If money were no object, which major USA downtown would you pick to live?

[Trivers]

During the past three months, I've traveled to Manhattan, San Francisco, San Jose, Portland, Chicago, and Miami for biz/personal trips.

I've stayed in mid-priced hotels. (Actually, non were cheap as in staying at a Best Western in the 'burbs. )

Observations:
Manhatten: Used to love to go here. Now I find it crowded, dirty, and people are rude on the streets, but normal once inside. Least value per sq ft of hotel space of all the cities.
San Fran: Love the Wharf. Expensive, a homeless problem, past its prime?
Portland: Beautiful, had to fight off the homeless on every block as I walked. No sun the entire trip.
San Jose: Energy! Wonderful weather, expensive as hell. Traffic sucked.
Chicago: More I go, the more I fall in love. Clean, not crowded, people are friendly. Saw two panhandlers the entire weekend. Good hotel value.
Miami: Great food, the babes on South Beach were amazing eye candy. It would be too hot in summer. Condos expensive.

So if I had to move from middle of no-where Wisconsin where there are more cows that cars, I would pick downtown Chicago and try to find a condo overseeing a river or Lake Michigan.

What about you?

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Me too. I need wider fields of view. Need to see down the road a mile or more. And be away from that many people.

Too many people in NY, LA.

You’re in the wrong place big dawg. If you want to see shit you need to be out here. There aren’t trees out here. Or humidity. You can see forever. For-E-Ver.

When I was in college I dated a girl from Johnson County. There was a severe thunderstorm warning. So I was trying (futilely) to look to the west to see what’s coming. She was stacking the shit on me because she honestly had no clue that:

1. There is a place on the planet that you can see a storm coming.

And as a result

2. Storms come from the west.

We argued for better than an hour that storms generally move west to east.

It was then that I figured out that things are REALLY diffferent out here.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I lived in RI for a couple years, spent a lot of time in Boston. For over 20 years did a trade show in Boston for a week that was usually in June.

Lots to love about Boston (food, culture, peoples accent) also lots to hate.

People have mentioned San Diego and I consider it the exact opposite of Boston. Boston has horrific weather and great food, San Diego has fantastic weather and horrific food.

You think Boston has horrific weather? It has the Gulf stream which tempers winters for us compared to the cold of the MidWest, which also has insufferable humidity in summer without an ocean breeze. It's beautiful in late spring, summer and fall. It doesn't even get as much rain as Seattle. I wouldn't call it the best weather. It often has overcast skies. I just don't see that it ranks lower than the ME and even has some benefits over it in terms of weather. JMO.

San Diego probably beats its weather tho.'

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

You’re in the wrong place big dawg. If you want to see shit you need to be out here. There aren’t trees out here. Or humidity. You can see forever. For-E-Ver.

When I was in college I dated a girl from Johnson County. There was a severe thunderstorm warning. So I was trying (futilely) to look to the west to see what’s coming. She was stacking the shit on me because she honestly had no clue that:

1. There is a place on the planet that you can see a storm coming.

And as a result

2. Storms come from the west.

We argued for better than an hour that storms generally move west to east.

It was then that I figured out that things are REALLY diffferent out here.

Until you catch the storm from the North/Northeast. Those ****ers are nasty.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by notorious

Until you catch the storm from the North/Northeast. Those ****ers are nasty.

Yeah, that's how I know the apocalypse has arrived.

[displacedinMN]

But I am not ready to move back to the farm. 30 miles from civilization and the black hole of communications.

[O.city]

Chicago for me.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by Over Yonder

But he also said money was no object

But to play by the rules, the only city on his list I have been to is Chicago. No thanks As far as bigger cities, Dallas/Ft.Worth and Cleveland are the best ones I've been to, and even they suck

Surprised by all the San Diego picks in this thread. Awesome weather, but the people suck. It is currently my least favorite "big city" I have visited. But as I get older and travel more, I'm sure I will stumble upon a bigger crap hole.

i easily get along with most people i never had issues with people "sucking" Then again, im Californian lived here my whole life, so its no big transition for me.

