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One American City...

177
PeteyPablo

...to set up camp for the rest of your life. To live and work. What would it be and why?

 
May 9, 05 4:59 pm
PeteyPablo

what's your criteria? affordability? culture? ability to build? fast pace? slow pace? weather? what fundamental parts of the place makes a city seem most appealing to you? what do you need out of a place?

May 9, 05 5:13 pm  · 
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FRO

not a city, for me.

a good community, with a good city within 3-5 hours

May 10, 05 12:12 pm  · 
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le bossman

our job as architects is to build cities of light

May 10, 05 12:18 pm  · 
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FRO

sorry, I guess nobody told me...

May 10, 05 12:36 pm  · 
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heterarch

of places i've got first experience with -
work: nyc
live: outer banks (or banx if you prefer it that way)

of places i have no first hand experience with but have always thought would be a great place to live -
seattle or portland

i don't know why, but i'm instinctively drawn to mountains and oceans. living in indiana all these years has felt sort of like drowning in a dark room to me.

May 10, 05 1:44 pm  · 
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e

seattle is a beautiful place. do a search on past threads for what ppl have to say about it and other cities you are considering.

May 10, 05 2:01 pm  · 
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fro9k: well I got the place for you: Northampton, MA. Great community with New York and Boston close by.

May 10, 05 2:38 pm  · 
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FRO

pix- except my cognitive map of the US shows one big city from Boston to Richmond...

I just don't like people enough to be that close to that many of them all the time.

May 10, 05 3:25 pm  · 
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noel

seattle will be it. or maybe smaller satellite town around it. got the sea and mountain...what else would you ask for?

May 10, 05 3:36 pm  · 
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e

and portland and vancouver within a 3 hour drive.

May 10, 05 3:44 pm  · 
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ether

my list thus far:

montpellier, vt
burlington, vt
charlottesville, va
ashville, nc
providence, ri
raleigh, nc

criteria include being close to a university that has an architecture program. a community that is involved in and supports the arts in some way. would like to be close to some body of water be it ocean, river, lake or tarn. mountains or some sort of topographical change is a must... and definately should get cold in the winter - the husky needs her snow time.

we will be visiting this topic in 2 years when i finish school.

May 10, 05 3:48 pm  · 
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noel

e

true dat!

May 10, 05 4:02 pm  · 
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optimk

Minneapolis.

And this is why:





link

link

link

May 10, 05 4:27 pm  · 
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PeteyPablo

ether,
I like all of those places very much but it seems like your criteria is finding a balance between a couple of things. Would you not regret being in a thriving arts community? Not finding the best possible place for that specific thing? This is one of the biggest things I grapple with, is there an energy for making and creating, a culture of it in those places that satisfies you? Or is it just watered down version?

May 10, 05 4:32 pm  · 
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optimk

yep

May 10, 05 4:34 pm  · 
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chupacabra

Heh, I am good friends with the AA boys. Didn't think there would be many poster art fans on an Arch site.

Good creative energy in Minneapolis from comics to printing etc.

I still love Austin, Texas. Have also enjoyed Boston, L.A., New Orleans, and Houston. The nice thing about the larger cities is the accessibility to resources and the range of inspiration. Where Austin is green and cozy, it lacks in the Art and resources of a Houston, L.A., Minneapolis or Boston.

That said, I am usually doing fine wherever I am.

May 10, 05 4:40 pm  · 
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optimk

Austin has a rockin' music scene.

May 10, 05 4:44 pm  · 
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chupacabra

I grew up there and co-started factor27, a design / poster group there that recently broke up. There is a great music scene and a good graphic design / digital media scene as well, but the architecture is lacking...it is slowly changing though.

May 10, 05 4:47 pm  · 
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"Didn't think there would be many poster art fans on an Arch site."

you're kidding, right? I'd be surprised if there wasn't poster art fans.
when I was getting ready to graduate last year, the person in charge of helping with job placement told me that I should go to Minneapolis because although its cold I'd probably fit in and be happy there. never really looked into it, kinda wish I did.

