Ask HN: What's the best place in the U.S. to live and work cheaply?

80 点作者 throwmeaway2525超过 11 年前

I think some of us are interested in this discussion in the other thread, but that's about working locations outside the U.S.Where would people choose to live cheaply and work on their own projects inside the country?For example, I noticed someone here promoting an incubator in Myrtle Beach recently, and it appears that one could rent a townhouse there for < $1k.From my own perspective the usual problem with this is the lack of other interests, amenities, and a dating pool. (Admittedly those things can be distractions, but those are distractions I'd like to have, from a QoL perspective.)

41 条评论

fiatmoney超过 11 年前

Madison, Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin & the fact that it's a state capital generates a lot of cultural attractions, and you'll probably find it easy to hire some bright CS/engineering students if you get to that point. The core is very dense & walkable compared to other small Midwestern towns since it's on a tiny isthmus between two lakes (a nice geography too if you're into outdoor activities, although the summers can be surprisingly steamy & the winters are fairly cold). You can easily find cheap housing. Also only two hours from Chicago.

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jboggan超过 11 年前

Athens, GA. It's a college town with a rather remarkable density of culture (music, arts, food) and a very low cost of living. I've been gone a little over a year, but you can live in very nice areas with roommates for under $400 a month. Hell, a lot of folks rent entire houses for under four figures a month. It's also in the middle of a large swath of country (despite having a walkable urban center) and has high quality organic/local produce and meats for very little compared to similar quality food on the West Coast. It also has one of the liveliest downtowns in the country and has an incredible density and variety of bars and nightlife.Dating pool? There's about 25k undergrads and almost another 10k grad students. It's a very lovely place. Southern gentlemen and Southern belles live up to their reputation.

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dabent超过 11 年前

There are many cities in the US that are relatively inexpensive, but I'll name a few that I've experienced:Atlanta, GA: Good tech community. It's home of Georgia Tech and while it's no Silicon Valley, it is the home of a few startups, StartupRiot, and other startup-related activities. The weather is warmer than most places, but it still has seasons. You can find a place to rent pretty cheap here and the city is large enough to have some of the amenities you're looking for, including a million or so singles in the dating pool.Charleston, SC: Probably not quite as cheap as Atlanta, but it is beautiful and still quite cheap. Smaller in size, but not "middle of nowhere" small. Plus, there's the beach.Florida: Someone mentioned Miami, but if you seek warm weather and reasonable cost of living, Tampa, Orlando and other cities in Florida are great. The down side is that I don't think there is much startup activity, the upside is I've heard it's great for singles and there is beach, beach, theme parks, beach and probably a few other things to do in between hurricanes.Athens, GA: Smaller city, but a college town. See jboggan's comment.

twcooper超过 11 年前

Austin, TX. No income tax, cheap housing even near the UT campus, and 6th Street/Lake Travis to keep you occupied.

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colinismyname超过 11 年前

Missoula, MT.Recently started up a non-standard publishing company there, and the culture is stellar, it's a college town (full of culture and young people doing fun stuff), very low cost of living (rented a massive house with a bar/cafe in the basement for about $1400/month), and zero sales tax.Quality of life is best I've found anywhere in the US (and I've been to all contiguous 48 states several times, looking for places to set up offices and live when I'm not overseas). It's incredibly walkable, has a nice downtown, very active, athletics residents, and folks care about their health (which is manifested in both their activities and the local produce/restaurant/food culture).Happy to answer any other questions anyone might have about the area, and to introduce you around if you end up moving thereabouts :)

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mburst超过 11 年前

I may be biased because I live here but I really think Orlando, FL fits your bill. You can rent an apartment about 20min from downtown for about $1k or rent a house with a few people for much less. The tech scene is growing and there are some hacker spaces in the area if that's your thing. There are different tech/startup meetups once a week so you'd be able to get in to the community fairly quickly.You'd also be about 30min from the attractions (Disney, Universal, etc). UCF is here so you'll get the benefits of having a large college close by. If you're in to sports you have the Magic and Orlando City here with all the Tampa teams a 2hr drive away. You also get the benefit of great weather throughout the year. If you're planning to work in the downtown/tourist area then expect your normal I hate my life traffic.

cornellwright超过 11 年前

Pittsburgh, PA. There's still a surplus in housing from the steel days, so you can buy or rent for next to nothing. Carnegie Mellon along with 5 or 6 other colleges are there, so there are plenty of smart people. The city is making a nice turnaround from the old steel days to be a technology and medical research center.

jdminhbg超过 11 年前

I'm from Pennsylvania, so here are some hopefully not-too-biased observations on other parts of the country:Colorado: Reasonable cost, great weather, lots of amenities, but I've heard Denver referred to as "Menver" so if your idea of dating pool skews X-chromosome you might be disappointed.Portland: Maybe the high end of "cheaply" but lots of tech scene and indoor/outdoor amenities. I was ok with constant mist for the time I spent there but it might get to other people.Upper Midwest/Upstate NY/New England: I can't fathom dealing with winter there but if that's your thing then it's probably great?

