ISO a LCOL smaller city

[mrigney]

Any more specifics on what you like?  Are you looking to stay in the South, or do you want anywhere?  Any preference on climate?  Do you specifically want a blue/purple state, or are you just meaning the specific town?

Some ideas off the top of my head would be:  Athens GA, Raleigh/Durham, Savannah, Chattanooga, Hood River OR, Eugene OR, Greenville SC, Olympia WA

The problem is that prices have appreciated so much in some of those places so fast, that I really have no idea where is cheap or expensive any more.  Asheville and Portland are ones that I know are really nice but that have gotten really expensive. 

Huntsville, AL. City population ~200k, metro 450k. Small town feel, but most amenities you want/need in a city. Booming downtown scene, but housing is still cheap. I live in an older house on one end of town, 1750 sq ft, half acre, in a decent neighborhood. Own a rental on the other side of town, 7 year old house, 1530 sq ft, “hot” area for real estate. Paid $138k for the house I’m in, $161k for the rental (used to be my primary). You can get into some really desirable/walkable parts of town (by Huntsville standards) for $250k or have a huge, new house in the burbs. Choice is yours.

Culturally we lean more liberal than the rest of the state, although that’s relative. One of the most highly educated cities in the country (NASA, most Army aviation and missile research, Missile Defense Agency, Biotech industry). Also a pretty vibrant art scene and craft beer scene. Lowe Mill is the largest privately owned art center in the country (about 200 artists in residence, also holds concerts, restaurants, coffee shops). A couple of pubs have called us the beer Mecca of the south. Not sure I’d go that far, but we do have a dozen breweries and an improving restaurant scene.

Let me know if you have questions!

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree.  HSV is neither liberal nor very walkable.   It is cheap with a lot of amenities, but  I am planning to leave as soon as we hit FIRE. 

Florence AL is a nice quiet place, but also fairly far right.

@dougules - I think you've mischaracterized a little of what I side. I never said HSV was liberal....we "lean more liberal than the rest of the state." E.g. in the 1026 election, Madison County was about 7% more Clinton leaning/less Trump (56% Trump, 39% Clinton) leaning than the state as a whole. Same with the recent Senate election. For comparison, some of the places you list as good cities are no more "liberal" than HSV. E.g. Hamilton County, TN (Chattanooga) voted 61% for Trump. Greenville Co, SC (Greeneville) voted 59% for Trump. Savannah and Georgia were both low 40s for Trump. So Huntsville probably falls right in the middle of the cities you listed. Obviously the west coast cities skew more liberal. But for a city in the SE, Huntsville is moderate compared to surrounding areas.

As far as walkability, definitely agree that Huntsville is not a generally walkable city, but it has become walkable in parts (downtown and five points, namely. Some areas just west of Research Park are definitely bikeable as you can bike through research park to shopping and restaurants). This is similar to Chattanooga in a lot of ways. Outside of downtown and a couple of narrow corridors, Chattanooga really isn't walkable either (e.g. Chattanooga and HSV both have city-wide walk scores < 30). I can't speak for the walkability of the other cities on your list. All I'd say is that every city in the south has walkable pockets surrounded by largely unwalkable pockets.

Out of curiosity, what is motivating you to get out of HSV and where do you want to go? Obviously not for everyone, but I've found it a good place to live for the last 8 years.

[dougules]

Any more specifics on what you like?  Are you looking to stay in the South, or do you want anywhere?  Any preference on climate?  Do you specifically want a blue/purple state, or are you just meaning the specific town?

Some ideas off the top of my head would be:  Athens GA, Raleigh/Durham, Savannah, Chattanooga, Hood River OR, Eugene OR, Greenville SC, Olympia WA

The problem is that prices have appreciated so much in some of those places so fast, that I really have no idea where is cheap or expensive any more.  Asheville and Portland are ones that I know are really nice but that have gotten really expensive. 

