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Wife is looking for a new job in a new city... Which of these are nice?

urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old ManRegistered User regular
edited March 2011 in Help / Advice Forum
I know it's somewhat generic, but I was wondering if I could get a fresh take from other people's perspectives. Below is the list of cities and I was wondering if someone could tell me what they like/don't like about a certain city?

One of the big things we're looking for is temperature. She doesn't like cold so we were going to try and avoid them. Another thing is crime rates... Right now we're in Miamisburg, OH and it doesn't seem to have almost any crime (apart from the occasional drug sale).

Here's the list of cities:

Boston HCS, MA
Mather/612
Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS Omaha, NE
Pittsburgh/646
Western NY HCS
Bay Pines, FL
Boston HCS, MA
Connecticut HCS, CT
Denver, CO
Indianapolis, IN
Memphis, TN
North Chicago, IL
Northern California HCS, CA
Phoenix, AZ
San Francisco, CA
St. Louis, MO
VISN 23 Minneapolis, MN

Some of them we aren't sure what they mean. Like "Connecticut HCS"... Anyway. If anyone lives or have lived in any of them could you tell me what you liked/didn't like?

urahonky on
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  • Liquid HellzLiquid Hellz Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Bay Pines, FL? Are these veterans hospitals? I live right up the street from Bay Pines here in Pinellas County Fla. Great place to live, crime is not horrible but it does exist. Just have to find the right area to live. Weather never gets below 40 degrees for any extended period of time. I always compare Pinellas county to a large city that has been smashed/flattened out. Suburbs run into shopping malls which run into more suburbs, goggle maps its and you will see its all either parking lots or streets. Which I love but might not be what your looking for.

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    She's looking for a job in the Biomedical Engineering field, so I'm 100% sure they are VA hospitals. How is traffic near Bay Pines? I've been to Orlando and it's NUTS.

    urahonky on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Phoenix has a ton of hospitals and medical centers...

    But the downside is you have to live in Phoenix. And know this, it is a huge downside. This state is destroying itself.

    Sentry on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Sentry wrote: »
    Phoenix has a ton of hospitals and medical centers...

    But the downside is you have to live in Phoenix. And know this, it is a huge downside. This state is destroying itself.

    Really? I've always wanted to move to the Tempe area since there are a lot of tech jobs.

    urahonky on
  • shadowaneshadowane Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    If you don't like cold, I can't imagine Boston, Pittsburgh, or Chicago are particularly good choices.

    shadowane on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    Sentry wrote: »
    Phoenix has a ton of hospitals and medical centers...

    But the downside is you have to live in Phoenix. And know this, it is a huge downside. This state is destroying itself.

    Really? I've always wanted to move to the Tempe area since there are a lot of tech jobs.

    I live in Tempe now and I actually love the city. But this state has gone absolutely crazy and it's not looking good. On the other hand, there is a lot going for this place in terms of weather and location. I would way rather live here then say, Florida.

    Sentry on
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    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • John MatrixJohn Matrix Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Indianapolis is a cool city, but it gets just as cold as the rest of Indiana during the winter. Think lake effect snow but a little less.

    John Matrix on
  • FirstComradeStalinFirstComradeStalin Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    How about San Francisco? Nice energetic city, public transport, not SoCal weather but still by far the fourth warmest place on the list behind Phoenix, FL, and Memphis.

    Outside of those 4 places the rest of the list is actually pretty cold.

    Memphis is a cool town, too, it's kind of a like a less energetic New Orleans with better barbecue.

    FirstComradeStalin on
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  • KillgrimageKillgrimage Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    If temp is an issue, Boston is not the place to be (though we have a ton of Biomedical stuff here, what with all the hospitals).

    Killgrimage on
  • Liquid HellzLiquid Hellz Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    She's looking for a job in the Biomedical Engineering field, so I'm 100% sure they are VA hospitals. How is traffic near Bay Pines? I've been to Orlando and it's NUTS.

    The traffic is not as bad as Orlando here, they have more of a problem because rapid growth didn't keep up with street expansions. But, it is comparable in some areas. It all depends on how far you live from work. Much more surface streets than highways/freeways near Bay Pines than in Orlando. Upside, its 79 degrees and sunny right now, went to the beach last weekend :).

    Liquid Hellz on
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  • LaPuzzaLaPuzza Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Omaha is a great place to raise a family and very low-crime.

    However, if you don't like cold weather, cross us off the list.

    LaPuzza on
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Thanks for the information so far guys!

