Best place to live VS. Best place to dance

[Lovespell]

Where do you think is the best place to live? Where do you think is the best place to dance?

I've found there the rarely the same, and that's why as dancers we travel so much.

I'm sure there's been a thread like this, but let's get a current discussion going.

I hated dancing in Minneapolis, AND hated living there.

Currently in Guam. Like it, having fun, but won't settle down here. Am planning on doing some traveling for the next year. (Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Brazil)

But have NO idea on what my game plan is once I'm back in the states.

Has anyone found the best of both worlds?

And hey, if you don't like your current city your living feel free to bitch about that. I suppose it's good to know about the WORST places to live and dance too.

[Yekhefah]

Los Angeles sucks to live in and REALLY REALLY sucks to dance in.

[Lovespell]

Sorry to hear that! If you could go anywhere, where would you go then?

[madmaxine]

I loved New England/ Northeast US (worked in Connecticut & Western Pennsylvania). And I was raised in "the Golden State" all my life, 'till age 22. Two different places but both having fine merits.
Ironically, California is a horrible place for dancing- without regulars, my shift take home was under $200. No kidding! That's why I started travelling.
I consider heaven on earth to be the US Virgin Islands. However, so does everyone else, hence the high cost of living there (LOL).
To be honest, these days you have to time your work trips to catch local seasonal business bumps (hunting seasons, tourist seasons) and have something else going on at home.

[bella622]

I live in Baltimore... But I don't think I could ever work here (way too "blue-collar")... I end up driving to DC to work... Which ironically is a place I would never want to live...

[Yekhefah]

I would love to live in the mountains somewhere. I love seasons, trees, clean air, etc. A city that's small enough to be cozy and walkable, but big enough to have everything I need, would be perfect! I'm still looking.

If I could live ANYWHERE on earth, I would live in Tasmania. But I don't know what I'd do for a living if I lived there, LOL! Hobart is a great town but there's nothing in my field.

[rusdancer]

I would love to live in CA,but hear it's not the best place to work in.DC is not the best place to live in but work is decent.NYC is hard to say,it's constantly changing.

[pimpy718]

Live? nyc
Work? south florida or texas, money's good for me there but i could not see myself living in either place for over a year.

[Kharisma]

I hate Louisiana!!! I cant wait to get out of here! i have been hear for four years and it sucks!! The money at the club here is really decent for a small club. Its nothing compared to what I was makeing in TN or NC but for the area....

I loved dancing in Nashville. I was making kickass money, but i hear they are placing a 3 foot law and I just dont see how i would be able to make any good money in a club like that.

I am moveing to AZ in a few years and from what I have seen, I like the way most of the clubs there are and seem as though some decent money could be made in the phoenix area.

NC is also a beautiful place to live, especially in the mnts. Money isnt too bad there either.

[ricosuave312]

Los Angeles sucks to live in and REALLY REALLY sucks to dance in.

Move to the bario, girl. You'll have the time of your life, just like that white boy band says.

[Melonie]

best place to live ... Andorra !

[Yekhefah]

Move to the bario, girl. You'll have the time of your life, just like that white boy band says.

I don't know what "white boy band" you're referring to - I don't listen to boy bands! But I seriously doubt I would enjoy the barrio one bit. The thing I hate most about L.A. is how it makes me feel like a foreigner in my own damn country because everyone trashes the place like it's the third world and no one bothers to speak English.

[ricosuave312]

I don't know what "white boy band" you're referring to - I don't listen to boy bands! But I seriously doubt I would enjoy the barrio one bit. The thing I hate most about L.A. is how it makes me feel like a foreigner in my own damn country because everyone trashes the place like it's the third world and no one bothers to speak English.

Yeaaahhh. Green Day,Chica. I know you don't mean that about mi hernmanos. No Jew I know talks like that; those peeps are my homies. Have some matzoh, then go for a lengua taco and Hornitos shot. Then the Congo room, dancer.

Oy Vey. <-- (not English)

foreigner in my own damn country

So its like world travel without the airfare and buttcrack searches. Spark up that blunt already.

[Yekhefah]

LOL! Green Day's not a boy band.

[Tina]

As off the wall as this sounds, I think living in Sioux Falls South Dakota allows a stable dancing environment.

It is a town of 185,000 people and growing, the largest in South Dakota, and has one club, Scarlett o 'Haras. But girls in this area work weekly bookings. They drive 75 miles south and work in Sioux City Iowa at Teasers, 70 miles away to Mitchell, South Dakota and work at Kongo Klub, 70 miles away to Yankton SD to work at Cock a Too, or 100 miles away to Watertown SD to work at Southfork.

