Different cities, different atmospheres.

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

I'm from Houston (born and raised). Not the largest but the fourth largest city in the US. Well, technically I live in a suburb of Houston. The city in which I live has about 100,000 population. I've found that I don't enjoy the feel of this HUGE metropolis. I have been wanting to experience the feel of a city or town with the following qualities:

-Excellent public transit

-I can walk out my townhouse or flat and have stores, cafés, and trendy lounges in walking distance.

-More of a socially liberal atmosphere

-Educated individuals comprising a majority of the population*

-Fantastic art scene/district.

I've thought of Boulder, CO and DC.

Any suggestions? By the way I don't have an issue with big cities, as you may have believed so when I mentioned Houston being a huge metropolis. I simply don't like how Houston is. You have to DRIVE everywhere. Nothing is walking distance - even in the downtown area.

*Although I would prefer a majority of he population to be educated, I'm open to culturally and socioeconomically diverse areas.

[WereBadger]

Have you considered Oregon? Portland especially would fit well with what you're looking for, I think.

[NedRN]

Austin, Berkley, Bend, Concord NH, Montpelier and Bulington VT. Portland already mentioned. I'd suggest Seattle with all your mentioned qualities but traffic is intense. Santa Monica. Lots of trendy liberal beach cities of Southern Califonia, most with decent buses.

[_zoubisoubisou_]

Portland or seattle

[Bluebolt]

Palo Alto, California (downtown) would meet almost all your requirements except the public transit is either the CalTrain or buses. People bicycle pretty much everywhere around here though. Stanford is in Palo Alto and hires a lot of travelers, needless to say most people are highly educated there. If you're looking for a bigger city San Fran is 40 mins north.

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

I'll give these cities a web search. Already was planning on visiting the west coast this summer, so hopefully I can visit as many of these places as possible.

Thanks everyone!

[8-ball, BSN]

Does it need to be a warm city because Chicago comes to mind and Washington DC they have great mass transit.

[bigbearnurse, MSN, RN]

It depends on where you work in the areas you mentioned. You will be driving a lot in DC (even if you live and work in the District, if you want to get anywhere on time). The traffic is freakishly bad. I commute from Arlington to Fairfax. The traffic from Boulder to Denver is rough too especially now that they are working on highways in the area. SF Bay area traffic has gotten pretty gnarly too. If you don't want to drive then: NYC, SF proper, and Chicago. Otherwise fuggidaboutit!