Here's the list. Austin - Been there done that. Good party town San Diego - If I could afford to live here, this would be my choice. Vancouver - Nah. Too far north. I here it's pretty though. Scottsdale/Phoenix area - No interest Las Vegas - Good for the weekend. In a month, I'd probably be broke. You did say 2 years.
Joshfast, Good luck with whatever you decide to do. You have to remember I am close to 32 and I have always lived where I am living now (middle Tennessee - hour away from Nashville), so I am a little set in my ways. Personally, I have to live somewhere that does not have very cold winters (the winters in middle TN are usually not bad but we went through a cold spell for a week or two that was close to unbearable for me). But if I had gotten to travel at a much younger age (I had never flown on a plane until 5 years ago), I probably would be like you and looking at other places to try out to live.
I'd definetly go back to Switzerland. It is my favorite country that I have ever been to/lived in. Views from my balcony: I used to live in here
i absolutely love vancouver and would put it at the top of my list. of course, that is biased. the summers are absolutely beautiful, the winters have rain (barely any snow...except for...) and there's awesome snow on the mountains most of the time for snowboarding and it's close to whistler, also - there are days in spring where you have the choice between goin to the beach or going snowboarding - or BOTH. but yeh...vancouver is awesome. other cities i'd consider (being a guy that needs to be near mountains)... -sausalito, california -denver, colorado -canmore/banff, alberta -anywhere around the germany/switzerland border or in the swiss alps.
I've been saying it for years here (and elsewhere). I WILL live in Vancouver some day. I was born in Houston, and I'll always be a Texan......but in my heart, Vancouver is home.
San Diego has pleasant weather, but it can be quite cold with the winds coming off the Pacific and along the coast it can get pretty foggy during the summer just when you're yearning for some sun. Also, there's tons of retired people and not really much of a nightscene. I'm not much of a fan of Vegas. Maybe a decent place to visit, but not to live in. It rains in Vancouver like crazy. So I would pick Austin or Phoenix/Scottsdale, by default. You don't want to live in NYC??
There's a chance I may move to Austin for a while or be there quite a bit for the next few years. I really don't go there often but any opinions on how it is as a city to live in. Note that i'm in my late 20's and not a 19 year old spring breaker. I am however single and love to party i'd just rather not go to places with kids wearing flip-flops. Whats the city like for younger professionals versus that of students? And i mean a more 'midtown' group and not the 'hangin' in the front porch or rice village stuff. It would be in north austin 15 miles near 183 and research. Any comments would be great. I'd probably still be coming to houston on a weekly basis for work and fun though. Any comments about where to live and how are rental prices compared to Houston?
@ F.D. Khan - From what you are saying, I don't know if Austin is right for you. I lived there for 3 years and if you don't like fip flops, Abercrombie and Fitch, hippies and hanging out on a porch - there's not much left to do..... craiglist is the way to go to find housing. I would live near downtown but on the mopac side.
Phoenix : Too Damn HOT!!!! Hotter than Hell is the what people usually say about it. Las Vegas : I've lived here since the fall of 96 and it has grown alot. I would say that in a few more years the valley will be pretty much full. Most apartments are being converted into condos and property values are skyrocketing. The outer towns are also growing fast. Traffic can be bad during holidays and extended weekends, but nothing worse than any other big city. Allergy sufferers might also want to stay away. And in August the Heat is UNBEARABLE (kind of like Phoenix). But if you can get past that, then you can enjoy the sunny weather, the beautiful mountains and desert enviroment,lake Mead and non stop drinking, gaming and other vices.It's not bad,but it takes some getting used to.
Young, single, and renting? Vancouver, where a romantic date is just strolling outside. Just don't walk down the back alleys. (SD and Poenix are nice places to visit, but are really for older people. If you want to experience the world, why would you pick Austin or Las Vegas? Choose one of these 4 options only if you want to troll campuses.)
Sort of depends on what your are looking for. San Diego - Pros - Beautiful weather year round; Cons - Cost of living Vegas - Pros - If you like drinking and gambling, well come on down; Cons - Growth explosion Austin - Pros - In Texas, college town, hill country; Cons - Traffic, if you don't like hippy liberals, avoid Phoenix - Pros - plenty of golf and winter sunshine; Cons - Traffic, sprawl, air pollution, Suns fans, Cardinals football and summers living in a convection oven. Vancouver - Pros - Asian hotties and great summers, ask Hakeem; Cons - Rainy, cold winters like Seattle and remember how evil the Canadians are from the South Park movie I picked Tucson to settle in myself. Arizona sunshine in a college town atmosphere. Sort of like Austin was back in the mid 80's before the population explosion
Interesting choice of cities for a short stay.... With the possible exception of San Diego, due to cost of living, and Vegas, they all seem more like long-term places. To move to. Stay. For a couple of years....my list would include New York, San Francisco (my all time favorite city...except i would have to have answered YES several times on the millionaire poll), or London, etc. For a couple of years, cost of living doesn't matter. Living conditions don't matter so much. Just out of school.. I'd move to New York in a minute...but I'll never uproot a family and move into a closet appartment to move there later in life. Are you really considering these options?