    Yeah I used to live in Omaha when I was a child. Holy crap the snow storms and the tornadoes are something I don't miss.

    urahonky on
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    North Chicago is both cold, and has bad crime. It's a mostly industrial area with a Navy Base, all the weather of actual Chicago with none of the benefits. I live in Waukegan which is north of North Chicago, and it's nice though, but still cold.

    matt has a problem on
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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Yeah I'd assumed that it was going to be out of the question mainly because of the cold factor. How much snow did you guys get this year?

    urahonky on
  • KetarKetar Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    Yeah I'd assumed that it was going to be out of the question mainly because of the cold factor. How much snow did you guys get this year?

    Chicago got 20.5 inches in a single storm a few weeks ago. As did everywhere anywhere near the city itself. Not sure what the overall snowfall has been this year, but does it really matter after something like that? :shock:

    Ketar on
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    If she's looking to make a SERIOUS career out of biotech, Boston is the place to be. Nearly every drug company is nearby, and if you lookup Longwood medical area, you can see some of the hospital/schooling resources available.

    schuss on
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Ketar wrote: »
    urahonky wrote: »
    Yeah I'd assumed that it was going to be out of the question mainly because of the cold factor. How much snow did you guys get this year?

    Chicago got 20.5 inches in a single storm a few weeks ago. As did everywhere anywhere near the city itself. Not sure what the overall snowfall has been this year, but does it really matter after something like that? :shock:

    HAHA I was just curious, honestly. :P
    If she's looking to make a SERIOUS career out of biotech, Boston is the place to be. Nearly every drug company is nearby, and if you lookup Longwood medical area, you can see some of the hospital/schooling resources available.

    Yeah I know... Boston is a great choice but we aren't sure about the area. Plus she will be in this position for about 2 years and then she may need to relocate.

    urahonky on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    shadowane wrote: »
    If you don't like cold, I can't imagine Boston, Pittsburgh, or Chicago are particularly good choices.
    Western NY is going to be just as bad.

    Thanatos on
  • rizriz Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Boston is a nice city but yeah, it gets fucking cold. Not as bad as Chicago but still.

    riz on
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I'm just not sure what to think about some places because when I searched for crime rates for some of the choices I noticed that some had (out of 10) 10 in violent crimes, and 10 in property crimes.

    Which made me nervous.

    urahonky on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    CT is gorgeous and near a lot of neat stuff, like Vermont.

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    CT is gorgeous and near a lot of neat stuff, like Vermont.

    I'd never been to CT so I wasn't sure about that.

    urahonky on
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    CT is gorgeous and near a lot of neat stuff, like Vermont.

    I'd never been to CT so I wasn't sure about that.

    CT is expensive. I'm sure it goes without saying, but Minneapolis is also very cold.

    Cauld on
  • streeverstreever Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I love living in CT. It doesn't get anywhere near as cold as, say, Columbus Ohio, but it does get cold.

    I suspect "HCS" means Hartford, which I wouldn't want to live near. If you guys are relatively young and like to do fun things, you want to live in or near New Haven--the bastion of civilization.

    streever on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Yea, New Haven is pretty boss. If you're planning long term and with kids in mind, CT has great public schools. Also, its so easy to take the train into NYC. Yea, NYfuckingC.

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Interesting. It looks like New Haven is about 45 minutes from Hartford... Perhaps we could live half-way? We aren't sure about long term yet... She's never left Ohio in her 26 years in this world. While I travel all the time... So we'll see.

    How's the weather around there?

    urahonky on
  • VestyVesty Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I think the Pittsburgh/646 is referring to the location in the city. That is over in the Oakland neighborhood. Our major hospitals are over there and so is the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and a couple other colleges. Only a couple minutes from downtown. If it is part of the UPMC system that is a very highly regarded medical system.

    As far as the temp it has been in the 20s almost all winter with the occasional dip into the teens. Our range is pretty broad. Down in the 20s in the winter and up into the 80s in summer. We do have more cloudy days than sunny through out the year.

    It is a nice city. Voted top ten most livable the last few years. Public transportation sucks so if you can not rely on it that's a plus unless you live right along the T (rail) line. If it is in Oakland though the T doesn't go over there so you're out of luck in that regard. A ton of bus routes were just cut recently. We have a lot of good cultural things with the museums and theaters. This is a sports town and the Steelers and Penguins are a big deal.

    In 2009 Forbes rated us the 7th safest city in the country!

    Vesty on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Western NY is Ohio with worse crime.

    Thanatos on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    Interesting. It looks like New Haven is about 45 minutes from Hartford... Perhaps we could live half-way? We aren't sure about long term yet... She's never left Ohio in her 26 years in this world. While I travel all the time... So we'll see.

    How's the weather around there?

    It has four legitimate seasons. Can be incredible, can be cold and rainy.

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  • streeverstreever Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    urahonky wrote: »
    Interesting. It looks like New Haven is about 45 minutes from Hartford... Perhaps we could live half-way? We aren't sure about long term yet... She's never left Ohio in her 26 years in this world. While I travel all the time... So we'll see.

