I did some research and came up with the 50 Best US Cities for Early Retirement

[ponchoape]

Hey everyone, I did some research and wanted to share:

My wife and I are planning on moving and we wanted to see which US cities have the lowest cost of living, are considered somewhat liberal, and also have mild winters.

After doing the research, I put together a map. I've marked the cities with the lowest cost of living by lighter colored markers, while the more expensive cities have darker colored markers.

Link to the Google Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zBZdymmV8bHI.kuqlOwPc3FAk

Details:

First, I started with gathering the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which does a decent job of summarizing the cost of living, including housing, for all urban places with 2,500 inhabitants or more. I then sorted the list by CPI ascending, so the lowest cost cities are listed first.

Then, to identify places that are “somewhat liberal”, the least-terrible solution I could think of was to look up the 2012 Presidential Election results for each city and only include the ones where more than 50% of the vote were Democratic (Obama).

Finally, for selecting only “mild winter” locations, I looked up the average high/low temperatures for January and July. Cities that have an average January high of less than 40F (4.4C) were filtered out.

Finally, I added in a “Low Taxes Rank” for each of the states. I got this data from the Tax Foundation, which did a study on State-Local Tax Burdens for each state.

Also, here is a link to the Google spreadsheet with all original data:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UMA6vMMZVRYuASluqZssOL5H8ZU4MzKjIKUfJ61h6S0

Note: If anyone has the interest, it would be great if someone wanted to update the spreadsheet and add crime data or humidity data as well!

Let me know if you have any questions or recommendations to improve this!

Thanks!

[fishnfool]

Nice work but nothing in Hawaii....darn!

[Dicey]

Nice work! I've never understood why cities with harsh weather get included on the best places to retire lists. Buffalo, NY? No thank you very much.

[sol]

Nice work! I've never understood why cities with harsh weather get included on the best places to retire lists. Buffalo, NY? No thank you very much.

Yea, I'm not really interested in anywhere that averages over 95 in July either, so I might have screened for moderate temps instead of just highest temps.

[Lski'stash]

Just Sayin, you might want to take a second look at some of those northern places that you crossed off because of weather. Michigan might suck for two months out of the year (January and February), but the rest of the months are beautiful. The lakeshore cities stay more temperate as well. You might also consider taking up skiing!

Okay, I'm completely biased, but that's my two cents. The south has some of the most unhealthy states as well. Something to consider, as any on the list are in the south.

On a different note, what a neat, out-of-the-box way to do this!

[Basenji]

I was also going to suggest allowing for mildish with a bit of snow versus omg desert hot weather, but it's your map.

[Bracken_Joy]

Oh this is very neat! Excellent work.

[big_slacker]

Reno is a great place to buy meth and to get stabbed.

Vegas is a great place to get run off the road or crashed into by a drunk cabbie.

Dallas is an awesome place to get fat and fall into a massive pothole.

Not trying to shoot holes, but I've had some experiences with some of those places and financials aside I wouldn't really want to retire there. :)

[expatartist]

This is a really interesting project, thanks for posting!

[Bracken_Joy]

Reno is a great place to buy meth and to get stabbed.

Vegas is a great place to get run off the road or crashed into by a drunk cabbie.

Dallas is an awesome place to get fat and fall into a massive pothole.

Not trying to shoot holes, but I've had some experiences with some of those places and financials aside I wouldn't really want to retire there. :)

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

[Bob W]

My personal favorite is near Branson Missouri on the river or lake.  I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word??   Many of those cities are high cost of living and hot as crap you know? 

[Pylortes]

Just a thought (it's your map/criteria)- but instead of searching for "liberal" based on a single presidential election, how about instead searching for locations that have residents/culture that fits what you are looking for (for example liberal could translate into high "openness" and low "conscientious" scores using the big 5 personality traits of extroversion, agreeableness, openness, openness, and neuroticism).  The data has already been gathered on a state by state level for you if you were interested-

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57034630-78/utah-states-personality-least.html.csp

[MoonShadow]

I live in your #5, Louisville, Kentucky.  It is a truly diverse town, with a very low cost of living for a city of it's size.

[deborah]

Of course, anyone can take the data OP has supplied and change the criteria used, so it should be applicable to everyone (even if the map itself isn't).

