I am a single woman in my mid-thirties from Kansas City and am interested in relocating. Kansas City is a great family-oriented city, but horrible if you are single! Does anyone have any good suggestions -I like large, metropolitan cities, but they need to be somewhat affordable (NYC, LA, and San Fran are not an option). Thanks for the help!

Austin, Texas

Seattle

ChristieP, you took the words right out of my mouth, or should I say, right off of my screen.

Austin has a great variety of night life and many single people. Austin is a very laid back kind of city and we have a great quality of life. People from other cities often see Austin as a college town, but it's much more than that. Aside from the college population there are a great many middle-aged single people too. And best of all, there are quite a few good Fodorites here in Central Texas. I am one of those.

In case you'd like to come and check it out, we are having a Fodor's GTG on 9/17 at Hula Hut, which is a restaurant on the lake. All Fodorites are welcome, but it might be a good weekend for you to come for a visit and check out Austin.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34655808

Boston. Not particularly affordable, but lots of singles.

I lived at 236 Newbury St., Boston, MA when I was in my twenties. I wish I had never left. It is the center of the universe.

New York.

Make it happen.

Denver has affordable city living in a gorgeous setting(lofts going up/warehouses renovated like mad right now, plus a huge Victorian near downtown residential area), terrific nightlife, great ballet, opera, etc., and awesome skiing, national parks, river development, wonderful weather, lots and lots--check out recent Forbes article about Denver being great for singles!

In case you haven't seen the Forbes magazine ranking of 40 Metro areas on this topic:

http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/25/sin..._0725land.html

It's choices are Denver-Boulder, Boston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, and Washington-Baltimore. Since I'm a single male in Washington, I'll go that far and no farther.

OK, and New York is #8, Austin #11, and Kansas City--no surprise to you--came in third from last.

Hey, Honolulu isn't even on that list! Makes me feel very uncool.

I'd recommend to you the D.C. area. If the housing is too expensive for you, there is an option of going out into the suburbs more. Plenty of single men who come from all across the country to live here to work for gov't agencies, atty's offices, business that do work with the gov't. Lived in D.C. for almost 3 yrs and this is my observation as a single female.

I'm shocked Chicago isn't on the list! I was there a few years ago for a conference, and was overwhelmed by the number of young, seemingly single people there were--lots of well-dressed men!

Austin, Chicago, Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver, San Diego, Richmond, Seattle

If I had to personally choose I would probably go with Denver then Austin.

I also recommend DC. I have lived here for 6 years, moved here when I was 30. Lots of single men and women. I met my fiance here!

Chicago or New York for me.

I will say that a strange metamorphisis happens to all my single girlfriends that have moved to Charlotte. Within two weeks of moving there, they all have to drive Mercedes, wear Prada, carry Marc Jacobs bags and have a filthy rich boyfriend.

No offense to anyone who lives in Charlotte but I've never seen such a bad outbreak of 'keeping up with the joneses'.

I kid you not.

Have you seriously researched Los Angeles or San Francisco outside the heart of the city, before eliminating them? I ask because I know on many things LA (from a girlfriend who lives there) seems to be cheaper than Seattle, for example.

From many years of traveling to every major city and lots of minor ones on business, and from watching the people who travel and the people who live there, I would share these thoughts:
-D.C. area is not a good place to live even though there might be a lot of men around. Gotta watch out for those who appear to be unattached but really are already committed. In D.C. and surrounds, lots of males play the field.
-Boulder is great for young singles and marrieds.
-Austin also is high on my list.
-Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte would be worth considering, but pick a suburban town near them to actually live in.
-I personally don't think Atlanta is a good choice.
-Chicago isn't my cup of tea for two reasons: It's too big, and it's a bit expensive.
-Baltimore could be a good choice, but be careful where you pick a place to live. The 'burbs would be best.
-Don't know if you'd consider Fort Worth, but it's a sleeper. Lots of good ole down home guys out there, not all of them chew tobacco and ride horses. And Fort Worth is a nice city.
-A final word in favor of another western city that you might never think of: Salt Lake City has a lot more than you would think, or Provo as a second choice is a pretty hoppin' place.

Wayne, if you are going to live in Charlotte, live in Charlotte.

I don't understand your reasoning of going outside the city. The hippest places in Charlotte are all inside the city limits not in Kannapolis or Cherryville.

DC is great, but very very expensive!! It seems everyone is waiting for the housing market to burst.

Baltimore is becoming revitalized and you can live in the city in great areas. Canton, Fells Point, and Federal Hill.

Miami is controlled chaos, but fun and you feel like you are in a foreign country.

Atlanta, great but a bit behind the times if you are faster paced.

Austin, the single capital of the US I heard somewhere.

Well Ms xrcizfanatic,

I'd have to say that alot of that depends on what you're really after in life. Are you looking to stay single and want to have a good time (party) still?

What are your OTHER interests away from work?

I'm personally not a huge fan of Austin but that's beacuse it is so UN-Texas. It may be great for what you're looking for.

Vegas would be awesome if you've still got a *wild* streak in you...of course it gets HOT in the Summer.

If snow doesn't bother you and you like to ski, snowboard, hike, ice-climb, mtn bike, fish, or ???? Denver or Boulder might be great as well.