I've lived in D/FW for the last four years post-graduation.

The last couple of months, I find myself thinking about re-locating fairly often. Any suggestions?

Might be easier to help with the following info:
1. Work in finance. GF works in buying for a large retailer.
2. Art over hiking (if that makes sense).
3. New York and San Fran are on my list, but am hoping for some outside the box ideas.

Portland

My wife got an offer in Raleigh last year after a video chat interview. We flew here to check out the area and were blown away. Tall trees lining the highways, temperate weather, a couple hours from both the ocean and the mountains, and a big tech sector here made it easy for me to find a job in software.

How is the weather in Portland during the fall and winter?

North Carolina has been a thought. Tons of banking opportunities in Charlotte. Generally speaking, a decent economy in that part of the country?

As a general rule of thumb, the Pacific nw is wet

Forecast for this week looks like 50s and rain.

I don't live there, but have some friends there. It's hipster crowd with an artsy flair.

Watch "Portlandia" it is a documentary on Portland.

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As a general rule of thumb, the Pacific nw is wet

Forecast for this week looks like 50s and rain.

I don't live there, but have some friends there. It's hipster crowd with an artsy flair.

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This isn't entirely true. It didn't rain and was pretty sunny yesterday. I don't think it's supposed to rain again until Thursday.

Too many people are moving here. The rents and real estate are out of control. If you want to live in the city, you're going to be paying for it and not getting a lot of space. Don't expect much of a yard either. Developers have been buying property, demolishing, and raising prices.

Just about everybody that lives here is a transplant. There are a lot of homeless people.

All that being said, you can't beat the scenery and the outdoor stuff. Winters aren't nearly as bad as people say. For most of last winter, it was colder in Dallas than it was here. We don't get downpours very often. We just get a lot of drizzle, but again, it's not nearly as gloomy as people say it is. Food scene is great if you like to go to bars and restaurants. Especially in the city, you won't find many chain restaurants. There are no real walmarts in the city. They like local here. The people are genuinely nice.

Portland seems like a NW version of Austin. Accurate?

With more outdoor opportunities

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Portland seems like a NW version of Austin. Accurate?

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That is pretty accurate. Also without the heat and humidity. And better scenery - you can see Mount Hood from downtown, and the ocean is only about an hour and a half away.

However, I did just see an article that claimed that the real estate and rent prices were pushing the artsy types out of the city, which sounds pretty accurate.

Chattanooga if you like Austin. Smaller version with trees, mountains, more art.

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However, I did just see an article that claimed that the real estate and rent prices were pushing the artsy types out of the city, which sounds pretty accurate.

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IIRC I think Portland (or maybe it was the County) put some pretty stringent land use/development type laws into effect 15 or 20 years ago. I believe the purpose was to control sprawl and focus development in a limited area that was for the most part already urban/suburban. I think I read somewhere that was driving up real estate prices as there was limited land to develop.

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However, I did just see an article that claimed that the real estate and rent prices were pushing the artsy types out of the city, which sounds pretty accurate.

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IIRC I think Portland (or maybe it was the County) put some pretty stringent land use/development type laws into effect 15 or 20 years ago. I believe the purpose was to control sprawl and focus development in a limited area that was for the most part already urban/suburban. I think I read somewhere that was driving up real estate prices as there was limited land to develop.

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The problem recently is that developers have been snatching up all of the close in properties, redeveloping, and selling for 3x than the price of the original home on the lot. The sprawl is very controlled in the city, so you won't find big lots without paying a very high price. Lots are a little better as you get out into the suburbs, but they are nothing like the large lots in Texas. We watched the show "Fixer Upper," and granted they are in Waco, but the prices and lot sizes were just depressing and made us angry after buying our house. We were trying to find a house for around 255k with a decent yard, and there just weren't very many possibilities. We were pushed pretty far out in the burbs (for Portland standards), and could only get 1650 mostly un-updated square feet for that.

Really the big problem is that so many people are moving here now and it's driving up prices and demand. You hardly ever meet someone from Portland. Everybody is a transplant.

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Work in finance.