[dilinger]

I absolutely hated Tampa when I used to visit every year.  It was a terrible, scary, awful place to walk around.  Florida is also the deadliest state in the country for pedestrians, *especially* seniors: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/20/pedestrian-deathsstudy.html

So if you're planning to retire car-lite or car-free, I would scratch Florida (or at least Tampa) off the list.

Eugene, on the other hand, was a fantastic place to visit and walk around in!  I wish I had spent more time there.

[Kalergie]

Great job! You can also find more data on pollution, crime and health on numbeo.com

[Schaefer Light]

Somehow I knew Asheville, NC would make the list.  There are some real granola crunchers up there ;).  On the plus side, they also have lots of good beer and Bojangles.

[EricP]

I'm not quite sure what your definition of "mild winters" is, but I'd recommend scratching all the Colorado cities off your list.  It snows a whole lot out here and in my mind that's what makes winters rough.  Anyone can put a jacket on when it's bitter cold, but shoveling snow and not being able to bike safely seems like the real things one would want to avoid.  Snowing after Mother's Day is also a routine event here in Colorado.

As for your somewhat liberal requirement, I'd recommend scratching Colorado Springs off your list.  This place is loaded with military folks and has a Mega Church in every neighborhood.  There's not an ounce of public transportation and it is one of the worst suburban car-commuter culture places in the country I'd say.  It's also fairly hilly so biking is relatively difficult.  Now, mind you, I love this city, I just don't think it fits what you're looking for.

Also, I'm intrigued by the "somewhat liberal" requirement, but also the desire for low taxes.  Those seem to somewhat oppose each other.

And lastly don't live in Pueblo (noticed it was 3rd on your list) that place sucks.

[Workingmomsaves]

Nicely done!  Being a Kansas native i am not sure Dodge City would pass most peoples "sensory test".  I bet beef products are very inexpensive though.  You can usually smell the cattles lots from the interstate:)

[gatortator]

Having lived in both your #38 (Gainesville, FL) and #20 (Rio Rancho, NM), I would add one additional filter- humidity.  Some like it more than others.

Weather in both cities gets to 95 in July and both get daily (or almost daily) afternoon heavy rain showers August.   However, humidity in Gainesville makes these rain showers have a steam room effect-  the weather feels worse after the rain.  In Rio Rancho, there is often an evaporative cooling effect after the rain due to the low humidity and weather becomes more pleasant.

I applaud you for finding cities that meet your own personal set of filters.  As others have pointed out though,  many people have their own set of filters.

[Guesl982374]

My personal favorite is near Branson Missouri on the river or lake.  I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word??   Many of those cities are high cost of living and hot as crap you know?

Bob - Coming from Massachusetts and being a moderate (frankly I can't stand politics on either side of the aisle), I think I can address this one. It is a code word from people, usually who have a lot of education, being [slightly] snobby towards what they feel would be "redneck" areas (think: I don't want to deal with the drunk in the large pickup truck with the shotgun or I don't want to deal with racists or education is so much better on the coasts vs. the rest of the country or other broad, stupid statements like that). While I would be open to many of the cities listed, the vast majority of the people I know in MA would not be interested because of the aforementioned mentality. My typical circle of friends range from people in the trades (electrician, carpenter, etc) to white collar professionals (upper management, finance, engineering, etc). The sentiment is the roughly the same across the board with the people who work in the trades being a little more open.

At the end of the day, people want to be surrounded by others who are similar to them and someone claiming they want to live in a liberal area. Hope this helps.

[Blatant]

OP: Cool list and interesting read. Hope you don't get discouraged from sharing by the folks peeing in your Wheaties.

[fattest_foot]

I was also going to suggest allowing for mildish with a bit of snow versus omg desert hot weather, but it's your map.

I've lived in the desert for 3 years now, and I've got to say it's really not as bad as you think. If you can put up with 2-3 months of hot weather, the rest of the year is amazing. And really, it's like choosing between 2-3 months of hot or snow for most Americans. I think I'd choose hot most years.

Plus, you eventually start getting used to the heat. I say this even as it's forecast to be 110 today.

[rugorak]

Nice work! I've never understood why cities with harsh weather get included on the best places to retire lists. Buffalo, NY? No thank you very much.

