Moving-Help Me Decide!

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Ranger Butch Force

Here's why I chose these places.

Boston, Mass
Pros
I have friends that live there.
It's a big city with lots of neighborhoods.
There's an ocean RIGHT THERE!
Cons
It's expensive to live there.
I like snow, but not THAT much snow!

Austin, TX
Pros
I have friends that live there.
There is a huge Burning Man community there.
The weather is similar to where I live now.
Cons
The weather is similar to where I live now.

Fort Collins, CO
Pros
Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do.
Quite a number of factorys there (although I'd transfer within my current company)
Easy town to get around in.
Cons
Don't know anyone there.
Altitude

Portland, OR
Pros
The ocean is RIGHT THERE!
There's green stuff everywhere.
I don't mind the rain.
Cons
Don't know anyone there.

Originally Posted by Ranger Butch Force

To add to all of this-

All my life I've moved because someone wanted me to move to where they are. Now, it's MY turn to move where I want to move to!

There are things that I need in these cities and they are, in no particular order:

Must have a good sized Burning Man community
Must have a good sized GLBT community
Must have a decent night life
Must have a good public transportation system
Must have an arts type of district

This is what I can think of off the top of my head, and there really ain't much there!

I'm in Austin and I really like it. Though I am a delicate flower and don't care for the heat and we are in the midst of the worst drought in more than 50 years, I like it. Anyone who knows me knows that means something.

There is a EXCELLENT community here in Austin, spread from the deep south parts of the city to cleaner and thinner aired parts of the city. As far as public transportation goes, it is good if you are downtown and/or close to the heart of the city. Okay elsewhere, but certainly not great. Austin is the music capital! The heart of the nightlife and the heart of the art district and the heart of the city are basically one big heart.

I'm not a Burning Man-er, but it sounds like you already know that that's good here.

I'm going to throw something else out there. It's a cheaper cost of living here versus OR. I'm only really comparing TX to OR right now because they are the only two on your list that only have one con.

There is the beige versus green thing. However, luckily, there are a bunch of places where you can plant your own green things so that you have green around all the time, should you so desire.

Oh, and when it does rain in Austin....and it will for more than 12 seconds, one day....it differentiates between cold and warm rain. The PNW only has cold rain. That might not make a difference to you, but if I'm getting rained on, I don't want it to feel like needles.

Take this for what it's worth. Of the four, I've only lived in Austin, though I did spend more than 4 years in WA, so I do have experience in the PNW. I can say that if you don't choose Austin, my feelings wouldn't be hurt if you did choose Portland, cuz there are some nice folks there too. If you choose CO or MA with winter coming.......you are a masochist and really should be in Austin, where we can keep an eye on you.