Author Topic: Can You Beat These Places? Suggestions for Liberal, Mustachian eRetirement  (Read 20225 times)

ritchie70

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 268
You might look for smaller cities that are dominated by a large university.

I went to school at University of Illinois and lived in Champaign for a  few years after graduation. I would definitely consider living there again or in one of the nearby smaller towns.

jba302

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 622
One place that first came to mind from your description was this location in St. Paul, dubbed Little Bohemia.  I don't live in the neighborhood, but I do spend alot of time there, as alot of my friends live in the area.  Plus they just converted the old Schmidt Brewery into artist lofts.  Pretty cool what is happening there at the moment.  There are also great deals on houses in the area, and with current development I would expect the market there to improve over time.

Cons: High property taxes for St. Paul. Income tax is relatively high in MN
Pros: No tax on food and clothes, you are blocks from the Mississippi River and a fairly large preserve along the riverfront, one of the best biking metros in the US (we are in a constant battle with Portland for that title apparently)


http://www.twincities.com/stpaul/ci_24543227/st-pauls-west-seventh-street-verge-being-cool

Plus the light rail, once it's completed. Or if based on current progress.

jnik

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 149
Shout out for Somerville, MA -- right next to Cambridge, 5 minutes from Boston.
If you live in the commuter rail yard, sure :)

Anybody planning on moving to Somerville should be prepared for housing costs to take a big jump once the green line extension is done, though. An improvement on transport options, but lots of places that are just far enough from the red line to be cheap are suddenly going to be right on the green line.