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Maybe some Interior Northeastern cities like Albany, Syracuse and Allentown may work. All are in metros that fit the population criteria and while they aren't crime free, they aren't as bad, comparatively speaking. You may be able to find solid apartments under $1000 for a 1 and maybe even 2 bedroom apartment.
I wonder about Grand Rapids MI or Des Moines IA as well?
I guess it really depends on what is considered "least expensive". A decent one bedroom in downtown Grand Rapids starts around $1400, an older unit will start around $1100. In San Francisco that's the deal of a life time. In a lot of smaller cities it's outrageous.
Wow! I never would have guessed Grand Rapids Michigan would be so expensive.
I've lived in Des Moines. It's really boring. ...really boring. And not surrounded by much either. I'll bet it's still cheap and really safe tho.
Philly. I've always been curious about Philadelphia. It's one of the only major US cities I haven really been to. I have only driven through downtown on the freeway a couple times and stopped at the big fancy mall in king of Prussia once. I have heard philly is REALlY dangerous. But I haven't heard that in a long time. I haven't heard much about philly at all lately actually especially for it being one of our top five largest cities band a historical one at that. Really no movies are filmed there except for rocky �� I really want to visit it. From what I have seen driving through it looks awesome! I like a little grit in a big city. I don't want to feel unsafe, but I don't like a big city to be totally pristine.
I really like the core of OKC. I've live here for a year and have really enjoyed it. I live in a historic, 1-bedroom apartment for $730/mo and live in between downtown (CBD, Bricktown, Midtown), Uptown, and the Plaza District. I jog around my neighborhood and go stroll downtown without incident and have never felt unsafe.
I live on the outskirts of Cincinnati and compared to other cities our size I don't think our crime is that bad. Now if you go downtown of course you see people hanging out because most of the Cities downtown people hang out because that's where everything is happening.
Maybe some Interior Northeastern cities like Albany, Syracuse and Allentown may work. All are in metros that fit the population criteria and while they aren't crime free, they aren't as bad, comparatively speaking. You may be able to find solid apartments under $1000 for a 1 and maybe even 2 bedroom apartment.
I wonder about Grand Rapids MI or Des Moines IA as well?
I have heard great things about Grand Rapids. I watched a video about the downtown and it seems to have a fantastic downtown.
The core of Grand Rapids looks incredible for a city of 200,000 people. Looks like a very, very nice city for years I have seen it quite frequently in tourist magazines and on lists of top cities.
It seems like it is a polar opposite from Detroit when it comes to crime.
I have been to Des Moines and it has a very, very nice core. The downtown is huge for a city of 200,000 people with skyscrapers, skywalks, different districts.
This is the amount of business the core of the city has. It is a small city of only 200,000 people.
It looks like rents for an apartment range from $600 in the Sherman Hill and Drake University area to $900-1000 for a brand new studio apartment in Court Avenue area.
I have heard great things about Grand Rapids. I watched a video about the downtown and it seems to have a fantastic downtown.
The core of Grand Rapids looks incredible for a city of 200,000 people. Looks like a very, very nice city for years I have seen it quite frequently in tourist magazines and on lists of top cities.
It seems like it is a polar opposite from Detroit when it comes to crime.
This is the amount of business the core of the city has. It is a small city of only 200,000 people.
It looks like rents for an apartment range from $600 in the Sherman Hill and Drake University area to $900-1000 for a brand new studio apartment in Court Avenue area.
It looks really really boring to me...nothing makes it stand out...at least Detroit has Greektown which is interesting. That's simply a chamber of commerce video made to make Grand Rapids look as great as possible.
I think I might be stuck in 2004, when cheap apartments in cheap downtowns could be say, a one bedroom for $600 or so. They really do seem to have gone up. Could that be reverse white flight?
I remember when no one loves downtown Dallas and the historic magnolia building was restored and rented out. I believe apartments there were studios and one bedrooms in a very nice building for somewhere around $750. And that was the cream of the crop. I'll bet they are no where near that price now!
Heck, I lived in SF on the cable car line on nob hill. Not bordering the tenderloin, but three building over from the fairmount hotel and the intercontinental and the Italian park and a studio 13 years ago was $950! I wish I had kept that.
Then ten years ago I lived a couple blocks from wriggled field in Chicago in a separate house set behind a brownstone. Three bedrooms for something like 1100-1300. I forget exactly. I could find out.
Basically I am living in a mid sized college town and I have a nice apartment but I don't think I can take another gloomy rainy winter. I really need to go somewhere warmer or at least sunny and I want to live downtown for the vibrancy and I don't want to pay out the nose to live in San Francisco or New York.
I'll take a smaller city and live downtown and even if it is just for a year or so to experience a new part of the country, a midsize city will be fine. There is plenty to explore. I'll photograph and go around every part of this new city and stay up late and experience something new.
Basically I am living in a mid sized college town and I have a nice apartment but I don't think I can take another gloomy rainy winter. I really need to go somewhere warmer or at least sunny and I want to live downtown for the vibrancy and I don't want to pay out the nose to live in San Francisco or New York.
I'll take a smaller city and live downtown and even if it is just for a year or so to experience a new part of the country, a midsize city will be fine. There is plenty to explore. I'll photograph and go around every part of this new city and stay up late and experience something new.
I really do think you should look into El Paso. Winters are pretty dry, rents are seemingly cheap, extremely safe, and it is warm.
I cannot completely recommend the city because I don't have a clue how "vibrant" downtown is (haven't been there in a long time, and never downtown) and you would have to look into that yourself or get another's experiences.
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