So, I want to change my life

[El Blanco]

I was thinking of looking for a new job outside of the NY Metro area and moving away. I'm in a bit of a rut here and was thinking a change of scenery would be good. I was hoping for another major city, preferably on the East Coast, but I am not stonewalling on that issue.

Some criteria must be met:

1) A reliable mass transit system. I may have to do without a car for a while, so this is big.

2) It is not a hellhole of crime. I know every major city has some problems, but I don't want to be forced to join the Bloods or Crips.

3) Reasonable cost of living. The finer things in life do cost a lot, but I shouldn't need to sell my organs to get a decent TV.

4) Nightlife. If the bars close at midnight, I will be seriously pissed.

5) A pro-baseball team. I know its stupid, but I love baseball and need to be near it. An NHL team is a big plus too.

6) This is not a big deal, but a college campus would be cool. When I'm on a dry streak, I can go pick up co-eds.

Only 1 and 3 are musts. I can negotiate on the rest, they just happen to hold serious weight.

Anybody got a place to reccomend? I was thinking Boston, Baltimore or Philidelphia. I've also heard Denver is nice.

I would have put this in General, but I am actually serious about this and didn't feel like wading through 12 pages of bullshit to et one good answer.

[Protoclown]

JUST GO LIBERTARIAN :lol

[ItalianStereotype]

DALLAS!

[Miss Modular]

Boston, maybe?

[Buffalo Tom]

I hear prison is a life-changing experience. Plus, you get to experience all the STDs under the rainbow.

[theapportioner]

Ya wannah be a Masshole?? Bettah brush up on yah Bahhhston accent. I live here now, so I can say a few things:

1. It's... functional. Annoying, yes, and the subways shut down at around 1 AM, which is stupid (bars in Boston close at 2 AM, usually at 1 AM in surrounding areas like Cambridge), but the T gets you around. Service could be a lot better, but it's not a disaster either. Also, night owl buses are available if you are a... night owl. Boston's small, so many areas are walkable.

2. A few areas to avoid, but it's fine.

3. Not so reasonable but you can get by. If you want to be close to the city, look to surrounding areas like Somerville for cheaper rent. I live in Somerville now, paying $400/mo in a 3 person apartment, with my own room. This is definitely on the low side of rent though. boston.craigslist.org is a must.

4. 2 AM for Boston proper, 1 AM usually for surrounding towns and cities, I'd say. The People's RepubliK bar in Cambridge is open till 3 (dunno how they managed that). I'm getting up there in years, so 2 AM is okay for me.

5. Da RED SOX!! Da BRUINS!! Hahaha

6. Tons of that to tap!

Anyway, Rog calls it an arrogant city, and there's some truth to that, but most people end up liking the place after a while. The academic elite presence gets a lot of attention, but mostly it's a blue collar type town.

[sspadowsky]

You know, Blanco, St. Louis is a place you might want to consider. They're trying to revitalize downtown, so they've renovated a lot of buildings and converted them into loft apartments. And they're offering all kinds of price breaks to attract people.

If you live downtown, the MetroLink could get you anywhere you would need to go. It's not a great system, but it's reliable, and can get you to the most important parts of town.

Laclede's Landing is the hot spot, loaded with 3 AM bars. The East Side (East St. Louis, home of the strip clubs) is just a hop across the river. The Casino Queen is open 24 hours, and the strip joints are open until 6AM on weekends.

If you live downtown, you'll be walking distance from Busch Stadium (home of the Cardinals), and quite close to the Savvis Center (home of the Blues).

There ya go. Just one place to consider. Hope that helped.

Oh! I totally forgot. St. Louis University, an expensive Jesuit school, is in the downtown area as well. Well-to-do, attractive, sexually repressed Catholic women are just a-waiting for you. :yum

[Perndog]

It's not on the east coast and it's not all that big as far as major cities go, but Minneapolis isn't a bad place to be...

1. The light rail system will be finished this spring and the buses are great.

2. I've walked all around in the middle of the night for a year and haven't witnessed anything yet, so... (I'm pretty sure gangs are almost non-existent here except the teenagers in a couple of neighborhoods.)

3. It's cheap.

4. Bars close at 2, I think...we've got an excellent local music scene and several good bars and dance clubs.

5. Twins tickets are like 7 or 8 bucks on some days.

6. U of M students love to party. You've heard about last year's Gopher riot, right?

[Geggy]

i would suggest the same that the few has had already mentioned. boston seems like a decent place to live, not so for the tourists. check out the allston/brighton area. it's the place you'd want to be!

