What are some smaller cities/metros you'd live in?

[Dariusb]

I know that a good number of you are city dwellers, but what smaller metros (500,000 and below) would you live in if you had to?

[mhays]

It would need to have a substantial walkable core. That probably means major university our tourism aspects or both. I'd like to be within a transit one-day round trip to a much bigger metro.

I assume you're not counting "metros" that are within larger CSAs.

[Steely Dan]

Knowing that I wouldn't want to be too far away from Chicago, Madison would probably top the list for me.

[Omaharocks]

Asheville, NC
Knoxville, TN
Santa Fe, NM (lived there for a short period of time)
Traverse City, MI
Madison, WI (have already lived there)
Flagstaff, AZ
Olympia, WA
Boise, ID (though may be a bit larger than 500k these days?)

Those are the small cities/metros where I'd live, but I'd also be open to a number of smaller towns provided they have the right attributes.

[jd3189]

Any of the Southern Appalachian ones like Chattanooga, Knoxville, Huntsville, and Asheville.

The Monterrey Bay cities south of the Bay Area ( Santa Cruz, Capitola, Monterrey).

I’m sure there’s also a few in the NE right outside the Megalopolis I would consider, many with their own colleges as anchors.

But the first two (Southern Appalachian and Monterrey Bay) are very beautiful and have an aura about them that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by mhays

It would need to have a substantial walkable core. That probably means major university our tourism aspects or both. I'd like to be within a transit one-day round trip to a much bigger metro.

I assume you're not counting "metros" that are within larger CSAs.

Sure. You can include metros within CSA's. I'd pick Sherman/Denison which is in the DFW CSA. Others I'd consider are Las Cruces, NM, Fayetteville, Ark and Colorado Springs

[BG918]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

Sure. You can include metros within CSA's. I'd pick Sherman/Denison which is in the DFW CSA. Others I'd consider are Las Cruces, NM, Fayetteville, Ark and Colorado Springs

Fayetteville and Colorado Springs are both in MSA’s over 500k. Great places though, especially Fayetteville/Bentonville in the Ozarks.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by BG918

Fayetteville and Colorado Springs are both in MSA’s over 500k. Great places though, especially Fayetteville/Bentonville in the Ozarks.

Ok gotcha. Should've done my research. Thanks for the clarification.

[JManc]

I grew up in one (Utica-Rome NY) and had it not been for the bottoming out economy at the time, I probably would have never left; natural beauty, four seasons, easy drive to several major cities, affordable, etc.

[Quixote]

Santa Barbara

Technically independent of from Greater LA, though with obvious strong ties. Beautiful weather, scenery, nice little downtown, lots of art galleries, etc.

If not Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Monterey.

[Innsertnamehere]

Just moved to Hamilton, so Hamilton I guess? Really feels like a much bigger city than it is. Just pretty rough around the edges. That’s changing though.

In terms of really small metros, I’ve always thought that Kingston and Guelph were quite nice.

In the US, i like Ithaca or Boise.

[llamaorama]

Madison, WI. I have family there and have visited it a few times, it is great. I have known various people who relocated there who had zero previous ties to the Midwest. I think it could be the next Austin or Nashville honestly, assuming US cities in general can keep growing despite a demographic time bomb(falling birth rates and political attacks on immigration). It is about the same size and has a very similar economic profile to Austin around 1990. It's cool, its somewhat cheaper than California, its got a lot to do, etc. I think it could also break the myth that snowy climates are bad for attracting population.

Actually Wisconsin has a wealth of cool small cities. Eau Claire is neat.

Tallahasee, FL. This is an odd choice, but it is a big college town and state capital and that gives it a strong downtown center and makes it more educated, middle class, politically blue, etc. But still has legit southern atmosphere. It's a short drive from gulf beaches but not directly on the coast so it doesn't get wrecked by hurricanes. We briefly lived in a small town nearby when I was a kid, and while that particular town sucked I always thought Tallahasee was a pretty good small city.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Will never happen. Weather is a thing. Beyond that, nowhere near the industry (primarily tech) and corporate base Austin has.

