I live in the suburbs of Dallas, and I wouldn't be able to stand living anywhere else.
Cities are expensive, cramped, filthy, and noisy. The Silicon Valley startup scene deeply creeps me out. I couldn't really care less about "culture"; just give me a good local bar to hang out at and a bunch of good restaurants, and I'll be happy. One thing about Dallas is that the suburbs are really ethnically diverse, and that translates into lots and lots of really damn good ethnic restaurants (I've even heard reports that we have more restaurants per captia than NYC, but that's probably a myth -- it's a believable one, though). Oh, and I pay $1200/month rent for a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse in a nice part of town. There's no way NYC or SF can beat that.
By the way, I'm a trans woman, and I went full-time before I started passing. The only time I've ever faced street harassment was the the two years I worked downtown (and I was harassed both before and after transition). Since I'm working in the suburbs again (hallelujah!), I haven't been harassed. Sorry, but I'd rather not have hobos and perverts shouting at me and following me around. Even the most liberal cities are still cities and still have unsavory types crowding the streets. You don't see that in the suburbs, even conservative ones. I never encountered even a single instance of transphobia in the suburbs (again, I went full-time before I was passable) -- and I'd like to repeat that I live in Texas.
Cities are expensive, cramped, filthy, and noisy. The Silicon Valley startup scene deeply creeps me out. I couldn't really care less about "culture"; just give me a good local bar to hang out at and a bunch of good restaurants, and I'll be happy. One thing about Dallas is that the suburbs are really ethnically diverse, and that translates into lots and lots of really damn good ethnic restaurants (I've even heard reports that we have more restaurants per captia than NYC, but that's probably a myth -- it's a believable one, though). Oh, and I pay $1200/month rent for a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse in a nice part of town. There's no way NYC or SF can beat that.
By the way, I'm a trans woman, and I went full-time before I started passing. The only time I've ever faced street harassment was the the two years I worked downtown (and I was harassed both before and after transition). Since I'm working in the suburbs again (hallelujah!), I haven't been harassed. Sorry, but I'd rather not have hobos and perverts shouting at me and following me around. Even the most liberal cities are still cities and still have unsavory types crowding the streets. You don't see that in the suburbs, even conservative ones. I never encountered even a single instance of transphobia in the suburbs (again, I went full-time before I was passable) -- and I'd like to repeat that I live in Texas.