30 Great Cities to Start Out in

Rating:
Summary: Dangerous Towns
Review: 30 Great Cities To Start Out In, written by Sandra Gurvis is completely insane. It is totally off. Chicago? What was she thinking! Living in Chicago is dangerous. Robbers and murderers are found throughout the city. It's a senseless place to live. Some of the cities that she chose to include are horrible, dirty places. Yet some of the other cities she included were above average cities that young people could not afford to live in. I think her book was only written and published, strictly to make money and that's it. -Thank You

Rating:
Summary: Dangerous Towns
Review: I've been considering relocating for several months now, and this book has been very helpful to me (I happen to be single in my twenties).

I agree with others that the book does have its flaws, but the thing I liked best about the book was the excitement the author seemed to share with her audience over all the opportunities available to people like me who are starting out right now. Most of the time I didn't feel she was putting a sugar-coating on her descriptions, but was just honestly intrigued by all the possibilities.

Yes, there are things she could've covered better. Personally, what I found most frustrating was that she gave descriptions of the people (i.e. friendly, (un)/educated reserved/outgoing, , appreciative of diversity, enthusiastic about the arts...), and especially attitudes newcomers are likely to encounter (how easy is it to meet people, get involved, etc.) Some of the cities she did a great job of this on, but on a few, there was just no information.

But I still have to give this book 5 stars because overall it is really well done. Is it just me or is there a MAJOR lack of books like this which help people who are not bound to a location-specific company and/or spouse/family and want to take to the wind? (If anyone reading this has any suggestions on the subject, please email me!) There's Places Rated, which is very helpful, but in the end I don't feel comfortable staking my life on statistics. I spent hours going on wild "related items" chases (...) trying to find books which talk about what the PEOPLE of different cities are like and give some insightful descriptions of the cultural flavor of various cities. For the most part, I came up empty-handed.

I felt like this author knew *exactly* what my needs were in terms of information I needed to make an informed decision about relocating. I have read this book cover to cover, it is thoroughly highlighted, and I'm constantly rereading parts of it. It will probably play a major role in my move. I am very glad I found this book.

Rating:
Summary: More of this, please
Review: I've been considering relocating for several months now, and this book has been very helpful to me (I happen to be single in my twenties).

I agree with others that the book does have its flaws, but the thing I liked best about the book was the excitement the author seemed to share with her audience over all the opportunities available to people like me who are starting out right now. Most of the time I didn't feel she was putting a sugar-coating on her descriptions, but was just honestly intrigued by all the possibilities.

Yes, there are things she could've covered better. Personally, what I found most frustrating was that she gave descriptions of the people (i.e. friendly, (un)/educated reserved/outgoing, , appreciative of diversity, enthusiastic about the arts...), and especially attitudes newcomers are likely to encounter (how easy is it to meet people, get involved, etc.) Some of the cities she did a great job of this on, but on a few, there was just no information.

But I still have to give this book 5 stars because overall it is really well done. Is it just me or is there a MAJOR lack of books like this which help people who are not bound to a location-specific company and/or spouse/family and want to take to the wind? (If anyone reading this has any suggestions on the subject, please email me!) There's Places Rated, which is very helpful, but in the end I don't feel comfortable staking my life on statistics. I spent hours going on wild "related items" chases (...) trying to find books which talk about what the PEOPLE of different cities are like and give some insightful descriptions of the cultural flavor of various cities. For the most part, I came up empty-handed.

I felt like this author knew *exactly* what my needs were in terms of information I needed to make an informed decision about relocating. I have read this book cover to cover, it is thoroughly highlighted, and I'm constantly rereading parts of it. It will probably play a major role in my move. I am very glad I found this book.

Rating:
Summary: inconsistent from city to city
Review: Overall this was an interesting book. The author covered some cities very well in terms of the social scene for young people, what it's like for transplants, etc. But for other cities, I got the sense that she didn't do much more than read visitors' guides and articles. Portland, Oregon, is a good example, as I was particularly interested in finding out what it's like there for singles. But she didn't touch on the singles scene at all. In fact, reading it, I didn't get the impression she had even gone there or sought out people to interview. Her main observations came from a guy she quoted from an article about Portland. I hope she'll revise this book and fill in the gaps more.