Looking for the perfect city (please help!) (apartment, crime)

[AllTheWayToMemphis]

I'm looking for the perfect place to live. I know there isn't a single place in the world that will fit all of the attributes of a city I'm looking for, but I'm just looking for places that will fit a majority of these categories. I'm from the East Coast so I'd prefer to relocate somewhere West of here (i.e. anywhere not along the coastline). Anyway, here's what I'm looking for, roughly in order of importance:

1. Good music scene (record store and music clubs)
2. Nightlife (restaurants, small bars, museums, arts, etc. -- I don't really like "nightclubs")
3. Beautiful scenery and great outdoors activity (I know the West is best for this)
4. Big without being too big (i.e. roughly 200,000 to 1,000,000 people)
5. A good climate for growing hops and hot peppers (habaneros, jalapenos, etc. etc.)
6. A fairly large (but not TOO large) 20s population -- I'm still young
7. A cost of living that isn't too outrageous
8. Some places with GOOD beer

Some places I've been considering (to get you started):

Boise
Salt Lake City
Albuquerque
Denver
Minneapolis
Seattle (but I don't think I could afford it)

I'm sure there are others though. Anyway, thanks!

[HarlequhnBoy]

I'd eliminate Boise based on nightlife and large 20s population. And Minneapolis based on beautiful scenery and great outdoors. And Seattle based on cost of living.

So that would leave SLC, Denver, and Albuquerque. I think I would go with Denver for sure!

[bulldawg1594]

aurora, illinois

[uptown_urbanist]

I think Minneapolis is fine for outdoors and scenery - it's not mountain scenery, though, if that's what your're looking for. There's great outdoor life along the rivers and lakes (right in the city, and tons of walking/biking paths) and great biking. I don't know if the climate is good enough for growing lots of peppers, though. It's also bigger than what you're looking for. It does have the beer, nightlife, young people, music, and cost of living (not cheap, but more affordable than many places) going for it.

I'd look closely into Albuquerque. Salt Lake City would probably be bad for a beer lover - I might be wrong, but I think you can only get bottled beer (not on tap) in restaurants. Denver, like Minneapolis, is bigger than what you're looking for (assuming metro area and not city limits).

How about Colorado Springs? That might be a smaller (but not too small) alternative to Denver. Pikes Peak is right there, as well as places like Garden of the Gods, etc. I think Colorado Springs beats Denver for natural scenic beauty, although of course Denver is bigger and has more nightlife options.

[Digital Entropy]

I'm in the same boat myself (sorry for posting this here, but seeing as it is close to the top of the page I saw no reason to start an identical thread).

I was actually on this site a year ago and a lot of people recommended I move to Santa Cruz. However I think my mention of a 'liberal community' was a little too vague heh. I wasn't really referring to politically so much as people leaving me alone in terms of the non-harmful-to-others interests I pursue.

Otherwise:

I'm a single 30 y/o male in the process of opening my own online business (so I wouldn't even dream of moving anywhere for at least another year/year and a half). I don't drive. I hate the cold. I like the sunshine & rain. I listen to a lot of punk/metal & similar stuff. I'd love to live somewhere where people still have some common decency and where I might not have to always be the person to strike up a conversation with a seemingly like-minded stranger in public. I want to live somewhere with a healthy nightlife & where socializing with others doesn't feel a game of where's waldo.

I'm also not TOO concerned about crime. I mean, I wouldn't want to live anywhere sterile while OTOH a law requiring kevlar vests in public wouldn't be too great either. I mean I understand crime happens everywhere. Just last night I watched the Bloods that live across the street from me get into a street brawl with some other gang. Needless to say of all the places I've lived an ivory tower has never been one of them and I'd like to keep it that way within reason.

Oh I'd also rather live in an apartment than a house to be quite frank. I don't chase the American Dream. Never have, never will.

'course there's lots of other things but that can wait.

[city_data91]

Tucson or El Paso. If you want to grow jalapenos, you should go somewhere in the Southwest.

[creeksitter]

Digital, you might check out metropulse.com and see if Knoxville's nightlife suits you. You'd be in a small minority as a punk but that might lead to camraderie you wouldn't find in a city where you are just another punk in the crowd.

It's possible to live without a car if you choose the right neighborhood.

[creeksitter]

Reading between the lines, I think I should mention that while Appalachia tends towards the live-and-let-live, you can expect the police will do their job if they encounter something illegal.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by AllTheWayToMemphis

I'm looking for the perfect place to live. I know there isn't a single place in the world that will fit all of the attributes of a city I'm looking for, but I'm just looking for places that will fit a majority of these categories. I'm from the East Coast so I'd prefer to relocate somewhere West of here (i.e. anywhere not along the coastline). Anyway, here's what I'm looking for, roughly in order of importance:

1. Good music scene (record store and music clubs)
2. Nightlife (restaurants, small bars, museums, arts, etc. -- I don't really like "nightclubs")
3. Beautiful scenery and great outdoors activity (I know the West is best for this)
4. Big without being too big (i.e. roughly 200,000 to 1,000,000 people)
5. A good climate for growing hops and hot peppers (habaneros, jalapenos, etc. etc.)
6. A fairly large (but not TOO large) 20s population -- I'm still young
7. A cost of living that isn't too outrageous
8. Some places with GOOD beer

Some places I've been considering (to get you started):

Boise
Salt Lake City
Albuquerque
Denver
Minneapolis
Seattle (but I don't think I could afford it)

I'm sure there are others though. Anyway, thanks!

Based on your criteria I would say Boise is probably the best fit from the cities you listed.

1--Boise has a good music scene, local bands, northwest bands, indie bands and one of the best locally owned record stores in the Northwest is in downtown Boise.

2--"Nightlife (restaurants, small bars, museums, arts, etc)"--Boise has a lot of smaller bars, live music, local plays, art galleries, coffee house/galleries, and plenty of wine bars.
If you want night clubs with dancing there are plenty of those too.
The city has a lot of local artists from several genres and has a reputation of becoming one of the new artistic capitols in the Western US.

3--Boise is one of the best places in the West to live if you love the great outdoors. You can experience many outdoor activities without leaving city limits and Boise is one of the few cities to have a real clean trout river running through the middle of the city. I have yet to live in or visit another city that has parks as great as Boise's or as vast as Boise's. The Greenbelt along the Boise River is over 30 miles of lush greenery.

4--Boise city population is around 220,000 and metro is around 630,000

5--The climate is great for gardening and growing peppers. Most of the hops grown in the US for beer comes from Idaho.

6--There are a lot of single professional 20 and 30 somethings in Boise. The city is very youth and young adult oriented.

7--Cost of living is comaparable to many other Western cities except the coastal cities which are more expensive.

8--Tons of great places for local brews and many pubs in downtown specialize in European brews.

[treedonkey]

Depending on which sort of neighborhood you choose, Denver fits the bill quite nicely on all points except for #5. I don't know much fist-hand about the other places.