That is just silly. NY is the cultural capital of the US and one of a few centers in the world. Not better than most cities? Between the two choices I would live in Seattle. I have known a decent amount of people who have lived there and/or Portland and loved both.
I like Houston and a lot of my stuff is here - bands, business, etc. But, if I had ZERO ties, I wouldn't mind spending a little time in NYC or maybe San Francisco - maybe Seattle or Portland. I just don't see myself wanting to move, but that would've been fun when I was younger if only for a year or two. I'm a Houston guy, ultimately, and I'd have always ended up back here I think.
Seattle is cool. My friends who live in Denver say its like suburban hell....with cool activities within driving range.
Although Portland is a little small, I love all of those cities. Denver v. Seattle is tough. The Rockies rock (er...sorrry), but Seattle is stunning. Sorry I cannot help more than to say you won't do wrong be either IMO (unless you cannot deal w/ Seattle's drizzle, or Denver's cold ... then it should be easy for ya'll).
Maybe you should consider Austin. Plenty of neat restaurants, a very well educated general populace, great outdoors stuff, nightlife, and cheap cost of living.
I couldn't take Denver because the dry air just KILLS my sinuses. I struggled even living in Austin. Notice every place I listed has relatively high humidity.
My brother moved to Denver with the intention of buying a medical practice. They didn't like it after a year and he moved back to eastern North Carolina to his faculty job. Too much big city hassle, but if you've stayed in Houston I guess you have adjusted to that kind of thing. Once you leave it, your desire to return to the hustle and bustle diminishes.
Actually, we've considered Austin as well. Definitely has a lot of what we're looking for, and clearly still close to "home".
San Antonio is just plain garbage. Salt Lake City is the home of the Floppers. I've been to Chicago once when I was like 16 or something. Just didn't think much of it.
A nice bedroom community of Denver that you might consider is Ft. Collins, CO. It's about 70 miles north of Denver and is just lovely and seems to have a healthy job base independent of Denver. It seems like it has a lot of the positives of Denver without some of the problems, yet is in close enough proximity to get big city fixes (the ones besides drugs ) as necessary. I only know about this because my mom and sisters and brother live there and my wife and I visited them in December.
Yeah, we have friend who lives up there 5 minutes from CSU's campus. It seems like a nice enough town. We were up there this summer and then drove over to Steamboat, which was fun. I think I'd still prefer Denver though.
lol sorry I remember one guy said he was going to stop being one. Wasn't sure if it was you. I agree with the one person who says Denver will be cheaper..which might be a factor. I just like Seattle and California and Texas type places more..
I love where i live (vancouver)...so i guess i'd go with the closest of your options, seattle. only been in denver for 30 days...pretty awesome as well.
