Wanting to move to new gaming city

[diaglo]

Atlanta sucks for just about each of those categories. No jobs, and due to its de-centralized nature there isn't a strong gaming community in any particular area. You can get cheap houses, but you wind up living out in the sticks.

yeah, you really need a car to get to most of the stuff. and Hotlanta traffic is in the top 2 for the worst in the US. we are in the top 1 for most miles driven per driver.

and as for jobs they have a bunch available here...but it depends on your field. mostly unskilled laborers/ construction.

as for buying a house..Felon is right on. you can get one, but you are further out.

edit: in the gaming department...many groups exist...but most play the 2000ed or 3.11ed for Workgroups or Montes AU or...basically i gotta agree with Felon you can't find decent gamers here either.

 

[GothVader]

I will second Kalamazoo, Michigan. In a town of 250,000 we have 3 game shops, a decent sized convention, and a college gaming club. I know of several (including myself) people in the area that freelance for the industry.

Housing costs are low. The only problem might be the job. What type of position are you looking for?

 

[AlphaOmega]

The people here are also very nice and friendly.

"Tennessee, Tennessee, There're ain't no place that I'd rather be..." -Jerry Garcia

Umm... where were you when I lived there??? Oh i see... middle TN... well I lived in Memphis for about 18 months and hated it... worst place in America, IMO.

I've lived in/around 3 major cities in my 28 years... Cleveland, Memphis, and Seattle.

But to answer your question I wouldn't move to any city based on gaming prospects... you're bound to find someone. Housing costs and job offers should be on the top of your priority list. Gaming gets a decent size of my time but I wouldn't let it dictate where I lived.

 

[SinisterMinister]

I currently live in DC, which fits the bill for everything you describe save low housing costs.

The major metro area I'd recommend is the one I'm going to be relocating to in a couple of years: Tampa. Population over 2 million, lots of job growth, with a cost of living more similar to a small midwestern town than a metro area with three professional sports teams.

It seems from the Gamers finding Gamers forums I frequent that there is a good amount of activity down there as well.

 

[der_kluge]

I moved to Kansas City from Northwest Arkansas.

While I like KC, it's not so great on the housing costs (though some of the suburbs way outside city limits aren't so bad).

But NW Arkansas is a great place to live. It's in the top 10 of growing communities, has the Wal-Mart headquarters - so there is always plenty of work opportunities, and tons of support businesses - businesses that exist solely because Wal-Mart is there. But Fayetteville - nearby, has the UofA, and tons of college students. There aren't many decent game stores, but I suspect there are plenty of gamers in that area, and they even have their own yearly convention called Razorbattles, which is small, but decent. It's not terribly far from Fort Smith which also has a convention, and Branson, MO, which has one as well.

And houses are cheap, and Arkansas is cheap. I sold the house I had there several years ago - a modest 3 bedroom 1700sq-ft ranch house for $70k.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Dallas is a nice urban area, and was just rated the #1 emerging homes market in the country. There are tons of gamers here, local anime and scifi conventions, and you can have an urban, suburban, or rural lifestyle all within range of each other. The job market is excellent here at the moment as well.

P.S. Do we get a referral bonus?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I currently live in DC, which fits the bill for everything you describe save low housing costs.

This has been my experience as well. There's also a wealth of cultural opportunities.

For housing/empolyment you could look past the greenway near Dullus airport. There's lots of computer companies along I-66 and of course government/law jobs a-go-go.

I lived in Rosslyn for 8 years. Loved it. Very, very, very, very small appartment, but there was so much to do that I never really noticed.

 

[Garmorn]

Austin housing is getting expensive. It now starts around $90k with most near $150, but we have a very large if introverted gaming community. It supports 3 major gaming stores and several small ones. Two of the stores (Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair, Nort) Are making enough money to advertise on TV occanionaly. Now employment opportunities are high tech, goverment, collage (have several here) or manafacturing high tech (currently in a slum). Oh, and a good place to start in the music industry if you are intrested.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Austin housing is getting expensive. It now starts around $90k with most near $150

Hehe, this is not considered expensive anywhere but Austin.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Umm... where were you when I lived there??? Oh i see... middle TN... well I lived in Memphis for about 18 months and hated it... worst place in America, IMO.

Yeah, Memphis is a different story.