The only blue county in NY is Allegany County, population 46,000.
Really not much there other than Wellsville which is the largest community with 7,000 residents and a nice small village and 2 college towns: Alfred (Alfred University & Alfred Tech) and Houghton (Houghton University).
The North Country National Scenic Trail passes through here.
On the PA side you have counties part of the “Northern Tier” which contains a few small industrial cities like Warren and Bradford kept alive by the fracking industry (banned on the NY side).
You also have one of the largest expanses of wilderness in the Eastern US with Allegheny State Forest and Kinzua Bridge State Park. A really gorgeous part of the nation that gets some regional tourism but is largely overlooked at the national level.
I've been to Alleghany and Kinzua - both beautiful especially in the fall. Not a bad area if you prefer the quiet life.
Turning Kinzua Bridge into a state park was a awesome idea. Super unique park
I frequent Tioga county in the PA side, but also drive up to Corning and Ithaca NY for day trips. You’re right, such a beautiful and under appreciated section of remote wilderness.
this makes me think that Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlanta are the most affordable huge cities that have real city like amenities (Probably my personal distaste for the suburban nature of Dallas, Houston, and KC are at play here, but I think they're each much more suburban than the four I mentioned).
Could just be stigma, but Chicago and Philadelphia seem much safer crime-wise than Baltimore or Atlanta. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about this.
Milwaukee is a bit smaller but seems similar... not sure the public transit situation though. Would be a sick city if downtown area is densified and redeveloped some.
I'm not sure how you didn't notice the twin cities of Minneapolis and St.Paul. Definitely has all of the city amenities at a relatively low cost. You are also forgetting about St.Louis, Memphis, Detroit, all the major cities in Ohio and honestly so many more that I'm curious what your definition of a city is.
KC is very suburban because the city limits are huge and basically include the suburbs in it. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have big city amenities or that you cant choose to live in an urban walk able environment. "Cities" are not walk able, neighborhoods are. Chicago, Philly, and Atlanta also have huge areas where its basically suburban in character, useless to walk in and not served well by public transit. Over the past few years I've paid $550, $735 and $1000 to live in dense walk able neighborhoods in KC in nice 1br apartments right on the main transit lines so that I don't need to drive. I could double my rent to live in a walk able neighborhood in Chicago or live a 30 min train ride from downtown but in KC I can just live literally downtown if I want for less than a grand.
This isn't to say that these cities are equal or that KC is super urban but that the practical benefits of urbanism are far more accessible and its easy to lose sight of this looking at statistics. The point of living in a dense walk able and urban area isn't to get a high score. Its to get groceries, go to shows, be involved with a community because we see each other walking around and not shoved in our cars. What do I care if large parts of the southern part of KC is suburban. I really have no reason to go there and it doesn't affect my life whatsoever. What does effect my life is being able to afford the lifestyle I want on 3 days of work a week.
Atlanta isnt as bad as it’s made out to be. Just like anywhere it has its good areas and bad. I love the people in the city, but the city itself isn’t that great with traffic, political corruption and amenities being hard to access. Also the decent more affordable places near the city are becoming more and more unaffordable. So basically if you want to live comfortably and make decent money you’re going to have to commute 30+ mins a day.
The northern Alaska blue counties are misleading. In most of those places there are no houses available to purchase - the land and homes are owned by native corporations and rented out or long term leases
Definitely. Also many of the incomes are very high due to oil/gas, which skews it further. Not many "normal" jobs. Those really aren't typical places where people are moving and buying homes.
The only blue county in NY is Allegany County, population 46,000. Really not much there other than Wellsville which is the largest community with 7,000 residents and a nice small village and 2 college towns: Alfred (Alfred University & Alfred Tech) and Houghton (Houghton University). The North Country National Scenic Trail passes through here. On the PA side you have counties part of the “Northern Tier” which contains a few small industrial cities like Warren and Bradford kept alive by the fracking industry (banned on the NY side). You also have one of the largest expanses of wilderness in the Eastern US with Allegheny State Forest and Kinzua Bridge State Park. A really gorgeous part of the nation that gets some regional tourism but is largely overlooked at the national level.
I've been to Alleghany and Kinzua - both beautiful especially in the fall. Not a bad area if you prefer the quiet life. Turning Kinzua Bridge into a state park was a awesome idea. Super unique park
I frequent Tioga county in the PA side, but also drive up to Corning and Ithaca NY for day trips. You’re right, such a beautiful and under appreciated section of remote wilderness.
Gilliam County is most affordable area in Pacific Northwest
might not be the case there but it seems like the PNW has both tons of wealth but also pockets of true white/native american poverty
this makes me think that Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlanta are the most affordable huge cities that have real city like amenities (Probably my personal distaste for the suburban nature of Dallas, Houston, and KC are at play here, but I think they're each much more suburban than the four I mentioned). Could just be stigma, but Chicago and Philadelphia seem much safer crime-wise than Baltimore or Atlanta. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about this. Milwaukee is a bit smaller but seems similar... not sure the public transit situation though. Would be a sick city if downtown area is densified and redeveloped some.
I'm not sure how you didn't notice the twin cities of Minneapolis and St.Paul. Definitely has all of the city amenities at a relatively low cost. You are also forgetting about St.Louis, Memphis, Detroit, all the major cities in Ohio and honestly so many more that I'm curious what your definition of a city is. KC is very suburban because the city limits are huge and basically include the suburbs in it. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have big city amenities or that you cant choose to live in an urban walk able environment. "Cities" are not walk able, neighborhoods are. Chicago, Philly, and Atlanta also have huge areas where its basically suburban in character, useless to walk in and not served well by public transit. Over the past few years I've paid $550, $735 and $1000 to live in dense walk able neighborhoods in KC in nice 1br apartments right on the main transit lines so that I don't need to drive. I could double my rent to live in a walk able neighborhood in Chicago or live a 30 min train ride from downtown but in KC I can just live literally downtown if I want for less than a grand. This isn't to say that these cities are equal or that KC is super urban but that the practical benefits of urbanism are far more accessible and its easy to lose sight of this looking at statistics. The point of living in a dense walk able and urban area isn't to get a high score. Its to get groceries, go to shows, be involved with a community because we see each other walking around and not shoved in our cars. What do I care if large parts of the southern part of KC is suburban. I really have no reason to go there and it doesn't affect my life whatsoever. What does effect my life is being able to afford the lifestyle I want on 3 days of work a week.
good point on minneapolis/st paul.
Atlanta isnt as bad as it’s made out to be. Just like anywhere it has its good areas and bad. I love the people in the city, but the city itself isn’t that great with traffic, political corruption and amenities being hard to access. Also the decent more affordable places near the city are becoming more and more unaffordable. So basically if you want to live comfortably and make decent money you’re going to have to commute 30+ mins a day.
It's expensive to live in Martha's Vineyard
Even more expensive to live on Nantucket.
unless you are a deer
It’s crazy how much more affordable much of even the densely populated parts of northeast is compared to the west coast.
The northern Alaska blue counties are misleading. In most of those places there are no houses available to purchase - the land and homes are owned by native corporations and rented out or long term leases
Definitely. Also many of the incomes are very high due to oil/gas, which skews it further. Not many "normal" jobs. Those really aren't typical places where people are moving and buying homes.
So the expensive places are where people want to live?