I just got back from my first trip to Philadelphia. I‘ve been to nearly every major city in the US (save Miami and Minneapolis), and I was in awe for the entirety of my Philly trip.

There’s a common joke on this sub that the answer is always “Philly or Chicago”. And while I made my first trip to Chicago last fall, and fell in love with the city, it took me an extra year to get to Philly and truly make this comparison.

All I have to say is - wow. I truly believe this is THE most walkable city I’ve ever set foot in. Everything I encountered was seemingly built for the pedestrian. And the city is absurdly easy to navigate. I found myself walking places even when I could take the bus, just because it was that easy (and the weather was peak).

Every coffee shop I went to was great. Multiple jazz bars, and while not quite as good as Chicago’s scene, all very solid with cheaper cover fees and drinks. The food was incredible. The people were friendly. I enjoyed taking the subway, busses, and the train to the airport is a massive plus.

I know it was a weekend trip and I don’t live there, but for anyone who values walkability while still having large urban scale, Philly seems to be the spot. I was looking at apartments in the neighborhoods I visited and, as an educator, I was constantly able to find things in my price range. This is not true in most other walkable cities.

I’m sure there are some negatives, but I struggled to find any. Sure, I was in nicer areas, but I wasn’t exclusively in the tourist core. I went west of Penn and as far north as Temple. There’s some trash, but it didn’t bother me. And I found the statement that Philly “smells” to be almost entirely false.

I guess this post is to say that, after a year of scrolling this sub and wondering if people were to high on Philly, the answer is no. It’s that good.

I see people debating Chicago vs. California on here all the time, and since old threads on this sub actually helped me land on Costa Mesa a few years back, figured I’d pay it forward.

I lived in Chicago for the first 30-ish years of my life. Grew up in a quieter neighborhood and lived in the usual spots as an adult - West Loop, various North Side spots, etc. Chicago is still my favorite city in the country. The architecture, the arts/culture, the food, and how easy it is to find cool people and stuff to do are tough to beat. I’d genuinely move back someday and be totally happy.

My issues with it were the usual suspects, but they just stacked up over time. The long grey stretches, lack of actual nature/topography within a reasonable drive, and how heavily social life revolves around sitting in bars eating and drinking from November to April.

Moving to OC (specifically Costa Mesa) flipped my day-to-day. Having solid weather and trails right outside my door year-round made being active effortless instead of a chore. I ended up dropping a ton of weight without really trying just because my default weekend shifted from brewery hopping to being outside. The access to weekend trips in every direction is ridiculous compared to the Midwest.

My big hesitation with OC was feeling isolated from live music and culture, but it hasn’t been an issue. I just head up to LA once or twice a month for shows and concerts, then head back down to my quiet, cooler pocket near the coast. Best of both worlds for me.

Obviously you give things up. You're in a car a lot more, rent/housing is brutal, and you lose that dense, cohesive city feel that Chicago nails better than almost anywhere. But for where I was at in life, prioritizing sun, outdoors, and physical health won out.

Happy to answer anything if anyone is currently debating a Midwest -> SoCal move or trying to figure out if OC is actually livable for a city person. I'll acknowledge that this is all on the HCOL side of things. The shock actually wasn't as bad as I expected arriving here since I was already used to some of the higher-cost areas of Chicago. It's great that Chicago has a lot more affordable options as well.

I currently live in Denver and make 100k in non-profit finance. I’ve been here five years and genuinely like it. I feel comfortable financially and love the winter combo of sun and snow.

The bigger thing is that my parents have started to have health problems and live in the Lansing MI area. Flights are getting more expensive, I don’t think they’re getting any cheaper ever, and I would like to spend more time with them as they age.

I am looking to potentially move to a city within a five hour drive to them. I love the sunshine and urbanism of Denver, so I am a bit worried to move to the upper Midwest. I’m in my thirties and would like to settle down and have 1-2 kids as well. So looking for a place where people are still single in their thirties but also commitment oriented. Biggest hobbies are comedy shows, arts & crafts, going out to eat, and yoga and I don’t drink much. Logically, Chicago seems like it would be a good fit - the only problem is that I’m a moderate Democrat and worry I would be annoyed by the all the taxes and fiscal mismanagement. I’m also considering Royal Oak, which is outside Detroit - this seems like a potential good fit. I worry Grand Rapids might be too small but would also consider. I have family in the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas, and college friends in the Detroit and Chicago areas. Is there anywhere you would recommend? I thought about Columbus but I’ve never been before.

