CO, OR, NC, TX, or AZ relocation?
 

Hello. I'm a single 29-year-old and am considering one of the following cities to relocate to:

Boulder, CO
Portland, OR
Raleigh / Chapel Hill, NC
Austin, TX
Phoenix, AZ

I currently live in VA (small town that is one hour from both DC and Richmond) and would like to move to a small to mid-size city with the following opportunities:

1. Plenty of outdoor activities (esp. hiking, preferably in green areas);
2. Holistic and athletic classes/services (yoga, polarity therapy, dance, etc.);
3. Classes in or exposure to documentary filmmaking; and
4. Affordable living (so that I can pursue the above activities!).

I don't have children, would like to avoid sprawl 'n' crawl as much as possible, and prefer green grass and sunlight over hot, dry desert or months of gray weather. (However, I am flexible if those areas are rich in the other opportunities mentioned above.)

For those who have lived in one or more of the listed cities, can you offer insight on the richness or scarcity of the activities I'm interested in?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

I would skip Phoenix. Not the town it once was when I grew up there. Tucson would be a better choice.

Even if it's one of my favorite part of US, I would not relocate to Phoenix because of your "non-wish" of desert...
And even Tucson effectively is nicest,
it's always desert...
It's a must for me but for someone who
want to avoid desert, this part of Arizona is not ideal...
Erik.

Austin wil have alot of what you are after. It is described as the "third coast" after NY and LA for music production and film making. Univ of TX has great film making classes, I have a friend who went there and ended up making documentaries professionally. Since there is the unvierstiy there, there is a fairly progressive atmosphere (for TX) w/holistic offerings. And the area around Austin has alot of hiking, lakes, mild rock climbing, and hill country. Even the city swimming pool (Barton Springs) is natural rock and is fed by springs. TX is affordable. But it sure gets hot alot of the year.

I can't imagine a better city than Boulder for #1 and #2 on your list. Don't know about the filmmaking and housing is not cheap but it really is a great town (I don't live there but we often visit). The prevailing atmosphere is very liberal if that makes a difference to you.

I live in Portland and have lived in Phoenix. As others have said, Phoenix should probably not be on your list: it is not "mid-size" and is full of sprawl-and-crawl as you say. Very suburban, not exactly an artistic mecca.

Portland is pretty mid-sized and is a liberal city, with a lot of new-agey, "granola" feel to it. My neighborhood pushed out a new McDonalds a few years ago because the vegetarians protested against it. The city has an urban growth boundary to try to avoid sprawl (outside the boundary, you can't develop very much, inside is encouraged to be dense). There is a little film school here (Northwest Film Center, www.nwfilm.org). I would say our arts scene is above-average and very good for a city our size.

Caveats about Portland: it does not have a big university, and that is a big drawback in my view. There are colleges but there is no "university culture" to speak of. About two hours south is Eugene, which is much more of a college town but much smaller than Portland.

Also, Portland is very rainy not just in the winter but into the spring. The upside is, we have beautiful summers (sometimes hot but rarely humid, nothing at all like the east coast) and it rarely gets cold in the winter. We had a big snow storm this January but that is unusual. Mostly we get rain and high 30's to mid-50's in the winter. Some people can't handle the gloom.

But outdoor activities abound. More hiking than you could ever do. Skiing an hour away. Oregon Coast (more hiking) just over an hour away. Beautiful country.

I've been to Austin and Raleigh. I was very unimpressed with Raleigh - it just seemed like a big mass of sprawl. Austin was more interesting as a city for sure, and it has the university-feel that Portland lacks. Austin is a little cheaper to live in than Portland, but I think you can swing living here - not nearly as expensive as Seattle, SF Bay, etc. Should be cheaper in Portland than living in, Washington, DC.

You didn't mention employment. Oregon's economy is one of the worst in the US, just so you know. It helps if you have money saved or a job lined up before you get here.

Andrew

Firefly, You've narrowed it down to great choices. You don't say if you're male or female. You are single. Here's a tip. Go to Match.com and enter the zip codes for each area and the basics for what you might consider datable. Take a look at some of the profiles and see who lives there. It might help.

Otherwise, if we're voting... I'd pick Boulder.

I'd move to Austin. Nice weather..nice people--lots to do within driving distance. University of Texas (Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConnoughy call Austin home). NO STATE INCOME TAX.

firefly, as I posted to you before, I also think Austin would meet your criteria. But I'd suggest visiting Austin in summertime and see if you can take the heat. I lived in Austin, and now I also live in VA like you, 40 min from D.C., and it is hotter in Austin in summer than it is here. Of course, everything is air conditioned and there are alot of places to swim and cool off. Love the areas around Perdnales (sp?) River and State park; good hiking and swimming abound. And there's Lake Travis. But it is so hot in summer that my dog burned his paws while hiking w/me once on a trail w/lots of rocks; had to take him to the emergency vet and get his paws treated and bandaged. So know what you are getting into in that way- a few pretty hot months of the year.

I live in Austin. It's really a lot of fun, even if it does get hot (June-October). It's really not too bad. I have lived in DC where gets very muggy. It's not as humid.

Lots of young people (students & young professionals--singles & couples). UT does have filmmaking, but there are informal classes there as well as other establishments (Austin Museum Of Art, the community college may--not positive about them).

Austin is a pretty progressive city--lots of green space & parks--good recycling program--environmentally conscious. Great sense of community.

Housing is a bit high, but I think you would find that in all the cities you listed.

Traffic is probably my biggest complaint.

I agree with posters above who recommend taking Phoenix off your list, for several reasons.

I'm a Texan, and I'm sure you'd love Austin. I do have one point to bring up, though.

What do you do for a living?

Austin suffered badly with the dot.bomb, and the economy has been slow to rebound, so there are still many people there who are out of work. If you'll immediately need to find work to support yourself, you might have a rough time in Austin.

Also, Austin is falling vistim to urban sprawl. If you can deal with the gridlock during rush hour, Austin meets every one of your other criterai.

Good luck!

Many thanks to everyone for taking the time to share their insights. Hearing from people who have lived (or traveled to) the cities I mentioned is invaluable.

Right now, Boulder and Austin are at the top of my list. Job availability will most likely be the deciding factor (given the high cost of living in Boulder, esp.).

Thank you, again. Best wishes to all those considering a similar move!