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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just pick a Midwestern city with a population above 500k in the metro out of a hat and go visit and chances are it's decent and affordable. Emphasis on decent. These places aren't "great" but a lot of them aren't bad. Biggest culture shock might be the lack of an intellectual culture. Was chatting to a friend whose sibling moved out there and their sibling was surprised when they wanted to setup a book club but the other parents at school PROUDLY exclaimed that they don't read. Also when they were talking about colleges and programs, many of the parents were more concerned about the football team and its record so take with that as you will. [/quote]

Maybe they're just more honest about their interests? Judging from what my work colleagues talk about (we're all lawyers), they seem singularly obsessed with the athletic pursuits of their kids - seemingly using the bulk of their free time to travel and attend games.[/quote]
Any of these medium midwest cities will have a community that places a super high value on reading books and learning, with opportunities to join multiple book clubs. Your sister just happens to not be in that part of her metro area. I cannot guarantee that they will satisfy the diversity goals mentioned by OP, but they are there.[/quote]

+1. The midwest has school districts that are more highly ranked than anything in the DMV, world class medical institutions (cleveland clinic, mayo clinic, etc.), and top tier universities, and we're supposed to believe that people there don't read books??!! Come on folks.

I found this article, which suggests the midwest has tons of book clubs:
https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-best-cities-for-book-lovers[/quote]

Tell us about the diversity there[/quote]

There is less diversity overall in the midwest but the perception that it's just all white is wrong -- there are immigrant communities throughout the midwest (specifically because it's affordable). Big cities also have a pretty large black populations. Cleveland is almost 50% black, for instance. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are lower but still sizable populations. Hispanic populations are lower than what you will find in coastal cities or in the Southwest, but that is changing slowly over time.

You do still see segregation in these cities, especially between black and white populations, but I don't feel it's any more than you see in DC which also has the same ugly history of segregation, especially in suburbs and aligned with schools. You encounter racism both among the older population and the MAGA population (which overlaps but not perfectly), and that racism is often linked to both the history of segregation and to the newer immigrant populations entering these cities. Certainly it's something to consider.

However, the idea that DC is a magical melting pot with perfect diversity is simply false, and if you want to raise your kids in a diverse environment, some midwest cites offer advantages over DC. For instance, there is more white poverty in midwest cities than you ever see in DC, and it's enlightening for kids to understand that poverty is not simply a condition associates with being non-white (something a lot of kids incorrectly come to believe growing up in DC, which can lead to some racist presumptions about why they rarely see poor white people). Also, the lower cost of living overall can result in more socioeconomic diversity in schools and in public spaces. In DC, there are many places you can go where you will only encounter UMC or wealthy professionals. They may have racial diversity, but the cost of living means you can live in DC and rarely encounter people outside your social class in social settings. That's more rare in the midwest, where it's easier for middle and working class people to be able to afford to dine out (even in the higher end restaurants and bars), go to sporting events, and even to afford to live (on the fringes of and often in smaller and crappier housing) in better school districts. This is something that has changed in DC in the last 20 years, and I think for the worse, if you care about diversity. It's something I really notice when visiting family in midwest cities, where I find I encounter a much broader cross section of society in public spaces and the culture doesn't feel like a dichotomy between the haves and have nots to the degree it does in DC.[/quote]

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