It looks like I’m going to be relocating to the Austin area and unfortunately I don’t have the time available to make a trip out there beforehand.

For work, it seems I’m going to be set up south of the Colorado River, specifically around the Sunset Valley area.

So as for my questions:

1. Do you still feel pretty connected to the culture of the overall city? For example, I live in Charleston SC and am within the city limits but am far enough from downtown that it feels distinctly different. Would it be similar here?

2. How is the area for singles in their late 20’s/early 30’s? Are there lots of things to do, lots of people in that age range?

3. How is the access to nature? From what I can tell it seems very road-heavy in that area and not overly walkable, but I don’t necessarily mind that as long as there is easy access to nature and walkability. Is the traffic getting into downtown pretty bad?

4. Kind of a broad final question, but is the area nice? If you live there already do you like it? And if you don’t but are familiar with it, would you like living there?

I appreciate all your help!

Top things that matter to me: nature, work, home space, year- round weather.

Work wise: nurse

Renting: safe and cozy, studio-1 bedroom with W&D, $1100-$1400/month.

Like to chill and be in my own space mostly. Greatly appreciate access to nature and solitude, good food, and cultural diversity.

Weather that changes and isn’t the same every day, but also not extreme is ideal. I enjoy clouds, wind, rain, sun, all the elements that come and go.

Not necessarily Phoenix winter - mild, but close to it. I love how Flagstaff is a city without being too much city like the Phoenix Metro. Absolutely cannot be in the desert in the summer down there anymore. I've been a nomad for a little over 2 years so it's nice to move with the weather.

This summer and last summer I was in Flagstaff as a home base for 3-4 months, and from Jan 26' - June 26 I was in the Vegas area , both working IT contracts, doing door dash, and Walmart Spark. I got by decently enough. But now Doordash is garbage as well as Spark being oversaturated with drivers ,And IT work always slows down over winter (Onsite work , I don't work remote). Not sure where I'll be for the winter yet other than switching between Quartzsite, Havasu, And visiting my friend in Apache Junction. I suppose I could go back to Vegas if I had a decent job offer.

Anyway , wondering what y'all think is the closest city to Flagstaff for the winter months as far as size, decent amenities , not too expensive, while being relatively mild in the winter.

Hi, all! I'm(21F) currently a Junior in college here in Mississippi and will be graduating in 2028 with my Bachelor of Social Work. It's probably a bit too early to know definitively where I want to live but time is ticking and I really just want to hear about each city from firsthand experiences and if it aligns with what I'm looking for so I can finally make a decision. Here's my current shortlist and my current uninformed observations, happy to be corrected:

-Chicago, Illinois: Has the greatest variety and job availability for my field, lots of job mobility, but it's also the most expensive on paper and there's less nature access, it seems that it's more of a concrete jungle vibe? This is the only city on the list I have family in but I don't really know them so maybe that doesn't count lol

-Minneapolis, Minnesota: I absolutely love the nature access and the outdoorsy culture, there's good job availability, and the biking culture is nice, I do worry about the frigid social scene as well as how far the city is from other places, it's currently my #1

-Buffalo, New York: I'll be honest, proximity to border is the biggest draw, I don't know much about the city itself but weekend trips to Toronto or Hamilton is very enticing. Buffalo itself seems okay.

-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: I absolutely love the weather and geography here, the job availability is pretty good, it's relatively affordable, I honestly can't remember the cons except I read something about really poor air quality?

-Providence, Rhode Island: I might love the idea of living here more than the practicalities, I love that it's in New England and near so many other metros, I don't know much about job availability in my field but this city is surprisingly expensive from what I've seen.

-Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Seems like a good middle ground between Minneapolis and Chicago(sorry if that's way off-base), it's close to Chicago so if I find Milwaukee too sleepy I could hop on the Amtrak to Chicago for the day and return home to my chill home city. I heard it was quite segregated though? I like diversity and integration.

