We've only lived in PGH 10 months, so amybe the last winter and Spring weren't representative, but I wouldn't describe it as gloomy. Certainly, the weather isn't like Santa Monica, but PGH isn't on the Great Lakes, so it doesn't get the snow associated with cities like Cleveland, Erie or Buffalo. Summers are warm but mild, great for being outdoors.

To all the Pittsburgh folks, is it really as gloomy there as I imagine? The weather stats have it ranked only slightly higher than Portland for number of sunny days. Otherwise, it seems like it'd be a nice place to live with a family.

Someone previously mentioned Pittsburgh, where we recently moved. It's great for health jobs (my field) and has the mix of blue and white collar residents (in the same neighborhoods) OP described. We are very happy here. FWIW, our incomes remained the same for the move, while our expenses plummeted. I work fewer hours, spend less time in the car, we actually do more activities with the kids since getting to parks and museums is quick and easy (and the summer weather isn't too hot).

We recently had friends from DC visit with their kids. The kids were watching the garbage men pick up the trash. Our friends' 4 yo said: "I thought all the garbage men were brown. I've never seen a white garbage man before!" Certainly PGH has a number of serious race and class issues of its own, but living here made we realize how in DC, despite all the talk about the diversity, is still an extremely segregated city where most of the service jobs are filled by people of color and the white collar jobs are filled by whites.

Sonoma, CA in a heartbeat. Love the pace of life, good food and wine, fantastic weather, access to the outdoors/hiking, and decent art community. Mix of education levels. Unfortunately, DH insists on urban living. We lived in SF for awhile and I hated it. Too cold and too crazy. School system is insane unless you can pay for private. Great fun when you are young and single but not a city for families. DC is much better for families, IMO.

NP here.

OP, I recommend Asheville, NC. It has a strong counter-culture -- lots of hippies, artists etc. A mix of white and blue collar workers and tons of doctors and medical jobs. Very beautiful scenery, laid back etc.

We have friends who live there and love it, and while they are not in medicine, they say more than half the professionals they meet are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who say Philly - any recommendations for nice towns in the suburbs? DH may have an opportunity to work in his Delaware office, but we'd prefer to live in Pennsylvania.

why? I assume the office is in Wilmington. there are some nice parts of DE, too. Many of my former classmates lived in the more upscale parts of town, and they were lovely. Plus, no sales tax

DH is a bit of a city snob. The cities in Delaware are too slow paced for him.

But you can easily get to Philly from northern de - I just wouldn't want to deal with 95 for commuting every single day. Maybe if you can do the train, otherwise I really don't recommend it.

Ann Arbor, MI. It has such a cool, laid back vibe.

Anonymous wrote:san diego or san francisco

+1
I love sunshine and the beach.

Anonymous wrote:OP, now we have more detail, it sounds like SF would be perfect for you, and you two would be among the few who could afford to live there. Do it! It has everything you are looking for. We would be there in a heart beat if we could afford it.

SF is awesome, but I don't know if it would meet OPs desire for a slower pace of life. There is a lottery for schools (meaning you might have schlep kids 30+ mins both ways to school - no thanks) and driving in the city is a bitch. What about Berkeley or Oakland (yes, there are some really nice neighborhoods there!)?

MIAMI!

Nantucket, ma

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who say Philly - any recommendations for nice towns in the suburbs? DH may have an opportunity to work in his Delaware office, but we'd prefer to live in Pennsylvania.

why? I assume the office is in Wilmington. there are some nice parts of DE, too. Many of my former classmates lived in the more upscale parts of town, and they were lovely. Plus, no sales tax

DH is a bit of a city snob. The cities in Delaware are too slow paced for him.

Anonymous wrote:To the PP discussing San Diego and San Francisco - I have been considering moving to the west coast as I'm really tiring of DC after being here for a long time. It'd be just me picking up and moving, though only after finding a job. I've been told to try either San Diego or San Francisco, but I really don't know which is for me. How big are the cultural differences between the two cities, if there are any?

I'm also nervous about a big move to the other side of the country because there are a lot of things I like about DC: the internationalism and global awareness and the fact that it's not a huge city (which is part of why I don't really want to move to NYC). I also like the fact that we experience all four seasons. I'm not a hippie or hipster. I'm a fan of the walkability of NYC and DC. I just want to try something new while I'm still relatively young and not tied down.

NP here but I've lived in SF and SD. SF is much more walk able than SD, which is absolutely not. SD is in love with its cars while I know many who would find owning a car in SF a pain because of the great many public transit options. Hippies , hipsters, and all the great many other categories of people would fit right in in either city. I don't know if one is less globally aware but perhaps one could say SD is less interested in politics. It was wonderful living in SF with all the cutting edge liberal policies", if you're into that. SF is not a big city... 3/4 million people in a 7x7 mile square. SD is very widespread. As for the seasons, neither have four. Some would say that each have one, albeit different ones. It's almost always overcast and 60 in SF while sunny and 72 in SD. I would say that the pulse of SF is much more like NYC with its sophisticated snobbery while SD is laid back to each its ownness.

I think I would like a cabin in the woods in Alaska
with bears roaming near by, and a shot gun
And then I could get my own reality show and maybe even be the next republican vice president

I could show off my new glasses

San Diego/La Jolla or possibly somewhere in the LA area. Honestly though, I like it here. If we won the lottery tomorrow and had enough money to move anywhere in the world w/o having to worry about jobs, we'd probably stay right here in Chevy Chase. Although I'd definitely travel more, a lot more!