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

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

#471

Post by sverhagen »

alvar0 wrote: post #456
madeofpalk wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's a reason @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. Because the tax payers are paying €110m for it? http://www.thejournal.ie/lisbon-web-summit-new-ten-year-deal...

Exactly, the same reason some hyperloop stuff is probably going to get done in southern Spain. Europe is only good for short vacations and subsidies. Except maybe London. If they finally escape from the EUSSR

Add the US to that list. Amazon HQ2 is a race to the bottom; I'm sure there's other criteria, but at some level that's also just squeezing the most benefits out of the contending cities or regions. And that's just a high profile example.

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

#472

Post by YorkshireSeason » 

   81 Nobel Laureates
This is misleading, because it falsely counts winners of the "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences Prize in Economic Sciences" as a Nobel price. Alfred Nobel did not donate a price for economics. The Sveriges Riksbank (= bank of the swedish empire) created this price (against the explicit wishes of the Nobel foundation [1]) in order to 'cash' in on the reputation of Nobel price. This is well-known and it is most likely that an institution that false counts winners of the Sveriges Riksbank as Nobel price winners is doing this to mislead the audience.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Econom...

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

#474

Post by sukruh »

_mrmnmly wrote: post #114
pzduniak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Avoid working for local companies in Poland unless you like low pay. Just find yourself a nice remote gig (there's plenty of them if you know how to find them) and live like the top .001% of the country or whatever. There's a good reason why being a "digital nomad" is becoming more and more popular. Healthcare starts at ~$130/mo if you manage to not pay for the retirement fund scam (rarely possible), goes up to like…

agree. I'm from Poland but since the beginning of my programming career I've been working mostly for abroad companies (because of earnings). And about the politics... Only people that want to play into 'politics' game really cares what's happening here - other people just don't care and live happily.

You might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.

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

#475

Post by 03- »

quanto wrote: post #303
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…

How does a non-Indian English speaker go about hunting for an apartment lease in Bangalore? Especially short-term leases. This is the biggest bottleneck for me.

I used a neat service called "nestaway" while I was there, definitely recommend it.

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

#476

Post by apexkid »

blocked_again wrote: post #372
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…

The only good thing about Banglore is that it has a very big tech community. But the wages are really low compared to the west. Traffic is just terrible. Sometimes it may take you 1 2 hours even to cover 1 KM. Its overpopulated and has too much pollution. Night life is nowehere close compared to SFO and so is the intellectual community. Again nothing to justify to move all over from SFO.

I have been living in Bangalore for 5 years and this is completely exaggerated opinion.

- In no situation it will take 2 hours for a km unless there is a natural disaster period. - Bangalore is one of lesser polluted cities in India. Pollution index is mostly green. SFO is much better though in terms of particulate matter index. - Nightlife, i haven't experienced in SFO so will not comment.

You can justify a move from SFO to BLR if you want a multitude cheaper place to live without losing out too much on the tech community. I live an above average lifestyle for less than 500$.

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

#477

Post by fauigerzigerk »

alphakappa wrote: post #406
isostatic wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Istanbul (and all of Turkey, obv.) is run by a dictator who tortures detainees, and arbitarilly arrests journalists and human rights workers https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/europe-and-central-asia...

The country is more than its government. If you’ve been to Istanbul, you would know that it’s a wonderful place. Should we shun the country and its people because they have been burdened with a bad ruler? We should look in a mirror first before passing such harsh judgment.

If you're doing business in a country then rule of law is extremely important. Your life and freedom may depend on it.

No matter where your customers are, you are subject to (at the very least) tax and social security regulations of the country you live in.

Rather than looking in the mirror I would suggest looking at:

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/corruption-rank

http://www.doingbusiness.org/en/doingbusiness

As a foreigner you cannot do as the locals do when it comes to corruption (even if you wanted to) or you're going to have a target on your back.

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

#478

Post by wolfgke »

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…

> - Less outwardness as a social norm. I am sure there will be debate over this. But I think many will agree it is hard to make friends with non-expats even when there is no or little language barrier, compared to many North American social contexts.

Somewhat counteropinion as a native German: It is much harder to make friends in Germany if you do not speak decent German. So simply learn it.

> - 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.

Many German homes have a tumble dryer at home.

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

#479

Post by lumos_42 »

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 not really an intellectual city. Also, forget Delhi if you're a girl.

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

#480

Post by bandy008 »

NonEUCitizen wrote: post #401
bandy008 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree! When you come to the Philippines, skip Manila and go all the way to Cebu or anywhere Visayas area or Davao. Internet?? Well yea! Depends on the area you're in. I have 50mbs on a fiber connection and no major problem so far. Except when I travel to nearby islands, then internet connection can be really bad.

Where do you have 50Mbps fiber?

Im currently in Cebu. I have a line on PLDT Home fiber that they offer starting from 5mbs up to 100mbps. It's been reliable so far.
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