And here's some info about me to give y'all more context of what I'm looking for:

-I'm a black lesbian woman. Frankly, I don't care about having a large black population and prefer diversity over a monoracial environment but I do want some semblance of a lesbian scene, especially with lesbians in my age group(21-25) which seems harder to find for whatever reason.
-I'm very introverted and don't care for nightlife, I would like a city that has a wide variety of things to do that aren't revolved around drinking/partying. I'm really into adult recreational sports currently, as well, as outdoor activities. I currently live in Oxford and really hate the college town, party culture.
-Because I'm so introverted, I typically don't do well with other introverts and would prefer a more friendly local culture that is easier to break into socially.
-Progressive culture is a must, by this, I really just mean somewhere where people care about their neighbors and those different from them without judgment and don't actively vote against their rights, that's it. Nowhere that's hostile towards POC, LGBTQ+, immigrants, women, etc. that's why I'm leaving Mississippi, after all.
-I'll be going into social work so job availability in the field is a must, I'm mostly interested in either medical or school social work, still deciding. I'll be getting my MSW in whatever city I settle in after a couple of years.
-affordability is also a factor, of course. Though I know this depends on salary and a lot of other factors.

Those are the main things, hopefully this all paints a clear picture of what I'm looking for and I can get some good advice! Thanks in advance!

Also, because I know someone will mention it, I'm actually not too concerned with Northern winters. I love four season weather and would love to experience actual snowy winters. To me, it's a matter of proper attire more than anything. Maybe I'm underestimating it though as a Southerner who's never experienced anything more than an inch of snow.

Hi everyone,
I'm a second-year plumber apprentice non union currently living in Wildwood, New Jersey. I've been seriously thinking about relocating because of the high cost of living, taxes, and overall affordability.
A little about what I'm looking for:
Good opportunities for plumbers and tradespeople
Strong wages compared to the cost of living
Safe area to raise a family and kids
Affordable housing where buying a home is actually realistic
Not overly crowded or packed with traffic
Decent quality of life and sense of community
I don't mind cold or hot weather, but I'd prefer to avoid extremely harsh winters if possible
Rural or small-town areas are fine as long as jobs are available
I'm trying to find places where a working-class family can still get ahead without feeling house-poor or financially stretched every month.
For those who work in the trades, especially plumbing, where have you found the best balance of wages, housing affordability, job opportunities, and family life?
I'd love to hear where you live and why you'd recommend it (or avoid it).
Thanks in advance for any advice.

We are mostly unestablished with us being 18 and 19 with one vehicle. I've been cooking for a few years and intend on becoming a chef eventually and she wants to work in taxidermy. I hear oregon is on the more expensive side for young people compared to Wisconsin.

Looking to move out of NYC..within a 200mi radius that covers about half of PA and Delaware, all of NJ, CT, RI. Goes a bit past Albany and Bingham...Also excludes Boston..economically it wasnt a choice anyways..Looking to live in or near a city (w/ a 30k+ population) or even the outskirts dont mind traveling to a city..30-40min for a uni...most importantly looking for a place with cheap rent..thinking about less than 1400 for a 1br or studio. A city is important so I can get a okish job...(20+/hr)

Dont think im in a position to be super picky but some nice things would be, nature/beautiful scenery, a few bars some unique diverse food places I guess some type of night life... Even one of the fore mentioned things would be great..

Hope this isn't a dream that can no longer come true..

I need help please! Me (39f) and my husband (47m) are ready to move out of Texas. We’re both originally from Minnesota but have been in DFW for 13 years. But y’all, it’s time to jump ship. We have three boys (8, 4, 3months), but I’m stuck on where we should settle. I know that I’m not going to everything that I’m looking for, mainly because it doesn’t exist in the US, but I’m hoping to get close! At the moment Richmond, VA looks attractive but I’m trying to narrow the options down so we can feasibly visit our top choices within the next year. My husband WFH and travels and I’m a SAHM. He makes about $180k.

1) Weather. Something between Minnesota and Texas. Four seasons, but not too hot in the summer and not too cold in the winter.

2) Good education system. Because kids.

3) Easy access to both water and mountains. I’m open to both oceans and big lakes, but we’re water people. My husband loves skiing but I’m a chalet princess.

4) I’m torn between walkable city life and spread out suburban life. Do walkable suburbs exist? I don’t need much, just a park, coffee shop and a couple restaurants to walk to and I’m happy.

5) Politically anything but red.

6) Preferably on the eastern side of the US with easy access to an airport.

I see this sub is very American, I'm Australian so I understand things are slightly different. For the most part, we don't have a very strong 'move away for college' culture and living on campus is not typical. I live about an hour away from my uni, which is pretty standard.

