Cities that AREN'T NYC/Chicago/San Fran, that have a great public transportation infrastructure.

As some of you remember, I was laid off last week, so I'm going to open the job search to MOST of the rest of the country. A big bonus would be something like a park and ride system, so you could live in the cheaper suburbs, etc.

I'm pretty sure Seattle does, not sure about Portland/Dallas/Denver/Austin? Maybe somewhere on the southern portion of the Eastern coast? I'm really not interested in Baltimore/DC/Jersey/NYC/Boston corridor. I don't think I'd make enough to make up for the cost of living difference.

I can't really think of an East Coast city that you haven't already excluded with a high-functioning public transit system. We've got a park and ride system here (Richmond VA), but it really only works if you live in a couple of select suburbs and work pretty much dead center in the downtown core. As a result most of the people I've seen on it work for the state government.

Is the actual intent "what city can I live near affordably that has lots of cool stuff"? If that's the question I'd look at Richmond, Raleigh/Durham, and Charlotte here on the East Coast.

London, Paris...

Denver has greatly expanded it's light-rail system and it's pretty handy these days. They also have an extensive system of bike paths / lanes, making it pretty easy to get around on two wheels. Unfortunately, the cost of living is not cheap. It's not California expensive, but it's fairly costly. Colorado is a great place to live if you enjoy outdoor activities. It's also sunny almost every day.

I wouldn't say the infrastructure is on par with the older cities, but it's worth a look.

Um, not Seattle...

Atlanta, that's about it in the southeast.

Do you want a city with good public transport infrastructure, or do you want a place with high wages and a short/cheap commute?

My commute is 5 minutes, I got a 26% wage increase leaving the NE corridor, but my housing costs have gone up %30.

It's my understanding that trains are the easiest way to free up personal time while still making "city wages" and yet live outside of the city housing costs.

Isn't Minneapolis's light rail system ramping up?

Chicago's is phenominal by the way. 4 different rail systems if you include the Amtrak, very good buses, getting more and more bike friendly by the day. Depending on what you are looking for, the wages may work out with the cost of living.

Joe Gearin wrote: Denver has greatly expanded it's light-rail system and it's pretty handy these days. They also have an extensive system of bike paths / lanes, making it pretty easy to get around on two wheels. Unfortunately, the cost of living is not cheap. It's not California expensive, but it's fairly costly. Colorado is a great place to live if you enjoy outdoor activities. It's also sunny almost every day. I wouldn't say the infrastructure is on par with the older cities, but it's worth a look.

This took me down a path of relative cost of living. Check this out, interesting stuff: http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx

It would cost me 3.8% less to live in Austin than in my little Colorado town. Huh. And Denver's 17.75% cheaper than Seattle, but 7.8% more than Atlanta. Average cost of Craigslist finds is not taken into account.

FWIW since we're looking to relocate somewhere warmer, I've created a spreadsheet of cities/areas from FL through the Southwest and also CO. It includes climate data as well as cost of living, but I'd be glad to email it to anyone interested. PMs through here will get to me.

Define "great". Buses that run on time? Commuter trains with roaming violinists? Not having to be armed to the teeth to walk downtown?

How about good highways and light traffic so you can just drive? Like, WHY public transport?

Need input!

Philly has some of this going on. DC is pretty good, but I can't imagine wanting to live in DC and not in NYC.

Atlanta isn't bad, if you ignore the people that swear it's horrible (but have never actually used it). I rode the red line train daily, into the city for 2 years. Also had options to connect via bus, from very close to home in a north suburb. But the north line train doesn't go out very far. I don't know much about the other directions, except the south side stops at the airport.

But I quit that E36 M3 for a shorter commute.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: Define "great". Buses that run on time? Commuter trains with roaming violinists? Not having to be armed to the teeth to walk downtown? How about good highways and light traffic so you can just drive? Like, WHY public transport? Need input!

My main thought is in a bigger city where the jobs are (Technical Writer II), to afford the cost of living I'll be in the 'burbs, but I'm not particularly keen on a 15 mile commute that takes an hour in bumper to bumper traffic.

z31maniac wrote: I'm not particularly keen on a 15 mile commute that takes an hour in bumper to bumper traffic.

I'd stay far away from Austin then.

mtn wrote: Isn't Minneapolis's light rail system ramping up?

Yup. There's also a pretty decent park and ride the bus system from a number of the suburbs. One of the best cities for bicycling, too.

Oh what Nick, just because I can bike home faster than my wife can drive, you think that austin traffic is bad? hahaha So,nothing much in the central US fits your description.

Mpls/St. Paul has greatly expanded the LRT and bus system, and we have the best biking trails in the country. Plus, I'm here!

Oh and Austin is no longer cheap. It's more expensive to live here than Chicago now a days. The cost of living calculators just haven't caught up. Especially considering there really isn't a good transportation option so you have to have a car or bake in the 100 degree summer heat biking.

Public trans in Seattle is definitely not great. Unless you're talking about great names: they have the South Lake Union Trolley, or SLUT if you're a local. Otherwise it's just busses.

Vancouver BC has a decent system- the SkyTrain plus lots of busses. I fly into YVR and take the train often. It's not terribly cheap though. IIRC, $6-9 per trip.

Portland has Tri-Met (for better or worse) and there's a train that runs from the Airport terminal through Downtown and out to the west side (where Nike and Intel are). There's also a spur that runs to the North which can be used to get to Portland International Raceway and using buses can get you to the Piers and docks for freight and logistics jobs.

http://trimet.org/fares/

There's also lots of Bike lanes, bike carriers on the busses and room to bring your bikes on the trains. Plus there is Car2Go, Uber and other car share services of the mass transit is too slow but you're not into biking.

Car culture is pretty active. Lots of clubs and Coffee meats. Portland International Raceway is a city park and runs lots of events thoughout the year. Oregon Raceway Park, The Ridge, Pacific Raceways and Spokane Raceway are all a few hours away.

Cars don't really rust (except for the coastal areas) as there's no salt on the roads during the winter, just rain and gray clouds with the once in a decade ice storm that shuts everything down.

For warm weather cities Miami's system is pretty nice but I don't know the cost of living. From what I've seen most places that have a fair amount of white collar jobs have at least some sort of functional bus service during commuting hours.

DC's Metro system works well.

914Driver wrote: DC's Metro system works well.

IF you live close enough to a stop and IF your job is close enough to a stop.

Unfortunately there are no tech writer positions open at my company right now or I'd recommend it. The salary vs. cost of living is excellent, and commuting is short and very low stress compared to any of the cities mentioned in this thread.