Thinking about moving to a new city? One Generation Z woman on TikTok decided to travel across the United States for six months in search of the “perfect” place to live.
Grace Lemire (@grace_lemire on TikTok) is a 26-year-old content creator and podcast host currently living in Massachusetts who owns a freelance marketing business, she told Newsweek. She explored six cities, including her home city of Boston, and shared her take on each in a viral video on TikTok, which has had over 179,000 views since it was posted on November 26. The video shows various shots of the streets in each city as well as glimpses of home interiors.
“I spent the last six months visiting cities all across the U.S. to figure out where I want to move when my lease is up in January,” she says in the clip.
“I’ve lived in Massachusetts my whole life,” Lemire told Newsweek, but started looking at other cities this summer, including San Diego in California, Nashville in Tennessee, Tampa and St. Petersburg in Florida and Austin in Texas.
The viral post comes as Americans face soaring housing costs. According to a 2024 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the rent surge during the COVID-19 pandemic-era has caused an “unprecedented affordability crisis” with around half of renter households in the U.S. now burdened by housing costs, spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
The report found that 12.1 million households are “severely cost-burdened,” spending more than half of their income on housing expenses, which marks a 1.5 million rise from pre-pandemic levels.
Asked how she narrowed down her list to six cities, Lemire said she had a list of things she was looking for and felt that these cities checked those boxes.
“I really wanted somewhere coastal, which put San Diego, Tampa, and Saint Pete on the list. I also wanted somewhere that had a lot to do, so that prompted touring Austin.
“I had been to Nashville once before and I’ve lived in Massachusetts my whole life, so Boston was home. Everywhere else was new to me.”
Below, we unpack the pros and cons of the six cities, according to Lemire.
Boston, Massachusetts
Pros: “Good nature, coastal, things to do, young and fun.”Cons: “Cold af [as f***] winters and cost of living is high.”
“The closer I get to moving the more I realize just how amazing of a city Boston is,” Lemire says in the clip. “There’s a decent amount to do, great nature. The only con is the cost of living is high but that’s kind of an issue everywhere.”
San Diego, California
Pros: “Good nature, coastal, things to do, young and fun.”Cons: “Far from family, cost of living is high.”
Lemire said she knew she “would love” San Diego, noting there is “much to do” and “the weather was absolutely perfect ” during her visit.
She says in the clip: “It’s young and fun but the major con is also the cost of living. To get the type of apartment I wanted it would have been $3,200 a month, which I just didn’t love.”
She also said “being completely across the country from my family wasn’t ideal for this next chapter of life.”
Nashville, Tennessee
Pros: “Cutesy vibe, lots of coffee shops to work from, things to do, good cost of living.”Cons: “Very transient city, not coastal.”
Lemire said: “I looked at Nashville because my podcast co-host lives there so it’d be great for our business to be able to record episodes in the same city.”
Describing it “a city for the girls,” Lemire says “there’s tons of really cute coffee shops, workout classes, aesthetic murals.” However, “it was just ultimately too far from the coast and bit too ‘yee-haw’ for me personally,” she notes in the clip.
Tampa, Florida
Pros: “Aesthetic/pretty city, coastal, good cost of living.”Cons: “Not as much to do?; possibly superficial.”
Lemire said she “didn’t think there was as much to do here but it was a beautiful city” and felt the cost of rent “actually matched the value the city provided, which is pretty rare.”
However, she also heard from “countless people” that people in Tampa can be “pretty superficial.” This was “definitely a turn-off for me,” she said, noting “I don’t know if there’s any truth in that…”
St. Petersburg, Florida
Pros: “Aesthetic/pretty city, coastal, a lot to do.”Cons: “High cost of living, maybe not as many young people.”
St. Petersburg was “a lot cuter” than expected, she said, noting that “it has this charm to it that just makes me feel so homey while still having the amenities of a city.”
The rent is “definitely an investment” she said, noting her surprise at “just how much the rent was and I felt like a lot of the apartments were overpriced for what they were.”
Lemire said the city “felt a bit dead” as there “wasn’t a ton of people out and about.” But she’s been told “it’s apparently more a remote worker city, so maybe people were just inside working when we were there.”
Austin, Texas
Pros: “More entrepreneurial, lots of young people, a lot to do, decent cost of living.”Cons: “Not the cutest city, far from the coast.”
Lemire admitted she “didn’t love” Austin.
“The food was great there and some neighborhoods were really cute, but everything felt just really dull,” she explained, noting that she “really wanted to love it because I know there’s a ton to do there.”
She said the apartments were “priced pretty fairly,” however, “the finishes were more outdated than I would have liked and the modern units were definitely priced pretty high.”
In touring all these cities, Lemire said she’s learned that “there’s no city that’s going to be absolutely perfect and everywhere you go, if you ask locals’ opinions, they’re going to tell you totally different things.”
“So, you ultimately have to lean into your own intuition and what you’re looking for to make the right choice,” she says in the clip.
Having spent roughly around four days in each of the six cities she visited, Lemire told Newsweek that she’s decided which city she’ll move to but prefers not to disclose the location just yet.
“I may share right before I move on my IG [Instagram] stories, but probably not on my feed until I’m settled into the new space,” she said.
“I’m super excited about the city I chose. It’s the perfect mix of what I was looking for. I love the apartment I chose and can’t wait to explore a new place,” Lemire said.
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