Urban Living. Best Place in the U.S?

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by edinatlanta

Honestly...

Atlanta.

 

[bc78]

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Charleston, South Carolina.

Never been but I know a few people who swear by it.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

What are the best urban enclaves, or neighborhoods in the U.S. I am in need of a change, tired of CT. I am looking for a fun place with culture, activities, coffee houses, restaurants, and good public housing. I'm not really concerned with crime but obviously I'm not looking to move to a ghetto. My goal for a while has been to move to Harlem but I am not able to afford the set up I was looking for. So I'm starting to research other cities. My preference would be an older city somewhere along the East Coast or South Eastern U.S.

The thing with New York is that you either have to be totally loaded, or willing to compromise--space, neighborhood, something. Cost of living is off the charts here. Someone I know had a $3.5 million budget to buy a place--granted, this was a few years ago--and had to buy in a compromise neighborhood. I live in West Harlem, the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill area. It's significantly different from East/Central Harlem. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but it has a lot to recommend it--great architecture, landscape, river views, parks, easy transportation.

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

+1. A little lacking in the restaurant scene, but having Chicago and Cincy both relatively short drives away makes up for it. Cost of living is great, people are nice, city is nice, suburbs are nice-- especially Carmel and Fishers. Zoos, museums, tons of little interesting things to do, and it's really a fun city to just set a day off and explore. It's big enough to be fun to live in, but small enough to not worry about crime. Shopping is a little shaky, but everything you want you can buy online nowadays anyway. Can't get enough of that Midwestern hospitality (or waistline

). Edit: Oh, and, a big plus for Indy is that every single year that passes, it gets better.
Are you kidding? Sorry, but Indy is a regional city at best. Like the rest of the Midwest (Chicago being an exception) it does not compare culturally to the major East Coast cities.

 

[bc78]

Originally Posted by chorse123

The thing with New York is that you either have to be totally loaded, or willing to compromise--space, neighborhood, something.

Very true. I used to live in Manhattan and had no space/disposable income. Then I moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn which was at the time a compromise in terms of neighborhood. I quickly grew to love it though. That's the thing about NY, every neighborhood has something to offer if you're open minded about it.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Are you kidding? Sorry, but Indy is a regional city at best. Like the rest of the Midwest (Chicago being an exception) it does not compare culturally to the major East Coast cities.
But it's a great place to live, nonetheless.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Charleston, South Carolina.
Wonderful place.

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by chorse123

The thing with New York is that you either have to be totally loaded, or willing to compromise--space, neighborhood, something. Cost of living is off the charts here. Someone I know had a $3.5 million budget to buy a place--granted, this was a few years ago--and had to buy in a compromise neighborhood. I live in West Harlem, the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill area. It's significantly different from East/Central Harlem. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but it has a lot to recommend it--great architecture, landscape, river views, parks, easy transportation.

I like Sugar Hill perfectly fine, I'm going to do some research on the are. How is Fort Green, BK ?

 

[gdl203]

Fort Green is a great neighborhood IMO

 

[CommercialDoc]

Originally Posted by JayJay

Wonderful place.


+1

 

[Tarmac]

DC?

 

[TheFoo]

Not Chicago. Whatever its other positives, I would not count the 'urban living' experience as one of them.

 

[Davidko19]

Originally Posted by JayJay

But it's a great place to live, nonetheless.

I would agree that kwilk hit the nail on the head, every year it gets better and better. However, after living there for 22 years I had to get out. I remember when it was bad, but I still cant go back after living in LA. I think its the best city in the US for what it does: Its big enough to be entertaining, but small enough where it doesnt totally suck. Regional perhaps, but it the 3rd largest city in the US in terms of land area.

Also, I argue (usually unsuccessfully) that Indianapolis is the Sports Capital of America. It has the worlds largest sporting event (Indy 500, 250k visitors/Brickyard 400 200k), A championship football team in a new stadium (hosting the superbowl in 2012, to boot), the headquarters of the NCAA, hosts more NCAA tournaments/events than any other city, legendary basketball history (Pacers, hoosiers, hinkle fieldhouse), Great homegrown athletes (john wooden, wayne gretzky, oscar robinson, et al.), a minor league baseball park that is widely recognized as the best in the country, 8 of the 10 largest gymnasiums in the country, world class pool and dive center at the natatorium, home of NIFS (national insitute of fitness science, I think - world famous sports training center), the NFL scouting combine, basketball world chamiponships, PanAm games, world police and fire games, tons of club and rec leagues. Good highschools with good teams. Its a good argument I think.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

Also, I argue (usually unsuccessfully) that Indianapolis is the Sports Capital of America.

No MLB. Ends that argument.

 

[jpeirpont]

In my OP I meant public transportation not public housing.