I moved probably a little over 4 months ago, and it's honestly not been great. I don't know if I just need to give it more time, because I know it's not been that long and so much can change in just a few months, but with each passing day I miss my home city so much. Living here has been a dream of mine for years, I'd always talk about it ever since high school and every time I visited this city I fell even more in love with it, but now having lived in it I don't feel the same. I used to love going into the busy central cbd areas and going shopping, even if it was by myself, but now every time I try going into the cbd the amount of people gives me terrible anxiety and all I can think is how much I want to go home. I didn't move for university, I just ended up going because I figured I should do something, I quite enjoy my degree, but i'm not getting the university experience I really wanted, and I'm still constantly thinking about how I could be doing the same degree in my home city.

The city i'm in now is supposed to be a cultural hub for arts and music, which are big passions of mine, and partially what inspired me to move. I thought i'd thrive in a place like this but things just don't feel right, and maybe I just feel it because I had high expectations, but the city just feels so big and I feel so small.

I have made some friends here, and they're all lovely, and I do enjoy hanging out with them but my friends in my hometown really are *my* people and I miss them dearly. I still actively talk to them all and I think the fact that even with our busy lives we talk daily does mean something. My hometown friends truly are the sort of friends you KNOW would help you move, or drive you to urgent care in the middle of the night, I think I realised that they are the people I want to spend my 20s with.

It's a little tough because my family back home wants to move here, it's not a huge deal, since I'm already paying my own rent/bills and funding myself, but I do partially feel a little silly about going back home and then my family moving to the state I just left.

I'm visiting for a week or so in December, so maybe I'll just have to see how I feel after visiting, but idk, would it be wrong to move back so soon? This city really was supposed to be better for me in everyway, so maybe i'm writing it off too soon. I just feel very small and lonely here. I'd love to know people's thoughts or if they've moved back at anypoint

I have visited Oregon, Washington, and Maine. Yet the southern portion of Alaska appears comparable to all three states—if Ketchikan matches the images—since their coastal lines look quite alike.

The notable contrast lies in exemptions: Maine offers almost no property tax exemption for veterans, seniors, or homesteads, while Alaska seems relatively welcoming to veterans.

We are a couple in our mid 30s with young kids. We both work remote and are looking to relocate to a place on the east coast that’s affordable, not too cold, moderate politically but still high vaccination rates, good schools, friendly people/easy to make friends, and lots to do. We can move anywhere, if you love your suburb/ town please comment!

Unsure if I’m ranting or looking for advice or just somebody to validate me but I feel so conflicted.

My husband and I moved to the beach about 6-8 hours from home five years ago. We both come from pretty broken families. I’m close with my dad and he’s close to his sister but that’s pretty much it. We took huge pay cuts to come here from the northern Virginia area but despite it being a high cost of living for the state (bc we’re in a touristy beach area) it’s still cheaper than home.

Our lives have changed so much. I’ve made a great community here and my husband is more of a loner so he doesn’t really care about those things. We used to go to bars and drink and now that we live here … we don’t do that. We spend most of our time outdoors, we go to the beach and ride bikes and chase sunrises. I think that where we live is just healthier for us … we don’t miss the traffic. We don’t miss the hustle. It just felt like where we were we were always stressed, living for the weekends, and idk if it was that we had nothing better to do but drink or if we were trying to quiet the anxiety and stress of the north but regardless, clearly our lives are different.

We are now starting a family and people always say to move home but idk. We don’t have the grandparents that would watch our children. His sister would help us but she has her own kid too. All our friends have moved away from home. His sister and my dad live 2.5 hours apart and we’d rather live in PA near my family then back to VA near his and deal with that traffic.

At the same time, part of me is over where we live. My friend group changed … a few moved away (south of course so opposite of where we’d go), some are just busy now with their own kids, and the rest are more like friendly people we see at the gym or around town … not necessarily friends we’d hangout with. We’re the outsiders in our friend group because they’ve all been friends for 10 years, the girl I was close with pretty much never hangs out with us ever since she got a bf and if she does she pulls us into their friend group which again we’re outsiders.

I’ve never lived somewhere longer than 5 years so maybe it’s that. I love it here, the beach is beautiful, like people pay to vacation here and we live here, why do I want to move? I’m liked in the community, the beach is 15 min away, the weather is awesome. Idk what’s wrong with me.

I’m scared to stay because I feel off. Like stuck and like an outsider but also scared to leave my community at the same time … like how’s that make sense? But at the same time … I hate the hustle of VA, and PA is boring. Where we live salaries suck and COL is high but at least there’s amazing weather and so much to do. Idk if it’s fear or permanent roots, fear with the change of starting the family, or feeling like an outsider.

