@michaelmast

Pros: -Great airport for connections to Africa and South America. -Has some really beautiful views. -Great fruit and fish. -Native Portuguese people are generally friendly and helpful. -Wonderful moderate climate (better than Spain) Cons: -The dirtiest major city I've seen in Europe. Filthy buildings and dog crap everywhere. -Unsafe - most other women I spoke to said they feel unsafe walking alone here (being leered at, whistled at and followed by the mostly immigrant men is a common occurrenc

I have been living in Porto since September. Portugal is currently in a hard covid lockdown so Porto is not at its best. But in better times the city is amazing. Beautiful, right near the beach, with excellent air and rail connectivity. English is widely spoken and the accommodations for visitors are diverse and excellent. Restaurants are also diverse and excellent. Prices for those used to northern Europe or USA will seem low. December, January are very rainy and can get cold, down to nearly 0

Nothing does a better job of explaining LA’s beautiful diversity and different neighborhoods than the documentary about the late Jonathan Gold, our city’s greatest amabassador and the only food critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. It is called, “City of Gold” and if you want to know LA, just watch this film. Trailer link: https://youtu.be/DmKTRDfz1zM

Spent two years in Montreal. I have zero regrets and it was a lot of fun for a few years, but ultimately needed to leave. Pros: -Good variety of nightlife and activities. From clubs to cool bars to strip clubs, you can find it in Montreal. Drinking here is quite cheap. -Population feels very young in the city center due to multiple large universities. Other areas around are also full of young professionals. Lots of cool trendy areas. -Work to live not live to work attitudes. People in Montrea

I've been living in SF since 2014 and I have to say Cost of Living is misrepresented. It's a lot more expensive now (2020) than posted. 1-bdr in center is $3,500-$4,000 + $200-$300 for parking + $100-$200 for utilities. Almost impossible to find month-to-month rent, so this is for 1-year lease. Coffee for two + a pastry is easily $20. Dinner for two never less than $50, unless it's fast food (+20% tips are expected) and if you want actually something good it's at least $100 for two. Airbnb is $1

Overall, a pretty great place. Good restaurants and many breweries. Solid entertainment. It has all four seasons and lots of sunshine. Some homelessness issues downtown, like most cities.

Paris is wonderful, and I love it here, but the stereotypes some real truth to them. I stepped off the plane to a protest, my airbnb host was incredibly stylish yet didn't wear deoderant, and I met the rudest waiter I've ever encountered in my entire life on day 3 (though most Parisians are super nice!)