Madison has a decent tech community, although dominated by Epic (medical records tech). The big reason Madison probably won't be like Austin is because Chicago is too close.

[LA21st]

Santa Barbara would be number 1. And it' a quick train ride to LA and SD if you want to get more big city stuff.
For even smaller metros, San Luis Obisipo. I actually did live in the area for a few months between my Chicago - LA transition.

Madison WI is the best/most urban small metro I've seen though. I don't think its close, either.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Santa Barbara would be number 1. And it' a quick train ride to LA and SD if you want to get more big city stuff.
For even smaller metros, San Luis Obisipo. I actually did live in the area for a few months between my Chicago - LA transition.

Madison WI is the best/most urban small metro I've seen though. I don't think its close, either.

Boulder might be a contender, although it's very close to Denver.

But of course, outside the US, there are many contenders--places like Groningen or Sibiu.

[iheartthed]

Does Ann Arbor count? I lived there and if I had to live in a small city again, I would consider it. Other than that, it probably has to be a place with really good weather for me to even think of it.

[ChrisLA]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Santa Barbara would be number 1. And it' a quick train ride to LA and SD if you want to get more big city stuff.
For even smaller metros, San Luis Obisip.

Bingo!

Santa Barbara is definitely my first choice. The main reason it’s close to LA, and there is good train service to get there. SB is such a beautiful city, with nice beaches right downtown and the scenery that will take your breath away.

2nd is Monterey/Carmel, feels much bigger than it really is. One of the most beautiful scenery on the central coast, good food too.

San Luis Obispo is cool too, nice downtown for its size, but I think I would get bored fast. Now if it was closer to LA, although train service is not bad just a bit longer to LA.

I would also add Ojai, beautiful community and very chill. Nice and walkable town with plenty of nice restaurants to dine at. It’s also close to LA, but somewhat isolated and you have to drive in heavy traffic to get to the city.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

Bingo!

Santa Barbara is definitely my first choice. The main reason it’s close to LA, and there is good train service to get there. SB is such a beautiful city, with nice beaches right downtown and the scenery that will take your breath away.

2nd is Monterey/Carmel, feels much bigger than it really is. One of the most beautiful scenery on the central coast, good food too.

San Luis Obispo is cool too, nice downtown for its size, but I think I would get bored fast. Now if it was closer to LA, although train service is not bad just a bit longer to LA.

I would also add Ojai, beautiful community and very chill. Nice and walkable town with plenty of nice restaurants to dine at. It’s also close to LA, but somewhat isolated and you have to drive in heavy traffic to get to the city.

Yea, it's really beautiful. Vibrant downtown. LA is lucky to have a place like that next door.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Decent per what standard?

People move there from other places to work in tech jobs?

I don't follow your logic. Nothing about Chicago resembles Austin, and from what I've seen of Madison, nothing about it resembles Chicago.

Not to mention that Austin - already substantially larger than Madison 10 years ago - is growing much faster than Madison. There's no comparison.

Madison, WI 2019: 664,865 2010: 605,435 +9.82%

Austin, TX 2019: 2,227,083 2010: 1,716,289 +29.76%

Madison should probably focus on competing with Milwaukee instead of aspiring to be like Austin.

Austin is the "hippest" place in a wide radius with tens of millions of people. Madison is not even as "hip" as Minneapolis, much less Chicago, so it has a much smaller catchment area.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by JAYNYC

Thank you for providing this factual, well-sourced credible data point. Now I get it.

I don't have any statistics but within my personal circles, I know two people who moved there to work for Epic (one from LA, one from St. Louis) and Madison often makes it on lists of "growing tech hubs." Google has an office there: https://careers.google.com/locations/madison/?hl=en

It's not a huge tech hub like Silicon Valley or Boston or NYC, but there are a fair number of tech jobs there.