Hi, I made a site to do just this called https://nomadlist.com. Click OPEN FILTERS and click cheap living cost (I have collected 1,000+ of the biggest cities and am adding another 1,500 now. Let me know what you think!
- Pieter
Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
541–550 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#542Depending on your ability to work remotely, I would make the "case" that you should consider Portugal . Lisbon and Porto are super popular with ["digital nomad"] remote workers who work for international companies so earn in USD but spend [much less] in Euros for a superb lifestyle. There's a reason @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. It's one of the cheapest cities in Europe and [unlike Barcelona] everyone sp…
I have had my eye on Portugal for a number of years, but there are a few things that seem less than ideal. * Cost of living for a good quality of life still being relatively high or rising, especially in Lisbon and other tourist/expat areas. And a second tier city in Portugal is much less of a clear choice since that is comparable to a lot more places. * The tax system being very complicated. One can always argue abo…
The tech scene in Lisbon and Porto IS happening - just take a look at companies like Farfetch, Outsystems, Talkdesk, Feedzai, Unbabel and many other smaller startups w/their HQ based in Portugal. I myself work at a Porto based startup (Bottlebooks) w/American and Slovak founders. Portugal has everything going for it to be the California of Europe - highly educated (and english speaking) youth and a will to conquer the world. We welcome any foreigner willing to work hard and contribute to a creating a great place to live :)
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#543Earlier 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...
English(Portugal) > English(Spain − Barcelona)
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#544Earlier quoted context omitted.
The GP is talking about remote work.
I did realise that the GP wanted to have their cake and eat it -but why would anyone pay full SV rates for a contractor in a different country. If they are cool with remote working why not hire much cheaper remote workers at eastern European rates.
Clearly, they're really efficient, especially Poland.
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#545Depending on your ability to work remotely, I would make the "case" that you should consider Portugal . Lisbon and Porto are super popular with ["digital nomad"] remote workers who work for international companies so earn in USD but spend [much less] in Euros for a superb lifestyle. There's a reason @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. It's one of the cheapest cities in Europe and [unlike Barcelona] everyone sp…
I have had my eye on Portugal for a number of years, but there are a few things that seem less than ideal. * Cost of living for a good quality of life still being relatively high or rising, especially in Lisbon and other tourist/expat areas. And a second tier city in Portugal is much less of a clear choice since that is comparable to a lot more places. * The tax system being very complicated. One can always argue abo…
I don't understand the comment about the tax system. Which taxes are you talking about?
As I've said in another comment, IRS is literally filling out an online app for 5 minutes - and all relevant entries are already pre-filled. It's very easy and simple.
As for companies, my girlfriend works at a company run by two Germans and they basically hire an accountant to do the paperwork every year. It's pretty cheap. For a larger company, you'd have to hire a local to do the accounting, though.
Maybe I'm missing something because I don't run my own company, bear in mind that hiring freelancers is cheap here.
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#546Depending on your ability to work remotely, I would make the "case" that you should consider Portugal . Lisbon and Porto are super popular with ["digital nomad"] remote workers who work for international companies so earn in USD but spend [much less] in Euros for a superb lifestyle. There's a reason @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. It's one of the cheapest cities in Europe and [unlike Barcelona] everyone sp…
Glad to see this as the first comment I read. Im currently sat in Portugal on 4ha of land I have brought over near Fundão. It is more out of the way, but still has excellent access to cities. Plus it is absolutely beautiful. I’m a freelance software developer and can happily work out here even on a plot of land which has no power/net connection. The 3G/4G is great, and everything easily runs of a single solar panel.…
If no house, what is your solar panel currently attached to? That sounds like an interesting setup.
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#547In North America I would vote Montreal. It's 1/2 price of most American cities and 2x funner and cooler than almost any of them. LA and NYC have tons of cool, but they are expensive and doing fun stuff is generally expensive. Not so Montreal. Mtl has way more going on than even SF ever had back in the day, and it's much bigger than Austin, Boulder/Colorado Springs etc. etc.. During the summer, Montreal has an unbelie…
Any recommendations on companies that do exciting things and treat people well in Montreal?
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#548I am living in Urbana/Champaign Illinois for a few years for a job. The university here is one of the best engineering schools in the world and the whole area has a lot to do: meetups, entrepreneurship centers, culture, and is an easy drive to Chicago and St Louis. I will miss this place when my wife and I return to Sedona Arizona next year.
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#549Earlier quoted context omitted.
Warsaw is a beautiful city with quite an active and thriving tech community. I thought of moving there after a visit recently, until I heard about a recent city sanctioned far right rally attended by 60K people demanding a "White Europe". Any dreams of moving to Poland ended after that
Actually, despite the media buzz, there were about 20 morons with "white Europe" banner, quickly kicked away by organizers, but for some reason media loved presenting their photos, not the remaining 60k of people of all age (0 to 99) celebrating the Day of Independence in a rather peaceful atmosphere. In reality there is nothing to be afraid, Poland is one of the safest countries in the World (there are multiple reso…
>a lot of (about 1 million) refugees and emigrants from Ukraine
Please don't mix labor migrants (99.99+% of the number you indicated) with refugees.
According to the fresh official Foreigners Office report[0], there were 7.5k applications and around 400(sic!) positive decisions for the "refugee" or "protection" status from the Ukrainian citizens in the last 15(!) years.
[0] https://udsc.gov.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/UKRAINA-01.09...
Re: Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
#550Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
of course, but still - most people I know really doesn't care..