Where to move to in US? (Yes, there's mandolin content!)

[ampyjoe]

Recently, I've been thinking about moving somewhere else in the US (for a year, maybe more). But the US is a big place, and maybe some of you can advise/suggest?

My main criteria (roughly in order):

• Lots of bluegrass jams (see, mandolin content!) - ideally also at least some Irish sessions
• Not too expensive to rent an apartment
• Good internet connection available (Obviously no problem in cities and towns but I'd consider more rural areas)
• Bicycle-friendly
• Not San Francisco!

I live in San Francisco and I think it's one of the nicest places to live in the US. But I thought it might be fun and interesting to live somewhere else for a year - somewhere quite different.

To be honest, I'm not sure I'll get my act together to do this - perhaps your replies will help me get moving!

Kenny

[John Ritchhart]

Asheville, NC

[David Smith]

+1 Asheville

[Amanda Gregg]

Well...if I had such freedom, I'd move to Nashville. In a heartbeat. You'd have to investigate the bike part, though; I'm not sure.

[Clef]

Move to Colorado.

CO has an excellent following of bluegrass music. There are annual bluegrass fests in Durango, Crested Butte, Pagosa Springs and Telluride. I've been to three of the annual CO bluegrass fests so far. There may be more, but these are the ones I'm familiar with.

Bike friendly... If you live in CO, owning a mountain bike is almost a requirement. Fresh air, wide open land, mountains... CO has it all. It's cheap to live if you stay away from a big city.

Having said that, if you are looking for random jams in the street every day, then you need to move to Asheville, NC.

[fatt-dad]

Richmond, Va

f-d

[Potosimando]

Regarding Nashville, I've never been there, but in communicating with Kim Sherman (co-Owner of Cotten Music in Nashville) off-and-on the last few years over a few mandolin transactions, I can say that three of the primary passions in Kim's life appear to be: running Cotten Music, making her own music, and riding her bike. Nashville would seem to be one very-good, bike-friendly, Bluegrass Mecca to spend a year or so...you lucky guy. So get moving Kenny, dog-gone it; we've done our part, so go do yours. Have fun.

[swampy]

Asheville, NC

[Charlieshafer]

It's funny, but most people list a place other than where they live! My son lives in Durango, Colorado, and his little band plays regularly around there. The only problem he says he has is that it's 5 hours from anywhere, no matter where you are. Otherwise, he loves it. And Durango is cycling-crazy, but mountain biking mostly.

I'll stick up for the Northeast. There are a bunch of jams around the shoreline of Connecticut, and our cycling is great. We have crabby New Englanders, which is a refreshing change from the generally pleasant people found elsewhere in the country, and lobsters. Boston is also a hotbed of great Irish/Old-Time and Alt-grass music, and two festivals are close by, Joe Val in the winter, and Mass M.O.C.A in the summer.

[journeybear]

Let's see how Key West stacks up ...

• Lots of bluegrass jams (see, mandolin content!) - ideally also at least some Irish sessions
  
  None. Zilch. Nada. And Irish jams, despite there being three local pubs, seem virtually verboten. Though you could always try starting one. There was a bluegrass "jam" starting up a couple months ago at one of the music shops, co-moderated by the banjo player then in my band. But it was very beginner-oriented - more of a teaching circle than a real jam - and the banjo player has since quit the band amidst much rancor, so I have no idea whether this is still going on. Probably not worth your time and effort anyway. But there might be enough pickers in town to support a jam or two, just a matter of how to get it going.
  
  
• Not too expensive to rent an apartment
  
  Crazy expensive. Right up there with SF. So you should be used to that.
  
  
• Good internet connection available (Obviously no problem in cities and towns but I'd consider more rural areas)
  
  Decent, if somewhat spotty here and there, more for where cell phones and wi-fi are concerned. But this is like a Third World country in some aspects, such as the power going out once a month on the average.
  
  
• Bicycle-friendly
  
  Very much so, despite the drunk drivers and locals with their rolling stops and right turns. There is a hill close to downtown you have to watch out for, but it peaks out at 14' above sea level. The bigger problem is street flooding after brief downpours, which can leave big puddles.
  
  
• Not San Francisco!
  
  OK. But in some ways very like San Francisco. Other than just the one hill.
  

But the weather's pretty nice, most of the time. And there are lots of places to get gigs, with live music every night of the week.

[JeffD]

Wow.

Without prompting my first thought was Asheville NC as well.

Most of the larger cities would have everything on your list to some degree, but you might want to try a smaller city like Asheville, a little over one tenth the size of SF. Just for the contrast.

I go with everything on your list except bicycle, which is just not me. But something to add to your list is pretty scenery. I love mountains, and would not want to live anywhere flat if I could help it. I grew up on the shore. I am done with it, but many many folks like shore living and shore culture.

Something else to think about. I have found that there is a lot of music, participatory music, of all genres, in and around college towns. Lots of Irish sessions, and bluegrass jams, and contra dances, and ukulele ensembles and jazz and blues and .... just everything. If there is a college town less than an hour away, there will be music.

