Ask HN: Where should I live?

#1

Post by bedobi » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 6:17 AM UTC

I'm looking to make a move from Brisbane Australia (not from there) and have the privilege of being able to look for a job and move pretty much anywhere. Where should I live?

Wish list:

1) Very warm climate (Brisbane has this)

2) Decent tech scene (or in a near enough timezone to enables remote work for US or EU employers) (Brisbane barely has this)

3) ACTUALLY diverse and cultured (Brisbane has gotten a lot better in the past ten years, but falls well short here IMO)

4) Non-car centric with good public and alternative transport opportunities (Brisbane falls well short here too)

The ultimate city for me would have the huge population and excellent public transport of Tokyo, the diversity of NY, Miami, London and Paris, the climate of Singapore and the non-car centrism of Amsterdam.

Short list so far:

* Barcelona?

* Lisbon?

* Miami?

* Austin?

* Tel Aviv?

* ??? Any Latin American or African cities I'm missing? Maybe Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador Bahia, Lagos, Dakar ???

Cities like NY, Toronto are diverse and have lots of opportunities but are too cold. Also not that great on public and alternative transport.

Sydney, Melbourne and Vancouver are too cold in winter and not that diverse. Also not that great on public and alternative transport.

Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen are very non-car centric but too cold.

Yes, I'm too picky and probably asking for the impossible =) but would love to hear more suggestions

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#2

Post by dotcoma » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 6:44 AM UTC

Not sure how you’d fare in Fortaleza, Recife and Salvador, which have their share of security issues.

I doubt you’d stick to a place like Lagos for more than a month.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#3

Post by bachback » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 7:21 AM UTC

check nomadlist.com. nomad style would be travel to all the ones you fancy and spend a few weeks there, then you'll know. one of the most favourite nomad places worldwide is thailand and bali. if you factor in costs work from home/paradise very likely gives a lot higher payoff than locating at tech hubs in terms of price/value. e.g. Chiang mai, Thailand frequently ranks #1 on nomadlist. living cost there is shown at 1000$/month (versus 4400$ in London or 6000$ in SF, 3600$ in Brisbane).

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#4

Post by firecall » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 7:43 AM UTC

Sydney? ;-)

I'm Adelaide based these days, and coming from London, the lack of day-to-day diversity is rather shocking!

I'd suggest London and the South of England during the summer months!

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#5

Post by Giorgi » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 7:44 AM UTC

bachback wrote: post #3

check nomadlist.com. nomad style would be travel to all the ones you fancy and spend a few weeks there, then you'll know. one of the most favourite nomad places worldwide is thailand and bali. if you factor in costs work from home/paradise very likely gives a lot higher payoff than locating at tech hubs in terms of price/value. e.g. Chiang mai, Thailand frequently ranks #1 on nomadlist. living cost there is shown at…

$1000/month will make you live like king in Tbilisi and Georgian cuisine is unmatched worldwide. Also super cheap craft beer and wine.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#6

Post by spupe » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:09 AM UTC

Out of your shortlist, I would recommend Lisbon. It's not as big but punches above its weight in most of your other criteria.

The Brazilian cities you described do not have good public transport or bikes, and almost no foreigners. The advantage is that cost of living is very low, but Lisbon is also not that expensive as well.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#7

Post by rosndo » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:10 AM UTC

Barcelona has gone to shit in the past couple of years, it’s gone from a relatively safe city to one where it’s commonplace for knife-wielding gangs to rob your car in the stoplights.

Pre-covid, it was a wonderful place to live (although outside of restaurants customer service is non-existent)

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#8

Post by malux85 » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:24 AM UTC

rosndo wrote: post #7

Barcelona has gone to shit in the past couple of years, it’s gone from a relatively safe city to one where it’s commonplace for knife-wielding gangs to rob your car in the stoplights. Pre-covid, it was a wonderful place to live (although outside of restaurants customer service is non-existent)

Yeah op listen to this, some areas of Barcelona are now very dangerous, I lived there for 3 months during the worst part of covid.

Covid induced unemployment has spiked crime a lot. It was not unusual to see drug addicted shirtless guys carrying machetes walking through the streets first during the night and now during the day.

Infrastructure is starting to suffer because the drug addicts are pulling the copper out of the boxes.

Some central areas are better but I have friends there still and over the past 6 months every one of them has been robbed

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#9

Post by throwaway378037 » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:24 AM UTC

Ten years ago I’d have said Hong Kong, without hesitation. Now? I’m not so sure

Re: Ask HN: Where should I live?

#10

Post by rosndo » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:35 AM UTC

malux85 wrote: post #8

rosndo wrote: post #7

Barcelona has gone to shit in the past couple of years, it’s gone from a relatively safe city to one where it’s commonplace for knife-wielding gangs to rob your car in the stoplights. Pre-covid, it was a wonderful place to live (although outside of restaurants customer service is non-existent)

Yeah op listen to this, some areas of Barcelona are now very dangerous, I lived there for 3 months during the worst part of covid. Covid induced unemployment has spiked crime a lot. It was not unusual to see drug addicted shirtless guys carrying machetes walking through the streets first during the night and now during the day. Infrastructure is starting to suffer because the drug addicts are pulling the copper out o…

Not just “some areas”, our car got robbed while driving on C/ de Mallorca just 2 blocks from Sagrada Familia, a normally quiet area near the centre.

Guys with knives surrounded the car and stabbed out the tires, pulled out whatever stuff they could get from the backseat.

A couple of days later two guys in hoodies ripped my watch from my wrist after I stepped out to smoke next to a posh Eixample restaurant. Admittedly I’d occasionally heard those stories before, but never had such an issue while wearing the same watch every day for 4 years back when I lived in Barcelona pre-covid.

It might still be quiet and safe in Sarria or Diagonal Mar, but the central areas seem to be worse than even the worst tourist areas were a couple of years ago.