[El Blanco]

Boston is close to home, so I can Amtrak in on weekends. I've been doing some reading on the issue and think San Diego and Denver sound good.

And Sspad makes St Loiu look appealing.

Well, its all a moot point until a get a new job.

Or, should I pick a city and then narrow my search to that speciffic area?

[thebiggameover]

do not come to phoenix because of 1 and 4. if you dont have a car in phx, you are fucked...

[theapportioner]

What about the hot chicks at WashU, Sspad???

Don't forget the 10 dollar Boston-NYC Chinatown buses!

[ItalianStereotype]

I say Dallas because

1. Dallas has the DART busline and light-rail system, both of which have been rated the best in Texas.

2. Dallas had the 5th highest homicide rate in the country for a while, but the police department has undergone some serious reforms and Dallas is a lot safer because of it.

3. Downtown Dallas has had a lot of recent renovations and a lot of new studio lofts have been built on the West End for college students. As long as you stay out of places like Plano and Frisco, commodities should be manageable.

4. This place never fucking sleeps. The West End is right next to the Italian quarter and short drive from Deep Ellum, the club scene. Oh yeah, there are a lot of Irish pubs in that area too.

5. Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, the Cowboys too! :o

6. University of Texas at Dallas, University of Dallas (a Catholic school! :o ), SMU, University of North Texas.

[El Blanco]

do not come to phoenix because of 1 and 4. if you dont have a car in phx, you are fucked...

Actually, someone did a good job selling Phoenix to me. I just don't suffer extreme heat too well. I get a nasty rash (no BS I do, it just ain't fatal).

[ItalianStereotype]

DALLAS ISN'T HOT LIKE PHOENIX :o

[MisSFiT]

My suggestion to you is Pittsburgh.

It's a beautiful city.
1) The bus system is great for people without their own transportation.
There is also a train that you can take.

2)Crime is moderate, but really it's everywhere. :/

3)Cost of living is VERY reasonable. At $500-$600 a month you can find a really nice and big place.
I paid $520, everything included, and it was an awesome apartment and only 7 min. to the city.

4)Nightlife is great. Bars close at 2 am and you have your choice of Clubs on one side of the city and regular hang-out bars on the other.

5)Baseball-Pirates-sorry they suck :( NHL-Penguins-sorry they suck
But you always have the Steelers-it's a really big football town, so that's cool if you like football.

6) College campuses-Pitt, Duquesne are the big ones and you have TONS of others to choose from.

[thebiggameover]

do not come to phoenix because of 1 and 4. if you dont have a car in phx, you are fucked...

Actually, someone did a good job selling Phoenix to me. I just don't suffer extreme heat too well. I get a nasty rash (no BS I do, it just ain't fatal).

dude, i'm telling you. no car, no life in the valley of the sun. 5 busses run on the weekends. the phx metro area is the biggest city when it comes to square miles. it takes 1 and a half hours to get from one side of the city to the other, and thats at 3am on the freeway going way faster than the speed limit. plus it gets hot as fuck, and you have to speek spanish. :(

[sspadowsky]

What about the hot chicks at WashU, Sspad???

Don't forget the 10 dollar Boston-NYC Chinatown buses!

Haha. Good point, buddy. I was just trying to think in terms of a guy who doesn't have a car, but the Metro Link would get him there, wouldn't it?

Spinster, did you consider Wash U when you were looking at med schools?

[VinceZeb]

St. Louis (the city) is fine to live in. You have the majority of the "major" attractions within walking distance if you live downtown. After that, you would need a car because the St. Louis area is basically a bunch of micro-cities that are connected with miles upon miles of roads that always end up going to the same place.

We have the Cardinals and the Blues, so your set there. Although expressing a like for any Chicago team will pretty much get you a step away from being thrown in the Mississippi. The fans are pretty passionate. The Rams fans, however, can turn on a dime on the team.

The only bad things about this place is that we are a union-whoreville with Dick Gepthart leading the way and for some reason we have this really weird underlining racial undertone in this city. I don't know where it comes from, but I have noticed it since I moved here. The only bad places in St. Louis are North and East St. Louis. If you get stranded there, make sure you have a gun on hand.

[mburbank]

I knew you missed me.

[liquidstatik]

Dallas is the biggest place i've ever been. :( It's real nice though. Lots of stuff to do and lots of places to go.