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Didn't see the budget. $50K rules out some places. Ann Arbor for sure. Maybe Eugene.
Madison might still work, but probably would be tough to live right downtown. BTW, I highly recommend Madison to anyone that isn't allergic to cold weather. What a great little city that is.
The suburbs of Grand Rapids MI are definitely conservative. The state is purple, but leans blue. For a smaller, yet well established city, Pittsburgh could fit the bill here. I enjoyed Pitt when I went.
I once heard Columbus, OH was like a Starbucks inside of a Target. I thought that was hilarious and Ohioans agreed.
Minnesota might be another option - Northfield is a smaller town but proximate to Minneapolis and has two colleges, very liberal.
Seems OP is not interested in very southern states (since he said he likely doesn't want to live in a Carolina) - so probably should remove any cities in LA, AL, MS, GA, TN, KY, SC, NC, FL.
OP said no to NYC and Chicago - so don't bother with Evanston. It's basically Chicago, and will be over budget.
Look at Royal Oak MI, Evanston IL, and Montclair NJ. They’re suburbs of Detroit, Chicago, and NYC, respectively. While rush hour traffic can be rough, they’re all self-contained to a large degree so most day-to-day needs can be met via foot or a short drive. There’s no need to commute into the city for anything other than entertainment if you WFH. All near major airports, have four seasons, liberal vibes, walkable downtowns, and (relatively) close to large bodies of water.
Royal Oak feels way too small for what he's looking for (and vs. basically all the other cities mentioned here). Its downtown has been in decline since Covid times, as well. I used to live within a 10-minute walk of it and sure, it gives a bit of a city vibe, but the rest is the same sprawling suburbia most of Oakland County is.
Charlottesville, VA feels like it would tick some/most boxes. Rent is reasonably affordable (at least it was when we were broke-ass MBA students a decade ago, but I have no reason to suspect that costs have out-paced inflation there). Good food, beer and wine scene. All depends on how comfy you are with polo shirts and boat shoes worn away from even a remote semblance of a boat (although a fairly substantial presence of actual polo).
- 3/4 seasons: check. Winters are pretty mild, but summers can be very hot/humid. Fall is pretty, though, same as spring.
- Large city proximity: A bit far from DC, but only an hour away from Richmond (which, in and of itself might be an option?), which does have a fairly decent airport (if you like flying American, anyways).
- Close to water: Shenandoah River count? Otherwise the beaches of VA are 2-3 hours away.
- Low risk of natural disaster: when I was at UVA 2010-2012, we had an earthquake, which left the entire East Coast flabbergasted, because that kind of thing just doesn't happen in C'ville. So you're probably safe from those for a while yet. We'd also had one tornado warning in two years, which amounted to basically nothing.
- Liberal state: ehhhh... Maybe if you squint hard enough?
- Good arts/theatre/book culture: It's a college town with one of the best public schools in the nation. Make of this what you will.
- Walkable neighborhoods: if you like hills. There's a decent enough public bus system.
- Low traffic: that one might be the toughest one yet on this list. It's nowhere near as bad as any major city's, though, and if you know your shortcuts well enough, they cut through really pretty back roads.
Of the other places mentioned here (and that I have personal knowledge of), Ann Arbor, which I had called home for about four years, all told, would work brilliantly, but OP wouldn't be able to live comfortably there (and even though DTW is a great airport, Delta's monopoly on most routes means travel won't be cheap).
Pittsburgh, while not small by any stretch of the imagination, is also not huge (300K residents) and OP could actually afford to live right in the middle of the city without pinching every penny. State College, PA, might be interesting to look at (though not close to a major city or a notable body of water).
If Minneapolis/St. Paul aren't too large (700-800K combined residents) and the recent-ish headlines aren't a turn-off, some of the suburbs could also be a great option (although with traffic YMWV and the same caveat applies to travel as with DTW).
I have only passed through Columbus, but it gave me a pretty good vibe. As does Asheville, where I've never been, but have heard so much good about, I'd definitely consider it for myself, were I in OP's shoes (I'm as socially liberal as one gets).
Last edited by highlanderfil; 09-22-2023 at 03:46 PM..
So I think Burlington and Ithaca are both a little too small. I think I'd like at least 100K people or at least close too. I've been doing a lot of research today and I don't like feeling isolated, so maybe these places are not for me.
I will look into Providence again.
I love the NJ suggestions, but I don't think I could afford to live there.
I know NYC and Chicago are probably the places where all the artsy/book stuff is located, but I just don't want to live in those places.
To advance your career in publishing (or media) the best bets are NYC, DC, Chitown, and Boston — all relatively expensive, though Chicago is the least so. So unless you snag a WFH gig, which meant you could live anywhere, I would focus on walkable suburbs and small towns near these cities.
Aside from Montclair—which is very artsy— you might consider someplace in the Hudson Valley north of NYC like New Paltz or Piermont. The Chicago ‘burb of Oak Park or a north side Chicago neighborhood like Rogers Park might also fit the bill. I’d look too at areas outside DC. (I don’t the DC or Boston metros well enough to suggest specific places, but maybe some other poster here does.)
It amazes me that people base there moving to another place whether or not it is liberal or conservative. Who cares!!! I would worry more about cost of living, crime, weather etc.
It amazes me that people base there moving to another place whether or not it is liberal or conservative. Who cares!!! I would worry more about cost of living, crime, weather etc.
I chose to live in a state that allowed my wife to have 6 months of paid parental leave, teachers are paid higher and public schools have smaller class sizes so we do not need to budget for private school, wife and daughter have access to all women’s healthcare, etc.
On the city level, I appreciate the focus on continuing to advance public transit and bicycling infrastructure too, as well as creating 15min walkable/cycleable neighborhoods, having a ton of parks and playgrounds, investment in libraries and public recreation, etc.
Yeah, definitely. Apologies to a couple places in North Carolina, but I'm not sure any place in the South truly qualifies as liberal. Pretty much the only places in the country that I personally would categorize as liberal are in New England and on the west coast. And pockets of NYC. DC is the epitome of a not-exactly-liberal Democratic bastion.
I’d say Austin qualifies as truly liberal. Lower minority population but votes more
Similarly to the coasts than the south
Yeah, definitely. Apologies to a couple places in North Carolina, but I'm not sure any place in the South truly qualifies as liberal. Pretty much the only places in the country that I personally would categorize as liberal are in New England and on the west coast. And pockets of NYC. DC is the epitome of a not-exactly-liberal Democratic bastion.
I really don't think that's accurate at all; no region has a monopoly on a widespread mindset that's naturally occurring in the human population.
There's certainly liberal-minded areas across the country. On the contrary, I also think Northeastern "liberalism" is extremely overrated, especially in New England. This region is generally accepting of people, but still has many regressive and reactionary tendencies, even in the supposedly most "liberal" areas. It's also extremely segregated for a reason.
In particular, classism is also rampant throughout the much of the Northeast (easily the worst part of the country for that issue), which is decidedly NOT a liberal trait.
Been looking a lot at New Haven CT and Providence again. I love the look of Maine, but concerned of COL.
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