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namenotrequired超过 11 年前

The mentioned "other thread": <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6700531" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6700531</a>

vimgirl超过 11 年前

San Diego. Not sure about the dating pool (I am an immigrant and can't see myself with someone not from my country, so never tried) bit, but you are definitely very well off in terms of quality of life. Amazing infrastructure, access to lovely beaches, great weather all year round etc. Cost of living is slightly better than the Bay Area but still high on an absolute scale.

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bobfirestone超过 11 年前

Las Vegas, NVTony Tseh Hsieh and his downtown project are spending ~$350 million to build a tech community in downtown Las Vegas.- Las Vegas is a cheap place to live. Depending on your needs you can rent a house for under $1500/mo. - You can hop on a plane and be in San Francisco in an hour. There are direct flights to most major cities. - There are tech events most nights of the week for when you want to get out. - There are a bunch of new co-working spaces if you want to have a place to work outside of where you are living or Starbucks.

abruzzi超过 11 年前

I think most of "flyover" country would satisfy you question, but here in New Mexico, you can find a decent apartment for $500/mo (my mortgage on a house with a quarter acre is $800/mo) I'm in the south, but most of northern New Mexico would be similar. You wouldn't be living in the top neighborhoods (though my house is in a historic desirable little town) but despite what you saw on Breaking Bad, nowhere in NM will have bad crime, except some very limited spots.

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LogicX超过 11 年前

Myrtle Beach, SC: Yes, we're building a startup community here, and promoting the reasons why its a great place to live at <a href="http://WhyNotTheBeach.com" rel="nofollow">http://WhyNotTheBeach.com</a>We have a coworking space: <a href="http://CoworkMYR.com" rel="nofollow">http://CoworkMYR.com</a>Startup Incubator: <a href="http://cocelerator.com" rel="nofollow">http://cocelerator.com</a>Along with other community resources and great projects: Hackerspace/Makerspace: <a href="http://subproto.com" rel="nofollow">http://subproto.com</a> & Coworking Space Management Software: <a href="http://lemyr.co" rel="nofollow">http://lemyr.co</a>For our size (city of 30k), we have a lot of big city amenities due to our tourists, even more-so than cities like Charleston, and a much lower cost of living, inexpensive flights (~$75 RT to NYC, BOS, PHL...)Feel free to contact me via my profile to learn more.

tsaoutourpants超过 11 年前

Miami, FL. You can get an apartment with a water view for $1K, or by a house off the water for $100K. This is not as cheap as the middle-of-nowhere destinations others have suggested, but offers vibrant culture, nightlife, and sun.

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yesimahuman超过 11 年前

Madison, Wisconsin is a good city for that. Cheap rent, lots of smart people with the University of Wisconsin right in town. I bootstrapped my company here (<a href="http://drifty.com/" rel="nofollow">http://drifty.com/</a>) and never felt financially strained and always found great people to hire.

tomservo6502超过 11 年前

If weather is not a factor Albany/Troy/Schenectady NY. The area is home to a good sized and growing tech industry with an AMD chip manufacture, industry leading nano technology research, universities like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who have incubator programs <a href="http://www.rpi.edu/about/eve/" rel="nofollow">http://www.rpi.edu/about/eve/</a>, and Schenectady whose economy depended so heavily on GE manufacturing is not giving large tax incentives to small businesses to move there. The social life is mid sized city to very rural depending where you want to actually live. I believe it is a hour an a half train ride to NYC, 3 hour drive to Boston, and 2 -3 hour drive will bury you in the middle of the Adirondack state park with no cell service.

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sullivanmatt超过 11 年前

Central Iowa has a growing tech / startup sector that is home to many new tech companies. Cost of living is insanely low. I live in Ames, Iowa and work for a medium-sized tech company founded in 2008. Salaries here are comparable to what you'd find in Minneapolis or Kansas City, but with an even lower cost of living. If you're going to bootstrap a startup, Central Iowa is the place to be. Lots of talent and super low costs.

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Chairmonkey超过 11 年前

Omaha, Nebraska.Our startup scene is flourishing and our cost of living is low. You can rent a very nice place for $1000 a month, most of the time for much less.We also have an awesome music scene, lots of bars and attractions, and a healthy stock of young people to fill up your dating pool.It's pretty awesome.

joshmlewis超过 11 年前

Greenville, SCIt's a perfect blend of small/big town atmosphere. The downtown has won awards and you can live right next to everything for rather cheap. I rented a 3 bedroom apartment on Main Street for around $1200 a month and ended up making money on rent through renting out the extra rooms. It has an incubator, code school, and lively coworking space and a ton of great restaurants. You also have a few colleges on the outskirts of town as well.Check: <a href="http://lifeingreenville.com/" rel="nofollow">http://lifeingreenville.com/</a>

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neomindryan超过 11 年前

I'm throwing in my vote for Philadelphia. We've got a great tech scene, cheap rent and easy access to New York, DC, and Baltimore (just in case). We have the most bicycle commuters per-capita in the USA and great restaurants, bars, and live music. The city is increasingly interested in fostering the tech / startup community, and there are major universities in town that provide talent and venues (I'm at a hackathon at Penn today, Drexel hosts the Tech Breakfast meet up every month).

