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Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#31

Post by Tloewald »

jboggan wrote: post #13

Athens, GA. It's a college town with a rather remarkable density of culture (music, arts, food) and a very low cost of living. I've been gone a little over a year, but you can live in very nice areas with roommates for under $400 a month. Hell, a lot of folks rent entire houses for under four figures a month. It's also in the middle of a large swath of country (despite having a walkable urban center) and has high qua…

Avoid the South if you're black, Hispanic, or mediterranean in appearance. (Or have kids you'd prefer not to be taught racism by their peers.) I lived im Tuscaloosa, AL — another college town — 2006-2012. We came with open minds.

My wife, a half Puerto Rican professor, was nearly arrested for driving while Hispanic, my mother (who is vietnamese) had racist epithets screamed at her while walking our kids in an upscale neighborhood. There were major racist incidents on campus every year we were there. The frats are still segregated.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#32

Post by f7t7ft7 »

vimgirl wrote: post #8

San Diego. Not sure about the dating pool (I am an immigrant and can't see myself with someone not from my country, so never tried) bit, but you are definitely very well off in terms of quality of life. Amazing infrastructure, access to lovely beaches, great weather all year round etc. Cost of living is slightly better than the Bay Area but still high on an absolute scale.

It's sad how everyone ignores the "cheaply" part. It's easy to find places to live if you want to pay 1k+ a month in rent. :|

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#33

Post by waterside81 »

caiob wrote: post #24

:%s/US/Canada/g ?

You're out of luck. Any major city here in Canada (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary) is expensive. But, these cities are routinely in the top 10 for best places to live, so you get what you pay for (kinda).

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#34

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

tsaoutourpants wrote: post #22

Miami, FL. You can get an apartment with a water view for $1K, or by a house off the water for $100K. This is not as cheap as the middle-of-nowhere destinations others have suggested, but offers vibrant culture, nightlife, and sun.

Has the RE market changed that much in 6 years? Last time I was in Miami (2007 I think), all the houses for sale off the water were $400k+. The ones near or on the water were at least hovering around a million.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#35

Post by tomservo6502 »

If weather is not a factor Albany/Troy/Schenectady NY. The area is home to a good sized and growing tech industry with an AMD chip manufacture, industry leading nano technology research, universities like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who have incubator programs http://www.rpi.edu/about/eve/, and Schenectady whose economy depended so heavily on GE manufacturing is not giving large tax incentives to small businesses to move there. The social life is mid sized city to very rural depending where you want to actually live. I believe it is a hour an a half train ride to NYC, 3 hour drive to Boston, and 2 -3 hour drive will bury you in the middle of the Adirondack state park with no cell service.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#36

Post by cornellwright »

Pittsburgh, PA. There's still a surplus in housing from the steel days, so you can buy or rent for next to nothing. Carnegie Mellon along with 5 or 6 other colleges are there, so there are plenty of smart people. The city is making a nice turnaround from the old steel days to be a technology and medical research center.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#37

Post by dabent »

There are many cities in the US that are relatively inexpensive, but I'll name a few that I've experienced:

Atlanta, GA: Good tech community. It's home of Georgia Tech and while it's no Silicon Valley, it is the home of a few startups, StartupRiot, and other startup-related activities. The weather is warmer than most places, but it still has seasons. You can find a place to rent pretty cheap here and the city is large enough to have some of the amenities you're looking for, including a million or so singles in the dating pool.

Charleston, SC: Probably not quite as cheap as Atlanta, but it is beautiful and still quite cheap. Smaller in size, but not "middle of nowhere" small. Plus, there's the beach.

Florida: Someone mentioned Miami, but if you seek warm weather and reasonable cost of living, Tampa, Orlando and other cities in Florida are great. The down side is that I don't think there is much startup activity, the upside is I've heard it's great for singles and there is beach, beach, theme parks, beach and probably a few other things to do in between hurricanes.

Athens, GA: Smaller city, but a college town. See jboggan's comment.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#38

Post by abruzzi »

I think most of "flyover" country would satisfy you question, but here in New Mexico, you can find a decent apartment for $500/mo (my mortgage on a house with a quarter acre is $800/mo) I'm in the south, but most of northern New Mexico would be similar. You wouldn't be living in the top neighborhoods (though my house is in a historic desirable little town) but despite what you saw on Breaking Bad, nowhere in NM will have bad crime, except some very limited spots.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

#40

Post by fiatmoney »

Madison, Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin & the fact that it's a state capital generates a lot of cultural attractions, and you'll probably find it easy to hire some bright CS/engineering students if you get to that point. The core is very dense & walkable compared to other small Midwestern towns since it's on a tiny isthmus between two lakes (a nice geography too if you're into outdoor activities, although the summers can be surprisingly steamy & the winters are fairly cold). You can easily find cheap housing. Also only two hours from Chicago.
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