I know we've done this before and it's always subjective, but I don't want to limit this one to drumming. I'm researching cities for grad school and I'm just wondering what people's thoughts are on great cities they've experienced. Of course a good music scene would be one aspect. The following would be high on my list:

-Quality of life
-Low cost of living
-Outdoor activities
-Good nightlife
-Good music scene
-A relatively liberal, young vibe

I'm thinking about places like Boston, Chicago, Santa Fe, the pacific northwest, even Canada. Anyone care to brag about their home town?

seattle wa

-Quality of life  - 9 outta 10 from me, 7 for most people (i like the grey rainy season)

great.  western washington has everything.  plenty of artsy urban stuff, and any kind of outdoor environment you want within a day trip.  rainforest, sandy beach, rocky beach, grassy rolling mts., pointy rocky mountains, snow, desert, whatever.  its a hot stop for a lot of trouring cultural stuff as well.  admittedly the winters can be rough on some folk.  its not so much the rain as the lack of light.  its just grey.  for like 7+ months.  but some full spectrum bulbs and a decent diet can get you through just fine  and seattle has a hugely diverse cultural spread.  lots of asian and north african culture mostly ... vietnamese and ethiopian food everywhere.  (theres pho, vietnamese noodle soup, fast and cheap, all over the place)

-Low cost of living - 3 outta 10

nope.  not here.  its not california or new york expensive but its up there. a decent one bedroom apartment in the hip part of town runs $800+ a month.  but ive been living the last 4 years in houses.  both one bedroom for me and missus and dog.  the first was $700 a month, the current $750.  with plenty of yard and room for the studio (basement and garage respectively) so you can find cheaper living, but youll want a car and an open mind.  as for buying a house, dont plan on it in the city for less than $200,000.  

-Outdoor activities - 10 outta 10

a gazillion.  see "quality of life".  and a huge REI downtown with a 3+ story climbing wall.

-Good nightlife - 9 outta 10

rock clubs with local and inter/national bands, dance clubs with local and inter/national djs (cheb i shabbah was just here) bars for every type of person.  live theater, both major and indie.  film theaters ranging from tiny french new wave revivalist to the latest bruckheimer, and one of the countries biggest film fests.  and lets not forget several 24 hour resturants that arent ihop/dennys/waffle house/etc (though theyre here too)

-Good music scene - 7 outta 10

lots of bands, lots of music, lots of chances to see/hear it.  the weak point is the high level of apathy.  venues have to compromise.  do you want audience or money? the bar wants money which for them means you get audience.  so you take the door, which is usually pretty low.  you can get a fan base, but youll want your day job.   great town for creative music as theres a venue for every odd ball sub genre you can think of and there will be an audience for it.   but its not a town to make a living as a musician in right away.  maybe with time.  (this may sound like a score lower than 7 to some.  but that last bit about creative music is key for me)

-A relatively liberal, young vibe - 10 outta 10

heck yeah.  we're a town full of overeducated, underpaid geeks.  half the folks here are tech industry, the other half serve that first half coffee.  (exaggeration i know)  it seems silly to see an adult riding one of those razor kick scooters around downtown, but its not too uncommon here.   the statewide politcs are sometimes contrary to this, but you gotta remember (as many seattlites forget) this part of washington is the smaller part.  east of the mountains is plenty of old fashioned farmland.  but seattle proper has no issues catering to the young and liberal.

Suburban Philadelphia is pretty good for all these (except maybe cost of living) and has a huge number of schools to choose from.

yeah, but you have no ocean  ;p

Thanks.... This is great. Keep em coming!


I'm trying to narrow it down. Right now the leading candidate is Broadcast Journalism, and I'd like to focus in audio and video production. (Which is why I'm thinking about places like the pacific northwest, Chicago and NY, places with broadcast studios.)

Other things I'm considering are some kind of advanced writing degree (technical or creative focus), and there are some truly weird MFAs like one called "Writing for Visual Criticism" that sounded really interesting.

