best US cities for young people to live in using public transportation
 

Hi everyone,

I will be taking on a position in the US, without a car, for about three years. It must be a big city preferably in a hotbed for the pharma/biotech industries.

I am considering San Fran, Boston, Seattle, Berkley, and Houston. Does anyone think I will have a problem getting around any of these? Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much!

Come to NYC and work for Pfizer!

Consider <b>New York</b>. It has an amazing 24/7 public transportation system and is the hotbed of <i>everything</i>!

Houston? You need a car.

San Francisco? Depending on where you live, public transportation can be tough or the time involved can be considerable.

Boston's system is pretty good, but I don't believe it's 24/7.

Lizzie, I'd love to, if only they'd give me a job!

Gekko: thanks for the heads up on Houston.

I did think of New York, but it is just soooo expensive. I will only make about 35 000 (before taxes), which I know may be tough in the cities I've chosen, but they really are the best option career-wise.

If you live and work in SF itself, then you can do well with public transportation. If you live and/or work outside SF proper, then public transportation isn't so good.

San Francisco, Boston, Berkeley, Chicago. Weekend buses run on reduced schedule, weekdays should be fine. Sure, it takes time, but you save money!

As with any of your options it will depend on where you live and where you work.
Berkeley doesn't have the best system, although thousand of students seem to manage fine and it is serviced by BART.

San Francisco's public transit system is fine, I managed without a car here for 5 years and I know many people who live quiet well without one. I certainly wouldn't call it &quot;tough&quot; to get around without a car.

As far as Seattle goes, a lot of the biotecs are actually located in Bothell. There is bus service from there, but that is is.

IMHO, that income is not enough in NYC or in SF.

Get the job, then locate. My opinion.

BAY AREA! Forget the other options. Berkeley and SF are just a kiss away.

With a $35K salary I'd say Seattle.

Boston is great but it is expensive. That being said, there are plenty of young college grads making that and doing fine. You can have roommates. The T is pretty good in Boston, there are plenty of people who don't own a car. And of course, it's great for pharma and biotech.

New York salaries are higher than the rest of the country, and there's a reason NY is so exensive ... everybody wants to live here! It's basic supply &amp; demand.

NYC is the center of the university, if you can make it happen there, do it.

Boston's system is not 24/7, it closes around 1am. If you want access to it, you should live in or very near the city of Boston.

Philadelphia

Seattle!

Hopefully your biotech job is in the downtown area. There are many of that kind of company located around the South Lake Union area. You could easily live up on Capitol Hill and walk or take a bus there.

You'd be fine on that salary in Seattle, not so in San Francisco.

Was not aware that Houston was a hotbed of the pharma/biotech industry. Also - I don;t think you can live in Houston without a car.

Frankly THE hotbed of pharma/biotech in New York/New Jersey - with some biotech in California. But - depending on your position (assuming you're not a bench chemist) - NY/NJ/CT really has by far the most jobs.

I know one woman who was lured to San Fran by a very high salary and the company lost business in less than a year - and she was stuck there with practically no job opportunies. Had to pay her way back to NY to find something viable.

You mean they're telling you your salary without telling you where you'll be working. What kind of company is this? Most companies would base the salary on the location. This sounds very strange.

Raindrop -

I don;t know what you're doing - but $35,000 doesn;t sound like the right kind of salary. I have worked in pharma advertising and education my whole life - with most of the major companies as clients. And I can tell you that the last admin assistant (secreatary) I hired got almost $50,000.

A pharmacist right out of school gets $80,000 plus. So anyone with a scientific degree or even a year's working experience should be getting way more than $35,000.

You should really look into this before proceeding - that number doesn't sound right at all.

While some cities have better public transportation, it is always better the closer in to city you live - there are some cities with great public transportation but once you get more than a few miles from downtown, you still would need a car - even if it was just to drive to/from train station.

Combine that with cost of living and your salary - many cities you could not afford to live in downtown area on that salary. And often the facilities for which you would be working are not actually in downtown area anyway, but in a suburb. So question is a little more involved than the one you originally asked.