Lots of retired peeps like winter. I end up chatting with quite a few on the ski lifts. I have a lot of family from Buffalo and my only issue with there is not much skiing nearby. Otherwise I would gladly live there. Tons to do there. Lots of food types you won't find anywhere else (or if you do they are pale imitations). Mmmm, beef on weck, real buffalo wings, and real fresh polish sausage (OK I am sure you can find this elsewhere but it is hard to find).

What would really be awesome was some sort of interactive map where we could pick and choose things we like and dislike. So people like me who love the cold can pick out our northern best places to retire and all those who freak at a single snow flake can go down south.

[EricP]

I was also going to suggest allowing for mildish with a bit of snow versus omg desert hot weather, but it's your map.

I've lived in the desert for 3 years now, and I've got to say it's really not as bad as you think. If you can put up with 2-3 months of hot weather, the rest of the year is amazing. And really, it's like choosing between 2-3 months of hot or snow for most Americans. I think I'd choose hot most years.

Plus, you eventually start getting used to the heat. I say this even as it's forecast to be 110 today.

You get used to the cold as well.  And better than that, you can wear jackets and such.  Once you're naked there's not too much more you can do about heat.  I'll take 10 degree winters instead of 110 degree summers.

[DoubleDown]

Nice work OP!

I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word?? 

I think I get it. I grew up in California and had not heard the "N-word" tossed around my entire life. Then I visited my mom who had recently moved to Oklahoma. I had been there maybe one hour before I heard the locals saying nigger-this and nigger-that (I'm white). And not because they were people of color using it jovially among themselves, but rather in ways like how niggers were destroying America, and what would you expect from niggers anyhow except to kill each other, and so on. Then conversation moved to asking me, "How can you work for the U.S. government when they want to take our guns, and spy on us all, etc.?" I suppose someone more enlightened than me could have found it as an amazing opportunity to try to open hearts and minds, but I found it a pretty oppressive and closed-minded environment I would not want to live in.

[mm1970]

Reno is a great place to buy meth and to get stabbed.

Vegas is a great place to get run off the road or crashed into by a drunk cabbie.

Dallas is an awesome place to get fat and fall into a massive pothole.

Not trying to shoot holes, but I've had some experiences with some of those places and financials aside I wouldn't really want to retire there. :)

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

That's too bad.  My friend's daughter is headed to college there.

[MoonShadow]

I was also going to suggest allowing for mildish with a bit of snow versus omg desert hot weather, but it's your map.

I've lived in the desert for 3 years now, and I've got to say it's really not as bad as you think. If you can put up with 2-3 months of hot weather, the rest of the year is amazing. And really, it's like choosing between 2-3 months of hot or snow for most Americans. I think I'd choose hot most years.

Plus, you eventually start getting used to the heat. I say this even as it's forecast to be 110 today.

You get used to the cold as well.  And better than that, you can wear jackets and such.  Once you're naked there's not too much more you can do about heat.  I'll take 10 degree winters instead of 110 degree summers.

I agree.  I'm more likely to retire to New Hampshire than Florida.  I have never been able to handle heat well, but I've walked barefoot through snow wearing shorts with no shirt for several minutes at a time, and I've biked 9 miles at 10 below zero.  That last part sucked, but anything above freezing is excellent biking weather.

[mm1970]

This is a pretty cool map.  I like it!

But yeah, I'd filter out super hot summers too.

Of course, early retirement-wise, you have options!

I've noticed the "snowbird" effect.  My FIL and his sugar-mama winter in FL where she (or her 95 year old mother?) own a condo. So, November or December-ish to April-May-ish, they are in FL.

They own or rent an apartment/ condo in NY (their home state), upstate, in the summer.

I understand the liberal/ conservative thing.

[MoonShadow]

Nice work OP!

I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word?? 

I think I get it. I grew up in California and had not heard the "N-word" tossed around my entire life. Then I visited my mom who had recently moved to Oklahoma. I had been there maybe one hour before I heard the locals saying nigger-this and nigger-that (I'm white). And not because they were people of color using it jovially among themselves, but rather in ways like how niggers were destroying America, and what would you expect from niggers anyhow except to kill each other, and so on. Then conversation moved to asking me, "How can you work for the U.S. government when they want to take our guns, and spy on us all, etc.?" I suppose someone more enlightened than me could have found it as an amazing opportunity to try to open hearts and minds, but I found it a pretty oppressive and closed-minded environment I would not want to live in.