    How's the weather around there?

    It has four legitimate seasons. Can be incredible, can be cold and rainy.

    Yea--we right now are having the worst winter I can remember, and I've still been able to ride my bike outdoors every Sunday. CT definitely has a winter. My girlfriend is from Waterloo, Ill, and I know that our winters are incredibly mild compared to what she is used to--and our summers far more pleasant.

    streever on
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Oh, she's in biotech? North Chicago makes sense now. I couldn't figure out why you'd have such a random city there. But yeah, Abbott is in North Chicago, and the surrounding areas, there are several huge building complexes. There are plenty of places to live around North Chicago that aren't awful like North Chicago but there's the cold and snow thing of course.


    Chicago just set the all-time record for snow in February too, 29.5 inches.

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Man you guys are giving me way too much good information. :) I really appreciate it! I haven't talked to her about it yet today but I'll let her know the opinions.

    I'm not sure about Pittsburgh. Most of her mom's family lives up there and we've gone to their family picnic twice a year there and it's absolutely nuts! The roads are crazy at least... But if it's so safe we might have to take that into consideration.

    But I hate the Steelers... Though I guess I don't have to advertise it. :P

    urahonky on
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    CT is not THAT close to VT. It's still hours away. What other things are you guys into? What would you like to try? What are absolute dealbreakers for you?

    Re: Cold - it's not that bad if you get proper outerwear.

    schuss on
  • HeirHeir Ausitn, TXRegistered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I'm kind of surprised no one suggested Denver. Doesn't get as cold as a lot of the other cities, and the state is beautiful, especially if you're an outdoors kind of couple.

    Heir on
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  • ToefooToefoo Los Angeles, CARegistered User regular
    edited February 2011
    I'm throwing my hat in for San Francisco. While California is having its share of problems, the weather in NorCal is better than most states on top of having a ridiculous amount of things to do and places to see and eat at. The public transportation there is also not too shabby...not nearly on the level that Tokyo is, but is definitely big thumbs up when compared to other places in the country.

    Also, UCSF is in the area, and is one of the biggest areas for health science research.

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  • VestyVesty Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Pennsylvania roads in general suck ass

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  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    schuss wrote: »
    CT is not THAT close to VT. It's still hours away. What other things are you guys into? What would you like to try? What are absolute dealbreakers for you?

    Re: Cold - it's not that bad if you get proper outerwear.

    She seems to enjoy hiking (there are a few trails here) and I would too if I weren't so out of shape (currently working on that problem!). I'm a techy nerd so basically video games and computers are my thing. She's still looking for an interest to keep her time when she's off (Ohio offers just about nothing when it comes to past times, other than drinking which we don't do at all).

    A dealbreaker is probably cost of living. Her job will start out at 37K (give or take) so we'd like to be able to live comfortably with that until I find a job (hopefully I get one here so I have SOME experience under my belt when moving).

    urahonky on
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Heir wrote: »
    I'm kind of surprised no one suggested Denver. Doesn't get as cold as a lot of the other cities, and the state is beautiful, especially if you're an outdoors kind of couple.

    Do you think people could live comfortably with 35k a year there? I think that's one of the things we looked at, and Denver was pretty expensive.

    In addition to her 35k a year pay, we'll have to be paying on my student loans (which are at 50K) so keep that in mind.

    urahonky on
  • UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Vesty wrote: »
    Pennsylvania roads in general suck ass

    Connecticut's are way worse, and they have this terrible habit of not plowing/salting/doing fucking anything during a snowstorm, and because you're on the 95 corridor between Boston and NYC summer and holiday traffic is goddamned ridiculous

    Also, state income tax in Connecticut is a bitch and it has one of the highest rates for electricity in the country (behind only Hawaii, I think)

    If I were going to move back to New England (which I wouldn't even if someone paid me in solid gold) I would choose Boston over Hartford/New Haven hands down: more stuff to do plus a decently reliable public transportation system

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  • FirstComradeStalinFirstComradeStalin Registered User regular
    edited February 2011
    Wait--so regardless of where you move, your salary stays the same? That's a HUGE deal when considering cities-there was a thread recently where a guy could move anywhere in the US for the same salary, and he had his heart set on Irvine, CA without realizing how much it cost extra just to be there.

    Considering that, I'd say Memphis is your best bet - it's a warm, nice city with relatively cheap real estate, a fantastic music scene, and a lot of good outdoorsy things to do in close range. However, like a lot of southern cities it has some places that are very high-crime and some places that are bastions of white flight safeness.

    Next to that, I'd say Phoenix is another good, cheap, warm city, though I haven't really been there enough to comment.

    FirstComradeStalin on
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