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?

#751

Post by m_t » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:28 PM UTC

blocked_again wrote: post #345

sonnyblarney wrote: post #189

In 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…

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

You need a visa.

Either a Travel+Toursim visa (depending if you're nationality of origin is eligible) or a Visa sponsored by an employer.

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

#752

Post by CosmicShadow » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:31 PM UTC

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. There is a reason why many big Valley companies are setting up expansions here and why a huge chunk of engineers in the Valley are from the University of Waterloo. A big thriving startup community with a good culture and lots of smart folks around, very easy to get integrated and to get support.

It's not as cheap as moving to a 3rd world country or some random places in the States or Canada, but it's fairly reasonable, tons of smart people and activity and you are within a 1.5hr driving radius of Toronto, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, London, Guelph and most of the big SW Ontario places. Cheap flights to go anywhere in the world often popup from Toronto or Hamilton, so that's a bonus if you like to travel.

Again, this isn't comparable to moving to Portugal or the like, which is an awesome place by the way, but if you want Canada, it's a good choice for getting a lot without the prices of Toronto, which is one of the top 6 most expensive cities in the world.

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

#753

Post by JOnAgain » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:32 PM UTC

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…

Source for world ranking?

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

#754

Post by scrollaway » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:33 PM UTC

rorykoehler wrote: post #737

scrollaway wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there any major capital where they don't rise? Athens. I need to leave that country for my own sanity and I'm currently on the lookout for a new one to move to. All this talk about portugal is very tempting :)

I've been very curious about how life is in Greece now. What is the vibe like? Is there any hope amongst the creative youth? Any interesting cultural movements that we generally tend to see emerge in times of hardship?

There's a decent tech scene primarily centered around crypto currency. Most of the issues and roadblocks are government related to be honest. It's an interesting country if you want to invest in a developing country but quality of life is pretty bad.

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

#755

Post by jameskegel » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:33 PM UTC

kgabis wrote: post #431

flavor8 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd have to be quite apolitical to consider a move to Poland right now.

If you ignore weekly nazi rallies and all the book burning it's not such a bad place./s Seriously though, Poland is one of the safest place to live in right now, especially if you're a foreigner. Media's portrayal of current political situation in Poland is HUGELY exaggerated.

I can’t readily discern where you are going with this comment. Perhaps the point would have been better stated another way.

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

#756

Post by beokop » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:35 PM UTC

yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #502

namdnay wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is applicable to Europe, but in a different way: Scandinavia and Switzerland are expensive, but salaries are equally high. Compare that to the French Riviera for example, where house prices are nearly as high as Stockholm, but salaries are much lower. That's the problem with sunshine: it attracts a lot of wealthy retirees and tourists, who distort the local market.

Ha! No they aren't! I lived in Sweden for seven years, and this is so far from the truth it's hilarious. Relative quality of life is garbage in Sweden for a tech worker. Your life will be not that much better than if you work in Carlings selling plaid shirts to hard-rock hipsters. My Swedish friends have decent jobs and still live unglamorous, frugal lives. As soon as I left Sweden, my quality of life completely tran…

Swede here. I think this is because it's really, really hard to improve your quality of life in any meaningful way by just spending more money. Especially in the city.

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

#757

Post by dagw » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:42 PM UTC

namdnay wrote: post #190

smueller1234 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That cold-cheap bit is decidedly not applicable to Europe, by the way. Scandinavia is overall among the most expensive places in Europe. I'd imagine Switzerland is more expensive by a bit, but Oslo and Stockholm are brutal as well.

I think it is applicable to Europe, but in a different way: Scandinavia and Switzerland are expensive, but salaries are equally high. Compare that to the French Riviera for example, where house prices are nearly as high as Stockholm, but salaries are much lower. That's the problem with sunshine: it attracts a lot of wealthy retirees and tourists, who distort the local market.

Scandinavia

Salaries and cost of living between Norway and Sweden is different enough that it doesn't make sense to talk about them is a unified block.

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

#758

Post by RightMillennial » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

phatboyslim wrote: post #744

ChefboyOG wrote: post #706

If you want to remain in a major US city with a lower cost of living, great quality of life, and thriving intellectual community, I'd strongly recommend checking out Chicago. While it's not as cheap as many cities you'll find abroad, it is extremely affordable compared to US cities. The food is fantastic and affordable. There is a wonderful intellectual community. The nightlife is amazing, if you're into that. It's a…

To counter this, as someone who lives in Chicago, there are some additional drawbacks beyond the weather: - Taxes are extremely high here, with no sign of slowing down - Political corruption is rampant in the state - Crime is mostly relegated to south side of city, but it's still an issue - Public works are decaying: train stations, airport, and everything else look like they need work - Schools are undesirable and a…

Regarding taxes, are you talking about Chicago proper or the surrounding suburbs? I rented in North Chicago for a couple years and I don't recall any taxes other than local and state sales tax, and state income tax. Granted that's pretty far north. Are the taxes higher as you get closer to the metropolis center?

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

#759

Post by dagw » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:44 PM UTC

dvlsg wrote: post #158

fastbeef wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of housing / income ratio in Stockholm is so out of whack that it’s basically impossible to enter the housing market without at least €50k-75k in savings to have as a down payment for an apartment anywhere nice.

Thats disappointing. After visiting, I found I really enjoyed both Sweden and Norway, and wouldn't mind moving there someday. Sounds like that may be difficult.

Norway's rental market is nothing like Sweden's. In Norway rents may be higher but it's trivial to get a nice apartment in the center of town basically immediately.

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

#760

Post by ordinaryperson » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

phatboyslim wrote: post #744

ChefboyOG wrote: post #706

If you want to remain in a major US city with a lower cost of living, great quality of life, and thriving intellectual community, I'd strongly recommend checking out Chicago. While it's not as cheap as many cities you'll find abroad, it is extremely affordable compared to US cities. The food is fantastic and affordable. There is a wonderful intellectual community. The nightlife is amazing, if you're into that. It's a…

To counter this, as someone who lives in Chicago, there are some additional drawbacks beyond the weather: - Taxes are extremely high here, with no sign of slowing down - Political corruption is rampant in the state - Crime is mostly relegated to south side of city, but it's still an issue - Public works are decaying: train stations, airport, and everything else look like they need work - Schools are undesirable and a…

Also, Chicago is highly racially segregated. http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/March-2017/Why-Is-Chicag...