May 10, 05 4:55 pm  · 
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stephanie

doesn't minneapolis have a pretty strong music scene as well?

May 10, 05 5:05 pm  · 
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optimk

Mpls rules becuase it has a total creative culture. My current job is for a pizza restaurant, where i am the marketing coordinator. I have done so much cool work:





May 10, 05 5:34 pm  · 
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optimk

Yeah Mpls has a rockin' music scene. Hip-hop, punk, jazz, you name it.
All the arts with the that typical modestness that comes from the midwest.

As slug from atmosphere says, "if you can drink tapwater and breath the air say sssh."

May 10, 05 5:39 pm  · 
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FRO

OK, cool I'll meet you all there!

Until now all I knew about Minneapolis was that the General fire truck factory is there.

May 10, 05 5:40 pm  · 
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stephanie

when i tell people i am from idaho they say "oh ho ho you's gots lots o' potatoes there!" but i don't ever seen potatoes where i live, and never really noticed fields while driving from the panhandle to the midsection of the state, and being a native washingtonian, i know that WA exports more potatoes than idaho....anyway...when i tell people that i'm interested in moving somewhere like the minneapolis/st. paul area they say "oh but it's so cold there"...is that really true, or is it like the potatoes?

May 10, 05 5:49 pm  · 
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optimk

Its cold for in January and February, but so is NYC and Chicago. The spring, summer and fall are wonderfull. Plus we had temps in the 80's during the end of march.

May 10, 05 5:55 pm  · 
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chupacabra

optimk, nice poster - do you print your own posters?

screenprinting (serigraph printing) is a great medium to work in.


Idaho...gorgeous...the snake river and the sawtooth mountains are amazing to disapear in to.

May 10, 05 5:56 pm  · 
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stephanie

that is good to hear, i could deal with a couple of months of cold.

idaho is pretty. i'm looking forward to running a relay race through the sawtooths in a month.

but is lacking on the diversity scale of culture...i need out of here.

though i would give boise some thumbs up on community and proximity to larger cities

May 10, 05 6:05 pm  · 
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optimk

I don't print my own, but there is no shortage of local small time screen printers in town. We also have a couple wicked awesome letterpress printers.

May 10, 05 6:05 pm  · 
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optimk

Minneapolis is pretty inexpensice as well. Lots of nice apartments close to downtown. St' Paul is even cheaper, but less of a cool city than Mpls.

May 10, 05 6:08 pm  · 
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optimk

and lots of sweet jobs that pay well, and where you can wear t-shirt and jeans to work.

May 10, 05 6:10 pm  · 
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stephanie

how long have you lived there optimk?

May 10, 05 6:20 pm  · 
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Ms Beary

i drive up to mpls for shows - good music for around here. i would live there. yes, it's cold, but isn't idaho?

May 10, 05 6:31 pm  · 
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stephanie

idaho is cold. but i don't live in the actual mountains, which is kind of what i was getting at...
i mean, it gets cold, but it's not like snowy and freezing every day. which for some reason is how i picture the minneapolis part of the country.

May 10, 05 6:43 pm  · 
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ether

steph, how humid is it out there in idyho? i'd like to think that it's the humidity that would seperate your idea of cold and what you are use to.

i know what you mean petey. it's a pretty involved topic to try and talk about. my girlfriend and i have had dozens of conversations about where we want to end up and why.

i don't really see any of those places as a watered down version of something better. they are for obvious reasons very different places. and no, i would hope i wouldn't regret moving somewhere because it doesn't have the best possible senerio for any one thing. when we move, it will be for a variety of reasons, maybe even some that are out of our control, but i'd like to think that it was our conscious decision that weighed many possibilites throughout the process.

i'm curious about your making and creating comment. can you explain a little more?

May 10, 05 7:46 pm  · 
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road agent

where the streets have no name...

May 10, 05 9:18 pm  · 
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bothands

what's the deal with the same people re-plugging their same cities on this post - enough is enough. I vote for NY, LA, Toronto, SF, Chicago, Miami, Boston, then Seattle, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Houston, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Portland, Atlanta, Phoenix...