That's funny, because I grew up in Kentucky and never heard that word spoken out loud until I joined the US Marine Corps at 17.

[mm1970]

Very cool map but as an early retiree I wouldn't live in most of those places - maybe Eugene because I'm a trail runner and they have great trails and a big running community and, while it's too hot in the summer and too rainy in the winter, it is a nice town and close to many beautiful areas. Otherwise many of the places on that map give me the willies (El Paso? Brownsville?). I don't like hot weather, I don't like desert areas (I can barely tolerate coastal SoCal when it gets above 75 and never rains!). Many of those places don't have varied recreational areas and that would be limiting for me. But I like the idea of putting ones own personal requirements into a map form and seeing what pops up. Mine pretty much would lead me to Northern New England, the Pac NW or Northern Calif. Of course there is that pesky housing cost thing to deal with in all those areas.

Most of the places on this link (Outdoor Mags Best Places to live) are pretty nice. 11 pages of best places to live, work, retire, for sports and rec, etc... http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/best-towns

I remember this "best towns" voting, and was bummed that Santa Barbara didn't even make it past the first round.

[SeaEhm]

But yeah, I'd filter out super hot summers too.

Wow! No places in Southern California? 

[Bob W]

My personal favorite is near Branson Missouri on the river or lake.  I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word??   Many of those cities are high cost of living and hot as crap you know?

Bob - Coming from Massachusetts and being a moderate (frankly I can't stand politics on either side of the aisle), I think I can address this one. It is a code word from people, usually who have a lot of education, being [slightly] snobby towards what they feel would be "redneck" areas (think: I don't want to deal with the drunk in the large pickup truck with the shotgun or I don't want to deal with racists or education is so much better on the coasts vs. the rest of the country or other broad, stupid statements like that). While I would be open to many of the cities listed, the vast majority of the people I know in MA would not be interested because of the aforementioned mentality. My typical circle of friends range from people in the trades (electrician, carpenter, etc) to white collar professionals (upper management, finance, engineering, etc). The sentiment is the roughly the same across the board with the people who work in the trades being a little more open.

At the end of the day, people want to be surrounded by others who are similar to them and someone claiming they want to live in a liberal area. Hope this helps.

Thanks for clarifying that.   I had it in my mind that liberal was code word for pot smoking, vegans who only drink unfiltered wheat beer and play Frisbee golf.     I'm pretty sure in any area,  that is a retirement destination such as Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake near Branson,  that you will find many ex union (liberal voters),  retired teachers,  retired government workers etc.  Let's face it, the uneducated working stiffs never retire. 

In our area,  Lake of the Ozarks,  there appear to lots of Kansas City and St. Louis liberal types.  Of course as they age and become wealthy and no longer rely on their government, corporate or Union jobs they tend to start voting Republican.   

So yeah,  I just don't think that liberal is a very descriptive term.  Perhaps the OP is really looking for a more educated cohort?

They might also consider SPFD MO,  which is a college town of 180K that consistently votes to increase taxes,  bans smoking in public and has an awesome library and university system.  The COL is very low there and one can live a very decent life on sub 1K per month.    Lots of arts,  outdoor activities galore with hills and lakes and clear rivers within a short distance.  You will never lack for entertainment. 

There is a reason that Missouri is rated the number one "trail" state and number one camping state so often. 

As far as winter,  it can be cold as hell and the older well healed crowd meets up down south for the winter.   Yeah,  if you don't llke humidity it is not your cup of tea.    I'm guessing that 70% of the communities targeted are fairly high humid and hot environments in the summer. 

[PeteD01]

Nice work OP!

I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word?? 

I think I get it. I grew up in California and had not heard the "N-word" tossed around my entire life. Then I visited my mom who had recently moved to Oklahoma. I had been there maybe one hour before I heard the locals saying nigger-this and nigger-that (I'm white). And not because they were people of color using it jovially among themselves, but rather in ways like how niggers were destroying America, and what would you expect from niggers anyhow except to kill each other, and so on. Then conversation moved to asking me, "How can you work for the U.S. government when they want to take our guns, and spy on us all, etc.?" I suppose someone more enlightened than me could have found it as an amazing opportunity to try to open hearts and minds, but I found it a pretty oppressive and closed-minded environment I would not want to live in.

