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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?

#721

Post by eitally »

cbames89 wrote: post #708

I'd highly recommend the triangle area in North Carolina. In Raleigh, there are a large number of tech companies, RHE, Cisco, IBM, Unreal Engine, just to name a few. It has the second highest % of computer science PhDs, and it's home to NC State, Duke University, and UNC. It's also a cultural hotspot for Blues creativity. Many of the best contemporary blues artists are located here in the triangle. The cost of living…

I came here to recommend the same. I moved from the RTP area to SV a couple years ago and my family were very happy in NC. Among other things, we sold our 4300sqft house in a beautiful suburban neighborhood for $510k ... in order to buy a 1700sqft house in San Jose for $1.35m.

I lived in this part of NC for 13 years and am happy to answer questions.

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

#722

Post by AYBABTME »

pc86 wrote: post #665
dsiegel2275 wrote: post #655

This is easy. Pittsburgh. Consistently ranked as a top city in the US, and world, to live in, in no small part due to the comparatively cheap cost of home prices, rent, and living in general. For example, there are nice neighborhoods in the city where one can buy a three bedroom, 2000sq foot house for With Carnegie Mellon University here, the 'intellectual' and more specifically the tech scene is thriving. I work for…

Pittsburgh is great. I live in a city you've never heard of and pay $1125/mo for a one bedroom apartment. A good friend of mine lives in Pittsburgh and pays $1200/mo for a 5 bedroom house (rental) in an unpopular but safe and growing neighborhood of Pittsburgh proper. The cost of living is insanely low and Pennsylvania is a low tax state (flat 3.2% person income tax), which compared to California can equal a few hund…

I wonder how to reconcile your point about lack of public transport, supporting services and liveability downtown (seems like it's not liveable) and the parent's claim about Pittsburg being top rated city in the world for liveability.

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

#723

Post by CodeM0nkey »

cbames89 wrote: post #708

I'd highly recommend the triangle area in North Carolina. In Raleigh, there are a large number of tech companies, RHE, Cisco, IBM, Unreal Engine, just to name a few. It has the second highest % of computer science PhDs, and it's home to NC State, Duke University, and UNC. It's also a cultural hotspot for Blues creativity. Many of the best contemporary blues artists are located here in the triangle. The cost of living…

The availability of synchronous 1Gbps fiber internet for about $70/mo in the Triangle area from both Google Fiber and AT&T Fiber doesn't hurt either.

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

#724

Post by jcalabro »

nicklovescode wrote: post #2

It depends what you mean by cheap but you can live in Somerville next to Cambridge MA for a fraction of SF rent and be in perhaps the best intellectual environment in the world. https://boston.craigslist.org/search/aap?bedrooms=1&maxAsk=1... Looks like it’s pretty easy to find a sub-$1000/mo bedroom

Agreed! I live here now and there are tons of high tech jobs, lots of great restaurants and bars, fun festivals, and it is moderately affordable, though I do have several roommates which seems to be the favor that offsets the cost.

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

#725

Post by jpgvm »

JMCQ87 wrote: post #691
christophilus wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> politics is moving in quite a right-wing/anti-immigrant direction Seems to be a global phenomenon. Is there a place where this isn't happening?

Canada and New Zealand, possibly.

Unfortunately Australia isn't in that list. :(

Our politics don't represent us as a nation, if you are from somewhere else come spend some time in our coastal cities and you will be accepted as one of us.

Only the indigenous are Australian by heritage, the rest of us are immigrants too even if some people would object to that classification through their ignorance.

Being an immigrant doesn't make you less of an Australian, we are a country of immigrants and I hope one day our politics reflect that.

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

#726

Post by sgregnt »

dna_polymerase wrote: post #552
alphakappa wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to be a technical distinction without a difference though. Same amount of money, announced at the same time, awarded at the same ceremony, and just as prestigious. Sure, it’s an expansion of the original prize, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that for anyone in the world, the awardee is for all practical purposes a Nobel prize winner.

The Nobel Prize awards outstanding contributions to humanity. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences awards people pushing neoliberalism. Read up on the Mont Pelerin Society to learn more about it.

I at least know of one example (because the economists is so famose) of one recent (relatively) laureate that is definitely not a neo-liberal: Paul Keugman.

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

#727

Post by pc86 »

ianai wrote: post #684
dsiegel2275 wrote: post #655

This is easy. Pittsburgh. Consistently ranked as a top city in the US, and world, to live in, in no small part due to the comparatively cheap cost of home prices, rent, and living in general. For example, there are nice neighborhoods in the city where one can buy a three bedroom, 2000sq foot house for With Carnegie Mellon University here, the 'intellectual' and more specifically the tech scene is thriving. I work for…

What is the driver of the local economy? Ie most people wind up working at/in _____ . How hard is it to find good doctors and red Chile.

UPMC is a massive ($19B) primary healthcare provider and insurer with 40 hospitals and 600 doctors' offices. According to their own stats, 41% market share for western Pennsylvania. It's hard to argue that you can't find a world class physician in Pittsburgh, let alone just a "good" one.

Red chiles are pretty ubiquitous across the US, especially in urban areas; are you referring to something specific?

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

#728

Post by eof »

I am currently in Cuenca Ecuador. It's certainly not true that everyone speaks english, but there is a strong ex-pat community.

It's a beautiful, very cheap city. There is fiber internet and there are universities here. A good intellectual atomosphere? Hard to say; there are intelligent people around and you can become friends.

I am here specifically to focus on intellectual pursuits while living cheaply. Latin America in general is wonderful for that.

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

#729

Post by pc86 »

AYBABTME wrote: post #722
pc86 wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pittsburgh is great. I live in a city you've never heard of and pay $1125/mo for a one bedroom apartment. A good friend of mine lives in Pittsburgh and pays $1200/mo for a 5 bedroom house (rental) in an unpopular but safe and growing neighborhood of Pittsburgh proper. The cost of living is insanely low and Pennsylvania is a low tax state (flat 3.2% person income tax), which compared to California can equal a few hund…

I wonder how to reconcile your point about lack of public transport, supporting services and liveability downtown (seems like it's not liveable) and the parent's claim about Pittsburg being top rated city in the world for liveability.

It depends on your definition of liveability. If you require the ability to get an apartment downtown, do all your shopping downtown, and commute downtown without buying a vehicle, Pittsburgh is not liveable. But I would argue that outside of NYC and maybe {San Francisco,Chicago,DC}, no US city is liveable by that definition.

I think it's very liveable if you're realistic about what liveable means in a mostly suburban part of the US - driving into downtown for work and pleasure, and leaving for everything else.

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

#730

Post by marcminor »

cbames89 wrote: post #708

I'd highly recommend the triangle area in North Carolina. In Raleigh, there are a large number of tech companies, RHE, Cisco, IBM, Unreal Engine, just to name a few. It has the second highest % of computer science PhDs, and it's home to NC State, Duke University, and UNC. It's also a cultural hotspot for Blues creativity. Many of the best contemporary blues artists are located here in the triangle. The cost of living…

Totally agree about the triangle. We lived in NYC, SF, and Boston for a cumulative 15 years before choosing the triangle for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I work in tech and wanted greater intellectual and economic diversity. Durham-area coffee-shop chatter is great - in a single sitting recently I heard folks cover ground including christian theology and practice, the upcoming pride parade, backyard chickens getting over the fence, student study group plans, and tech startup challenges.
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