This. I was gonna suggest Los Angeles, but I happened to move there at a time that the cost of living was great, I lucked into a nice place in a rent-controlled part of town on the west side, and I had a decent income. But the situation could very easily be much worse now or in different circumstances. I definitely would NOT move to LA without a job, without friends to fall back on.
Likewise, when I lived in Pittsburgh the cost of living was also really good, but idk about now.
Controversial opinion but LA traffic is less bad than many cities because the average driver is more skilled.
Like, LA traffic is bad, but you’re much more likely to get in a car crash in Boston, if that makes sense. NYC drivers are much more pointlessly aggressive, LA drivers understand traffic flows better.
LA has not only some of the worst drivers, but also they think they can drive 90mph on the 105 and 405 so I would disagree on the more skilled portion.
Lived about “21 minutes” (16 miles) from DT LA and the drive home from work events were always a wildcard of 20 minutes to 1 hour. It might not sound like a high worst case, but as a result people would only attend an event if it was on their general vicinity.
This ensured people always factored the traffic when deciding if they wanted to hang out (both for work or after hours). Most people kept to their existing friend groups on their city or neighborhood, which meant a very lonely and transient existence for people that moved there for work.
There are some truly great people there that would go the extra mile to include you, but I found the Bay and Sacramento regions to be much more welcoming traffic and all (on the bay). It made me turn from a car enthusiast to someone that hates everything they stand for (well not fully, but you get the idea).
This. I was gonna suggest Los Angeles, but I happened to move there at a time that the cost of living was great, I lucked into a nice place in a rent-controlled part of town on the west side, and I had a decent income. But the situation could very easily be much worse now or in different circumstances. I definitely would NOT move to LA without a job, without friends to fall back on.
Likewise, when I lived in Pittsburgh the cost of living was also really good, but idk about now.
LA is probably bad, because of the traffic in the city
Again I lucked out for most the time I was there. But yeah I knew some folks with nightmare commutes.
Controversial opinion but LA traffic is less bad than many cities because the average driver is more skilled.
Like, LA traffic is bad, but you’re much more likely to get in a car crash in Boston, if that makes sense. NYC drivers are much more pointlessly aggressive, LA drivers understand traffic flows better.
LA has not only some of the worst drivers, but also they think they can drive 90mph on the 105 and 405 so I would disagree on the more skilled portion.
Lived about “21 minutes” (16 miles) from DT LA and the drive home from work events were always a wildcard of 20 minutes to 1 hour. It might not sound like a high worst case, but as a result people would only attend an event if it was on their general vicinity.
This ensured people always factored the traffic when deciding if they wanted to hang out (both for work or after hours). Most people kept to their existing friend groups on their city or neighborhood, which meant a very lonely and transient existence for people that moved there for work.
There are some truly great people there that would go the extra mile to include you, but I found the Bay and Sacramento regions to be much more welcoming traffic and all (on the bay). It made me turn from a car enthusiast to someone that hates everything they stand for (well not fully, but you get the idea).