I've not had that kind of experience to any significant degree.  Having lived in some of the most conservative areas of the country, I got to say that I've never encountered as many whiners as in those times. A couple of beers and the floodgates open: Obama here and Obama there, America is going down the drain, and this and that from people who appeared to be doing otherwise quite well but were dwelling on some fantasy of impending doom of their own making.
A good way for me to deal with it was to talk hunting and guns which keeps their spirits up and can be a lot of fun.
I do prefer to settle down in a more liberal/progressive place, not because I necessarily agree with every harebrained scheme to upset the boat, but because of the depressing attitude of so many conservatives. The problem is, that that kind of depressed thinking is considered normal in places with solid conservative majorities.
Things change all the time and there seems to be no way to not end up with regret or nostalgia or aggression or depression in a world that doesn't give a damn about what has been or, more often than not, is imagined to have been one time or another.
I have a number of conservative friends and I do understand their philosophical confusion that makes them prey to hucksters and politicians.
In any case, I wouldn't even consider retiring for the long term in a conservative majority place; I rather deal with liberal/progressive madness than with conservative depression.

[dcheesi]

Interesting, thanks! I have a friend retiring to Charlottesville. She used blue/red election maps by county in Virginia to identify the blue counties around and including Charlottesville. That might give an idea of a larger search area near certain cities, as well.

C'ville is my home town, and it's beautiful! If you can swing the somewhat higher housing costs (still lower than DC, but higher than Roanoke), it's definitely worth it.

Roanoke is sort of the country-cousin to C'ville; nearly as pretty, and a bit cheaper, but it simultaneously suffers from more big-city attributes (crime) and more rural attributes (mildly conservative) compared to C'ville. I think the reason it scored higher on the liberal-voting scale is because of the sharp socioeconomic divide between Roanoke City itself and the surrounding jurisdictions. C'ville definitely feels more liberal overall.

[Exprezchef]

..following

[forward]

This is a great list and way to look at it, even if you have to substitute some of your own preferences.  Thanks for posting, I've often thought that it might be hard to move post FIRE because of unknowns in cost of living but approaching it like this, not so much. 

[I'm a red panda]

I know you filtered out Iowa entirely based on your search, but you missed a lot of places with population over 2,500 (including where I live, which has a population of 15,000- and not what I'd call rural at all; though is perhaps suburban; but is anything with under 3,000 people really urban?). Which makes me wonder how much you are missing in other states.

But this seems to give a really good basis to start a search for a new location.

[Stache-O-Lantern]

Like some other posters, i thought it was interesting that a filter that included voting Democratic in the last election returned cities that seem disproportionately in the south, Texas, and Nevada.  I know the climate factors you used may have been a big part of that.  I think it would be interesting if you ran it the other way, for cities that voted Republican in the last election.  Would the pattern of locations across the Country be about the same?

On other note, I am always disappointed that some of the great small cities and towns of northern California never make any of these kinds of lists.  I guess the high land/housing costs and income taxes always make their scores too low.

[NoraLenderbee]

Super idea, and what a great spreadsheet! It looks like it would be easy to adapt to one's own preferences (cooler climate or whatever). I might do that . . . but it might have to wait until I'm retired. :)

[Ftao93]

Amazing!  I love data!

Interesting that so many places in CO are there, but Denver has been deemed 'unaffordable' for most people right now.

[Ditchmonkey]

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

Oh come on now don't be ridiculous.

[music lover]

My personal favorite is near Branson Missouri on the river or lake.  I totally don't get the liberal thing?  No matter where you go a huge percentage will be liberal or conservative.   Is that some sort of code word??   Many of those cities are high cost of living and hot as crap you know?

Bob - Coming from Massachusetts and being a moderate (frankly I can't stand politics on either side of the aisle), I think I can address this one. It is a code word from people, usually who have a lot of education, being [slightly] snobby towards what they feel would be "redneck" areas (think: I don't want to deal with the drunk in the large pickup truck with the shotgun or I don't want to deal with racists or education is so much better on the coasts vs. the rest of the country or other broad, stupid statements like that). While I would be open to many of the cities listed, the vast majority of the people I know in MA would not be interested because of the aforementioned mentality. My typical circle of friends range from people in the trades (electrician, carpenter, etc) to white collar professionals (upper management, finance, engineering, etc). The sentiment is the roughly the same across the board with the people who work in the trades being a little more open.

