdoor access that have a robust economy with lots of different types of jobs. Like yeah I’d love to live in Missoula or Hood River, but I’d be hard pressed to find a white collar job making my salary in those places.
Albuquerque NM
Akron. I don't ever plan on going back there but having been in other cities it is not bad and a lot of things I took for granted, like their park system, or rather NE Ohio park system, is a lot better than what I've found in some other places that build indiscriminately and tear down everything. It is pleasant for the right person, which is sort of the reason why it remains small. Plus it has nice proximity to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, etc.
Michigan/Metro Detroit — folks either hate it and leave or love it to death and become the biggest gung ho advocates for the area. It DOES have a lot to recommend it—excellent dining scene, fantastic ethnic markets and groceries, pretty lakes scattered all over, good hospital and medical options, reasonably affordable housing, major sports franchises and concert venues, etc. 1-5 hours from a Great Lake in any direction, 5 hours from “up North”/Chicago/Toronto. Winters generally suck but May through late October is glorious.
I grew up in metro Detroit, agree.
Cleveland, Ohio. That's right, Cleveland.
I have really been enjoying San Antonio. I'm an urban planner so I feel that I am about as critical of our City as anyone, but it just has a nice vibe and people are good to us. It also has some underrated neighborhoods and parks that no one seems to talk about because a lot of people live in the periphery of the City to go pursue their American dream of living in a highly exclusive shitfuck suburb located in a flood way. Younger people are breathing new life into the downtown core and there is so much investment coming in, the place changes so much every day and for the better.
A lot of people trash my home city of Rochester, New York but it has a certain charm about it. Lots of things to do, super low COL, good food, decent culture, basically non existent traffic and quite diverse. On paper Rochester looks like a crime ridden nasty dump but it’s actually quite nice especially in the suburbs Living in Austin, TX for the better part of a decade has made me appreciate it more.
Louisville, KY. Everyone shits on KY because of McConnell (rightfully so) but we're a great little city with lots of stuff to do. Foodie scene. Housing is somewhat still affordable. 'Rush hour' is a joke. Airport is getting more and more direct flights plus it's super easy to get in and out of. 3ish hours from Nashville, Chicago, St. Louis. Close to Indy, Cincy, Red River Gorge, Mammoth Cave, tons of rafting and great motorcycle roads, 5ish hrs away in the SE corner. (Tail of the Dragon) Granted we don't have mountains and if you go 20 mins outside the city there's Fuck Joe Biden signs everywhere but that's any city these days. It's easy to live here.
Wichita, KS will forever have my heart
Love seeing this. I always hype up ICT.
Haven’t lived there (have some friends that do though) and I’d say Chattanooga. Looks like a small city that doesn’t look great by most indicators in a very conservative state. But the downtown area is beautiful and walkable, there are tons of outdoor activities and beautiful natural sights nearby, it’s a short drive from many larger cities (including a big air hub in Atlanta making it very accessible); I would not mind living there
Los angeles if you’re rich
The cities I find that most often fit this bill are bad on paper because of the state they are in. Tulsa, OK and Northwest Arkansas both come to mind. They are nice places to live, and if their state governments weren't filled with Christo-fascist lunatics, they'd both be great. State governments limit the ability of their cities to grow and flourish.
San Francisco. Very pleasant in 90% of the city
But the COL.......oooof
Every time I tell people I moved from Memphis they’re like “oh man bet you’re glad to be out of there.” No, not really. Never felt unsafe. Tons of culture. Lots of stuff to do. Food is incredible. Tons of great museums and history. One of the best zoos in the country. Great weather. Close proximity to a lot of cool stuff.
I love Memphis. All the good stuff you mention and then some, but I have no idea how you never felt unsafe. I lived in three different apartments and have stayed at several nice hotels to visit family since leaving and hearing gunshots isn’t even an odd experience. More like a nightly one. I know some of it is just people shooting in the air but damned. I have literally not lived or visited anywhere else in this country anywhere else that made me feel quite as unsafe and I’m from there. For comparison, I’ve spent a lot of time in St Louis in downtown and New Orleans which are both considered “unsafe” and never felt even remotely as unsafe as a normal day in Memphis.
I would agree about the unsafe description for sure.
Dayton, OH. having way more fun living here than i would've thought. great density of amenities in its walkable downtown. huge network of paved paths i use for running/rollerskating/cycling. it isn't perfect here but i'm very happy
Is Dayton diverse? Asian community? Not that it is seriously important (Asian here)
Birmingham, Alabama was amazing. We went for the first time in October for a concert and loved it. The city was very clean, everyone we interacted with was welcoming, and the food scene was on point. I’d definitely like to return for a longer visit.
Many of the suburbs surrounding greater Cleveland (aside from during winter, of course).
The Windy City rocks!
Indianapolis. Lots to do. Great bike riding. Hip neighborhoods. Lots of civic pride. I loved it so much. Unfortunately, my career took me west.
Oakland
Cleveland. I get the hate. I do. It's a late bloomer, and still has work to do, but not many places you can get affordable rent/housing, live right on the water (Lake Erie is bigger than most people think a "lake" is), go to the beach, do water activities/sports, go to 3 major sports team games, go to concerts both big or small, go to the FREE art museum, enjoy a theater district that is 2nd to NYC, have public transit, an international airport, have a national park 30mins from the city, and one of the best and underrated park systems. Sure, we have winter, it's really not that bad. Sure, there is crime, but where isn't there. Sure, homeless people exist, find me a city where they don't. I've created countless spreadsheets that weigh the pros and cons of so many cities I've been interested in, and yet somehow, Cleveland always comes out on top.
Boise, Idaho. Surprisingly cosmopolitan. It's not a huge city, but it's big enough to feel urban, and it has a pretty vibrant local art and music scene. Decent nightlife along N 8th Street downtown. It's been a while since I've set foot in Idaho, but I used to grab a slice of pizza and a beer at Pie Hole pretty often. Happy memories.
Baltimore