Mobile, Biloxi, or further down into the Arkansas Delta...DeWitt/Gillette

I would do NYC. It's the hardest place out of those three options to live with a family IMO, so why not do it now while it's easier. You can always move to Atlanta or Santa Barbara after your NYC experience.

What do you do for a living? Santa Barbara is cool, but it's really more of a town than a city, and it's not known as a hub for professionals.

I wouldn't be able to handle the heat and humidity of Atlanta, so that would be out for me.

New York is an awe-inspiring place, but I don't know if that's really "me" either. I'm entirely too laid back for it I think.

I'm happy in Seattle, but if I had to move to another city, I'd choose San Francisco or Chicago.

I'm considering moving out of the area as well. Kind of intimidating since I've never been more than 3 hours away from my family. I'm looking at the Atlanta or Chicago areas since I could transfer both places. I say area because it would be a suburb of either place... I'm not so big on the thought of living in the city.

Yes, with more money, you can play harder. I guess I always assumed that most 20 somethings would have some level of disposable income that makes living here reasonable.

I will not raise my children in NYC, unless I'm married to a very wealthy man. I believe in public schools as I went to them myself, but very few of the public schools will prepare the little Munchkins for the types of colleges that MY public school prepared me for. Also, those schools are extremely hard to get into.

A lot of people have left NYC for Philly and are very happy. I'm thinking Boston, Chicago, Austin, or San Francisco when it's time.

Atlanta, yes. The others, IDK.

No, but these are the top 3--the "most likelies."

I'm studying to be a counselor, which is a much bigger field on the East Coast (but my degree in Psych can get me various non-field related jobs in a pinch).

Out of the cities you named, I would do NYC first, Santa Barbara second.

Out of any city, I just want to go back to Boston. I loved living there before law school, and I'm counting down the days until I can move back.

I've lived in both NYC and Santa Barbara. My advice for someone your age would be to go for NYC. It's unlike anywhere else on earth and it's best to experience it when you're young.

Santa Barbara's been built up a lot since I lived there but it's still pretty quiet. Not a whole lot to do. It certainly is beautiful though. I tend to think of it as a nice place to retire. It's pretty pricey also.


You all might think I'm nuts but I actually found my current home partly though this website: http://www.findyourspot.com/ I had heard of my current town and was considering it, along with about a half a dozen other cities. Then I went to that website and took the quiz. I was looking for big cities but, strangely, it popped up in my top 20 results. I took it as a sign and decided to come out and visit. Two years later, I couldn't be happier.

I took the quiz just for kicks with my husband. Amazingly my collegiate town appeared as #3. I keep telling my husband I loved the town! What is sad though is that not one town in my home state showed up.

My answer would be to go to the place where you can best advance your career. This would not only include any specific field(s) you have chosen, but also other potential career directions that could be based off what you are doing now.

When I finished college/grad school, NYC was a strong possibility. Staying in Austin was also a very strong possibility. One thing is for sure, I wanted one or the other.

I eventually decided not to go the NYC route since in my field (accounting/finance) you have to work outrageous hours to be in a top firm and really get ahead.

I decided not to stay in Austin since the job opportunities were very limited and salaries very low.

Instead I moved back home to Houston for 5 years where I could move up fast in my field and have better choices later.

2 years ago I started a company with a friend of mine, and the nature of our operations are such that we could live wherever we wanted to live. By making the choice I did to go back to Houston first, I was at the level and experience necessary to take on both an ownership and leadership role in our new venture- and once you get to that kind of place in life, you have a lot of freedom in your choices.

And so now I live in Austin, but I am completely unbound by the pressures and restrictions of the very limited finance and accounting market here. I don't have to stay in a lousy job because another one would be hard to find. And I don't have to settle for a low salary because there are tons of applicants for every viable job that comes along. In fact, I still do some consulting work on the side and get it all by word of mouth- I do not advertise my availability at all. If you put your career first early in life- this is the kind of freedom and flexibility you can expect!

Hence my advice. Go where you need to go to become a master of your field in the shortest possible time- the place where your field is widely practiced and known to exist at a very high level. And then from there, after a few years of experience, you can go just about anywhere. Different industries exist at varying levels from city to city, but top people with top experience can always find a good job just about anywhere they might want to live.

Hope this helps and good luck!

interesting: #5 and #6 came up as Dallas and Charlotte. last of my top 24? NYC. how bout that.

NYC and Atlanta were both low on my list. Not a single CA city was listed. :rolleyes: Most of the 24 cities were places in FL and TX, which I had pretty much ruled out. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Houston was about #4 on the list, which is ironic since it's #5 on my personal list (I've also considered DC, but not really crazy about it). I'm so confused. Atlanta is the place I'm most comfortable with, but I've always wanted to live in NYC--it would be wonderful to live there now before I start a family. But I've missed my parents and relatives like CRAZY, it'd be great to live in Cali and be near them again. Keep the suggestions coming, it's giving me a lot to think about!

Thanks for the advice everyone (esp you EE-Bo, that was a good point, I'm looking into it). How would I go about finding out what the market's like for my field? I'm in psych and it's so broad--how do you find out stuff like that?

these are toughies. out of the cities you listed, i would say NYC then SB. Atlanta isn't even on my radar! For a city "similar" to atlanta i suggest looking at Charlotte, NC. I can't say enough good things about that place.

Austin
Charleston

Charlotte has a good mix of city and not-city life, I think. Plus its close to Atlanta without being RIGHT there. (I have family in both cities)..

My heart is STILL in Chapel Hill, though.