Opinions on 4 cities
- Thread starter Pookieray
- Start date
Dallas clear favorite in the clubhouse based on weather alone.
Boston is my favorite city, but it's expensive.
Pittsburgh is underrated on that list, but Dallas is probably the best option.
Bethesda is a ********.
Pittsburgh is underrated on that list, but Dallas is probably the best option.
Bethesda is a ********.
So without getting too political, post-Covid I tend to look at these sorts of questions and think, under similar circumstances where would I be least likely to have my freedoms restricted. Based on that and with the cities you listed my choice would be obvious.
I’ve been looking at COL and unfortunately all these places seem to be high COL areas.
I'm just the opposite, Dallas would be my distant 4th due to weather. Plus it's just big for no reason.
My rankings would be:
1) Pittsburg
2) Boston
3) Bethesda
4) Dallas
Dallas with Pittsburg 2nd. Cost of living in the NE is ridiculous and a bunch of as sholes up there. If he's staying up NE way, Pittsburg is a cool place.
He’s in NE now and was during Covid and that never seemed to be problematic for him.
This is the way, unless it's pretty clear the post-doc opportunity will turn into a career. If it's a 2-3 year program or whatever, I imagine the work will be in-tents and the city won't matter a great deal.
You’re absolutely correct on COL in all the places. He’s weighing his options and each place can get him to where he wants to be in the future. He’s selected each one of these places based on who it is he’ll be working with, so for him it’s more of a what lab and what city he likes best.
Same. Dallas is a haven for folks who love super suburbia and like to spend their money driving in SUVs and and going out to eat at crappy restaurants. All the kids turn out like Dude Perfect without the money. Just a big flat concrete jungle.
Good friends of mine have a married daughter who is an executive with a defense contractor. 4 kids under 12. Recently moved to Pittsburgh. Loves it.
The upside of Dallas would be, likely closer to family (assuming in/near Miss since this is a State message board) and can hop on an airplane and be anywhere directly/quickly.
He enjoys outdoor activities, snow skiing, hike in mountains and such. He knows the 3 in NE will be more readily accessible for those things.
Yeah we’re in Ms, DeSoto Co. we were hoping for Dallas but we I kinda like the NE better because we can visit in winter and ski while we’re there
Pittsburgh is really nice. I would at least visit it before making a decision. It’s really a hidden gem.
I actually think Dallas might have the worst weather out of these options. It is miserably hot for 1/3 of the year now.
If you’re not buying a house, the cost of living between all these cities really isn’t too far apart. Chipotle and Starbucks in a suburb of Boston isn’t much different than Dallas.
I actually think Dallas might have the worst weather out of these options. It is miserably hot for 1/3 of the year now.
If you’re not buying a house, the cost of living between all these cities really isn’t too far apart. Chipotle and Starbucks in a suburb of Boston isn’t much different than Dallas.
He’s visited every place , well except Dallas but he’s flying in there as we speak.
I was just up there a few weeks ago and the cost of everything was quite shocking to me. I paid $29 for a sandwich and a coke. But if you can swing it, I was surprised how nice it was .
I’ve known a couple of folks to live in Pittsburgh. They spoke highly of it. Its geographic location isn’t bad either. Driving distance to several places just west of there and east. A major player would be your son’s interests. If he’s in the NE area already, he might prefer the MA or MD options.
I'm pleasantly surprised by the Pittsburg love on here. I know nothing about it, but always assumed it was it was Detroit but with the loss of steel jobs driving the crappy rather than the loss of auto jobs. I may have to visit now.
He just graduated from UVA and we went for his defense. He was interviewing at Pitt a week later so we went on a vacation while there and then dropped him off in Pitt for his meeting and we were impressed with the city for sure! Was very nice, indeed.
He’s in Charlottesville, Va and has been for 5 years. We’ve gone up several times and we really enjoyed ourselves in that area as he has too!
