Originally I grew up in a small town where things kept shutting down and I tried to get involved and change things but did not work out. Suffice to say I eventually got the message and took a risk and moved to a (at the time) cheap city where jobs were plentiful. Now it is a bit more expensive (the cost of buying a home or multi family does not make sense and to me after a certain price just seems like a consumer item at that point vs just renting). Suffice to say I feel like the longer I live here, the smaller it gets. It does have a decent amount of restaurants, a baseball team, some bars, and some beautiful scenery, but sometimes I feel like my options are limited or certain size cities are for me.

Previously I live a summer in San Diego and traveled frequently to Fort Lauderdale and really liked both cities. I have traveled to other cities (Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Grand Rapids,Toledo,Cleveland, Tacoma,Sacramento, and drive through San Francisco) and out of those I liked Boston, Denver, and Chicago. I don't have enough info on San Francisco but like what I seen. Of the cities I do like they don't seem so big (like LA or NY), but big enough that you have plenty of options. However out of them all I feel like San Diego and Fort Lauderdale fit me perfectly. I could be by the water if I wanted to, go to a ball game, get electronic parts, or go to another country,and enjoy the sun, all from my backdoor! (more San Diego, but applied to both). Also the medical buildings at UC La Jolla blew my mind in terms of the amount of resources going towards research. The only downside is at the time I did not have my degree so I could not find work and work in either and more so Fort Lauderdale ( the one side Fort Lauderdale had over San Diego is I could visit South America on the cheap).

So as I sit in my decent sized city, it makes me wonder if the moving for work was good to get me on my feet, but in the process suffered from the lack of culture and conveniences that are normally in a metro area. Granted I would likely not move to San Diego again (as it seem like work is an issue), but I am wondering perhaps by living outside San Francisco I can get some of the benefits I got out of San Diego, but with a better job situation (but commute). My current job is not bad but feel kinda trapped as there is little advancement and is not challenging me intellectually. I am just wondering whether maybe I need to heed my heart and move somewhere once I get my ducks in a row. I am also wondering if as an intj the options of living in a larger area that did not feel like a large area (plus the sun to deal with my depression) is what attracted me to those areas, so when I decide to move I get the most out of the area I do decide to move to.

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TLDR: I am trying to figure out what attracted me to San Diego and Fort Lauderdale so I can make a mental map of where I want to live that are most like those.