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Which U.S. city is the best?

HungryJoeHungryJoe
edited December 2012 in Flamewars
I really liked Baltimore. There were reasonably good cultural opportunities, and it has Johns Hopkins, UMMC, Bon Secours, and Mercy Hospital, which make it a BIG medical/health care town, which is good if you plan plan being a health care worker.

However, it also contains vastly large tracts of very shooty (as in you may be shot if you go there), blighty, urban blight that look like the stories they used to do on 60 Minutes in the late 70s and early 80s about how terrible urban blight was in NYC.

Chicago and Boston are appealing, but cold as a woman's heart.

Speaking of Chicago, is there anywhere in flyover country worth a second look? I hear some good things about Austin, but then you'd have to live in Texas, and I've promised myself that I'd never make myself live in Texas.

So, if a person could live anywhere in the U.S., which city would be best?
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Comments

  • RymRym
    New York is the only city with a reasonable and comprehensive mass transit system in my opinion. Any other city: I would have to own a car to have full freedom.

    Chicago is too car-centric and too far away from anything else.

    Baltimore I have only ever experienced in the context of Otakon, but it felt fake (granted, I spent 99% of my time in the inner harbor) or dangerous (that other 1%). The fact that I grew up in Detroit and that Baltimore scares me says a lot. I'd have to own a car...

    Detroit is a car-centric hole, and while I would prefer it to Chicago, that's solely due to having grown up there and that if I ended up there, I'm probably not trying to get a job.

    Seattle is nice, but... quaint? I feel disconnected there, small and isolated. I wouldn't mind that (the culture/community in the city jives with me), but again, I'd have to own a car. It's also too far away from most of the good conventions I attend, and there aren't equivalents up there.

    Fuck DC. It's been nothing but trouble every time I've ever visited it. Useless mass transit, terrible streets, commuter culture... I would never live in DC.

    Boston is OK... If I had to leave New York, it's high on my list. But the mass transit is still pretty weak compared to New York.

    LA... Cars... Nope.
  • AprecheApreche
    The only thing I want that NYC doesn't have is tropical weather. Every place with tropical weather = NOPE.
  • RymRym
    In terms of cultural experiences, New York wins simply for the ridiculous variety. I can assume any film, no matter how "art house," will screen somewhere here. Any geekery, there are multiple clubs/groups/gatherings at any given time. The sheer availability of plays, movies, musical acts, stand-up, and basically anything else one could imagine is staggering.
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    Of the places I've been (not many) Seattle is tops.

    Of all the places as I know them, fuck everything. Build PAXlantis or bust.
  • RymRym
    Seattle is far away from everything and doesn't have good enough mass transit.
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    Hell I'd rather live on the peninsula where I have to take a ferry into Seattle.

    I want to live where everything is convenient but I don't actually have to deal with humans if I don't want to. I realize this is a problem.
  • NeitoNeito

    Boston is OK... If I had to leave New York, it's high on my list. But the mass transit is still pretty weak compared to New York.
    You only think that because New York is physically huge compared to Boston. If you stay within Boston/South Cambridge/Brookline/Newton/Braintree area, you can get basically anywhere you want to go on public transit. Getting outside of Boston is basically the same as Metro North, from what I've heard based on old episodes. The MBTA and the MTA are basically directly comparable.
  • CremlianCremlian
    It's funny I have exact opposite opinion of DC, the rail system is clean and on time and works really well. If you don't live along the subway/rail-lines it probably sucks.
  • Jack DraigoJack Draigo
    Climax, GA.
  • RymRym
    It's funny I have exact opposite opinion of DC, the rail system is clean and on time and works really well. If you don't live along the subway/rail-lines it probably sucks.
    The fucking metro doesn't run at night. What the fuck?

    It also doesn't really go everywhere, and it's telling that almost everyone I've known who's lived in DC owned a car the entire time.

  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    Boston isn't that cold, but then again, I was born and raised in MA, so I may be a bit biased. I do agree with Rym that Boston's mass transit is weaker than NYC's (I wish the local equivalent of the subway ran 24/7 or at least 24/6), but it mostly gets the job done -- especially for commuting to the main medical districts. Oh, and FYI, something like 90% of all the city's hospitals are within a few blocks of each other and the Brigham Circle and Longwood green line subway stations and the other main hospitals are also near subway stations (Mass General has its own on the red line, Charles/MGH, Tufts is near the orange line Chinatown station, and Boston Medical Center is also just a couple blocks away from another station on the orange line). Zipcars are also available in many places throughout the city, so you could just sign up with them for the once in a while when you may need a car.
  • RymRym
    edited December 2012
    You only think that because New York is physically huge compared to Boston. If you stay within Boston/South Cambridge/Brookline/Newton/Braintree area, you can get basically anywhere you want to go on public transit. Getting outside of Boston is basically the same as Metro North, from what I've heard based on old episodes. The MBTA and the MTA are basically directly comparable.
    When I tooled around Boston with Scott some years ago, we found it fairly inadequate for proper living. There just weren't enough stops everywhere.

    More importantly, it's not 24/7. How the fuck can you rely on mass transit that isn't 24/7? I am often out somewhere in New York after midnight.

    Post edited by Rym on
  • RymRym
    edited December 2012
    Toronto is pretty chill, actually. I suspect the mass transit is weak (I've never used it), but it's a pleasant city to spend time in, and Canada is basically the US for these purposes.

