kurremkarm

If you were to suddenly inherit say $30,000 and you were thinking about moving and starting all over
in a new town-- someplace where people were friendly and the weather was nice and the economy didn't suck where would you go? Heck doesnt even have to be the usa.

Oh yeah, someplace you can ride a fixie, there ya go mods, happy?

If you can tell me a nice place tell me what makes it nice too.

Revit

Did you suddenly inherit $30,000? lucky you!

kurremkarm

I didn't say that. But God willing I might be coming into a certain amount of money in the not so distant future. But it doesnt have to be practical, it can be fun. Someplace warm and friendly-- does that exist? Someplace liberal towards bicycles where people don't yell at you to get off the road constantly.

Is there a place like that? Denmark? BTW this is kansas im in.

ella

santa cruz is really nice. Small though. check out ped ex and contact jessie.

brunop

boulder or asheville. you may want a geared ride though if'n ya venture outta town though. jus' sayin'. word.

biff

Austin's pretty nice. Liberal. Bike friendly. It definitely doesn't have the scene that the bigger cities do, but it gets along.

Ashland, OR is bike heaven though.

I've always dug Seattle, lived outside of there for 3 years. It's the only other place besides Austin that I would consider living.

sashae

I've talked about this kind of thing with friends recently, primarily with regards to cost of living. I and my wife make pretty good wages but feel broke as hell in NYC. It seems like both NYC and SF have become expensive to the point that living here can make you feel poor regardless of how well you do... which puts a dent in quality of life.

How many cities in the country have interesting culture, decent jobs base and aren't too expensive? The short list we keep coming up with seems to be:

Seattle
Portland
Austin
Philadelphia

I'm curious about Boulder and/or Denver. Boston, DC and Chicago are all too expensive. I know nothing about some of the big midwest/southern towns (St Louis, Atlanta, Miami?) so it's hard to say, at least in the states.

Amsterdam is gorgeous, less expensive, and has a great bike culture as well. Wish it was easier to move overseas

Sorry for the moderate derail, urban living just interests me a great deal...

lala

I think they are too expensive, unless you have a very good paying job. There are lots of tech jobs tho. But I moved from Cleveland, where the living is cheap. But the biking, weather and air quality is not so good.

Were I you, I'd head south or southwest.

youth

i've heard portland is awesome. my friend is moving there soon.

Serendipper 

Look into Atlanta. Moved into a high rise condo in '95, and a friend just bought herself a four story townhome in the city, so there's lots of options for urban living here.
Great for fixed gear, you'll see bikes everywhere. Look up Atlantic Station on the web, that's a great new neighborhood that recently popped up with intergrated bike lanes.

shants

haha, good old hotlanta

youth

i think this was actually in this forum, a few months ago-- someone in atlanta had a story about being chased around by rednecks in a huge truck and off-duty cops in a ford taurus and getting slammed on the ground and arrested and lots of other utter bull****... doesn't sound like a sweet place for bikes if you ask me

modmon

ive always been fond of the towns in new mexico. lots of brown though. just bring a plant. i also had a lot of fun cycling around montreal. the people and bike scene are great there.
outside of north america, i would suggest prague first, then reykjavik. but i like the cold.

evanyc

my first 3 years in NYC was was making $40,000... now i'm making $0... NYC is definitely nicer when making $40,000.

however, if i was to inherit $30,000 i would move to NYC and put a down payment on a Co-op apartment. there are good programs for first time buyers

LóFarkas

Dunno how bike friendly they are, but if I were ever to leave this country, I'd probably go to Barcelona in Spain. Lots of sunshine and some amazing architecture, laid back people. Next best bet is any largish city in Australia. Good climate, crazy wildlife, amazing landscape, easy-going people who love sports almost as much as I do.

^oZ

I'd stay in Amsterdam.

roscoenyc57

I live in NYC and often wonder where might be a cool place to move. I've traveled pretty much constantly in the last 5 years. Had my bike with me most of the time.

Asheville might be my favorite spot... university town..has a little actual downtown.. has a sorta on the rise hip neighborhood (ie...cheap/cool) West Asheville. Good music scene with some small clubs and a big one that gets national acts (the Orange Peel) some cool bike shops (Hearns calls themselves the 2nd oldest bike shop in the US) and they have this thing called the Mellodrome which I believe to be a converted stock car track that they race bikes on.

Barcelona is pretty good for bikes... lot better than Madrid.

ctavel

atlantic station is kind to contrived for my tastes. if you are looking for places in atlanta that aren't a bajillion dollars look into the 4th ward, oakhurst (its in decatur, which is like 5 minutes riding outside atlanta proper), any where around little 5 points, and some parts in the heart of the city itself. there are lots of smaller lofts in the city that you jsut have to look around for.

the city is getting better and better in regards to the monster truck rednecks, they are mostly moving to gwinnett (read suburb hell), just dont ride around downtown with the rodeo or monster truck show comes to the Dome

dolface

aracta ca, is supposed to be pretty great.

ba ba bikey

If money were no object, i'd live in Santa Monca my whole life. Lotta jobs in LA that pay relatively well, plus the Westside beach towns, Venice, SM, etc.. are very bike friendly. And you can't beat the weather. I was riding in shorts and a t-shirt yesterday, mid december mind you.

Also Sacramento is a nice place to live. I grew up there, and it is a great outdoors-y type of town, that has a huge bike scene. Weather is still fairly nice, and it hasn't been over developed yet. Not as much going on for the youngsters, but your $$ will go further.

adamkell

good thread!

Revit

i skate there all the time.. around downtown.. but the cops wont let you skate on the sidewalks.. oh well i guess this has nothing to do with riding bikes lol

genericbikedude

PHILLY! Not only is it my hometown, but it is the best place in the world to live. Rent is cheap, the city is just the right size, and everything that NYC has 10 of, Philly has at least one of. Just right.

There is good bike riding, and good trails for MTB as well.

Rent is cheap and a decent salary can get you right in the middle of town.

Then theres: Rocky, cheesesteaks, sucky sports teams and viciously loyal fans, Yuengling (but we dont call it that), bacaneggandcheese sandwitches, saltpeppaketchup, absurd and ridiculous statues all over town, lots of history, lots of funky neighborhoods, close to all of the other cities on the east coast, and they'll give teaching jobs to anyone with a MA.

Philly is the best city ever. Philadelphians are also notorious for hometown pride.

genericbikedude

I used to live in Santa Cruz. Pretty and all, but the locals are tweakers and the college kids are annoying, and the dot commies have colonized.

I have friends in Arcata. They smoke weed and play in the forest all day. Its not real.

NYC is where I live now. Its ok.

dolface

you forgot the mutter museum! https://www.collphyphil.org/muttpg1.shtml