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Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

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Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#211

Post by r0b05 »

pontifier wrote: post #193
braingenious wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you share a username between HN and Twitter? Because somebody with your username on Twitter has been publicly talking about holding somebody at gunpoint in Pine Bluff, Arkansas earlier today(1), and has in the past advertised (2) a website with the tagline of “Matching vigilantes with victims for justice and profit “ (3) 1. https://twitter.com/pontifier/status/1559001472746098693?s=2... 2. https://twitter.com/oriw…

Yeah, that's me.

You are not having a good time there are you? This is how people turn into Batman.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#213

Post by Mountain_Skies »

zeroth32 wrote: post #159

I am DN, I follow pensioners, they usually live in boring accessible cities. There was documentary about some town in US, where people mostly use golf carts to get around.

Sounds like Peachtree City, Georgia. Ninety miles of cart paths and about 10,000 of the households have a golf cart they use to get around town. Lots of airline and airport employees live there as it is an easy commute to Atlanta's airport.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#214

Post by hunterb123 »

mkl wrote: post #202

> I don’t drive but like to walk to the supermarket and restaurants. This doesn't seem like most small towns would work. Cars become required outside cities in my experience, and small towns mean lots of long drives for basic things.

I think you over estimate the size of most small towns.

Pretty much everything from residentials to main street is 1 mile away.

I can walk across my entire town in 30 minutes, almost fully on sidewalks, the few streets with no side walks have no traffic.

Usually there's one main road through town and it doesn't go far, neighborhoods are on each side.

Personally I've found small towns much more walkable than cities contrary to HN anecdotes.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#215

Post by tallanvor »

grapeskin wrote: post #179
cpach wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn’t US students mostly live in dorms…?

The first year, yeah. After that, people start moving out. I don’t know anybody who lived in a dorm from the third year onward. But yeah, what poor college students trying to get a start on life and grad students making pocket change really need is some 400k/year tech workers to flood into their town, say “wow! Only 2500 a month!” and make it impossible to live anywhere. Also, dorms are insanely expensive. And wantin…

Residence halls are generally competitively priced, and is often cheaper than comparable housing off campus. Residence halls are more expensive than they used to be, but a lot of that is due to the type of housing that students are demanding. University-owned housing isn't a profit center, it's only priced to cover the costs of providing it.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#216

Post by mkl »

hunterb123 wrote: post #214
mkl wrote: post #202

> I don’t drive but like to walk to the supermarket and restaurants. This doesn't seem like most small towns would work. Cars become required outside cities in my experience, and small towns mean lots of long drives for basic things.

I think you over estimate the size of most small towns. Pretty much everything from residentials to main street is 1 mile away. I can walk across my entire town in 30 minutes, almost fully on sidewalks, the few streets with no side walks have no traffic. Usually there's one main road through town and it doesn't go far, neighborhoods are on each side. Personally I've found small towns much more walkable than cities co…

The problem I'm thinking of is that a town that small is probably missing lots of things many people consider important, so they'd have to drive to a neighbouring town. My sister lives in such a place, and does more driving than I could stand.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#217

Post by hunterb123 »

mkl wrote: post #216
hunterb123 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you over estimate the size of most small towns. Pretty much everything from residentials to main street is 1 mile away. I can walk across my entire town in 30 minutes, almost fully on sidewalks, the few streets with no side walks have no traffic. Usually there's one main road through town and it doesn't go far, neighborhoods are on each side. Personally I've found small towns much more walkable than cities co…

The problem I'm thinking of is that a town that small is probably missing lots of things many people consider important, so they'd have to drive to a neighbouring town. My sister lives in such a place, and does more driving than I could stand.

Wrong again. We have a Walmart Super Center, ER, quite a few good restaurants, and many other things.

The city with more stuff is 20 minutes away, less time then you'll sit in traffic in the city going a few miles to the same thing.

So less time commuting than in the city and I prefer the privacy of driving over public transportation. I hate people, especially crowds.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#218

Post by Mountain_Skies »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #32
protomyth wrote: post #10

Check a bandwidth map so you are not frustrated. You probably also want to make sure the politicians in the area are of your preferred party since that will tell you if your family will have people with your beliefs in the area. Being the odd person out from the local folks isn't fun.

Who cares about the political party of local politicians? Make sure local government services are delivered on time and on budget (water, power, garbage collection, etc). Make sure the schools are good and aren't run by weirdos. Beyond that, why would you care?

It depends on your personality type. If you're the type who just must change everything to fit your worldview, it's important to settle in a place with similar values. But many people aren't into trying to impose their view on everyone else and as a result, can settle into areas with people of differing values. The rub can be if your appearance signals values that you might not want to push onto others but your presence makes people wary you might want to. For people like that, it can be difficult, but many do find with some time, people get accustomed to them and relax once they determine they're not there to upset the social order. In a few cases, the negative reaction is great enough that there isn't time for either side to get to know the other's intentions. That's pretty rare if you're lowkey but still happens here and there from time to time.

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#219

Post by type0 »

phpnode wrote: post #201
pontifier wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought the warehouse before I really had the money to do it. I was scraping by on ramen for a while. Buying the others was honestly WAY, WAY, WAY cheaper than you'd expect. I almost didn't feel like I had a choice it was so cheap. Spent about $130k at a tax auction to get them all. It almost feels like land is the only thing they can't steal around here.

Pine Bluff's population has declined by 50% over the last few decades, presumably the reason they were so cheap is that there's a huge supply surplus? And given the murder rate is 10x the national average I don't see demand for property increasing. In short, run for the hills!

That place needs to rename into Pine Hoax

Re: Ask HN: How to find a small town to relocate for remote work?

#220

Post by mmikeff »

novia wrote: post #155
rswerve wrote: post #4

College towns. Pick some states, and go visit towns with colleges in them. They'll have restaurants and groceries, and those faculty kids have to go to school somewhere. Internet should be passable, too. They won't be the cheapest small town option, but houses should come in well below a million bucks. The one town you mention, Lancaster, PA, is a model of the type.

please don't price students out of college towns...

You'll hear the opposite refrain where I live, as the expansion of the university prices locals out of rented accommodation.
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