May 10, 05 10:25 pm  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! quit telling people about Minneapolis! i thought that was my secret! goddamn it, now everone will want to move there! very hip city, down to earth almost hippie to an extent, all the cool shit that NYC has but with none of the fake, bullshit, i'm better than you, and i know so-and-so and you don't so you suck attitude. the state is great as well and there is alot of good architects, and good architecture going on, it's just that the ones doing it don't want anyone to know about it....

May 10, 05 10:27 pm  · 
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bothands

oh yeah, you asked for ONE, American City...oh well

May 10, 05 10:49 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Petey, why deos it have to be for the rest of your life? If I could go back and do it over again, straight out of school I would have headed to New York. I mean, of course. What could be better while you're still young and unencumbered than to go to the city that is The Center of the Universe?

I have moved every five-ten years and so far so good. Moving is tough, but it's also a fun adventure. For the middle ten years or so of my life I'm currently in the Midwest. For the following decade or so I hope to get into the mountain states, then maybe later back to the true west, where I grew up. But I'd try a trip north or south in there too, if an opportunity presents itself.

My criteria for the location? An opportunity and a place I'm curious about or at least not repulsed at the thought of. Atlanta or Dallas, for for example, hold absolutely no appealfor me. That being said, I've moved around enough to know that any place has a vibe that is particular to it and discovering that vibe is the fun of the move. I imagine I could fall in love with even Atlanta if I approached it with an open mind.

May 10, 05 10:51 pm  · 
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optimk

I think that creativity breeds creativity.

May 10, 05 11:04 pm  · 
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vado retro

i would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere, than in any city in the world.-mr. steve mcqueen

May 11, 05 12:05 am  · 
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trace™

I with Pixelwhore - Northampton, MA is a great little town. Just big enough to have some great restaurants and breweries, but a small town feel. Progressive, with all the colleges surrounding it, so things don't get stagnant.

I'd like a place similar, with proximity to larger cities. There are a few towns near the NY border in CT that I am looking at. Not cheap, but you get Manhattan within 30 minutes and endless mountain bike trails, nice coffee shops, and lots of potentail for good growth.

May 11, 05 12:12 am  · 
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bothands

Maybe this should be another thread, but whenever someone claims their city (Austin, Minneapolis...) has great music I immediately think of which bands/musicians come to mind when any city is mentioned (whether I have them right or not is another matter):

Louisville: Slint

Omaha: The Faint

San Diego: Pearl Jam?, Pinback! and that cool band I forgot...

Austin: Butthole Surfers, Spoon, And You Shall Know Them By the Trail of Dead...

Minneapolis: Prince, Husker Du, Replacements, Minutemen, Atmosphere, is Grandaddy from here?...

LA:
Doors, Beach Boys, Mommas & Poppas, Dick Dale, X, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Jane's Addiction, Rancid, Red Hot Chili Peppers, NiN, NWA crew (Dr Dre/Ice Cube/Easy E), Beck, No Doubt (Orange Co., close enough), Cypress Hill, Jurassic 5, MC 900' Jesus, At The Drive In (from Austin originally?), Electrolux (-- help me out, what about all the LA punk, metal, Sunset Strip stuff, and other rock & rap that I'm forgetting...)

Detroit:
Motown, Iggy & the Stooges, MC5, Kiss, Grand Funk, Ted Nugent, Eminem, Madonna, Kid Rock, White Stripes, 50 Cent, Adult, Juan Atkins, Derik May, Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, Plastikman (ok, Windsor, across river), DJ Assault, Mathew Dear (Ann Arbor?), Dirtbombs, Detroit Cobras, Electric Six,
Black Keys, Von Bondies (Toledo?)...

