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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?

#151

Post by askmike »

maxkwallace wrote: post #134

I am doing this in Taipei right now. The living costs are low and there is a thriving intellectual community, but there is definitely a language barrier. Most Taiwanese can speak enough English to be friendly and helpful (which they are), but not enough to have intellectual conversations. If you are willing to tolerate the language barrier and put in the time to find the people who can converse intellectually in Engl…

What about Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur? The first two are definitely more expensive (KL maybe even being cheaper) but in SG and KL English is the primary language and in HK you'll be fine with it as well.

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

#152

Post by benbristow »

tixocloud wrote: post #71

Edinburgh could be a good option. If you look hard enough, it is still relatively affordable (especially compared to the Bay Area) and I’ve found very intellectual people to work with. There seems to be a big focus in the U.K. on collaboration between academic and industry and if you’re into data, Edinburgh is home to a The Data Lab, an innovation centre around data. I moved here from North America and have previous…

Both Edinburgh and Glasgow are pretty good in Scotland/UK.

Glasgow's tech scene isn't the biggest but we're a friendly bunch and there's lots going on.

https://opentechcalendar.co.uk/

This site is pretty good for seeing all the tech meetups/events in the UK.

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

#153

Post by bandy008 »

Philippines - It's the best place to be. Just imagine coding in front of a breath taking view. Everything is cheap. No BS. Plus the beautiful nature and everybody speaks english.

Here's a quick testament about the Philippines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-tKE812-ZY

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

#154

Post by King-Aaron »

whitef0x wrote: post #122
nsomaru wrote: post #103

Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Both of these cities have loads of expats and intellectually stimulating environments. Big and spacious apartments for $1000/mo or less. Fibre @ 40mbps for $100/mo or thereabouts. A country that has both tropical and Mediterranean climates (think of the fruit and veggies!) with beautiful nature (esp. CT where it's integrated with the city). Eat out every night in style at pri…

How bad is the crime? I've talked to a few who've lived there but they always tell me the crime forced them to move out. Do hijackings at robots still happen often?

> How bad is the crime?

From experience (several yrs ago), you keep a gun in your lap when you drive the car. All the time.

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

#156

Post by mahrain »

Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Kind of like the silicon valley of Holland still with major tech companies around (Philips, NXP Semiconductor, ASML, Tomtom, Here) and a growing startup culture. Eindhoven University of Technology is a major force in e.g. Solar and rent for a centrally located appartment will be around 1000 Euro. Train connections to Amsterdam and Germany (Düsseldorf) and a local airport with cheap connections throughout Europe.

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

#157

Post by psinger »

bandy008 wrote: post #153

Philippines - It's the best place to be. Just imagine coding in front of a breath taking view. Everything is cheap. No BS. Plus the beautiful nature and everybody speaks english. Here's a quick testament about the Philippines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-tKE812-ZY

Not everyone feels safe there though.

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

#158

Post by dvlsg »

fastbeef wrote: post #98
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.

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.

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

#159

Post by mad_tortoise »

whitef0x wrote: post #122
nsomaru wrote: post #103

Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Both of these cities have loads of expats and intellectually stimulating environments. Big and spacious apartments for $1000/mo or less. Fibre @ 40mbps for $100/mo or thereabouts. A country that has both tropical and Mediterranean climates (think of the fruit and veggies!) with beautiful nature (esp. CT where it's integrated with the city). Eat out every night in style at pri…

How bad is the crime? I've talked to a few who've lived there but they always tell me the crime forced them to move out. Do hijackings at robots still happen often?

Capetonian here. Crime is generally relative to where you live. Bad crime mostly happens in the extremely poor townships in Cape Town. That said it does find it's way into the suburbs and the city. But if you're a relatively street smart person in Cape Town city and suburbs, petty crime probably won't affect you.

In terms of my personal experiences with crime I was mugged once when I was a teenager, and had a friend killed when he tried to stop a mugging. But neither have made me want to leave, the murder made me consider it, but this is still my home, and once you experience a Cape Town summer you'll understand why so many people come for a few weeks and end up staying a few years...

In terms of crime in Joburg, that's a whole other ball game. It can be wild up there, and for that reason I wouldn't move there. Although the pay is far better than Cape Town, it's nowhere near as idyllic place to live as Cape Town is.

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

#160

Post by spectaclepiece »

siquick wrote: post #90

Barcelona - one of the best all-around cities in the world (climate/culture/architecture/world proximity/quality of living/beach/mountains) and a growing tech scene. Very easy to pick up development work here for a local company, you won't be required to know Spanish/Catalan for a job. The only downsides are that the pay is relatively low (€43k average for SE) and it can be quite difficult to find a place to live wit…

I lived in Barcelona for eight years and I would not say that my experience was that the intellectual atmosphere was very high. In my view excessive tourism and Catalan nationalism play a negative role on both the intellectual and cultural spheres.
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