All of these clubs work a set amount of girls per week on bookings, with different girls booked per week, allowing rebooking every 4 weeks, all pay base pay of $300-$400 for the 6 day week.

The fixed amount of girls each week and working a different club each week which is within driving distance of a home in Sioux Falls, is what a lot of girls do. Plus Sioux Falls is only about 240 miles from Minneapolis, and 175 miles from Omaha NE. Minneapolis has a lot to do, and is kind of a fun city, but all the clubs are downtown and are notorious for high house fees which is why lots of girls choose to work the smaller rural clubs.

This is not for everyone, as I prefer living in a large city, but for stable earnings in a controlled work environment, a dancer won't experience the income ups and down faced trying to work in a major city of millions of people and tons of high maintenance dancers to choose from.

[Heaven]

Yeaaahhh. Green Day,Chica. I know you don't mean that about mi hernmanos. No Jew I know talks like that; those peeps are my homies. Have some matzoh, then go for a lengua taco and Hornitos shot. Then the Congo room, dancer.

Oy Vey. <-- (not English)

So its like world travel without the airfare and buttcrack searches. Spark up that blunt already.

LMAO

[madmaxine]

My friend from rural Tennessee was horrified by the ghetto in LA. I don't blame him. Where I live, south Stockton is our Compton. I won't go there.

The dance scene varies from city to city. I've been told Philadelphia PA & Portland OR are chock full o' strippers, but the volume affects the market. And don't get me started about Miami FL....I hear everything from "Home of the $20 BJ" to "Supper Club Dinner Escorts- Big Bucks for Nothing."

I guess you should just go where you like the area and start from there.

[Katrine]

Have some matzoh, then go for a lengua taco and Hornitos shot. Then the Congo room, dancer.

Lengua tacos and the Conga room rule!! Matzoh is ok with cream cheese.

[stripperbrat]

Still looking for both...excellent thread. Good job lovespell!

[greggy]

True, I'm loving this thread. I 'm so ready to leave NYC. The cost of living is too damn high, no matter how much I make. I would love to move to a place where I'll make the same amount (I'm not looking for much, $1000+/30-35 hr work week) but don't have to spend one weeks salary to live in a CLOSET with mice (I don't like sharing space, no matter how small you are)

[mollyzmoon]

Ottawa is a cold, boring city (as I look outside, I see it's snowing again! dammit. I hate November). Our winters last from November to April and our summers are so humid you can scarcely survive without A/C. Is there anywhere else where temperatures go as high as +40 and low as -40 every year (Celcius)? Maybe that's why our clubs get so busy? All that boredom? A travelling Australian dancer told me (and she's danced the whole country basically) that our area was the best $ in the nation. She wasn't here in February though!

Frankly, I miss living in rural Alberta (it looks like Montana). It's gorgeous, but after a while I miss the city life.

[Heaven]

Speaking of Montana, I made amazing money there and it is a gorgeous place BUT it has its drawbacks. Like it's too cold/way too much snow, too many deers that like to run out in front of your car while you're driving (yep, totalled my new Pathfinder ) and it leaves city folks wanting more - more diversity, culture, and better shopping!!

[Tina]

Heaven, I can't agree with you more about Montana. I go there once a month. The mention of deer/elk around my fiancee' and I is a cuss word. We can't stand em'. We've been lucky.

What keeps me alive there is the 24 Hour Fitness in Billings (since I have an all club membership it is nice being able to work out at my own gym while on the road).

And yes us city folks feel like we are back in time in Montana. But for the few halfway decent stores it does have (Dillards in Billings) there is no sales tax. And they have Starbucks now.

We were in the men's Dillards store looking at the Polo stuff when a saleslady showed a hicky looking guy some incredible bargains such as a plaid wool polo shirt that was marked down from $98 to $24. The hicky guy wondered if it had to be ironed, and she said it was dry clean only. This guy said " No mam, I don't do no dry cleanin'." These are the kinds of customers you get in the clubs.

Billings needs hot road girls to book on a regular basis badly! It seems nowadays that the places that have the most steady money are those in the middle of nowhere, and if some hot RELIABLE girls would go there regularly it would bring out more customers.

[LOGANLAKEN]

I love Orange County,Ca. Clubs are nice $ to be made all the time by tourists.And it's ony 1/2 hr plane or 4 hr. drive to Vegas to work as well. I love the sun and no bad weather driving ever. Theres alot to do in Ca & Vegas.

[madmaxine]

Re: Montana- the clubs need to accomodate road girls. I travel alone often & if the club doesn't offer housing help and the earnings seem uncertain, why should I waste my time or risk complications? I can always seek a better booking. The Midwest is dotted with some very nice out of the way clubs. IMO the club owners have themselves to blame if they won't put the effort into enticing hot dancers to make the trip out.