New York:
Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Television, NY Dolls, Grandmaster Flash, Ramones (Long Island, close enough), Afrika Bambata, Talking Heads (kinda, really Providence RI I guess), Blondie, Sugarhill Gang, Suicide, ESG, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Jay Z, Wu Tang, P Diddy, Neptunes, Company Flow, Fugees, DJ Spooky, Felix da Housecat, Moby, Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem (Brooklyn, close enough), Interpol, Liars, Eels, Kills, Fisherspooner, Scissor Sisters

San Francisco:
Greatfull Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Green Day (Berkeley, close enough), Metallica (Oakland, close enough), Primus, Pavement (Stockton, kinda close enough), Camper Van Beethoven & Comets On Fire (Santa Cruz, close enough), Faith No More & Mr. Bungle, Tupac (originally), Too Short, The Coup, Anticon crew (Dose One, Themselves, Subtle, Boom Bip...), Paris, Goapele, E40, Digital Underground, Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, DJ Shadow (Davis, close enough), Dan the Automator, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Dr. Octagon, Kid 606, Qbert, Invisible Scratch Pickles, Mark Farina, Erase Errata, Matmos, Deerhoof, Swinging Udders, The Donnas, Joanna Newsom

So, for the author of Ephemeral Cities claiming somewhere like SF (in the SFGate article) has lost its impact in the arts, I say BS -- aside from NY, some of the coolest music still comes from the bay...

Boston, Chicago, Seattle, DC and Atlanta would conjure up similar lists.
Feel free to add musicians/cities, or dispute above choices.

May 11, 05 12:23 am  · 
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e

bothands, ppl re-plug the same cities in posts like this because they can only honestly speak from experience. i have lived in d.c., baltimore, san francsico, and seattle. from my experience, i would only plug san fran and seattle. i can't speak of cities that i have no experience of.

i do like your music list.

May 11, 05 1:10 am  · 
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optimk

Minneapolis:

Bob Dylan, Dillinger Four, Prince, Husker Du, Replacements, Minutemen, Atmosphere, Hieruspecs, The Suburbs, The Trashmen (Surf rock band that did that bird is the word song and the intro to pulp fiction), Soul Asylum, Semisonic, The 12 Rods, Babes In Toyland, Run Westy Run, Motion City Soundtrack, Eyedea & Abilities, The jayhawks, Arcwelder, American Head Charge, The Soviettes, Sweet JAP, Happy Apple, The Selby Tigers,
Dan Isreal and the Cultivators, Melodious Owl, The beatifics, Zebulon Pike, The Honeydogs...

PLus we have this sweet radio station thats public radio but plays awesome fm stero alternative radio. Go here and stream it.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/

May 11, 05 1:30 am  · 
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optimk

At the Drive in was from Austin I think.

May 11, 05 1:44 am  · 
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chupacabra

bothands...just for your musical knowledge, Austin is home to a ton more artists than your small list. Also, it is home to tons of smaller artist, almost anyone who is creative there is also in a band. Not big bands like Beck, but smaller bands who play for the love of music itself...that is why there is also an insane poster scene in austin that destroys what L.A. or most other cities 10 times as large have to offer.

Bands you missed:
Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin, 13th Floor Elevators, Daniel Johnston, Stevie Ray Vaughn (from dallas originally but made austin home) Scratch Acid (including main memeber of what became The Jesus Lizard) Windsor for the Derby, Ed Hall, Agony Column, Cherubs, The Gingerbreadmen, Pork, Drain, Skate Nigs, Crust, Euripedes Pants, Johnboy, Sixteen Deluxe, and so many more that I am far too tired to list.

Many expatriates have made Austin home for stints as well...Bob Mould, Al Jourgenson, The Grey Ghost, and more.

Austin also has both KUT and KOOP public radio...not bad for a small lil' hole in the woods in the middle of Texas.

May 11, 05 4:46 am  · 
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lets not forget that The Locust is from San Diego...

trace:
Are you looking at the Danbury/Southbury areas in CT by any chance (they seem to fit your description). I'd also check out Poughkeepsie, NY. The train to NYC runs right through it, there are plenty of smaller towns along RT 9, and Vassar adds to the small college town feel. and Shai Halud is from Poughkeepsie, to continue the music listing.

May 11, 05 5:39 am  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

omaha does have Bright Eyes w/ Conner Oberst[sp]

May 11, 05 6:55 am  · 
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