| I'll pitch a different approach: nobody else's experiences/opinions will be close enough to yours for them to help much, if at all. It's like asking a stranger "What language should I use for my app?" - only here they don't know what you're building. You may not even know what you're building :-) Instead of trying to guess right, spend a month in each of these using Airbnb monthly rentals, then decide. A monthly rental is roughly the price of rent. For the cost of rent, you'll have a fantastic experience and conclusively answer a question only you can answer. I've done this and others I've suggested it to have done this, and the possible outcomes are: 1. Any of them is fine. Choose based on non-experiential stuff, like taxes, ease of travel, relatives nearby, etc. 2. One of them is obviously better than the rest. 3. None of them were better than places you've lived. Don't move. 4. Some aspect is actually much more important than you thought. For example, an aspect you know is important like access to water sports, or an unexpected one like access to transit or a friend to introduce you to their social circle. You pick a city based mostly on that. Just live your life there, don't be a tourist on vacation. Pick months with representative weather for the area, ie, don't go to Texas during the winter. |
PS: In at least one place, try to optimize for how you live, not just where. As an example, is life significantly better if you live within walking distance of water? Walking distance of water and retail? Maybe that’s only feasible in a smaller city, but at least you’d know what it’s like to live that way.