Andy, I too love Houston and now live there. Great restaurants too! Cons: lack of parks for a city its size TRAFFIC Getting crowded in spots and drum roll_ It only has 2 seasons: Summer and July and August. I am building a house in the Hill Country (Kerrville) less crowded and better climate, it's at 2000 feet. Funny-I did the selection process on findyourspot and sure enuff, Kerrville was there as well as a few other spots I like.
I'm living in the Fort Collins/Loveland, CO area right now. Before this, Boston, MA Houston, TX Irvine, CA Albuquerque, NM Santa Fe, NM Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler, AZ They all had some great aspects. I was single in Houston, Santa Fe, and Irvine. Houston has some of the most beautiful and friendly women I've ever met. Santa Fe was a single person's nightmare, if you are used to cities... Right now, my wife and I live just outside of a small city (Fort Collins) where it's possible to have 20 acres of land, be close to the university (CSU) with all of its variety, be 1 hour from Denver with museums, pro sports, theatres, etc., and enjoy views and dry weather year round. Everyone here seems to have two dogs, three bikes, three pairs of skis, two backpacks, two tents, a Subaru, SUV, or 4 wheel drive. The PhDs per capita as well as average educational level is quite high. Real estate prices fall somewhere between Irvine/Santa Fe and Houston/Phoenix, not bad, but not great. That's probably the only downside. Colorado is pretty central to most places in the country, and here on the Front Range of the Rockies, we don't have hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, or floods. Just occaisional snowstorms, but in this dry air, the temperature climbs to 45 or 55 degrees most days during the winter months. DIA, the airport, is just under 1 hour away. That's not great, but an easy drive. Not as convenient as Phoenix, or as inexpensive. No matter where I've lived, it's always been important for me to be able to get away. I'd put air travel as an important consideration for any 'top' area. Fort Collins has been easy to get used to....
Miami is the place for you....we are loooking for a few good men to even out the overabundance of bikini clad punani...and I aint talking about the one piece bikinis they wear up north. We have it all...Sun ( very humid at times ) , Beaches, Nightlife, South Beach, Cuisine, fishing, the Shaq Fu, UM and did i mention pound for pound the best punani in the world...
Seems as if the locals like to ask visitors what other parts of the country are like. The natives want out.
1M doesn't qualify as "big city" anymore. Toronto Safe. Dull. Consider Montreal instead. Vancouver Gorgeous. And that's not even taking the burgeoning "Eurasian scenery" situation. Lots of rain and grey skies, though. Inexpensive by "world class city" standards, and large parts of the city proper very conducive to a non-car lifestyle. Miami Spent a couple of years there, after about 9 months it started feeling confined. Love the Keys, will happily visit again, but just not enough "meat" there for my lifestyle. Tampa Awful. Stay away. Boston Greatest city in the USA if you like urban living. Unbelievable collection of brains in the area. Not many places you can strike up a conversation with Minsky or Gould or etc while grabbing a Baja Betty burritto. Not a cheap place to live, though, and you will either absolutely hate or totally get off on the driving habits. Houston No real city, one giant, depressing sprawl of a mess. Fattest people on the planet. No contest, ugliest "urban" area on the continent. And I should know - I spent 2 years in Cleveland. Phoenix Not familiar with. Minneapolis Quite a happening little 'burg. Cold. Given its relative isolation, the level of cultural vibrancy is impressive. Denver No experience here outside a couple of terrible airport experiences.
For a single guy, my list will be like this 1) New York City 2) Washington DC 3) Chicago 4) Vancouver 5) Phoenix 6) Minneapolis 7) Miami
Sydney would probably be on my top list. People are friendly, lots of things to do. I've only been there during summer, and I'm not too sure about the other seasons. For the size of the city, I was really impressed with how clean it was. I forgot what it's called, it's the harbor there. They have laser light shows there every night. Well there's tons of restaurants and clubs there. What a great city