Richard Florida’s list of best places to live

Speaking from personal experience, I cannot agree with Richard Florida more that where you live affects your life tremendously. To borrow that famous quote from the movie Batman Begins: “It’s not who you are underneath, but where you live that defines you“.

For two years my friend has been trying to get me move to San Francisco. And the temptation does run high. At some points he said:”You really should move. When you are in San Francisco or other big cities, even your face is lightening up.” 

He has his point.

Actually, being rather picky, I am not totally into all big cities. In “Who’s Your City? How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life”, a new book by Richard Florida, he outlined a list of cities that are best to live. So I made a quick note from an in-flight magazine that discussed about this book. There are probably many lists to tell you where to live, but there is reason that I favor his list.

Overall Best Places for Mid-Career Professionals (single or married, without children, ages 30-44)
Large regions: San Jose, CA, Minneapolis, Austin, San Diego, Denver
Medium-size regions: Stamford, CT, Portland, ME, Madison, WI, Omaha, NE, Des Monies, IA
Small regions: Durham, NC, Provo, UT, Reno, NV, Fayetteville, AR, Boulder, CO

Overall Best Places for Empty-Nesters (ages 45-64)
Large regions: San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis, Hartford, CT
Medium-size regions: Stamford, CT, Portland, ME, Madison, WI, Honolulu, HI, Rochester, NY
Small regions: Boulder, CO, Trenton, NJ, Fort Collins, CO, Santa Rosa, CA, Norwich, CT

No wonder each time I fly to Minneapolis, there is always this pleasant feeling all over me…