Well, since that may factor into your decision.....

I live in Denton, Texas.  The University of North Texas is known for it's music school around here, but it should also be known for it's Radio Television and Film Department.  Actually, my sister and brother in law are both professors in that department.  My sister just completed the most recent and up to date textbook on film editing...the name of it is "Post", I believe, and it is getting very positive reviews.

Denton's cost of living is low.  The music scene is incredibly varied and strong, and that is before you factor in the UNT music school performances, which range from classical ensembles and orchestras to all sorts of ethnic percussion to tons of jazz.  Denton is near Dallas, which I'm not real big on...but it does expand the nightlife possibilities.  No mountains or ocean here, but some pretty lakes and greenbelts are not too far away.
No offense to Houston, but you will find much less humidity over in this area.  Due to two universities being here, there is a very young liberal vibe to be found.  I think of Denton like a little Austin, without having to pay so much to live.  

Good luck with your decisions.

Bing

Chicago

-Quality of life: Good! It's like NY or LA, but a bit less pretentious

-Low cost of living: Bad! It's like NY or LA... big cities are expensive, although if your bandmates drive wagons or SUVs you might not need a car. Really good mass transit, and it's a cab city.

-Outdoor activities: Good, during the few months of tolerable outdoor weather we get here. All along the lakefront there's jogging, biking, blading, volleyball. Lots of leagues for things like softball, soccer, etc.

-Good nightlife: Do I really need to get into this? Great rock clubs (Metro, Empty Bottle, Double Door, Martyr's), tremendous jazz clubs (Green Mill, Jazz Showcase, Green Dolphin Street).

-Good music scene: Ah, for me most of the above apply.

-A relatively liberal, young vibe: Depends on where you live, I guess. Much of Chicago's working class, but the hip neighborhoods are great -- Wicker Park, Wrigleyville (except during baseball season when its overrun with overgrown fratboys), Lincoln Park).

If you live in the 'burbs, it's much easier to drive in to Chicago than it is to make a comparable drive into NYC.


And the restaurants...oy, the restaurants!!!  Great food abounds in Chicago.  All kinds, from all different kinds of countries and cultures.

I recently saw a rerun of Comedy Central's "INSOMNIAC" with Dave Attell, when the show was set in Chicago.  Boy, it reminded me how much I miss that city...

Well, here's where I've LIVED (not visited), New York City, Miami, Dallas, Nashville, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Minneapolis. Out of those cities I'd say Nashville was the coolest. Medium cost of living. Middle Tenn. St. Univ. has some great mass comm. programs (and music programs), but there are loads of colleges there. If you're looking for a cool vibe, Nashville's the place, it has ALL kinds of music happening. Just my take on it, but I haven't ever experienced Chicago or NW area. So...happy hunting. - carlos  

I want to brag a little more about Miami using the criteria you posted, lets see:

1. Quality of life:  Well, lets see.  Miami has the lowest per capita income and the lowest level of education among all major (>1,000,000) U.S. Cities.  Maimi has consitstently been in the top 5 cities in the U.S. for highest rate of violent crime.  Miami/Ft. Lauderdale are the fraud capitals of the world.  The traffic in Miami is the 4th worst in the U.S.  And, oh yeah, every other car is a low rider Honda with one of those thumping/vibrating machines that can be heard for about 5 square miles.  Did I mention the police who like to murder people and then plant guns on them in order to claim justifiable defense.  Well, that's what the FBI says anyway.  Oh, did I mention the crook of the month club aka the Miami-Dade County Commission, about 1/2 of whom are in federal prison.  Oh, and  throwing a bunch of bananas on the front steps of the City of Miami City Hall isn't littering because it's political speach protected by the 1st amendment.

2. Cost of living: You can live pretty inexpensively in Miami if you don't care about personal safety and security of yourself and your property.  Of course you could probably pick up a 2 BR condo on Brickell avenue with an ocean view for about $750,000 - $2.5 million.

