where to move to?

Montreal!

 

San Francisco!

 

If you haven't seen it, forget Memphis. It's just not fertile ground for fledgling musicians.

Jazzbo's SF reco is great........if you can afford the cost of living in SF proper.

X's Canadian reco might be cool. I love everyplace I've been in Canada and I really like the people. I just don't know much about the music scene.

Austin is a happening place. A lot is going on in Phoenix. It's close enough to LA but not so close as to have that incredibly competitive scene.

To see where some action might be, take a look at "Musicians Wanted" ads at places like www.themode.com and www.musician.com . Places with lots of schools like Boston can be good.

 

So let me ammend my previous statement to fit RICKBASS'S unfortunate observation. You see, he's right. It's expensive. I don't just mean kind of pricey, it's incredible. Unless you're making around $75K a year, or preferrably more, forget about buying a house. If you live in SF, sell your car, or plan on paying about $200 a month in parking tickets, (as I do). Also, with a car, plan on people banging it, dinging it, or just using it as a measuring device to parallel park as often as possible. Oh yeah, count on it being run into and broken into. Often.

So, you don't own a car. Excellent. You can almost afford to live here. Now, count on MUNI, (the bus system) being late. Also count on it running slow, and count on 400 other people on the train, (it's designed to fit maybe 75). This is no exaggeration. And on the route I take, they're working on the track, so it's not uncommon for me to have to take 3 different buses/trains to get downtown. If you're taking BART, count on paying A LOT of money. If you're walking, hope you like hills.

Now it's time to find a place to live. The Mission is nice, if you like crime and prostitution. The Tenderloin has "affordable housing" if you like death, dismemberment, crime, drugs, prostitution, and living in fear in a roach-infested, 400sq. ft., piss-covered-stoop, dark, dingy, "studio." Sunset and Richmond are excellent. Slightly more affordable, but it's a $20 cab ride into town, our an hour on the MUNI, and you better like fog, and don't think you can park a vehicle there. Marina is nice, if you own your own Fortune 500 company. Pacific Heights is nice, if you own your own successful corporation. Potrero Hill is great, but good luck finding a place. Noe Valley is fun, and close to downtown, and you can usually find a place, and the Castro is a lot of fun, but break out the checkbook.

Now, traffic is fun. Keep in mind, SF is smaller than Disneyland, it's only about 7 miles across at it's farthest points, but from one end to the other end 7 miles away can take an hour in a car, easy. There's no good time to drive into the city, and no good time to drive out. Watch out for Taxi/right-turn-only lanes while driving, cops love to ticket you.

On the other hand....

excellent music scene, diversity, always somewhere to go, some of the best restaurants in the country, lots and lots of available musicians, music of every genre can be found here, still lots of jobs (if you know where to look), and lots of festivals, parties, events, and culture. Excellent symphony and opera company. Great theater. Plenty of music venues, (Fillmore, Warfield, American Music Hall, Bimbo's, Cafe du Nord, etc.).

 

After reading Jazzbo's description of San Fran, I'm feeling pretty lucky living in Austin.

I think it's a great city, friendly folks, good food, and when the economy isn't in a lull the music scene kicks ass. There's no shortage of great bands, only a shortage in support because of the economy. Still 6th st. fills up on the weekends, not all these people are out for bands though, most are just out for booze. Then there's South by Southwest, one of the largests music and film festivals in America, which is when 6th st. is filled with not only music fans, but label folk as well. The buildings are beautiful especially on the UT campus, and there are trees everywhere.

And then there's the women, they are at least twice as beautiful as the most attractive women from where I moved from. And they travel in packs, it's quite common to see groups amazingly attractive women dressed up to go down to 6th. How they find one another and group together still boggles my mind.

 

I too agree with NAILS about livin' in Austin. Kinda has the same SF vibe jazzbo was talking about but on a smaller scale (a much smaller city).

 

Nails and Fixer - I think what throws some people off about Austin is they think, "Oh, flat, dusty, Texas.....hot as hell in summer and rubes in pickup trucks with cases of beer and gunracks."

One of the reasons I mentioned it is because it's green, has hills. And as for Bobby Don and Leroy Bob in the truck, Austin has a substantial number of computer tech companies....friendly hookers on 6th Street, too!

 

Boston, if you can afford the cost of living here.
Excellent schools, good music scene.

 

rickbass,

If you want to see "flat dusty Texas" go to West Texas, that's where I used to live. Building more than 1 story high are rare, and you can always see for miles and miles around. Not an enjoyable place for a musician of any kind, aside from hobbyist country boys. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just I don't play country and music is more than a hobby to me.

But Austin is the polar opposite. It is hot in the summer still, but haven't seen a pickup with some guy riding in the back and a gun rack since I moved. Computer companies are around, but aren't doing so hot at the moment. AMD laid off a few thousand, and Fixer probably knows of the abandoned Intel building downtown.

As for the "female company" down on 6th street.....I won't comment any further than to say "hey're there."

 

Another vote for Boston, we will change you for ever.

 

The music scene here is pretty much close-minded. There is a jazz scene, except only a few people appreciate it. It always seems that anywhere on the east coast seems to have everything.

 

That's a pretty funny joke!

PoT, I disagree. There are plenty of people here who like Jazz...where are you getting YOUR information? I don't know why you'd call the music scene "close-minded"...

 

I've thought of our music scene to be close minded. I never felt that we have been like boston, new york, etc. that has about every style of music. I can't think of any big jazz musicians (well, i mean, big for jazz) that started their career here that had enough support by the locals. Plus, i'm trying to keep people out of the seattle area.

 

Hilarious!


rm - here's some info on Montreal:

WHY STUDY IN MONTREAL?

Montreal ranks among the 20 most important cities in the world. Montreal is a dynamic, modern city, thriving with life. Taking advantage of the latest technologies in all areas of activities, it already lives today the way the world will be tomorrow.

Montreal enjoys a prime geographical location. A short distance from New York, Boston and Chicago which can all be reached in one hour of air travel, Montreal is right at the centre of action.

Montreal shines in all areas of activities. Arts, education, commerce, finance, sports and leisure all play an important role in the life of Montrealers.

Montreal is very cosmopolitan. In this city, however, that means more than just sophistication; it means variety in everything: food, clothing, language, and culture. In addition to French and English, dozens of other languages can be heard every day. The city thus offers a chance to sample this variety and to discover ways of life that they may not have been aware of before.

Montreal has many documentation centres and libraries. Montreal offers its residents all the necessary resources to meet its academic research needs and satisfy its documentation and cultural needs.

Montreal is a vibrant city. World-reknown festivals crowd each others to entertain people: Jazz, cinema, dance, theatre or simply ‘Just for Laughs.’ You can also find all major North-American sports: Baseball, football, soccer, tennis, hockey, ski, golf and automobile racing.

Montreal is inexpensive. Montreal is one of the most inexpensive cities in North-America, as well as in the world. Yet the quality of life is second to none.

Montreal is safe. You can feel the peacefulness and are not afraid to be outside at any time.

.....

As for where to study, you can start by checking out McGill University. Of course, there's also Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music.
That's assuming you're pursuing music eduacation.
X

 

Of course, you would really appreciate the cost of living thing if you were financing your stay with U.S. dollars (given the currently low Canadian $).