South Bend

South Bend

South Bend is Notre Dame, the Golden Dome, and the Touchdown Jesus mural visible from the football stadium. The St. Joseph River runs through downtown, and the East Bank district has the food and bar scene. The University of Notre Dame campus is genuinely beautiful (the basilica, the lakes, the grottos). Smaller than its national reputation suggests, with a steady college-town pulse.

Tulsa

Tulsa was built by 1920s oil money and the downtown looks the part: Art Deco everywhere, like Gatsby moved to Oklahoma and never left. The Greenwood district, once known as Black Wall Street, now holds one of the most powerful civil rights museums in the country. The Tulsa Remote program pays new arrivals $10,000 to move here, and enough have taken the deal that there's a real scene now. The Gathering Place park alone is worth a flight.