#2: 2008 MSN Best Real Estate Bargin (Omaha, York: mortgage, insurance, income)

[Dave1215]

#1 Witchita
#2 Omaha
#3 Harrisburg-Carlisle
#4 Madison
#5 San Antonio
#6 Indianapolis
#7 Pittsburgh
#8 Dallas-Fort Worth
#9 Tulsa

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Why live in an expensive city when there are some great, affordable treasures out there? Here's MSN Real Estate's list of the nine best, livable cities where you won't need to trade the good life for the boring.

By Melinda Fulmer, MSN Real Estate



If your income doesn't top six figures, making it in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco can be tough. It can take more than a decade to save up enough money to buy a house; and even then, the size of that mortgage payment might keep you up nights.

But if you're willing to look beyond these urban hot spots to midsize cities in the middle of the country, there are cheap places to live where the economy is strong, home prices are appreciating and the quality of life is good.

To develop the 2008 MSN Real Estate Most-Livable Bargain Markets list, we asked Bert Sperling of Moderator cut: link to a competitors site removedto evaluate the most affordable housing markets from the 100 largest U.S. metro areas and pinpoint the nine most livable areas: places where unemployment is low, commute times are short and there's enough interesting entertainment or recreation to keep most people busy. We defined affordability by the ratio of median income to median home price.
Moving to one of these cities could allow you to "sell your two-bedroom bungalow in Southern California … and buy a house on a number of acres and suddenly have a nest egg you've never had before," Sperling says.

The cities chosen for our list have a population of at least 500,000 between the major city and surrounding county. They range in size from Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa., with a population of 525,380, to one of the nation's largest metropolises, Dallas-Fort Worth, with a population of 6 million. Three are state capitals, and many have universities or colleges to provide cultural amenities.

Here's a look at what makes these cities in the middle of America great, and the drawbacks you might find in moving from another area.

Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Job prospects are bright in this town, with the lowest unemployment of any city on the list. That's due in part to the large number of young people leaving the area after college. But that's starting to change. Thanks to an emerging alternative-music scene in Omaha, more restaurant and entertainment choices in its Old Market redevelopment downtown, and new high-rise residential developments along the waterfront, more young professionals are choosing to stick around and work for the area's insurance and food-processing companies.

Outside of downtown, families can find shaded streets and well-established suburbs covering the hills north and west of town, while newer developments lie in the flatter areas to the west.

Cons: Like many Midwest cities, Omaha is not very ethnically diverse. Its winters are harsh. And some residents on Sperling's site complained of bland scenery, conservative attitudes and too many chain restaurants.