Can anybody relate ? Thank you if you made it this far.

Does it exist? For reference partner and I are approaching retirement age in a few years and trying to figure out a winter-time location. Florida is out. East coast (or easy east coast access preferred) what are we missing? EDIT - for those saying Asheville, we've been and aren't winter time temps in the 30s? That's what we are trying to get away from.

We have two little kids aged four and six months and are planning a move once my husbands contract is up for work at the end of next year. We love San Diego and live quite inland it’s a small town very safe all the neighbors know each other probably 40 minutes from the beach. I love the laid back vibe weather and access to fun stuff to do. We have an amazing community there but are completely priced out. We’re renting and want to buy our forever home. We just cant seem to bring ourselves to buy a shack here for what could be a mansion literally anywhere else. We want the ease of life of raising little kids and not being completely strapped for cash. Don’t need to be rich-just comfortable. My husband will look for a new job likely in the aerospace/robotics/aviation industry. Our top priorities are:

- Easy cost of living (doesn’t have to be the lowest)

- somewhere we can buy four bedrooms and a big yard where I’m not completely on top of the neighbors for under $700k?

- we are church goers

- open to a red blue or purple state emphasis on family friendly over specific political association (we’ve lived in all of them)

- no extreme weather (insane tornados/snow etc)

-good coffee and craft beer is a bonous

- we’re like 30s with kids looking for friends and community in a new home

-I’m an outside cat. I like trails hiking lakes and scenic places.

Four seasons or coastal city Prefered, touch of snow okay

I grew up in Hawaii between living there San Diego and Sacramento for the bulk of my life I say we have it easy. I like a beach town but I also loved the seasons of Sacramento and could do a nearby lake if not a coastal city. I haven’t traveled any further east than Colorado (which I liked) so I’m just looking online and guessing. Areas we’ve considered are Raleigh, Dallas, Charleston, Jacksonville, Huntsville, Omaha.

Expected income $200k ish.

Thank you!!

Ill give you an honest perspective. For some reason, on reddit chicago has the most glaze out of any other city with an extreme sense of pride. It’s the crown jewel of the mid west, but it has some very real issues that often get ignored or downvoted due to the extreme pride of people regarding this city.

Public transport is genuinely ass. It’s so slow because the branches of the train which all lead to the loop don’t connect with each other at all, making trips just last 2 to 3x longer than if u were to just drive. It’s not super walkable, or at least you will be giving up a lot of comforts going carless and will default to just ubering everywhere if you can afford it. No one i know uses the trains that often. They’re ok in a pinch, but just take too damn long to get anywhere.

It’s loud. I guess the same can be true for any city, but the constant above ground trains, sirens, logistics trucks, etc the noise pollution makes living in the city proper rough for some people.

Food is good. It isn’t incredible by any means, but people move here from the midwest with no time in other major cities and think it’s amazing because they don’t have anything else to compare it to. It’s strong in stuff like polish, Ukrainian, italian, decent in mexican, chinese, korean, japanese, indian, thai, indonesian, seafood, deli’s, etc imo.

People hit or miss. The midwest is basically all white people. When they move here, they don’t integrate well with people of color at all. It is the most physically segregated city in the country, meaning people of different races hardly interact with each other if they don’t have to. And as a middle easterner, you can’t help but notice the passive racism people seem to have towards each other here. Maybe if you are white and hanging out with other white people, the people are nice, but other than that they really won’t care much about your existence.

In addition to that, most transplants move here with their high school friend groups and only go out with them. They already have their social needs met, so they don’t feel the need to socialize with people outside of their groups if they don’t have to. Which makes living here as a solo transplant incredibly isolating unless you go out of your way to force interactions with people because they aren’t going to talk to you otherwise. And you have to constantly force these interactions. People won’t even say hi to you on the street here lol. Everyone is in their own little bubbles.

Another big downside of living in the Midwest is the winters and geography. It’s flat, very little natural beauty, and far away from anything interesting. You will basically just be spending all your time in chicago unless you plan a roadtrip or fly somewhere for weekend trips. Which is fine if you like chicago, but i like getting out of my city every now and then.

Now, due to what i said prior about people harshly defending this city online, this post will get downvoted into oblivion. But i’m just offering people a more balanced perspective amidst the overblown hype. Reality is not on reddit guys, remember that.