What is the dopest American city to live in?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:05 pm

Hey man, i was serious about Trenton. uhhhh, riiiiiight.

but for the requirements listed by the poster, i'd have to vote for the SF bay too. Dang, i won't be far behind. (delayed by finances, unfortunately)

.lm.

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:15 pm

leisuremuffin wrote:Hey man, i was serious about Trenton.

The old NJ joke is that the other side of the bridge says "The World Excretes, Trenton Eats" which is kinda sad because it is the capital of the state, historic too.

PLB · Post by **PLB** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:28 pm

i'm surprised LA is getting dissed on so much. i haven't been there for a few years but it's one of the cities i've been in that had a very strong vibe that i can't quite forget. i'll be making my way back there again to live at some point in my life....

in la people generally have that great cali vibe (plenty of weirdos too but where are there not weirdos?). sitting in a side street cafe in hollywood on a summer evening, the old buildings, a great liberal kind of freedom - there is definitely a buzz in LA and not everyone hates it there.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:40 pm

PLB - yeah, there's no one answer to the vibe of a city.
So what about SLC? I've known people from there, it's a pretty diverse area, from the mormons to everyone else to the mountain hippies, you like it?

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:46 pm

yeah, move to portland or seattle if you want to think about killing yourself because of the incessant gloom/fog/rain. (people always defend portland and seattle by pointing out that summers are lovely for about a month or so --- ummmmm, denver's lovely like that about 300 days year, and we can see our mountains, thx (you won't believe it, but denver is almost exactly portland, down to the way the cities are layed out, the vibe, with more sun, no damp).)

that said, as a musician, you really can't go wrong with LA or nyc. i mean, that's where the industry is in the US, plus you get film/games, which provide lots of work. between the 2, i'd likely pick LA, because it's more liveable on less money and has way better weather. but everyone should live in nyc at least for a year or so, and i think that's doubly true for musicians.

ek · Post by ek » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:54 pm

Well from someone who currently lives in Phoenix I would say it's really not that bad here. Electronic music scene is practically DJs only, which is the one thing that may help people like us, if your interested in playing original electronic music live.

There is a decent sized art community / indie community that alot of my friends participate in, but not really my bag too much. First Fridays of every month youll find some peeps walking around downtown from independently owned gallery to gallery, sometimes they have some cool music but its generally shitty indie rock bands...

We can get some drugs, but i haven't seen (or really looked) for pure anything in a grip. The good dank we get probably comes mostly from cali, but the prices are roughly the same.

Lets seeeeeeee... Phoenix isnt horrible it just really doesnt have alot to offer... not many dope people even tour here despite how close we are to cali...

Its not hard to find a job, cost of living is way cheaper.

Id rather be here than some shitty mid-western state, but if your looking for a liberal place where shit is constantly popping off... phoenix isnt the place.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:54 pm

dj superflat wrote:we can see our mountains

When the smog isn't blocking the view.

November 2002

Adonis · Post by **Adonis** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:54 pm

I don't defend the summers like that - they are nice

put it this way

if you're into Snowboarding there's no better mountain in the world then Mt. Baker

a record 9 feet in 8 days last week - insane

summers are nice, you can take superflats word for it someone elses - if you play golf you can take advantage of the 3 or 4 months of niceness then go snowboarding

if you're into staying a making beats the winters and falls are for you

but if you have a history of suicide in your family or alcohol abuse - don't move here

Portlands pretty dope though - they have a really goos strip club circuit and adult entertainment is huge

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:19 pm

don't get me wrong, if you can handle the rain -- and some people like it, find it cozy -- then portland and seattle rock. but if you need sun, are susceptible to SAD, whatever, you will likely be miserable in either portland or seattle (though seattle's less bad). there's a reason estimates of winter depression amonst the population of (e.g.) portland range as high as 40%. i raise this because i know lots of musicians who moved to portland in the late 90s when its scene was rocking and left because they couldn't handle the weather (not that nyc or much of the east coast is much better).

i also don't think either portland or seattle compares to SF in terms of sheer city beautiful living, though SF's more crowded and expensive. (SF is about the only city in the US that, like london, paris, rome, barcelona, every time i visit, i think why don't i live here.)

(re tonedeft's picture, that's taken from beyond aurora -- almost anywhere in downtown, you look west, you see mountains, lots of them (views of hood from portland can be great, but are rare).)

Adonis · Post by **Adonis** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:28 pm

dj superflat wrote: i also don't think either portland or seattle compares to SF in terms of sheer city beautiful living, though SF's more crowded and expensive. (SF is about the only city in the US that, like london, paris, rome, barcelona, every time i visit, i think why don't i live here.)

(re tonedeft's picture, that's taken from beyond aurora -- almost anywhere in downtown, you look west, you see mountains, lots of them (views of hood from portland can be great, but are rare).)

it would be unfair for me to give away some of the cool shit we see everyday (rain or shine)

I think I've said to much about Seattle ;)

and other seattlites will kill me

but the view of the Space Needle with Downtown and Mt. Rainier as a back drop is something else

check out the picture on myspace profile - that's Mt. Rainier in background

shit, the coffee people are coming for me

gotta go, don't move here

peace

a

D K · Post by **D K** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:34 pm

i live in d.c., been wanting to move for 23 years...
instead, i've traded it for a career as a touring musician/engineer,
and i get to see and experience the good/great parts of all your cities.
it's worth a try.

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 8:52 pm

i found that, in touring, you tend to see the worst parts of cities. the denny's, the part of town with the civic/hockey arena, the super8, maybe the equivalent of a meatpacking district where there's enough space for a hall. not true of all towns (i suppose the location of the new 9:30 is marginally interesting, even if at the very border of what you'd want to see on U st.), and obviously depends on where you play. but particularly in the mid- and southwest, a lot of places i've played weren't in the part of town you'd want to see. (i also found that you're often only in town for a few hours, and most of it you spend at the hall soundchecking/playing pool.)

but i can understand wanting to leave DC (i grew up there, lived there on and off for years).

Chingy · Post by **Chingy** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:58 pm

If you like the outdoors (hiking, camping, skiing), you may like Seattle. Those things are fun, but they don't make up for the fact that it's a tiny little city nearly devoid of the cultural attractions of bigger cities. Maybe it's because I grew up in the D.C. metro area...

Read this: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacifi ... cover.html
The sad thing is that it's true and it'll seep into transplants.

Move to London.

C

Adonis · Post by **Adonis** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:17 pm

That's pretty spot on!!!

I've lived here since I was 3 (a couple years in Hawaii when I was 10) but I pretty much grew up in Seattle and can relate to the article - I like it

peace

a

D K · Post by **D K** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:35 pm

dj superflat wrote:i found that, in touring, you tend to see the worst parts of cities. the denny's, the part of town with the civic/hockey arena, the super8, maybe the equivalent of a meatpacking district where there's enough space for a hall. not true of all towns (i suppose the location of the new 9:30 is marginally interesting, even if at the very border of what you'd want to see on U st.), and obviously depends on where you play. but particularly in the mid- and southwest, a lot of places i've played weren't in the part of town you'd want to see. (i also found that you're often only in town for a few hours, and most of it you spend at the hall soundchecking/playing pool.)

well, not all tours have to be crap. it's up to you, really...
punk rock touring was fun when i was 18 almost 20 years ago.
you can choose not to play lousy places, eat bad food, and sit on your ass and drink.
anyway, i'm particularly interested in
van couver bc myself, canada actually seems to have an audience for electronic music...
any one have any experience there to share?