Ask HN: What cheaper cities are the best?
But which are the best cheaper cities, especially for those who do value cities that aren't just full of retirees or mostly tech workers?
I'll go first: I was pleasantly surprised by Durham NC when I visited there. It's small but fairly vibrant for its size, with plenty of young people and people of diverse backgrounds and livelihoods. (ie not just mostly tech workers, lol) For a North American city, it's fairly walkable and bikeable, and it's on an Amtrak line that can take you to neighboring cities and the entire East Coast. Cost of housing is reasonable, and because it's in the "Research Triangle", there is a viable local job market for academics and professionals, so techies don't necessarily have to rely exclusively on remote work.
Where else is good? Would love to hear more!
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[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 68.5 ms ] threadI’m in Portland, OR and pay less than $1,300 a month for a 1-bedroom in a great part of town. For me, can’t beat the weather, bike/pedestrian friendliness, and access to the outdoors for the price.
But the city is great and has awesome micro neighborhoods. And is almost impossibly beautiful.
Oh and good food. Awesome microbrews.
Lol. In a 3 square block area downtown for part of a summer. Close though. Maybe try a channel other than Fox News.
Madison was absolutely beautiful and I loved the culture and the people I met. I also loved that it's very pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. I think the downside is that it's a little bit small, dominated by the university, and not very age-diverse. If you are in your thirties and explore Madison's cultural life, most of the people you meet are going to be younger than you.
As for Durham, this has changed for the better since I lived there, but what I disliked was that it felt very suburban and car-centric. There are nice bike paths and parks, but if you want to get from place A to B, then you drive, period. That said, there's been a lot of development downtown in recent years, and I think this might be changing.
The overwhelming positive of Durham is its diversity -- and the near-universal appetite for culture. For example I decided to try swing dancing, and I found huge and very energetic crowds -- and the people there were of all ages and walks of life. This felt very representative -- try out anything in Durham, and you will find an incredible community doing it.
The wild-card about Durham is that it's sort of laid back, and people seem to move there because they want a compromise between culture on the one hand, and nice weather and an easy-ish life on the other. I met a couple of dance teachers who were at the absolute center of the swing dance scene in San Francisco, and got burned out and moved to Durham. Listening to them made me want to move to SF, which I later did. But for many, Durham strikes a perfect balance.
* A very diverse city, demographically. Evenly split gender. Age demographics tend to lean either students (from UNLV) or 30s 40s.
* Affordable but lots to do. Amazing entertainment, restaurants, nightlife subsidized by tourists. The restaurants are great even off the strip and 1/3rd the price. Cost of living is 30% cheaper or more than the SF Bay Area for comparison.
* It has it's own different scenes for different people, such as the art district, downtown, China Town, Summerlin for families, Henderson for old people
* Housing is affordable, $300-400k gets you a 3 BR SFH easily
* No state taxes
* Lots of outdoors activities, hiking, climbing, even skiing/snowboarding with lifts thanks to Charleston, a 12k ft mountain next to the city
* LA is 4 hour drive away if you want a big city or beaches
* International airport that will take you anywhere
* Recycles 99% of it's water and a great place for generating electricity from the sun
Cons:
* Lots of gambling and drinking addictions
* Car centric. Public transit is more of an after thought.
* Lots of wind and it gets really hot June-October
* No plants. Just desert and donkeys.
I can’t imagine ever wanting to live there. In fact anyplace I would want to live is basically the binary opposite of Vegas in every way.
This is not the case if you venture off the strip. Summerlin and other parts of Vegas are in many ways completely opposite of what you'll experience on the LV strip. But what you describe is the reputation Vegas has, which is why it's often overlooked as a place to live.
Pros:
+ Cheaper housing market, affordable rents.
+ Beautiful places, trails, gorgeous state parks, proximity to finger lakes, beaches (actually a big lake -- Lake Ontario).
+ Great arts and music culture scene, good museums, rich history.
+ Good enough local public transport, multiple Amtrak trains to NYC.
+ Close to big cities like Toronto (3hr drive), NYC (1hr flight, 5hr drive).
+ World class universities.
Cons:
- Ridiculous property taxes.
- Gloomy weather and heavy snow.
- Higher than average crime rate.
It's also diversed because of immigration.
It's also a "migration" city for big techs because salary is significantly lower than SFO and such.
Also criminal, especially shooting and murder are less than US large cities.
There are also secondary factors. For example, pollution, allergies, e.t.c that can make an otherwise nice place to live terrible.
It's like having a discussion about food and only accepting chain restaurants.
Flagstaff AZ - skiing close, hiking available, 2 hours to Phx, high desert so not overbearing in summer, has NAU, so some young folks, median price is higher, 727k: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Flagstaff_...
Corvallis OR - close to ocean (1 hr), another major university town (OSU). Fantastic summers, super green but sunny. Median price 560k: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Corvallis_...