Charleston, South Carolina

Sorry my last post only provided you with mere seconds of reading material, it was a hectic weekend. For this post, I decided to go outside of my comfort zone and profile a city I have never been too, Charleston. Not only have I not been to this city, but I have never been to the South, or East Coast. What this means is that you will get an incredibly objective profile of the city because I will be unable to input my own experiences/recollections like I have been able to do with the previous posts... I think thats a good thing.

When I think of Charleston, I think of the old South. I think of kind, well mannered people, large estates and weeping willows. The Charleston of 2007 holds onto its historical roots, but is still a very modern and liveable city. Charleston has won the award for "best mannered city" for the past 12 years according to Marjabelle Stewart, Americas most renowned etiquette expert. Don't get the idea that this city is full of people attending balls and being overly polite though; Charleston has a lot of appeal for young 20-something year olds as well. Take for example, The Torch Velvet Lounge http://www.torchvelvetlounge.com/about.html

Their website claims, "Torch is a cool haven for relaxing in a sexy yet subtle envirionement. Torch Pays homage to NYC and London's sexiest lounges in this casual urban chic atmospher accented with multiple semi-private rooms." This photo, which I got of their website, neither seems relaxing or subtle, I guess definitions are relative. If you do make it to the website make sure you make your way to the gallery tab, which includes many pictures similar to this one, most of which I would be nervous to publish on this blog.

Well, after a long night at the bars your going to need somewhere to retire to. Charleston has an attractive housing market that at the moment is favorable to buyers/renters. As of 2005, the median home price was 211,000, which is almost identical to Fort Collins. That means you can expect to pay rent similar to here. Of all the cities profiled on this blog, I think Charleston offers the most for the money. Here we have a newly remodeled 2 bedroom in downtown that rents for 1,500.

Tucson, Arizona

Its hot. Its the desert. There are a lot of college kids.

Week 5: Arcata, California

For some reason I have been reluctant to leave the West Coast, and this week's entry is no different. Arcata has a population of 16,500 and is located in Humboldt County in northern California. The city is home to Humboldt State University, and is like Fort Collins and Eugene, a serious college town. As you can see from the picture, Arcata is on the Pacific coast and boasts some truly spectacular scenery. The city is quite proud of its "hippy reputation," various reggae festivals take place here every year and it seems as if one out of every two people is at least sporting some tye-die. I found a great description of the city by a group of self proclaimed hippies at: http://www.hippy.com/review-14.html. According to this website, the city in the last year passed a law that allows women to walk around the central plaza topless. The central plaza of which they speak is a grassy park-like area in the middle of town that is surrounded by shops and restaurants. So if after spending four year in college living under constant deadlines and pressure you just want to get away for a while and relax, I would certainly recommend Arcata, California to you.