New Venue, New Stuff to Do

[gentleman193]

Gentlemen,

I will be 30 and want to change a few basic things (unrelated to women).

First, location. D.C. weather and taxes (and air and water, and, while i'm whining like a b!tch, politicans and attorneys) suck. Anybody have any comments on Austin, San Fran, San Diego, or Miami for the single man?

I'm looking for good weather, less than a 9.3% state tax (TX and FL have no state income tax), fewer white collar "which firm do you work at" yuppies and some nice clean air and water for outdoors stuff. Want to stick to bigger cities, though.

Second, new stuff to do. Anybody into wind surfing? It looks like a fun way to stay in shape, get sun on the weekends. Curious about the hidden costs, learning curve, etc. Hurt my foot and so the planned hiking/climbing needs a replacement.

Anybody do ocean swimming? I've heard in San Fran you can do it with a body suit, obviously SD and Miami are more conducive. I'm a little worried about sharks, though. Used to do this off a boat in the Chesapeake Bay in the summers until we spotted some unidentified fins . . .

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[WaterTiger]

I came to San Francisco on vacation 13 years ago and never left!

The weather is good, rains only in the winter, but cool in temperature. You're a 25 minute drive from Muir Woods where you can get lost in a redwood forest. TONS of stuff to do, museums, coffee shops, theaters, parks, pro sports teams, attractions and magnificent views! Our public bus sytem is pretty good and for the size of the city, the crime rate is oddly low. If you're white collar professional,. then you shouldn't have much trouble getting a job.

The best thing about San Francisco is that straight men are fewer in number due to the high population of gay men. Translation: Less competiton for women!

The bad news? Parking is brutal and rent is outrageous.

 

[Genghis Juan]

Boston is similar to SF in many ways:

Its small and easily accessable with lots of good public transportation. There is an enormous concentration of universities that make the population unusually young all the time. The crime rate is pretty low. Like SF, there are tons of things to do downtown, or in nearby Cambridge accross the river.

The downside to Boston is the freezing winters and the, like SF, ridiculously high rent.

The East Coast, NYC and Boston have some of the best male-female ratios in the country (in favor of men).

 

[NMMWCR]

Austin is awesome as far as access to 20,000 female college students at the nation's largest university but it has a few drawbacks.

Traffic is bad and getting worse.

It is the state capital and overrun with politicians and lawyers like DC.

The weather. Summers are hot as hades, with high humidity and no wind.

Job market. The dot.bust filtered down to wreck the Austin economy by putting thousands of Dell, Motorola, and software employees out of work.

Rent. The area is growing so fast there is not enough housing.

Otherwise, Austin is the most fun place in all of Texas.

 

[gentleman193]

Thanks for the feedback!

Boston *is* great, used to live in the Republic of Cambridge , loved that place, but want to try a new city. Too many places, too little time...

SanFran and the Redwood forest is intriguing. I dumped my car for public transit already, but tell me more about the outrageous rent. Say, a 500 sq. ft. studio apt. with a balcony and a view, somewhere downtown, but not in a fancy area? Doable under $1k/mo? Also, can you enjoy the beach and ocean (besides swimming) or is it too industrial/inaccessible/whatever?

NMMWCR -- I can imagine summer is hell, but I suppose that means those 20k women have to strip down to the bare essentials. Is there a lot of outdoor recreation? I heard about some big lake, is it any good for swimming, sailing, wind surfing, etc?

 

[elvis aint dead yet]

While anything is doable, finding a place for under $1k per month in areas like NYC, LA, SF these days is probably impossible. Well not impossible, but it nearly is, especially i fyou want a view and a balcony.

There are places that run less money per month, but most of us would rather not live in those areas.

IF you want to save some money, many cities in Middle USA usually are less expensive then cities on the East or West Coasts.

 

[ArmondTamzarian]

Move to Florida

I too am moving soon. But I am moving north. See I am in Key West right now. I would NEVER move to Miami. It is just so shallow and superficial. For instance, fashion is a nightly segment on the news. I am moving to Tampa. Area of about 2 million people. Jacksonville is also big. West Palm Beach is near Miami but a world different. Cost of living from highest to lowest:

Key West
Miami
West Palm
Jacksonville
Tampa

Don't worry about the sharks! Unless you are a dumbass, they only seem to bite dumbasses. Like the ones that try to grab their tails!

 

[gentleman193]

Still looking at places . . .

Key West sounds ideal. Why are you leaving, Armond?

SF is out for me -- Elvis was right, too pricey. I want to have some money for something besides rent.

What about Vancouver? Seems to have the benefits of SF for a lot less money. Anybody ever lived there?

I am also thinking about the Cayman Islands for winter. Sounds pricey, but you can actually buy a place there for less than it costs in the states -- and if you aren't stateside more than 30 days a year you don't owe any income taxes on your first 80k. Talk about saving money! Anybody know someone taking advantage of this?