What size city do you live in?

Palm city has about 21,000 but we live where cities are right next to each other, so the treasure coast area has about 6 million.

[oceanchild]

Denver metro is about 2.5 million, 21st in the US. We are in a suburb that also happens to be the third largest city in the state. I wish we lived in Denver. I could tell you exactly where, not that it would mean much. I like old residential neighborhoods close to the city center.

I am an urban girl and want to stay in a major metro area. Doesn't have to be the biggest city in the country, but I want to be close in. I love Denver but wish it were less sprawly. I love the compactness of Washington, DC. If it were in California it would probably be my favorite place ever.

Obviously I don't have kids yet, but I love the idea of raising urban kids. We'll see if I still feel that way in a few years.

[scarlett09]

We live in between two small cities: one with 30K people, the other with 75K people. In total, this area has about 120K people in it. Coming from a town of 55K where everyone knows everybody else's business, the size of this area and lack of knowing every.single.person are growing on me. We went to college and med school in a city of about 50K whose population swells to 80K during the academic year, so our current location feels right to us. The available amenities also work well for us - it is the suburbs, so everything is close by (the wonderful mall that is getting a Nordstrom in the spring is 5 minutes up the road). We are about an hour from my family, just under 2 hours from our friends and 2.5 hours from my ILs. We can be in two major East Coast cities in an under an hour, DC in 2 hours and NYC in 2.5 hours. Not really sure if we will stay here post-training or how we feel about having kids in this area, so we shall see.

[spotty_dog]

Alison - it sounds like you have the best of both worlds!

I feel like I do!

[labmouse]

Used to grow up in a mid-size city of 1.2 million people. Now, living in a smaller city with approx 500,000 residents. Big cities are nice for the shopping lures and decorations and pretty lights. But not so nice on the traffic jams, car park fees, gas expenses and overall living expenses. Living in a smaller city suits me better with all the cheaper items and lower living costs. NO parking fees and there are plenty of empty car spaces where ever you go! Best of all, low congestion = nicer people and courteous attitude. No honking or yelling or pointing fingers on the road. And, getting to know the local coffee shops and local market people often provide you extra perks. =)

[BonBon]

Living in a smaller city suits me better with all the cheaper items and lower living costs. NO parking fees and there are plenty of empty car spaces where ever you go! Best of all, low congestion = nicer people and courteous attitude. No honking or yelling or pointing fingers on the road. And, getting to know the local coffee shops and local market people often provide you extra perks. =)

Yes, this. I have a very low threshold for all the irritating factors that come with big city living. And I love knowing people in the stores and farmer's markets!

Diggity, I looked at the town's website and it is lovely. That's making it on my short list of retirement possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing where you end up. When are you done?

[alison]

In a big city, you can know everyone, too! Really! I know the guys at our bank, the manager at our grocery store, the people at our farmer's market (held less than a block away from us). I wouldn't trade living in city for anything! I had a taste of it for a year last year, and instantly felt better when we went into SF!

When we leave for daytrips, I actually breathe a sigh of relief when I can see a skyline!

[DCJenn]

Seriously, I know more people in my downtown neighborhood than I ever did in the 'burbs. I get stressed out in the boonies- my parents house makes me NUTS because it's in the middle of nowhere.

J.

[Michele]

I'm in the 6.5 M of DFW area.

But we are moving to a much smaller city.

From wiki:
Population (2007)
*-*City 12,284
*-*Density 534.7/km2*(1,384.9/sq*mi)
*-*Metro 1,277,997



I'm REALLY REALLY going to miss the North Park mall, though. Something fierce!

[oceanchild]

It's interesting that parking falls on so many peoples' list of big city annoyances. I don't like driving! To me a big plus of being "in town" is not having to drive there!

[houseelf]

I love the inner nerd in you Kelly.

Thanks! I didn't realize I had an "inner" nerd. My husband would counter that it is all "outer" nerd. LOL! I do love my random trivial facts, don't I?

[DCJenn]

Julia- I think the difference is the difference between the suburban mindset and the urban mindset. Those of us who have the urban mindset will do anything we can to ditch the cars and those who have the suburban mindset don't imagine living like that. San Antonio is FINALLY setting up bike kiosks so now people will be able to pick up and drop off bikes all over downtown. You would die from being run over by a SUV if you tried that in any of the San Antonio suburbs. They are the least walking/biking friendly suburbs I've ever seen. You can't even ride your bike to the grocery store unless you're serious about taking your life in to your own hands. and on that note, I'm off to walk to the store for some milk for breakfast.

J.

About 250,000 in Durham, and chapel hill and raleigh right around the corner. Moved from atl after dh finished med school there. A bit of a downsize for residency, but after these 6 years I think I will be ready to downsize again. I want to have access to a more metropolitan area but have no desire to live in one.

[OrionGrad]

Portland has about 580,000 (2.2 million in the Portland metro area). DH and I grew up in a small town (pop. 13,000), and lived in NYC during med school, and so far the size of Portland seems just about right. Plenty of restaurants and shopping, but real estate is still (relatively) affordable and I can find parking downtown whenever I need it.
Good restaurants, good shopping, large grocery stores, and room to park my car -- those are really the only things I need in a city.

We live in L.A. and I'm tired of the big city life. Our neighborhood is quiet so it's easy to forget that we are surrounded by millions of people. The worst thing is on the holidays or weekends when we want to go somewhere with DS, a million other people have the same plans. It's okay during the week, if you avoid driving in rush hour, but on the weekends even the parks are just super crowded. I'm tired of only being able to afford to live in an apartment and having to drive everywhere in this sprawl.
However, I grew up in a very rural area and can't imagine living anywhere that quiet again after being in 500,000+ cities for the last 12 or so years.
Our dream is to live on a quiet acre somewhere in the PNW where we can still walk the kids to school and be within an hour or two of a big city!