Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#381

Post by oblio » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:07 AM UTC

Arkight wrote: post #330

victorpascu wrote: post #289

Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Per month: Rent is 500-600 EUR max (worst case unless you're actively looking to splurge), with the average going around 250-300 or so. You can cover food and taxes at a basic level on another 300. Of course, YMMV if you only order restaurant food and such, but if you stop by a supermarket every now and then you're set to go as low as 600 EUR/mth to live comfortably. I got by on 400 when I reall…

I heard that Romania have great internet speed, especially comparing to fellow nations in Eastern Europe. However..... what about its stability? BTW what about food? I am picking a location for doing remote job next few year in Europe, now it seems that Romania should be part of my short list. Like, I really love to eat, so it would be nice to know whether Cluj-Napoca have a diverse catering service.

Stability of what? Internet? There are riots in the streets if the internet goes down. And I'm only half joking.

Regarding food, I'm from Bucharest and the food variety and quality is not amazing compared to a major Western metropolis. But food is cheap and if you ask some locals plus you do some research you should be ok. Cluj is smaller so I don't imagine it being better than Bucharest regarding food.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#382

Post by blocked_again » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:08 AM UTC

sandGorgon wrote: post #370

anonlilcoward wrote: post #214

Bangalore,India: Rent price : 200$/month for a 1000sqft apartment. Bangalore is often called the silicon valley of India, filled with software professionals. Majority of the city's inhabitants are migrants from other parts of the country and almost everyone communicates in English. The living expenses for a couple is not more than 600-700$/month including rent for a decent lifestyle. The city has a good pub culture a…

This, except New Delhi. Bigger roads, much better infrastructure/subway system. We actually have close to 7-8 world class universities in the city (IITD, AIIMS, NSIT, DCE, IIITD, etc). Rentals are also cheaper.

Delhi is overpopulated and is one of the most populated cities in the world. It's also not a safe city to begin with. And you would not be making anywhere close to what you make in SFO. There are good Universities when compared to other Indian universities but I don't think nobody calls Delhi an Intellectual city. Has nothing to justify moving from SFO unless you are a lot into Indian politics probably.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#383

Post by oblio » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:08 AM UTC

sjapkee wrote: post #350

bgdnpn wrote: post #346

Bucharest, Romania [SALARIES] developers earn from 1500 EUR to 5000 EUR (after taxes) [RENT] for 1 bedroom appt: ~300-400 EUR (near the city center) [LANGUAGE] 80% of people you'll ever meet speak good english. [ENTARTAINMENT] Hundreds of bars, cafes and theatres. Events, meetups, festivals and concerts happening non stop. [COMMUTING] If you live on one of the main subway lines (highly likey), it will probably take y…

BAD SIDE: Romania

You'd need to clarify that further.

Plus if anyone moves to Romania, I think they're expecting it to be a developing country.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#384

Post by blocked_again » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:09 AM UTC

sonnyblarney wrote: post #379

blocked_again wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How easy is to get a job in Montreal if I am not from North America and don't have a Visa or PR?

If you are an American it's trivial if you have a technical degree. You get a TN visa at the border and can renew for up to 6 years.

I am not an American.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#385

Post by severine » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:09 AM UTC

jonathanstrange wrote: post #353

sanedigital wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd second this. Almost everyone in professional circles speaks English in Barcelona. I would say on average Portugal has much better English penetration than Spain, but Barcelona is definitely an exception.

> I would say on average Portugal has much better English penetration than the rest of Spain I'm sure it's just a slip of tongue but never ever say things like that in Portugal...

Yeah, Portugal isn't part of Spain.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#386

Post by yorwba » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:10 AM UTC

tetrazine wrote: post #242

Kovah wrote: post #168

There are some smaller German cities like Göttingen which have - in my opinion - a high intellectual atmosphere because they are so called university-cities: lot's of students and academics in a rather small city. And, in comparison with big cities like Berlin or Munich, the rents are much cheaper: from what I know you pay 2/3 to half of the price for the same amount of space. Example: a flat with 55-60 qm is about 6…

This is true. Lots of other mentions of Germany in this thread with good points. The downsides to Germany that Americans and Canadians (and to a lesser extent British) might perceive: - Constant store closures. Almost all Sundays and numerous holidays, almost all stores, including groceries, are closed. Don't forget to get milk or you have to trek to the central train station. - Very bad international food. Even in m…

> - Serious environmental policies, which would be admirable if it weren't for the Autobahn and all the coal that Germany burns. Have fun drying your sheets and towels on clotheslines in the middle of winter and don't expect AC during the summer.