[SuperBowl4]

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

[lcarus]

I've always been kind of fascinated with NY without ever having been there. I don't know if I'd want to live there though.

[Eleazar]

Manhattan, for sure.

[ChiefsCountry]

Olathe

[A8bil]

Originally Posted by canoworms

We vacationed in SF for 12 days in May and June of last year. It was cold as hell. I was glad to visit but I don't see the charm of living there.

Wasn't it Mark Twain who said: "The coldest winter I spent was a summer in SF?" Let me try to answer your embedded question... .

1. 90% of the year, the temperature is somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees with low humidity. If you work in the City, it is far better than the snow, subzero temps, incessant rain, 90% humidity or sweltering heat you get in most other big cities. Only San Diego has a more temperate climate.
2. When you visited, you encountered the summer fog. It comes in and cools off the city, but it comes in only part of the summer. If you check right now, I think it is 67 degrees, sunny and 54% humidity. A typical SF day.
3. Even when you get that summer fog, head 5 miles in any direction to get out of the fog belt and you'll be in temps often 20 degrees or more higher. Marin Headlands, Silicon Valley and East Bay are significantly warmer...spend a comfortable day at the office, then go home and sit by the pool.
4. If you are a food fan, some of the best restaurants in the world are in SF.
5. If you are a sports fan, SF has some of the top sport franchises in their respective league's histories.
6. If you are an arts fan, they attract most of the top exhibits shown internationally.
7. If you are a theater/ballet/symphony/opera fan, they have many of the top plays shown in NY or London and their arts are world class.
8. If you are a wine fan, they have world class wineries less than 1 hour away in Napa and Sonoma...each of which is beautiful and a great place to visit/vacation.
9. If you are ski/snowboarder, you have world class resorts 4 hours away in Squaw Valley, Heavenly...etc.
10. If you love the outdoors, you have marine sanctuaries, old growth redwood forests, and mountains for hiking all along the coast and in the Sierra's all within a half hour to 2 hours of the City, including Yosemite Valley (a bucket list destination).
11. If you're into paragliding or hang gliding, you have constant coastal on shore breezes that give you opportunities to get out 90% of the year.
12. If you are a water sports fan, you have abalone diving off the coast, sailing in the Bay, (cold) surfing on the Coast, scuba diving in kelp forests (the most unique diving I've ever done), water skiing on the Delta or on any number of lakes within 2 hours of SF, river rafting on the american and other rivers, and every type of fishing you can imagine.
13. If you're into golf, you have some of the top golf courses in the world all within 2 hours.
14. You have vibrant city life all over the City.
15. You have two of the greatest universities in the world within 20 miles, with world leading medical care and innovation.
16. If you want to start a business, there is more venture money circulating here than anywhere in the world.

Need I go on? the big problem with SF, is that it's attractions are no secret, so (1) it is crowded, and (2) it is expensive.

[CoMoChief]

SD

[Hydrae]

I am a bit surprised Austin or San Antonio have not been brought up.

Personally, I would not mind living in NW Portland. I had a friend who lived there (about 11th and Gleason if memory serves) and it was a lot of fun just sitting out on the porch up a couple of stories and people watch. Also, having lived there for many years the weather would not really bother me any more than it did when I lived there.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

You think Boston has horrific weather? It has the Gulf stream which tempers winters for us compared to the cold of the MidWest, which also has insufferable humidity in summer without an ocean breeze. It's beautiful in late spring, summer and fall. It doesn't even get as much rain as Seattle. I wouldn't call it the best weather. It often has overcast skies. I just don't see that it ranks lower than the ME and even has some benefits over it in terms of weather. JMO.

San Diego probably beats its weather tho.'

I am not a fan of snow, or cold springs. Yes, the fall colors are beautiful, without question.

Comparing the rainfall to Seattle is like comparing a tooth ache to a broken leg.
I don't want either of them.