[Marcelyn]

Check out Chattanooga, Tennessee,. I've lived here most my life and am obviously biased, but without a doubt, it meets all your requirements over and above most cities I could think of.
Thanks to the Chattanooga Folk School and other organizations, you can find a bluegrass/old time jam almost every night of the week. I believe the Folk School also hosts a weekly Celtic jam. Every weekend there's an Opry somewhere in town with free performances and lots of jamming in the back rooms. It's easy to find people who enjoy your style of music and meet up for private jams too. During the summer, festivals are just about every weekend. Also, all throughout the summer, there are amazing free outdoor concerts hosted by the city each Friday and Saturday evening.
I think cost of living is fairly low here in comparison to other parts of the country. You could research it, but I've found home and apartment costs pretty reasonable. It's lower than Nashville by a lot. I've lived there too and enjoyed the creativity of that city very much. If you like the big-city feel, that may be more for you
As for a good internet connection--Chattanooga is called the Gig City. Believe it or not, every household has access to an internet speed of a gig per second. I literally switched this year from a national phone carrier's 3 megabits per second to paying half as much for EPB's fiber optics and a whole gig. They say the rest of the country will catch up in ten to fifteen years.
Our walking and bike trails are awesome. There are over eight miles of paved trail all through downtown--you can bike anywhere. The Walnut Street Bridge crosses the Tennessee River and is solely dedicated to pedestrians and bikes. The city commissioned artists all over the country to move here and line the trails with sculptures and art. It's really pretty amazing. There are also lots of trails all around the city. Here's a link to some...
http://www.mapmyride.com/us/chattanooga-tn/
http://www.hamiltontn.gov/tnriverpark/
Can you tell I love it here? There's a lot more too. If you're interested I'd be happy to fill you in.

[John Flynn]

+1 for Richmond VA. Great town, meets all your requirements. My wife and I plan to move there as soon as it's practical for us.

[Tobin]

I can't think of anywhere in Texas that meets your criteria. Only dense urban areas seem to be bike-friendly, but they are pricy places to live. The rural areas tend to have poor internet access, random cell coverage, locals who like to use their big pickup trucks and SUVs to scare cyclists, and of course, bluegrass is not very popular here. These days, thanks to the boom from fracking, even rural housing is expensive and hard to find.

[JeffD]

What about Austin Texas. I have some friends there and I hear good things.

[Mandobart]

Portland Oregon. Most bike friendly city in the US. Close to volcanic peaks (Ranier, Adams, Hood, St Helens), the pacific ocean, the Columbia river gorge, and lots of great music. Cost of living not so cheap, but less than Frisco and most east coast places.

[Richard J]

Minneapolis Minnesota

[Mandobart]

Ampyjoe - What kind of weather are you happiest in? There's a huge climate range here described between Key West and Minneapolis. Both are great places.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I think it's hard to beat San Francisco where you are. It's very bike friendly (at least when I lived there), and lots of great BG musical activities from what I heard, but it's not cheap. However, if you are just looking for a temporary change of scenary as an experience, I'd say do it. I wish I can recommend San Diego: even though we have lots of jams and BG activities, it's not exactly bike friendly, and the cost of living isn't all that low either.

Have you looked at Davis, CA? Its bike friendliness is legendary, but I don't know how much BG activiities can be found there. Personally I'd be very tempted to give Ashville NC, and Nashville TN a try. Whatever you do, pay a visit before making a final decision, and connect with other cafe members locally if you do.

[jaycat]

I would not advise you to move to Boston. Very difficult city for bicycling. Rarely ever hear any bluegrass music. And the rents are astronomical. In fact I'd like to take this opportunity to urge any current residents to head for Asheville, or Austin, or Minneapolis, or Richmond so that if enough if you leave maybe the housing will become more affordable here.

PS -- If it were me, and it were feasible, I'd be in New Orleans faster than you can say "gumbo."

[usqebach]

+1 For Chattanooga.

In addition to all of the music, weather, and cost of living advantages, there is no state income tax!

Of course, if you are now or have aspirations of playing music professionally, then that income tax thingy is kind of a moot point

[Tobin]

What about Austin Texas. I have some friends there and I hear good things.

Austin would meet most of his criteria, except that it's one of the most expensive places to live in Texas. Traffic is horrid there, too. But they do have a wonderful music scene (though bluegrass is not anywhere near the top of the list).

[dorenac]

Colorado!!

[ampyjoe]

Thanks everyone, for your great suggestions.

Somebody asked about my weather preferences - I'm really not to worried about the weather. I've never lived in very cold weather, nor very hot, so that could be new to me, but if everything else looked really good I'd be willing to give it a go.

Also, I'm thinking of this specifically as a period of experiencing another part of the country, so I'd like to be outside California, and probably the west coast too. And, yes, I think a trip to a couple of the places I like the look of would be a necessary first step. Ashville looks like it has quite a lot of what I was thinking would work for me.

I haven't really thought about exactly what a 1 yr move like this would mean, so maybe it'll prove to be more difficult than I think.

But your replies are giving me encouragement to investigate further!

Thanks,

Kenny

[yankees1]

Mountain View, Arkansas