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Charlotte, North Carolina (though the Raleigh area is nice as well).
Richmond, VA (Capital One)
Asheville, NC (in my opinion, the North Carolina version of Austin)

I have friends in PDX and one works in apartment management and runs 1200 units. There isn't any rent control and demand is so high he says it's nearly a crime what they charge. And the crazy part is they rent out as fast as they can fix em up and turn them around.

Back on '07 I tried to find work there but no one was giving me the time of day because I wasn't local. It's gloomy during the winter but during the summer it's phenomenal.

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I have friends in PDX and one works in apartment management and runs 1200 units. There isn't any rent control and demand is so high he says it's nearly a crime what they charge. And the crazy part is they rent out as fast as they can fix em up and turn them around.

Back on '07 I tried to find work there but no one was giving me the time of day because I wasn't local. It's gloomy during the winter but during the summer it's phenomenal.

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Yea, you really have to make same day decisions here for real estate because they go so fast. In our last rental, they had a new renter ready to move in the day after we moved out for about $500 more than they were charging us. We also missed out on a couple of places because we were the second people to look at the house. The city just enacted a rule that landlords couldn't raise went over a certain amount without a certain amount of notice. Landlords were raising rents and telling current tenants that they had to pay or get out now. Portland is no longer where "young people go to retire." It's just too expensive.

Come check out Denver. Plenty to do here even if hiking isn't your thing. Also, four seasons. The summers here are great.

Denver sucks.

Stay Away.

Most everything described in the thread (rent/home prices skyrocketing, very few natives, lots of chit to do) describes Denver.

Just not the 200 rainy/cloudy days a year.

Also there's a little place in Colorado where the beer flows like wine, and beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.

Denver is just like Austin. Tons of people moving there, few natives, "trendy" place to live, lots to do, and endless griping about new transplants.

Orlando, 70 million visitors a year can't be wrong. nice sub-tropical climate on a peninsula. Gulf and Atlantic. No snow shoveling. Golf and Fishing paradise.

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Denver is just like Austin. Tons of people moving there, few natives, "trendy" place to live, lots to do, and endless griping about new transplants.

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Denver is just like Austin, as filet mignon is just like sirloin.

I think I'm being too generous to Austin in my analogy.

Chicago > NYC

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Chicago > NYC

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Only visited Chicago for Lollapalooza once. Can you get around the city with public transit like NYC on a permanent basis?

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Chattanooga if you like Austin. Smaller version with trees, mountains, more art.

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Chattanooga economy is doing very well, really growing in the tech and finance industry right now. The amount of things to do is huge even for a smaller city.

I can't answer that with any guarantee, but I the L and Bus system will get the job done. My grandmother has lived there for most of her life and has never driven a car once.

Another vote for the Raleigh area. Just awesome and we won't be leaving ever Lord willing. Beautiful 4 seasons weather without a harsh winter, scenery, great people (still in the south!) and so many places to go. Like the Outer Banks, Blue Ridge mountains, DC, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, etc-all within a few hours.

Laguna beach..

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Chicago > NYC

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Only visited Chicago for Lollapalooza once. Can you get around the city with public transit like NYC on a permanent basis?

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I don't live in Chicago but most of my team does and many have sold their cars because public transportation is easier and parking rates are crazy high downtown.

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Chicago > NYC

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Only visited Chicago for Lollapalooza once. Can you get around the city with public transit like NYC on a permanent basis?

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I don't live in Chicago but most of my team does and many have sold their cars because public transportation is easier and parking rates are crazy high downtown.

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Sweet. I'm planning on a visit to Chi in the Spring. Get a better feel.

Is there any nice college towns (or other secondary metro-areas) in Cali along the ocean?

I would recommend visiting Chicago in the winter if you are considering moving there. Everybody likes Chicago in the spring and summer. The question will be is if you want to put up with walking around there during the winter.

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I would recommend visiting Chicago in the winter if you are considering moving there. Everybody likes Chicago in the spring and summer. The question will be is if you want to put up with walking around there during the winter.

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Great point.

62Strat, tell us more about the women flocking like the salmon of Capistrano.

Autocorrect can be a killer, but I'm curious as to where you were describing.

Ca San Luis obispo