Rank these cities for living

NYC

Atlanta

Pittsburgh

Cincinnati

Austin

Portland

Denver

I just rolled through Portland last week. Stayed for a few days. I thought I would like it, as I really liked Seattle and Bellingham and the PNW in general, but it was terrible. Basically 50% bums and 50% hipsters. The city does not have much of an identity.

Austin

Portland

NYC

Denver

Cinci

Pittsburgh

Atlanta

austin

atlanta

nyc

portland

denver

pittsburgh

cinci

Portland

Austin

Denver

Atl

NYC

Cinci

Pittsburgh (never been)

It will depend on what type of culture you prefer and your income/bank account. But if you are a strait single male looking to date and/or marry, NYC dominates. And if you don't have any bad habits, have a nice personality and treat people well, you'll get swarmed by women in NYC. In NYC, you often won't even have to pay for dinner, etc. Lots of very successful women in NYC. VERY high ratio of single women to single men in NYC. You get the picture. And as a truly cosmopolitan city, people from all over the world live there so you can meet lots of different types of people. Weather in NYC won't remind you of Southern California, but you won't have time to notice with everything going on.

On the flip side, NYC is the most expensive city in the US (watch some posters from San Francisco, if such people exist on LRC, get their panties twisted, but its true.) NYC is also a much colder and meaner place than it use to be, in terms of disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots". Low level jobs that paid $25/hour during the 90s now pay around $9/hour (low level admin jobs and stuff like that.) Even bike messengers use to make a decent living in NYC, now they make minimum wage. Crime has been increasing in NYC the past few years, but I believe statistically it is still one of the safest large cities.

My Cousin likes Austin. He moved there from the Bay Area and ended up getting married (before which he would send email gushing about all the hot women there.) Austin is a high tech hub.

I agree with the poster who mentioned how grungy Portland is. I've spent significant time in Portland and don't care for it at all. It seems a high percentage of street people in Portland are extremely violent; I'm talking about the young punks with drug habits and pit bulls. Portland's economy is almost non-existent. Prices have risen in Portland primarily due to Californians moving in. Bottom line for me is Portland is too small, not enough going on. And the weather sucks.

Denver is kind of nice, but VERY small. Young people have been working to create a Downtown scene. I find it a pleasant enough place, just not a lot to work with.

Never lived in Pittsburgh, but have lots of friends either from there or still living there. Have visited a number of times. Pittsburgh has undergone a transition from an industrial town to a white-collar town. It has become a regional hub for the arts. Carnegie-Mellon University is a substantial influence, bringing in lots of smart high tech people.

Never been to Atlanta or Cinci.

So I would say it isn't feasible for other people to rank those cities for you, because we know nothing about your cultural, political or professional makeup. We don't know whether you prefer large or small cities, etc.

Sam Diego

NahSon wrote:

I just rolled through Portland last week. Stayed for a few days. I thought I would like it, as I really liked Seattle and Bellingham and the PNW in general, but it was terrible. Basically 50% bums and 50% hipsters. The city does not have much of an identity.

This is true. Portland is a terrible place to try and make it. If I had to do it all over again I would go to Cincy.