At the end of the day, people want to be surrounded by others who are similar to them and someone claiming they want to live in a liberal area. Hope this helps.

Thanks for clarifying that.   I had it in my mind that liberal was code word for pot smoking, vegans who only drink unfiltered wheat beer and play Frisbee golf.     I'm pretty sure in any area,  that is a retirement destination such as Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake near Branson,  that you will find many ex union (liberal voters),  retired teachers,  retired government workers etc.  Let's face it, the uneducated working stiffs never retire. 

In our area,  Lake of the Ozarks,  there appear to lots of Kansas City and St. Louis liberal types.  Of course as they age and become wealthy and no longer rely on their government, corporate or Union jobs they tend to start voting Republican.   

So yeah,  I just don't think that liberal is a very descriptive term.  Perhaps the OP is really looking for a more educated cohort.

Up here, Liberals are basically socialists who don't want equal opportunities, they want equal outcomes. If you did well for yourself and are rich....well, then you're just an evil capitalist who can't be trusted. They believe in government control of everything. If you dare call out someone for not living up to their potential and they are not a white male, then you are branded racist, sexist, or both.

[Bracken_Joy]

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

Oh come on now don't be ridiculous.

Ridiculous that there is a meth problem? Or ridiculous that its been getting worse? Perhaps I should have said "Eugene-Springfield-Santa Clara" for accuracy, but there is a meth problem in the area, and it has been getting worse. I don't see what is ridiculous I suppose? I'm not saying don't live there, I'm just saying- there are meth concerns, and I structured the wording off of another post- hence the "and get stabbed"

[MakingSenseofCents]

This is awesome! We are currently driving around in an RV trying to find out "forever" city so this is a good map to look at :)

[kittenstache]

Two thumbs-up for Gainesville, FL!
I live nearby and love it here.
Go Gators!

[Eric]

Up here, Liberals are basically socialists who don't want equal opportunities, they want equal outcomes. If you did well for yourself and are rich....well, then you're just an evil capitalist who can't be trusted. They believe in government control of everything. If you dare call out someone for not living up to their potential and they are not a white male, then you are branded racist, sexist, or both.

Sounds terrible and accurate and terribly accurate!  Where is this "up here" that you speak of?  We need to cross any place off the list where such evil exists in the world.

[Ditchmonkey]

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

Oh come on now don't be ridiculous.

Ridiculous that there is a meth problem? Or ridiculous that its been getting worse? Perhaps I should have said "Eugene-Springfield-Santa Clara" for accuracy, but there is a meth problem in the area, and it has been getting worse. I don't see what is ridiculous I suppose? I'm not saying don't live there, I'm just saying- there are meth concerns, and I structured the wording off of another post- hence the "and get stabbed"

Is the meth problem worse than, or growing at a rate that is higher than, other cities of similar size? Are the odds of one "getting stabbed" higher than other cities of similar size? Your statement insinuates that we have a problem here that is disproportionate to other parts of the country, and I believe that is not true. I haven't even been stabbed!

[Eric]

Eugene is also currently a great place to buy meth and get stabbed =( Been getting worse the past couple years.

Oh come on now don't be ridiculous.

Ridiculous that there is a meth problem? Or ridiculous that its been getting worse? Perhaps I should have said "Eugene-Springfield-Santa Clara" for accuracy, but there is a meth problem in the area, and it has been getting worse. I don't see what is ridiculous I suppose? I'm not saying don't live there, I'm just saying- there are meth concerns, and I structured the wording off of another post- hence the "and get stabbed"

Is the meth problem worse than, or growing at a rate that is higher than, other cities of similar size? Are the odds of one "getting stabbed" higher than other cities of similar size? Your statement insinuates that we have a problem here that is disproportionate to other parts of the country, and I believe that is not true. I haven't even been stabbed!

So you deny being stabbed.  But I see no similar denial of meth buying.  Hmmmm.....

[OlyFish]

I love Oly... as long as you're okay with rain for several months on end every year!