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If you go to reddit and browse through city subreddits, you'll find that nearly everyone no matter how cheap their city is will all say the same exact things, "it's unaffordable", "rent is over $2,000!", "COL is skyrocketing and I'm gonna end up homeless".
"Affordability" is all subjective, someone from Alabama will find a city like Oklahoma city to be "very expensive", someone from Chicago will find NYC to be "very expensive".
Generally speaking, the Midwest and South are the cheapest areas of the country currently, some areas that can offer safety and low COL
"Things to do?" What "things?" There are things to do everywhere.
Job opportunities in a wide variety of industries? Lots of social events and meetup groups? A decent nightlife? The arts/concerts? And a wide variety of businesses so that no matter what hobby you have, you can find something.
nearly everyone no matter how cheap their city is will all say the same exact things, "it's unaffordable". Affordability is subjective
True to a degree.
1) Median income to rent ratio is the most important metric of affordability.
2) Everywhere is expensive now, due to cost of living going up while wages are stagnant. But some places are still relatively more affordable than others, whether that's due to cheaper rent or better job opportunities.
3) With major cities, it's important to compare them to other major cities. Any big city will probably be more expensive than 80%+ of the country. But if its cheaper than other major cities and offers all of the things you're looking for, it's a win.
Job opportunities in a wide variety of industries? Lots of social events and meetup groups? A decent nightlife? The arts/concerts? And a wide variety of businesses so that no matter what hobby you have, you can find something.
I heard good things about Kansas City and Omaha.
Don't even bother with Tulsa. There's not much to do even though there should be given its size .
Chicago or Philadelphia are probably the best options for major cities.
Minneapolis??? How so?
I would think Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia would be the best bets for major cities.
They rank highly on safety, low poverty and a bunch of boring but important societal metrics. Personally I think if you just took a ranking of those societal metrics, (education, health, governance, infrastructure etc.) then it would probably only be clearly bested by Boston. (Which is way more expensive) Not to mention it has a better city design than most (not Chicago) places. Also they have more natural beauty that people enjoy rather than Chicago from what I can gather. They have all the sports teams, art galleries & cultural amenities of a mid to large city. If Minneapolis was in the south it would be exploding in population right now. Cold winters are the one thing that it seems to do badly.
Chicago is great, I would place it second. It has some downsides being a relatively high crime rate and some ridiculous level of debt.
I definitely don't think Houston & Philadelphia are up on the same tier. If you just want a larger city then sure, but I think they don't rank as highly as Minneapolis or Chicago for the price.
They rank highly on safety, low poverty and a bunch of boring but important societal metrics. Personally I think if you just took a ranking of those societal metrics, (education, health, governance, infrastructure etc.) then it would probably only be clearly bested by Boston. (Which is way more expensive) Not to mention it has a better city design than most (not Chicago) places. Also they have more natural beauty that people enjoy rather than Chicago from what I can gather. They have all the sports teams, art galleries & cultural amenities of a mid to large city. If Minneapolis was in the south it would be exploding in population right now. Cold winters are the one thing that it seems to do badly.
Chicago is great, I would place it second. It has some downsides being a relatively high crime rate and some ridiculous level of debt.
I definitely don't think Houston & Philadelphia are up on the same tier. If you just want a larger city then sure, but I think they don't rank as highly as Minneapolis or Chicago for the price.
In terms of things to do I don't think Minneapolis is up there with Chicago. Might not even be as good as Houston or Philly.
Another thing to consider is location. From Philly DC, Baltimore or even NYC are easy train rides away. Minneapolis is kind of isolated.
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