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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?

#811

Post by mahasvin »

kfk wrote: post #445
simplyinfinity wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mediocre roads indeed, but you can manage to get around the city by public transport. While public transit can be sometimes late, or some buss lines use old busses. it's A+ compared to US public transport, but not as great as the London or Paris (tho the metro is newer and cleaner than Paris). Public transport card for all lines for 1 year is 365 levs - 185 eur. Rent prices currently are on the high end and can run y…

long shot, but any chance you know a way to find short term rentals in the city center? I currently live in Lozenets and while I love it I’d prefer something more central like say Rakovski street

Speaking of Lozenets - it has one of the best wine shops in Bulgaria. And it is definitely a Big Plus. Actually, I have summer office in Sozopol and it works OK, just you will need to be prepared of VIVACOM 24-48hrs downtime once or twice per season. Otherwise OK. Business wise, Bulgaria for a foreigner is very good, banking is OK.

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

#812

Post by tptacek »

tropdrop wrote: post #147

If you would like to remain in United States and do not mind having proper seasons, I would strongly consider Chicago, the last affordable big city in the United States. University of Chicago pulls a robust intellectual community (81 Nobel Laureates), but there is also a deep intellectual history around the arts and music that transcends the work of the university - something that I'm not sure I can say for a place l…

Chicago pro's:

* Cheap housing with lots of options, even if you stay in the city limits (Chicago is huge).

* Cheap office space.

* Vibrant, 1st tier business community; Chicago's not the best place to try to get a tech job, but it is one of the better places to start a tech company, especially if you're bootstrapping.

* Really fantastic food and drink scene.

* Top tier venues for touring music scene; we get better shows than SFBA does.

* Functioning, wide-reaching public transit system.

Chicago con's:

* State finances are truly fucked.

* The crime situation is not a joke, though it's more a moral catastrophe than a middle+ class safety issue.

* I like cold weather but you probably don't and Chicago cold is not fucking around cold.

* The startup scene is has a serious cargo cult vibe and can be cliquish.

* Apart from the lake, outdoors stuff is adequate and unspectacular at best.

* It won't be nearly as easy to raise money here as in any tech hub.

I think if you buy into the premise (big city, cold weather 1/4 of the year), Chicago is easily the best value in the US. But lots of people reasonably don't buy into that, and if you don't, you probably won't love the city the way its boosters do.

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

#813

Post by PascLeRasc »

sumeno wrote: post #778
AYBABTME wrote: post #722

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Downtown is very small (less than 0.5 square miles) in Pittsburgh and it just isn't very residential (nor is it intended to be). There are other parts of the city that are much more walkable and while there aren't many trains the bus system isn't bad

I really wish we had any kind of nightlife downtown. It's pretty cool at night but there really isn't much to do apart from a few good restaurants on Penn Ave. I was in Center City, Philly, a few months ago and it was exactly what I wish we had downtown.

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

#814

Post by andrepd »

ur-whale wrote: post #576
galfarragem wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portuguese IRS: https://github.com/galfarragem/learning-notes/blob/master/no...

So basically, if you make more thank 50k euros per year, you start working for your own benefit around mid-june. Yeah ... pass.

Yes. Unless you live alone in the woods drawing no benefit from the democratic, rule of law, first-world country you live in, paga e não bufes, which translates roughly to "cough up".

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

#815

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#816

Post by Technetium »

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…

If you think you're going to have a good time living in the Carolinas, then I genuinely hope that you don't plan on being black or gay outside of a major city. There is a ton of bigotry and racism still present there, and the politicians in charge are happy to see it continue.

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

#817

Post by eclat »

nelsonic wrote: post #229

Depending 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…

Yeah, as a Portuguese person living in Lisbon and having worked in the tech scene here, I can say avoid Portugal if you're looking for a SV type scene. The level of anything going on around here is far lower.

Sure the weather is the best I've ever experienced on earth, the food is great, and the cost of living is low. But on the other hand you have an ecosystem that is nothing to write home about, culturally it's good but not great like London or NYC, academia is lackluster (no world-class universities in any subject, bar 1 MBA), not very international, not a whole lot going on in general.

Portugal is a great place to come on holiday, go surfing, go sailing, and retire. It's not an intellectually stimulating place, and the general level of competence in everything from local government to enterprise management is extremely frustrating.

I would say to OP that usually if a place is interesting, it won't be cheap as there is more demand for it. Maybe look at Oxford, UK, Bristol, UK, Edinburgh, UK, or Rotterdam, NL as secondary cities with still enough going on. Apparently Bordeaux is nice but I have never been so can't say.

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

#818

Post by 60654 »

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…

I hear taxes brought up a lot, but they're actually on par with major metro areas. Let's compare Chicago to SF:

1. Effective property tax rate: SF ~1.2%, Chicago ~1.7% *

2. State income tax: SF 9.3%+, Chicago 4.95%

3. Combined state, county + city sales tax: SF 8.5%, Chicago 10.25%

(* But property taxes do get much higher in the suburban townships!)

Altogether, the lower state income tax more than offsets the slightly higher property tax.

But taxes is a favorite bugbear in local political campaigns, because they're an easy item for politicians to harp on (who doesn't want lower taxes after all?). The other day I saw a political ad where the actor proclaimed, "I'm moving out of Illinois because taxes are too high! Support XYZ for governor." But let's be honest, uprooting one's family just to optimize a few percentage points on the tax return is a terrible idea. And as long as there are good jobs available, taxes are just one living expense among many.

As for the other items, I can't agree with them either. Chicago Public Schools are totally fine - they're very much focused on educating working-class and/or immigrant kids, so they're not like rich suburban schools with all the bells and whistles, but they do their job very well. And the magnet schools are top notch. Public works are a patchwork, but for example CTA is very well funded and runs much better than either MTA or MUNI. As for corruption - ok, I'll give you that one. ;)

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

#819

Post by companyhen »

wingerlang wrote: post #72
corbett3000 wrote: post #66

Berlin or Amsterdam would be my picks in Europe. Bangkok or KL for Asia. Austin for the US.

Could you expand on why you suggest Bangkok? I live here, but I might be in a bit of a bubble.

I lived in Bangkok the past 6 months and made many "intellectual" friends since moving here.

Two things I do, occasionally stay in hostels to meet people (hit and miss) and going to tech-related meetup.com and eventbrite.com events in Bangkok and Chiang Mai (80-90%+ of my friends in Thailand were met this way)

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

#820

Post by niccolop »

eclat wrote: post #795
nik736 wrote: post #625

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd argue it's better than Portugal. Why is it better?

Good luck getting by on English alone though.

I think it depends what city you are in, we have not found any problems in Southern Spain, but I cannot speak for elsewhere.
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