RKoutnik超过 11 年前

Rochester, NY (if you don't mind the weather). Good writeup here: <a href="http://thelistservearchive.com/2013/10/03.html" rel="nofollow">http://thelistservearchive.com/2013/10/03.html</a>

zinssmeister超过 11 年前

Dallas, Austin, Miami. No income tax, cheap real estate and especially in Dallas plenty of 9-5 corporate jobs in case you need a cash infusion.

sogrady超过 11 年前

Portland, ME. Several colleges in the area, can rent an apartment in town for < $1K, an office with parking for less than half of that, good airport 15 minutes from downtown, < 2 hrs from Boston, tons of outdoor activities (hiking, sea kayaking, fishing, etc), burgeoning startup culture (see: <a href="http://startupportland.com" rel="nofollow">http://startupportland.com</a>), high end craft beer (Allagash, etc) and a great food scene if you're into that (e.g. <a href="http://www.bonappetit.com/columns/the-foodist/article/portland-maine-america-s-foodiest-small-town-2009" rel="nofollow">http://www.bonappetit.com/columns/the-foodist/article/portla...</a>).The one negative people tend to bring up is the weather, but Portland tracks Boston temps pretty closely. It won't be mistaken for Miami or Southern California, but the foliage is fantastic and snow can be fun.

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olefoo超过 11 年前

Corvallis, ORMild weather, easy access to coast and mountains, there's a regional airport 40 minutes away and Portland is less than 2 hours away.It is a college town. And has a pretty strong tech culture because it's OSU; Oregon's engineering school.

sjg007超过 11 年前

I think it is two sides of the same coin:Cheap location = nothing there, so nothing to do.Expensive location = too expensive to do anything, so nothing to do.

rguzman超过 11 年前

Chicago, IL.The neighborhoods in the north side, say north of wrigleyville, are very interesting culturally. Housing and other costs of living are low and it is still an urban center with all the amenities you'd expect from one such.

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mikelbring超过 11 年前

I work remotely from home in the middle of Nebraska. I get paid a SF-like salary but pay little in rent in comparison.

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_mayo超过 11 年前

Columbus, Ohio. It very much is a big city with a small town feel. You can get a place in or around the city for less that $1k easily. We have a thriving art and music scene, a couple professional sports teams (NHL & MLS). We have the third largest university campus in the US (OSU) so they're a lot of young, smart people around. We may not have the largest startup scene, but it's definitely growing with people doing interesting things.

ctindall超过 11 年前

Detroit. Maybe the cheapest real-estate in the country, and still a major city with folks to date, bars, an NHL, NFL, and MLB team. A burgeoning tech scene, and East Lansing and Ann Arbor (home of Michigan State and UofM, respectively) are a couple hours drive in a state where that's not a big deal to most people, even once or twice a week.

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petecook超过 11 年前

New Orleans, LA - One of the most unique cities in the world, one long party, relatively inexpensive, and a burgeoning startup hub: <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3001140/big-easiest-place-build-startup" rel="nofollow">http://www.fastcompany.com/3001140/big-easiest-place-build-s...</a>

jtemplin超过 11 年前

Providence, RI puts you on I-95/Amtrak/Acela/MBTA an hour from Boston and 2.5 hours from New York. While not cheap, it's much cheaper than either of those cities. The art, music and food scenes are awesome. There are a lot of innovators and entrepreneurs.

miano超过 11 年前

Urbana-Champaign, IL. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located here. There's a big research park where your startup can get cheap offices/labs, it's 2 hours drive from Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis, and it's cheap.

tejay超过 11 年前

Throwing Nashville, TN into the hat for similar reasons as other places listed in this thread (affordable living, good weather, etc). If anyone does head there, give me a shout. I'll put you in touch with some nice folks :)

slogsdon超过 11 年前

Louisville, KYThriving startup and entrepreneurial communities. Variety of neighborhoods to match your personality for a decent price. Enough music, theater, food, etc. offerings to keep things interesting.

koberstein超过 11 年前

Reno, NV- plenty of cheap housing options - great coworking space - lots of outdoors to play in - plenty of entertainment - awesome people - close to the bay - business friendly tax advantages

TYPE_FASTER超过 11 年前

I'd look at Ogden, UT or Portland, ME.

mikedemarais超过 11 年前

kansas city! i moved here from boston about a year ago to stay at the homesforhackers.com house for free.kc is cheap, has good food, and is going through a cultural revolution right now. right now is a perfect time to move here.and we have google fiber!!! $70/month for a gigabit!

caiob超过 11 年前

:%s/US/Canada/g ?

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hkarthik超过 11 年前

Portland, Oregon: Relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of the cities on the west coast, with a great, burgeoning tech scene. Also lots of great jobs if you (or your spouse) decide to go work for someone else in the future.

aristidesfl超过 11 年前

For people living in Europe: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6703058" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6703058</a>

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davidsmith8900超过 11 年前

- RTP (Research Triangle Park) in North Carolina. Cheap Housing & Cheap Lifestyle, but everything comes at a cost.

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