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That is true. I remember reading that Nuevo Laredo across the border was super dangerous, but believe it or not, El Paso is usually in the top five safest big cities in America.
El Paso is a really good idea. Il have to find out more about it but it is good and hot, dry and sunny'
Last edited by northoceanbeach; 09-18-2016 at 01:17 PM..
That is true. I remember reading that Nuevo Laredo across the border was super dangerous, but believe it or not, El Paso is usually in the top five safest big cities in America.
El Paso is a really good idea. Il have to find out more about it but it is good and hot, dry and sunny'
It's Ciudad Juarez across the border which at one time was the most dangerous city in the world. They've apparently cleaned it up a lot in recent years. I think sometimes the negative stigma surrounding Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico spills over into El Paso when it comes to perception.
It's Ciudad Juarez across the border which at one time was the most dangerous city in the world. They've apparently cleaned it up a lot in recent years. I think sometimes the negative stigma surrounding Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico spills over into El Paso when it comes to perception.
If it does have that perception, it'd pretty much be to people who don't travel much. I think the stigma surrounding Jaurez is about 10 years old now. Of the 3 Midsize dessert southwest cities that are often compared (El Paso, Tucson, Albuquerque), El Paso is the most interesting. I think it benefits from a lot of business travel with all of the automotive companies having a presence in Jaurez. A detail that's not considered on here when it's being discussed.
What are maybe the top five or top ten least expensive city centers to live in? I would like to say downtowns, but I'm including the surrounding urban area and not just the actual downtown if it is defined by the financial center with skyscrapers as many are.
Not cities like New York or Chicago where the skyscrapers extend past the financial district, but a lot of cities like downtown Dallas. The downtown downtown where the skyscrapers are is mostly the daytime financial center and after hours closes down and people go back to the suburbs. But Dallas does have an urban area to the north of downtown. Where they are building more high rise city living and people are returning to live in the city, for fun and liveliness and not to have to have the dreaded Styx in traffic commute everyday.
So what are the top most inexpensive cities to live in the urban core?
They should be only bigger cities, say having a metro population or 4 or 500,000 or more. Cities at the minimum like for example, Dayton Ohio, Birmingham Alabama, Lexington Kentucky, Chattanooga Tn, Fresno California. Not to mention of course the greater cities in between those and the Chicagos and new yorks and low angelses.
If we could somehow ad in a statistic to include crime to factor into the cost of living that would be great. I'm sure websites like this have statisticians, amateur ones, that know how to do that kind of thing.
The purpose being to not just have a list of the top ten most dangerous cities! Lol. Because that is what this could turn into. Cities like Memphis and Detroit probably have cheap urban cores, but we need to factor in crime because to a large extent that is what is keeping the cost down.
So maybe let's say St. Louis was ranked out of the 100 largest cities as being number 13 in cost of living. But if you factor in the reason is partly high crime, on my list that should bring St. Louis down to maybe in the thirties.
I hope I'm being clear and getting my point across. In trying to get help from the demographic hobbyists on here like myself to make a list that other people can use bit could be very useful to answer a lot of where should we as a young couple move questions. And I think it would just be interesting. I don't see many lists where they only include the cost living from the city center. And then a lot of the Midwestern cities are suffering severe crime.
Good idea? Let's here it. Here is my guess as to what might be the top ten. But it is in no way accurate. And not in order. Just to get the ball rolling. Cities I think downtown may have inexpensive living with a high focus on rents, transportation costs, food, entertainment etc ...
Dallas
Atlanta
OKC
Lexington KY
Louisville KY
Cincinnati (but might have too much crime.)
Omaha
Denver
Salt Lake City
Boise
Tucson
Tucson? Lol
I mean you can find one bedrooms in Downtown sub 1000/month if that's what you want. That's about when full one bedrooms start (1000/month) with studios being under that. But most of the apartments in Downtown/4th Avenue are student housing which are VERY expensive, as they rent by the room (looking at 800/month for one bedroom in a four bedroom apartment, etc. with one bedrooms capping at around 1200/month in the student housing) and they only do 10 month leases. You can find some nice or interesting (historic) apartments around the Iron Horse neighborhood.
Tucson's city center is relatively lively, with a ton of interesting restaurants and art despite Tucson being known for being... Tucson. The best deal on housing however is on one of the small historic circa-1900 bungalows in the vicinity of city center either due south or north of. Sam Hughes offers the best amenities but it's expensive for Tucson (average for every other part of the country). In the Sam Hughes neighborhood you are about a mile from Downtown tops and you have a historic walkable neighborhood with direct light rail access while still having an SFH. Because it's close to the U, and DT, it's in high demand. However rents aren't significantly different between the SFHs and the apartments, actually I'd argue the SFHs in Tucson are cheaper because the apartments are in higher demand from university students (again, apartments worth while are generally student housing).
Tucson is a VERY cheap city, so yes it is a good deal overall. Crime is mostly property crime (i.e. bike stealing mostly) rather than violent crime like homicides. Drugs are an issue here but it's hidden well and it's something you have to look for, literally, if you want to find it.
Parts of the mid-cities (between Dallas and Fort Worth) have a good mix. I live 20 minutes from Dallas and feel I have the best mix of low-cost, low crime, and access to everything.
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.
Philadelphia has its dangerous neighborhoods just like any other major city, and it is no longer known for its danger and violence. Philadelphia is an awesome city and often falls under the radar due to its location in between NYC and DC. To live in the downtown (Center City) is by no means affordable anymore. Other sections of the city are still very affordable, but the cultural, culinary, and shopping renaissance that Center City is going through has brought prices up with it.
And King or Prussia Mall is not in Philadelphia, its a suburb about 30/45 minutes away.
I have been to Cincinnati and love the architecture, topography and set-up of the city and it is very inexpensive. However, the crime rates are extremely high and I have been there and felt very unsafe as there were people everywhere just hanging out on street corners looking to cause trouble...
When compared to other large U.S. cities, Cincinnati's crime rates are not extremely high - that statement is simply untrue. In the downtown area you will find people hanging out, although "everywhere" is a gross exaggeration. For the most part, such down-and- out individuals are not criminals, but panhandlers requesting money. Yes, beggars like these can be unsightly and somewhat annoying, but Cincinnati city ordinances strictly forbid them from harassing passerbys. Sadly to say for everyone, their presence is felt in virtually all large downtown areas across the nation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by northoceanbeach
Revising as we go
Cincinnati (but might have too much crime. May drop from high crime. Unfortunately the largest historic district in America is just north dt. It is the former German area but now it's a thetto morons my where you went nbeautiful buildings but scary. Probably drop Cincy soon )
It's obvious you need to be brought up to date on this former German enclave (Over-the-Rhine, or simply "OTR") made reference to.
Yes, up until very recently OTR was truly a high crime area that would frighten anyone, but no more. Within the last decade concerted efforts have been made to rectify what should have never been allowed to happen in the first place. A coordinated gentrification involving city officials, businesses, agencies and the surrounding metro population has transformed OTR from one of the worst slums in the entire country into one of the most successful, upscale urban showplaces anywhere. Therefore, before eliminating Cincinnati, you may wish to examine these links:
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