My social situation has collapsed so I'm basically gonna have to start over from scratch. I'd rather not do it in my truck-nuts anti-pedestrian small city with a ton of negative associations. I can kind of move anywhere but I don't have the energy to go somewhere random and hope for the best.
I'd love to live somewhere where I don't have to own a car. Big enough and with enough stuff to do so I can try to cast a wide net and grow some sort of social group before I die of loneliness. But also where I could afford like a studio apartment on the average entry level wage in the city.
Might be too much to ask with current housing prices.
Any suggestions?
Edit: thank you all! I'll start checking out jobs/apts in the cities mentioned.
PDX has real good public transit and a studio runs about $1000/mo. Like most big cities it's mostly libs surrounded by rural chuds, but there are also lots of commies and anarchists here. It's expensive like most cities, but there are jobs here - a lot of my job is just helping people get employed. Min wage is like $16, but I see lots of entry level jobs closer to the $20 range.
Also maybe the best city in the US to be trans.
But also, I work with so many people who moved here without a plan and ended up homeless, so please do your research.
Its a seriously underrated city. Great art scene. Great music scene. Beautiful architecture. Loveable weird people. You can live without a car. Still affordable.
I think milwaukee transit is pretty bad but its cool in some ways. proximity to chicago is neat. wisconsin is pretty republican tho so not good on womens or lgbt rights on the state level
Milwaukee's transit is bad, even if it's better than the national average. If you're a drinker, prepare to Uber, since the lines are reduced or stop early some nights. Many parts are walkable. I want to say bikable, but the drivers got way more aggressive after Covid. Also account for some the most obscene levels of segregation, with the quality of the lead pipes being tied to those poorer zip codes.
Some good aspects are the water itself is great (one of the largest sources of fresh water anywhere), some fun festivals, a great music scene, and okayish rents.
I can't tell how things will look in a while, since it's a swing state and the people leaving seems to equal to the people moving here. The socialist scene is at least kicking off there, especially considering Milwaukee's socialist history. Madison supposedly has some good public transport, but the city itself is a bit far off compared to how Milwaukee is closer to cities like Chicago.
So I understand segregation in theory, but my experience of it in the Rockies/Midwest is probably quite a bit different. What does it entail for someone moving to a new city? Is it mostly a matter of affordable apts being in poor, segregated areas?
I'm curious about which U.S. cities have decent or good public transport. So far, I only know about New York and Seattle. Not trying to take over the conversation, just genuinely interested.
You know, one reason why I've never seriously considered living in the USA (aside from other issues like healthcare) is how car-focused a lot of cities seem to be. There are plenty of countries with solid public transportation, but the US just seems to suck in that department. Im sure other Hexbears have more valuable input on that front.
Obviously, I'd never even think about the USA if I wasn't well-off.
Long Beach ive been living without a car for a while despite being in the LA metro area. Its big enough to have big city stuff, small enough to have a local community and close enough to LA to fuck off there and do big city stuff.
Its the cheapest beach city in LA County and I can get to my job in DTLA in 30 min with one train ride and a 15 min walk.