3. Outdoor activities:  Abundant.  Golf, tennis, beaches, fishing, boating, the Dolfins, the Hurricanes, on and on and on.  But, keep in mind that the summer starts in February and ends in November and the average temperature is about 95 degrees and 99% humidity.  So, no matter what you do outside, expect to be soaking wet in about 30 seconds.

4. Good night life: I wouldn't know.  What I do know is that professional musicians complain that there is no work here.  I suppose that's because techno dance music doesn't require any musicians.

5. Good music scene: See #4 above.  Once or twice a decade a big name will come to town, but, usually they go to Ft. Lauderdale.

6. Liberal younge vibe:  BLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!  Think fascist Cuban political talk radio stations making thinly vailed bomb threats (and on occasion carrying them out) against anyone percieved to be a communist or Castro sympathizer.  Think Jeb Bush is loved to the point of idolitry.  

Then there's Miami Beach, a banana shaped island about 1/2 mile off of the the Flordia shore adjacent to Miami about 1 mile wide and about 5 miles long.  Think of South Beach (the southern 1/2 mile of Miami Beach) as Sodom and Gamora with designer drugs.  

On balance I'd say a very desireable place to live.  

Ratamatatt

Haha... Ratt that was indeed funny.  

Very true about San Francisco. I've been to a lot of the major music cities around the country (Nashville, NYC, Chicago, Portland, Minneapolis, LA, Las Vegas, etc.) and I've never found one to fit my vibe like SF (NYC comes close and Nashville is wonderful). Playing Biscuits & Blues on the corner of Geary and Mason in the heart of downtown last weekend will be a memory to keep, that's for sure.

So I suppose I should brag about my own city a bit just to contribute.

Quality of Life: 8
No crime, tons of things to do, you can be anyone you want and not have any prejudice against you, mostly friendly people. Incredible restaurants, great shopping, nice parks, the beach, etc. The  problem is horrific traffic and parking, and the city can be really dirty in many parts.

Low Cost of Living: 2
It's waaay too expensive here. If you want to buy a house in the city, you're looking at $500,000 to START. I kid you not, many of my friends have gone through it. My g/f lives in a cramped, noisy studio apartment in gang-land and pays $800 rent. To top it off, with the dot-com bust, there are no jobs here.

Outdoor Activities: 10
I don't think there's a better place on the planet in this regard. We're right on the ocean (I live a few blocks down from Chris Isaak's surf spot of choice). You can walk out your door and suddenly be on a hike in the woods. We have the Sierra Nevada a 3-hour drive away. It's a mild climate. People love the outdoors so there are always new measures protecting wildnerness and building new trails. Rock climbing, kayaking, bike trails, etc, etc.

Good Nightlife: 9
You can find everything here. Every type of music, theatre, movies. A wide variety of venues from stadiums to major clubs to intimate coffee houses. The only problem is parking and high cost of events.

Good Music Scene: 5
Answered a bit with the above in terms of appreciation, but as a musician, it's pretty rough. Lots of different types of music to see. But there isn't any kind of scene or movement. The dot-commies destroyed the creative music scene by buying out rehearsal space leases. It hasn't improved since that all collapsed. Making matters worse, there aren't any major studios here. The 3 big ones have all fallen on hard times. Not much broadcasting is done here, so no jingle work. The best option here is the cover scene, in terms of making a living at it.

A Relatively Liberal Young Vibe: 10
We're the capital of the world in this regard, I think. There are lots of young people with an overwhelming preponderance of liberals. Haight/Ashbury is a bike ride away for me and hasn't changed in 30 years. Above all, I love the fact that there are so many freaks here. I walk out the door and I'll always see at least one thing I've never seen before in my life.

Having said all that, I still think I need to get out of here. The cost of living is just too astronomically high. And when it comes to work, whether it's music or job potential, it's pretty much dead.

I hate anywhere in California.

Too fru fru for me.

no, the cop is the one asking me if it was gang related and did I speak english.