    It also has an airport that, if New York had an equivalent, would be an airport floating in the east river.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    Kansas City, cause Google Fiber. Otherwise fuck KC.
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    When I tooled around Boston with Scott some years ago, we found it fairly inadequate for proper living. There just weren't enough stops everywhere.
    Depends on where you live in the city. If you happen to live near an area with all the various shops and stuff you need to live, you're probably okay. Other major shopping/entertainment/etc. centers are also typically on the subway. However, if you live in the wrong area, then yeah, the public transportation system probably won't cut it for you. For example, one of my best friends lives near Boston's Longwood medical district, where he works, and doesn't even own a car (or have a drivers' license). That district pretty much has everything you need for day-to-day living and his apartment is only a few blocks away from the Brigham Circle green line stop. However, if you lived in some other parts of town, then yeah, getting to a subway stop is a pain in the neck.
    More importantly, it's not 24/7. How the fuck can you rely on mass transit that isn't 24/7? I am often out somewhere in New York after midnight.
    That is my main problem with the T in Boston. I may not live in the city, but what I often like to do is drive to somewhere on the outskirts of of the city where parking is cheaper and then take the T into the heart of the city in order to save a few bucks on parking. If I'm not going to be out late, this is fine, but it's absolutely useless if I'm going to stay out late (i.e. PAX, where I feel like I live close enough that it's not worth paying for a hotel room to attend). In those cases, I usually deal with paying the higher parking fees, but I wish I didn't have to.

    I hear taxis in NYC are also significantly cheaper than they are in Boston.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    I was pretty happy with the DC Metro. The trains do stop around 11:45 p.m., but if you're out that late and trying to use the Metro, you might as well wear a sign around your neck with the slogan "Please mug me."

    I attribute my lack of being victimized by street criminals in large cities to a healthy opinion of when it's TIME TO GO HOME.

    Remember that Youtube video of that foreign guy who was mugged right outside the courthouse in Baltimore? If he hadn't been out so late, he would have been fine.
  • AprecheApreche
    I was pretty happy with the DC Metro. The trains do stop around 11:45 p.m., but if you're out that late and trying to use the Metro, you might as well wear a sign around your neck with the slogan "Please mug me."

    I attribute my lack of being victimized by street criminals in large cities to a healthy opinion of when it's TIME TO GO HOME.

    Remember that Youtube video of that foreign guy who was mugged right outside the courthouse in Baltimore? If he hadn't been out so late, he would have been fine.
    Everything good happens late because people are at work when it is not late. Lots of concerts and things in NYC START at 10-11pm.

  • CremlianCremlian
    Philly has a 24 hour bus system, some parts are cool, some parts suck, benefits include the fact you are part of the east coast megalopolis so it's easy to get to any of the cities from DC to Boston cheaply and quickly. You get all the big acts, and a big part of the city is nice and historical. Issues are the good jobs are generally out in the suburbs and while Philadelphia is a large city it's a large suburban sprawl city. Bus system I believe is decent (in that there are lots of routes that are 24 hours and they go to lots of places) there is a 1ish am train out to suburbs so you can do most entertainment events easily with regional rail.

    Oh and Scranton is a hole.
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    US city? Out of the ones I've been to, I liked San Diego.
  • RymRym
    I also have zero fear of muggers in New York.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    I also have zero fear of muggers in New York.
    That's just cause you don't fear muggers as a rule.
  • VentureJVentureJ
    No love for the south over here? Austin is a pretty fucking awesome city.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    I also have zero fear of muggers in New York.
    I have zero fear of muggers as well, because I follow a few simple rules such as being safe at home by 11:00 p.m.

  • AprecheApreche
    No love for the south over here? Austin is a pretty fucking awesome city.
    I haven't even been there, and I know this to be true. Except for needing a car to live there.

  • ChurbaChurba
    edited December 2012
    No love for the south over here? Austin is a pretty fucking awesome city.
    Oh come on, like you came to this thread not expecting it to be "Let's all Wank ourselves silly about how great New York is", you're mental. Rym and Scott alone both love talking about how great New York is about as much as I like blathering on about Australia. Which is certainly no small amount.

    Austin is super nice though, I regret that I've never been able to spend much time there. I've rarely had time for more than a quick lunch at stubbs and a tiny bit of quick sightseeing, so most of the place is still foreign to me.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • RymRym
    Well, it's tough when my own primary criterion is "don't need to own a car to live." New York is one of the only places in America where that is truly, honestly, true.
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    I don't fear muggers even while being mugged. Not sure what that says.
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    Well, according to this article, Honolulu is the best in the US (though it's only 28th in the world). The next best city in the US, tied with Paris, France and Adelaide, Australia, is San Francisco at 29. Detroit is apparently the worst in the US, scoring at 71st (worse than Belfast, Northern Ireland). #1 in the world is Vienna, Austria. The best in North America is Vancouver, Canada, at 5. Australia's best is Sydney at 10, but they score worse than their Kiwi neighbors as Auckland, New Zealand, is #3.
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited December 2012
    Well, it's tough when my own primary criterion is "don't need to own a car to live." New York is one of the only places in America where that is truly, honestly, true.
    That's a fair point, certainly - I had a much longer point after my previous post, but it boils down to "What really matters is not whatever pseudo-objective standard makes whichever city the best, it's how well each city suits you and your circumstances." I can't imagine Scott and yourself living quite as well practically anywhere but NYC. The person that can live anywhere and truly, happily thrive is rarer than one would think.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • RymRym
    Well, it's only due to requiring a high paying technology job.

    If I were independently wealthy, I'd live all over the place. ;^) I was perfectly happy to idly waste my days in Costa Rica when I was there. Even Beacon would be pleasant if I didn't have to commute or work.

    My criteria really come down to the reality of my career and income requirements.
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