Where to move post college???

I wouldn't say I have it made just yet, but I'm definitely in the making mode. Lot's of options are available, but it's tough to narrow them down.

P.S. Friend request sent.

Knoxville is a nice city. Asheville and Greenville SC as well.

If you like young, healthy people and want to be in a more affluent area that has a good cost of living, Raleigh NC or Charlotte is a good option. A lot of the problem with the "cool" cities is that jobs are scarce and people don't have disposable income.

I love Wilmington NC aswell.

[QUOTE=Sambo712;1040665]My current plan is to embark on a nationwide journey, and hopefully I will be able to put myself up with some wwoofing, possibly for an an entire season. I think the best way to decide where to live is to just go there and feel out the vibes, and right now I don't have anything holding me back, so why not?[/QUOTE]

I took a 4 month road trip around the U.S. to figure out where to move to about 7ish years ago. I did some WWOOFing (which was a great experience; if you are interested in being in southern Minnesota, the farm in Blue Earth, MN was an amazing place to stay). Also did some camping and sleeping in the car when I ended up in places where I didn't have family or friends. I've had friends who used the couch surfing website, but I never used it myself.

Anyhow, there are LOTS of awesome places. Do you have a climate preference? Any other issues, like does it need to have good public transportation, etc...? This can really narrow down places. Also, how important is cost of living? Would you prefer a major city or large college town? If you give some details on these factors, I could narrow it down. If you have zero preference on these issues, my overall favorite places that I've considered moving to in no particular order are:

Portland, ME
Burlington, VT
Ithaca, NY
Minneapolis, MN
Bloomington, IN
Nashville, TN
Cleveland, OH
Asheville, NC
Athens, GA
Bellingham, WA
Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Tucson, AZ
*I've heard great things about Boulder, CO, but didn't go there myself. People who have been to Colorado all seem to love it.

I just moved to Buffalo, which is actually a really awesome city with a lot to offer, and is unbelievably cheap.

[QUOTE=BestBetter;1041182]I took a 4 month road trip around the U.S. to figure out where to move to about 7ish years ago. I did some WWOOFing (which was a great experience; if you are interested in being in southern Minnesota, the farm in Blue Earth, MN was an amazing place to stay). Also did some camping and sleeping in the car when I ended up in places where I didn't have family or friends. I've had friends who used the couch surfing website, but I never used it myself.

Anyhow, there are LOTS of awesome places. Do you have a climate preference? Any other issues, like does it need to have good public transportation, etc...? This can really narrow down places. Also, how important is cost of living? Would you prefer a major city or large college town? If you give some details on these factors, I could narrow it down. If you have zero preference on these issues, my overall favorite places that I've considered moving to in no particular order are:

Portland, ME
Burlington, VT
Ithaca, NY
Minneapolis, MN
Bloomington, IN
Nashville, TN
Cleveland, OH
Asheville, NC
Athens, GA
Bellingham, WA
Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Tucson, AZ
*I've heard great things about Boulder, CO, but didn't go there myself. People who have been to Colorado all seem to love it.

I just moved to Buffalo, which is actually a really awesome city with a lot to offer, and is unbelievably cheap.[/QUOTE]

Well... I want warm non-humid summers, mild winters. There need to be plenty of outdoor activities. The population would ideally be mostly fit and open minded. I would like to get out of the south and experience another part of the country. I hate flat places and love kayaking/ hiking. The economy needs to be strong for my business. Nice people. Is this paradise?? haha

I'm looking for a friendly, healthy population, with good hiking and a reasonable cost of living.

I have to agree with whom ever suggested San Diego, with one caveat; you have to be upper middle class or higher economically to be viable there. Moved from Poway (suburb of San Diego) last year and sold my house, in a down market, for 600k. Nothing spectacular. Cookie cutter 2500 sq ft two story with postage stamp sized lot. In a better market should have gotten 700k plus. Unfortunately, this is going to be the case for a lot of cool places. Someone suggested Denver. There real estate prices have sky rocketed in the last ten years.

BTW, California taxes suck and are getting worse by the year. You'd wouldn't believe me if I told you how much I'm saving in overall in taxes a year. Serious, serious amounts of dough in state and real estate taxes.

[QUOTE=mikebike;1041685]I have to agree with whom ever suggested San Diego, with one caveat; you have to be upper middle class or higher economically to be viable there. Moved from Poway (suburb of San Diego) last year and sold my house, in a down market, for 600k. Nothing spectacular. Cookie cutter 2500 sq ft two story with postage stamp sized lot. In a better market should have gotten 700k plus. Unfortunately, this is going to be the case for a lot of cool places. Someone suggested Denver. There real estate prices have sky rocketed in the last ten years.

BTW, California taxes suck and are getting worse by the year. You'd wouldn't believe me if I told you how much I'm saving in overall in taxes a year. Serious, serious amounts of dough in state and real estate taxes.[/QUOTE]

Where did you move to?

[QUOTE=cruncan;1041279]Well... I want warm non-humid summers, mild winters. There need to be plenty of outdoor activities. The population would ideally be mostly fit and open minded. I would like to get out of the south and experience another part of the country. I hate flat places and love kayaking/ hiking. The economy needs to be strong for my business. Nice people. [B]Is this paradise?? haha[/QUOTE][/B]
[QUOTE=mikebike;1041685]I have to agree with whom ever suggested San Diego, with one caveat; you have to be upper middle class or higher economically to be viable there.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like where I live. I do agree that it is expensive to live here but, OTOH, jobs also pay better here. Also sometimes you get what you pay for.

[QUOTE=cruncan;1041279]Well... I want warm non-humid summers, mild winters. There need to be plenty of outdoor activities. The population would ideally be mostly fit and open minded. I would like to get out of the south and experience another part of the country. I hate flat places and love kayaking/ hiking. The economy needs to be strong for my business. Nice people. Is this paradise?? haha[/QUOTE]

Psh, you're missing out. If you can afford to move around a little for a few years, I say pick a few different places and move. Work on your networking and travel when you can. And don't rule out places due to weather! You never know what kind of awesome primal experience you may have from extreme cold or extreme heat.

Northern New England (above MA) tends to be low cost of living, even in cities, but you'll get humid summers (though not as bad as the South, I've heard) and cold winters.

[QUOTE=cruncan;1041279]Well... I want warm non-humid summers, mild winters. There need to be plenty of outdoor activities. The population would ideally be mostly fit and open minded. I would like to get out of the south and experience another part of the country. I hate flat places and love kayaking/ hiking. The economy needs to be strong for my business. Nice people. Is this paradise?? haha[/QUOTE]

The combination of mild winters and non-humid summers pretty much knocks out almost all of those options. The only areas in the U.S. I can think of that have both those factors are areas in the southwest (and possibly the magical Colorado, I think it has a pretty dry climate (but cold winters), but hopefully someone from there can correct me if I'm wrong on that).

Tucson has very mild winters, and very non-humid summers, but the catch is the summers are brutually hot. So, in terms of weather, there's probably got to be some compromise (like maybe humid summers are okay if it's for a shorter period of time than say a Georgia summer). In that case, places like Asheville could work.

You mentioned nightlife...are you looking for bars/clubs type of stuff, or are you also interested in cultural stuff like theater, arts, music scene, etc?

Economy needs to be strong...does this mean you need to be in an area where there is a lot of money, and cost of living isn't a factor?