I'm not sure whether you're trying to imply causality between environmental policies and the prevalence of clothes dryers and AC, but you can certainly get those things (although they might need to fulfill some energy-efficiency criteria).

You won't find them in most apartments, but that's because Germans usually don't think they're necessary. Clotheslines continue to work in winter and the number of really hot days is too low for an AC to be worth it.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#387

Post by iopuy » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:10 AM UTC

blocked_again wrote: post #306

quantummkv wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are lot of consulting companies in Pune but I dont think that qualifies as excellent tech scene. I am a software engineer, I live here and I assure that I don't work in a consulting company. A lot of my friends actually don't. Infosys and TCS may be big but they are not the only companies in here, you know. It's like saying there no companies in SV other that social media empires. > What are the excellenet Un…

Pune may have some tech companies. But nowhere close to Banglore. It's remotely hard to convince even an engineer living in Banglore to move to Pune because of the lack of tech companies compared to Banglore. How can you even recommend someone from SFO to move to Pune? > Universiy of Pune? Symbiosis? They may not be IIT's or MIT's but they are better than a lot of other universities in India and in Asia Even students…

Is Pune accepting to women? As a female software engineer it is important I feel included in the community. Seeing as Pune is a top suggestion in this thread I assume so. Thoughts?

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#388

Post by sanedigital » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:10 AM UTC

iagovar wrote: post #130

siquick wrote: post #90

Barcelona - one of the best all-around cities in the world (climate/culture/architecture/world proximity/quality of living/beach/mountains) and a growing tech scene. Very easy to pick up development work here for a local company, you won't be required to know Spanish/Catalan for a job. The only downsides are that the pay is relatively low (€43k average for SE) and it can be quite difficult to find a place to live wit…

Barcelona doesn't fit at all. Housing is expensive in comparison to local wages, people in Spain is not confortable speaking english. TBH Barcelona doesn't match any of the criteria, he should be living in the US or a commonwealth country.

In the rest of Spain sure, but in Barcelona, in the tech & design communities, everyone speaks English. I just got back from a three day design festival in Madrid and all of the studios present from Barcelona spoke English perfectly.

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#389

Post by Zeratoss » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:10 AM UTC

tetrazine wrote: post #242

Kovah wrote: post #168

There are some smaller German cities like Göttingen which have - in my opinion - a high intellectual atmosphere because they are so called university-cities: lot's of students and academics in a rather small city. And, in comparison with big cities like Berlin or Munich, the rents are much cheaper: from what I know you pay 2/3 to half of the price for the same amount of space. Example: a flat with 55-60 qm is about 6…

This is true. Lots of other mentions of Germany in this thread with good points. The downsides to Germany that Americans and Canadians (and to a lesser extent British) might perceive: - Constant store closures. Almost all Sundays and numerous holidays, almost all stores, including groceries, are closed. Don't forget to get milk or you have to trek to the central train station. - Very bad international food. Even in m…

>Have fun drying your sheets and towels on clotheslines in the middle of winter and don't expect AC during the summer.

would you mind explaining this? Most people have driers and public buildings usually have AC. Homes don't have AC but that's because it doesn't (or didn't used to) get too hot

Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?

#390

Post by graeham » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 9:10 AM UTC

Expensive by UK standards, but cheap vs Bay Area: Cambridge UK.

I've not been anywhere else that has the density of interesting people doing interesting stuff. London is not far if you need to break the bubble (and Stansted Airport even closer).

Downsides: salaries are generally lower than SV (esp for technical work), Brexit uncertainty, weather is fairly average, limited outdoor sport options (other than running, road cycling, rowing)