I thought the same but googled it a found out they have been in a huge transition over the last 15 or so years to go from “blue collar” to “white collar” and it was voted in top 5 most livable cities for many of those years! Several Fortune 500 companies have moved there .
We visited Philly while we were up that way a few weeks ago and paid $48 for 2 Philly cheese sammichs and 1 fry! It’s was crazy expensive!
My old company was headquartered in Pittsburgh, so I got up there a few times. Cool looking city, and they have sunk a lot of $$ to upgrading parts of it. My big issue is that the weather really sucks most of the year; the "standard" look is gray and gloomy from October through April. (Nice summer weather, though.) Also, I have found that Pittsburgh really isn't all that welcoming to outsiders. I'm not saying people can't be friendly, but if you're not from there, you're in a different (and lower) class, regardless of how white collar you may be. Again, it's what I've seen being up there and with the folks I worked with from the area.
Apparently Charlottesville was also voted as one of the most livable cities a while back. There’s lots of historical places to see near his current location. Aside from that fact, it would seem like Pittsburgh is really the most similar place to where he currently lives without doing extensive research.
You're all ignoring the important issues.
Patriots and Red Sox
Steelers and Pirates
Cowboys and Mavericks
Orioles, Nationals, Commanders, and Ravens
He should definitely make this decision based on his fan preference.*
Patriots and Red Sox
Steelers and Pirates
Cowboys and Mavericks
Orioles, Nationals, Commanders, and Ravens
He should definitely make this decision based on his fan preference.*
The outsider mentality is something I experienced while kids were in school in Missouri. On a side note, I experienced the same feeling when I attended the game at Bama in 2014. Also experienced it with several people I work with that have an affinity for Oxford, MS.
Dallas has some of the most horrendous weather on earth. I lived there for nearly 15 years and it is 17ing miserable. We experienced biblical level weather phenomena.
More than $150k worth of hail damage alone over 3 separate hail storms... Nearly lost a baby/wife because my wife was 40+ weeks pregnant and an ice storm killed power in the city for a week and the cold triggered early labor and we couldn't get to the hospital 4 miles away in less than 3 hours. Also was stuck on a flyover due to a crash when a tornado rolled by and missed us by less than a 1/4 mile. What the 17 do you do in that situation?
The heat is 17ing oppressive and ruins summer. The winters are grey and muddy and occasionally icy. The springs are down right deadly. Fall is the only reasonable season, but you can still hit 100° in October. And the occasional monsoon season might dump a flash flood in the fall.
17 Dallas weather.
Bethesda wins the weather battle. Loses because it's in 17ing DC.
Dallas has the worst access to outdoor recreation in the country.
I’ve never lived in any of the 4 places. Have busted 3 of the 4 and spent a lot of time in the DC area (Bethesda).
I would personally go with Bethesda just because I like the DC area a lot. Very populated area along the east coast but still far enough south to not be a brutal winter.
I would personally go with Bethesda just because I like the DC area a lot. Very populated area along the east coast but still far enough south to not be a brutal winter.
Dallas is a hell of lot closer to good skiing than those other 3
Only 1 of those is in the south so......
The area around Bethesda actually has some beautiful places but cost of living is probably high there as well.
Now, I'm an old fart that has certain opinions about the world (weather, politics, culture, etc.) that are probably very different from your son so figure out what he's wants/needs in a place to live and start from there and ignore everything else I typed.
Boston is a fantastic city. Plenty of good restaurants and things to do, both in the city and within an hour or so drive. Unlike some others, I've never noticed any significant difference in the cost of restaurants to most other places I've been, including here in Jackson area.
You couldn't pay me to live in Dallas.
Never been to the other two, but I've heard Pittsburgh is much nicer city than you might think. Plus it's closest one other than Dallas.
You couldn't pay me to live in Dallas.
Never been to the other two, but I've heard Pittsburgh is much nicer city than you might think. Plus it's closest one other than Dallas.