HACKER Q&A
📣 bedobi

What cheaper cities are the best?


Today, like any other day, there are top posts and threads about relocating, remote work etc on the front page. Lots of people are moving from more expensive cities to cheaper ones.

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!

  👤 jameslk Accepted Answer ✓
Las Vegas:

* 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.

👤 mrobins
Pittsburgh is very affordable and has a high quality of life. It’s transformed a lot from steel and manufacturing to tech and engineering but is still super down to earth. It has great sports, solid arts and culture and is near a lot of beautiful outdoor activities. Over the last 2 decades a solid food scene has emerged and its always been a great place to grab a few beers. The neighborhoods are pretty and it’s possible to have a nice house with a yard walking distance from shops and restaurants.
👤 z3ugma
Madison, WI! Dense because of its geography sandwiched on an isthmus between two lakes. Strong startup culture from the University of Wisconsin and its tech transfer office called WARF. The epicenter of mid-century modern architecture, set amidst sandstone bluffs and river valleys of the Driftless Area. A burgeoning digital health economy from Epic, the EHR software company, and several incubators and VC funds like HealthX ventures.
👤 hifromLA
How about Philadelphia? It’s walkable, vibrant, and connected to the eastern seaboard.
👤 ActorNightly
There is no "best" per say. People with money are really good at optimizing living costs, especially with the WFH trend, so any "best" city is automatically going to have more people moving in, and costs go through the roof. Look at Austin for example, within the last 6 years, any house close to downtown is $1 million or more.

There are also secondary factors. For example, pollution, allergies, e.t.c that can make an otherwise nice place to live terrible.

👤 mooreds
Walla Walla, WA - a couple of colleges so you get "the youth", weather more like Colorado that western Washington, good wine, 4 hours to Portland, 5 to Seattle, 465k median home price: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Walla-Wall...

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_...

👤 abhayhegde
I would say towns in upstate New York such as Rochester.

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.

👤 markus_zhang
Montreal is pretty good. Public transport is very good and you don't need a car as long as you are close to downtown.

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.

👤 paulcole
What’s your definition of cheap?

I’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.

👤 poorbutdebtfree
Grab a $40/night airbnb room in Providence, RI and Somerville, MA for a week or two.
👤 toomuchtodo
College towns