LOCATION ADVICE: polling the friends list
After the past few months of adventures, I've received lots of interesting (and conflicting) advice about location. This ranges from advice about how GREAT the DC area is (and that my problems with it are mainly that I should live closer to the city center itself) to how I should IMMEDIATELY begin thinking about moving to the West Coast to the point of beginning to apply for jobs out there.
While I'm not yet at the point where I feel like I need to bail RIGHT NOW (in fact, I expect to stay another year or two at least), I'd be shocked if I were here for more than five years... and I would hate to jump to somewhere that actually proves to be somewhat worse for me.
To this end, I'll talk a bit about things I need/want/prefer in an 'ideal' location... and look for advice on exactly the closest fit is!
MAIN PREREQUISITES:
-I would like my location to be no more than 30 minutes away from MOST of the places I would regularly go to for work and play.
-If a place is somewhere I expect to drink alcohol, then only non-driving forms of transportation count towards this. (e.g. I'm okay with a consistent 25 minute car trip to work, but NOT a consistent 25 minute car trip to a happy hour.)
-Ideally, I'd like to pay no more than $1500 for a 1 bedroom apartment at that location (though I'm flexible enough to go up to, say, $2000... or downsize to 500 square feet, but no microstudios or $3k apartments... and I DEFINITELY don't want to need to room with some random stranger to be able to afford somewhere!)
Of course, I need to clarify what I want in terms of "most of the places I would regularly go for work and play...
-places where it's relatively easy to meet people I have common interests with, especially in terms of...
-bars (where the noise level is low enough to allow for conversation and the selections are good and reasonably priced)
-social groups where I have a good chance of fitting in (alumni networks can work GREAT because they're people who have something in common with me and likely don't have lifelong roots to the area, which means they're open to meeting people for socialization... as could groups built around interests that I actually have)
-coffeehouses (especially if they sesrve delicious mochas and the ambiance allows for conversation... boozy coffeehouses might work even better!)
-intellectual 'games' and similar communities (like a pub trivia group, for example... though my impression is MENSA is the exact OPPOSITE of what I want)
-a Jewish community I feel comfortable with (definitely something that's nice to have, but based on my current experiences it feels like a total long shot... especially with the liberal branches of the religion more tied to suburban family life)
-places that I can go shopping (I shouldn't need to drive 2 counties away from groceries or clothes, for example!)
-an accessible beach that isn't a day-trip commitment would also be amazing as I love swimming (or, barring that, awesome recreational pools like Helsinki has)
-I'd ask for delicious restaurants that I can become a 'regular' at... except that seems to be easy to find just about everywhere, even Los Alamos!
Another NECESSITY: the place needs to be accepting of people who move there in their thirties without a local social circle already there, or a wife and kids! (If people regularly move there in that age for work, for example, that's likely to be easier...)
Any thoughts? Or is what I'm asking for essentially impossible?
While I'm not yet at the point where I feel like I need to bail RIGHT NOW (in fact, I expect to stay another year or two at least), I'd be shocked if I were here for more than five years... and I would hate to jump to somewhere that actually proves to be somewhat worse for me.
To this end, I'll talk a bit about things I need/want/prefer in an 'ideal' location... and look for advice on exactly the closest fit is!
MAIN PREREQUISITES:
-I would like my location to be no more than 30 minutes away from MOST of the places I would regularly go to for work and play.
-If a place is somewhere I expect to drink alcohol, then only non-driving forms of transportation count towards this. (e.g. I'm okay with a consistent 25 minute car trip to work, but NOT a consistent 25 minute car trip to a happy hour.)
-Ideally, I'd like to pay no more than $1500 for a 1 bedroom apartment at that location (though I'm flexible enough to go up to, say, $2000... or downsize to 500 square feet, but no microstudios or $3k apartments... and I DEFINITELY don't want to need to room with some random stranger to be able to afford somewhere!)
Of course, I need to clarify what I want in terms of "most of the places I would regularly go for work and play...
-places where it's relatively easy to meet people I have common interests with, especially in terms of...
-bars (where the noise level is low enough to allow for conversation and the selections are good and reasonably priced)
-social groups where I have a good chance of fitting in (alumni networks can work GREAT because they're people who have something in common with me and likely don't have lifelong roots to the area, which means they're open to meeting people for socialization... as could groups built around interests that I actually have)
-coffeehouses (especially if they sesrve delicious mochas and the ambiance allows for conversation... boozy coffeehouses might work even better!)
-intellectual 'games' and similar communities (like a pub trivia group, for example... though my impression is MENSA is the exact OPPOSITE of what I want)
-a Jewish community I feel comfortable with (definitely something that's nice to have, but based on my current experiences it feels like a total long shot... especially with the liberal branches of the religion more tied to suburban family life)
-places that I can go shopping (I shouldn't need to drive 2 counties away from groceries or clothes, for example!)
-an accessible beach that isn't a day-trip commitment would also be amazing as I love swimming (or, barring that, awesome recreational pools like Helsinki has)
-I'd ask for delicious restaurants that I can become a 'regular' at... except that seems to be easy to find just about everywhere, even Los Alamos!
Another NECESSITY: the place needs to be accepting of people who move there in their thirties without a local social circle already there, or a wife and kids! (If people regularly move there in that age for work, for example, that's likely to be easier...)
Any thoughts? Or is what I'm asking for essentially impossible?