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City Shopping
Nov. 9th, 2021 10:01 amOne of my favorite things to do when I was touring in musicals was to city shop (consider each city as a potential place to live after I got off the road). The itineraries of the seven national tours in which I was a cast member took me to all of the major cities and states in the US and some provinces in Canada. (I use the word "major" loosely. Some mid-size cities have a tradition of hosting professional theater productions. For instance, Albany NY, Savannah, Ga or Costa Mesa, CA are not major cities, but they are cities with historic theaters or newer performing arts centers.) The one city we didn't play was Albuquerque, NM; the only state was Alaska. (Alaska remains the only state I've never been.)
To entertain myself on tour, I would try to take in what the best traits of each city were: Did they have beautiful architecture? A valued sense of history? Great restaurants? What drove the economy? What were the sights to see? What did I think of the climate? Could I live there? I actually ranked the cities in several categories as well as my tour housing in that particular market. I still have my meticiulous score sheets somewhere.
Minneapolis, Seattle and Boston were at the top of my lists. Other cities that ranked at the top of my highly subjective scoring system were: Toronto, Ontario, Portland, OR, Vancouver, BC, Columbus, OH, Orlando FL, Washington, DC Metro and Little Rock, Arkansas. Sometimes, the friendships of people I knew in those cities were the deciding factor in a higher score. In creating a "City-Shopping" list, when weighing pros and cons, having a built-in network of friendships in a place was a key factor in decision-making.
My scoring ranked cities with warm climates lower than four-season cities. The only warm-weather cities that scored high in my rankings were San Diego, CA, New Orleans, LA and Austin, TX. Each of these also had strong negatives, particularly cost of living or crime. Cities like San Francisco or New Orleans are delightful to visit, but were not candidates for relocation ... You've got to save some cities as escapes.
My most recent tour (Evita) closed in Feb. 2006. I don't know if I have another tour in my future, but I haven't closed that door. I've tried living in Seattle and Austin, Texas since I left the road. I live in Minneapolis. I've kept my mind open to living in Europe. My criteria hasn't changed much, with affordablitiy and friendships the prime factors in a decision.
What made me reflect on this topic? Over the weekend, I had the great pleasure of seeing Tim Learmont, aka
apparentparadox and his husband Mark. They've spent a month in Minneapolis city shopping, trying to glean whether they want to make a move away from Ashland, OR, their long time home. (Climate migration is becoming a reality for more and more people.) Once Tim, Mark and their canine companion Buddy return to Ashland, they are planning a similar exploration of the Puget Sound region. It was wonderful to see them in person (it had been five years). I wish them all the best as they continue their city-shopping!
Readers, I'm curious:
To entertain myself on tour, I would try to take in what the best traits of each city were: Did they have beautiful architecture? A valued sense of history? Great restaurants? What drove the economy? What were the sights to see? What did I think of the climate? Could I live there? I actually ranked the cities in several categories as well as my tour housing in that particular market. I still have my meticiulous score sheets somewhere.
Minneapolis, Seattle and Boston were at the top of my lists. Other cities that ranked at the top of my highly subjective scoring system were: Toronto, Ontario, Portland, OR, Vancouver, BC, Columbus, OH, Orlando FL, Washington, DC Metro and Little Rock, Arkansas. Sometimes, the friendships of people I knew in those cities were the deciding factor in a higher score. In creating a "City-Shopping" list, when weighing pros and cons, having a built-in network of friendships in a place was a key factor in decision-making.
My scoring ranked cities with warm climates lower than four-season cities. The only warm-weather cities that scored high in my rankings were San Diego, CA, New Orleans, LA and Austin, TX. Each of these also had strong negatives, particularly cost of living or crime. Cities like San Francisco or New Orleans are delightful to visit, but were not candidates for relocation ... You've got to save some cities as escapes.
My most recent tour (Evita) closed in Feb. 2006. I don't know if I have another tour in my future, but I haven't closed that door. I've tried living in Seattle and Austin, Texas since I left the road. I live in Minneapolis. I've kept my mind open to living in Europe. My criteria hasn't changed much, with affordablitiy and friendships the prime factors in a decision.
What made me reflect on this topic? Over the weekend, I had the great pleasure of seeing Tim Learmont, aka
apparentparadox and his husband Mark. They've spent a month in Minneapolis city shopping, trying to glean whether they want to make a move away from Ashland, OR, their long time home. (Climate migration is becoming a reality for more and more people.) Once Tim, Mark and their canine companion Buddy return to Ashland, they are planning a similar exploration of the Puget Sound region. It was wonderful to see them in person (it had been five years). I wish them all the best as they continue their city-shopping!Readers, I'm curious:
- What do you like the most about where you live? What do you disike?
- Do you think you've found your forever home?
- What would make you move?
- What makes you stay?
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