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Atlanta is second to maybe only LA in terms of how bad the traffic gets. Neighborhood streets backed up with highway traffic bad. Definitely not the place to look if cars stress you out like they do for me. On the bright side living there disillusioned me about American cities and now I live happily car free in Tokyo :)
Not a worry if you wfh and get most stuff delivered.
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Really appreciate this reply, I will bump Lisboa in my mental ranking then!
Alas, if you consider Sydney winters too cold to bear, then you'll probably have a bad time in Lisbon too. Sydney is not only warmer on average, but also much less prone to cold spells (not that cold spells are common in Lisbon, but they certainly occur more frequently: the last time it snowed in Sydney was 1836; the last time it snowed in Lisbon was 2006). I think the climate you're looking for is more in line with…
Pros for Austin:
* It definitely meets your first 2 goals of having a warm climate and a good tech scene.
* I would describe Austin as moderately diverse. Not as much as SF, NYC, or Houston, but it has some things going for it. A lot of people are moving there from out of state, so it's growing a lot. There's great fusion food, especially if you like Mexican food, and it has the 3rd highest rate of LGBTQ people in the country. Despite being in Texas, the cities here are tolerant and diverse.
* Great music scene and festivals.
* Fun summer activities, like tubing down nearby rivers.
* It would probably be a good place to raise a family, as it has some really nice neighborhoods and decent schools.
* You have a lot to do if you'd like to get out of the city. Fredericksburg for German restaurants/culture and Texas wine country, Corpus Christi and North Padre Island for long weekend beach trips, San Antonio for very good Mexican food, Fiesta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_San_Antonio), or seeing the Riverwalk or historic missions. I live in San Antonio, for reference.
* I'm not super familiar with the parks and trails, but I think they are good, if you enjoy cycling or running. The Austin Marathon is a blast.
Cons:
* It is car centric, and the traffic isn't great. However, a lot of people bike, so you could arrange it so that your work and errands are within a bicycle commute. I would definitely have a car for getting around elsewhere, though.
* Cost of living is high, but tech salaries cover that. It's not to the level of cities like NYC or SF, though, and I think it's mainly limited to housing.
* It is Texas, so there are certain regressive state policies, like a recent declaration from the attorney general attempting to criminalizing gender affirming healthcare for trans youth. A lot of these get challenged in court and thrown out, but it is something to consider.
Good luck with your decision! Lisbon or anywhere in Spain sound amazing, too.
In the US: Miami,Atlanta, Houston minus #4. Is there a city outside of Northeast that isn't car centric? "Actually diverse" is a tall order. Maybe a handful of cities fit that globally imo: in addition to the list above, nyc and I don't know, can't think of any but I am sure they exist.
Like Scottish in UK, they have a peculiar way to speak Spanish and all the common nuissances of being in a big city, but you will be dealing with just one language (Valencia and Barcelona speak two at the same time) and should be cheaper to live than both. Andalucía has a lot to offer in terms of gorgeous nature, culture (ancient mix of jew, muslim and christian heritages and links with America) and great food. Many good beaches at a reasonable distance and connected with Madrid by fast train AVE (2 hours 30 min) 15 times a day or so.
The climate in summer is a little hot to me but if you live in Australia shouldn't be much different. Similar range of temperatures than Brisbane but less humid.
My main concern would be the tech scene. Barcelona/Madrid are unbeatable in that.
It has some tech scene, would love to have someone comment on this.
80%+ of Dubai are expats so it is probably diverse.
Its a bit car centric though with only one metro line.
Barcelona has gone to shit in the past couple of years, it’s gone from a relatively safe city to one where it’s commonplace for knife-wielding gangs to rob your car in the stoplights. Pre-covid, it was a wonderful place to live (although outside of restaurants customer service is non-existent)
Hmm I don't agree, really, and I live in BCN, for 5 years now. People living here twice as long tell me how bad it was in the early 2000s, and it's nowhere like that today. There's pickpocketing, sure, but it's not at all the hellhole you describe, seriously. Not sure where you got that from.
>There's pickpocketing, sure, but it's not at all the hellhole you describe, seriously. Not sure where you got that from.
I’ve been here for just over a week, in that time I’ve been robbed twice. Once by a knife-wielding gang that slashed my tires as I was driving
My friends in the Mossos tell me that this is has all become super common after COVID, before such attacks would’ve been unheard of. Pretty much all of my local friends agree that everything has gone to shit after COVID bankrupted half the city.
It might be simple demographic differences leading us to experience this differently. Of course I’m more likely to be targeted driving a newish S-class than the guy in a Dacia, but this wasn’t something you had to worry about before.