Huntsville, AL. City population ~200k, metro 450k. Small town feel, but most amenities you want/need in a city. Booming downtown scene, but housing is still cheap. I live in an older house on one end of town, 1750 sq ft, half acre, in a decent neighborhood. Own a rental on the other side of town, 7 year old house, 1530 sq ft, “hot” area for real estate. Paid $138k for the house I’m in, $161k for the rental (used to be my primary). You can get into some really desirable/walkable parts of town (by Huntsville standards) for $250k or have a huge, new house in the burbs. Choice is yours.

Culturally we lean more liberal than the rest of the state, although that’s relative. One of the most highly educated cities in the country (NASA, most Army aviation and missile research, Missile Defense Agency, Biotech industry). Also a pretty vibrant art scene and craft beer scene. Lowe Mill is the largest privately owned art center in the country (about 200 artists in residence, also holds concerts, restaurants, coffee shops). A couple of pubs have called us the beer Mecca of the south. Not sure I’d go that far, but we do have a dozen breweries and an improving restaurant scene.

Let me know if you have questions!

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree.  HSV is neither liberal nor very walkable.   It is cheap with a lot of amenities, but  I am planning to leave as soon as we hit FIRE. 

Florence AL is a nice quiet place, but also fairly far right.

@dougules - I think you've mischaracterized a little of what I side. I never said HSV was liberal....we "lean more liberal than the rest of the state." E.g. in the 1026 election, Madison County was about 7% more Clinton leaning/less Trump (56% Trump, 39% Clinton) leaning than the state as a whole. Same with the recent Senate election. For comparison, some of the places you list as good cities are no more "liberal" than HSV. E.g. Hamilton County, TN (Chattanooga) voted 61% for Trump. Greenville Co, SC (Greeneville) voted 59% for Trump. Savannah and Georgia were both low 40s for Trump. So Huntsville probably falls right in the middle of the cities you listed. Obviously the west coast cities skew more liberal. But for a city in the SE, Huntsville is moderate compared to surrounding areas.

As far as walkability, definitely agree that Huntsville is not a generally walkable city, but it has become walkable in parts (downtown and five points, namely. Some areas just west of Research Park are definitely bikeable as you can bike through research park to shopping and restaurants). This is similar to Chattanooga in a lot of ways. Outside of downtown and a couple of narrow corridors, Chattanooga really isn't walkable either (e.g. Chattanooga and HSV both have city-wide walk scores < 30). I can't speak for the walkability of the other cities on your list. All I'd say is that every city in the south has walkable pockets surrounded by largely unwalkable pockets.

Out of curiosity, what is motivating you to get out of HSV and where do you want to go? Obviously not for everyone, but I've found it a good place to live for the last 8 years.

Yes, Huntsville is liberal by Alabama standards, but that doesn't really mean much honestly.  And maybe you're right about Chattanooga or Greenville, but I don't know that the county as a whole gives a good picture of the central parts of the city. 

I do bike and walk in Huntsville.  It's very doable, but it's not pleasant.  Traffic is crazy, and whether or not it's actually dangerous, it's not comfortable having speeding hunks of metal wizzing by you.  It would also be really nice to not be the only cyclist or pedestrian on the road.  Huntsville is making progress on its downtown, but it's still a very long way from really being a practical place to live without a car. 

I don't think Huntsville would really be that big a change from suburban Mississippi.  I have direct experience with both. 
I would like to leave because
a) I don't feel like I connect with folks in Huntsville despite having been born and raised here.  My friends growing up left after high school.
b) I'm tired of feeling isolated in sprawl land. 

[dcheesi]

A few people have talked about CVille being expensive. Is it? What are we talking about as expensive?

I'd like some opinions about the pretention, but I guess that's a matter of opinion. Both times I've visited and stayed in CVille it's seemed fun and has lots going on. I like that UVA makes it feel much bigger than it is otherwise, and leads to more options it seems

No one's answered you so I guess I'll take a stab at this one. Charlottesville is a relatively attractive area- it's pretty, safe, cultural engaging, etc so it attracts/retains folks that are monied and/or location independent, which results in housing costs as a percentage of local salaries being higher than in much of the surrounding area. The supposed pretension? IMO more of the same added with the fact that UVA is culturally preppy with a relatively high percentage of students from upper middle class families.

Yeah, it's mostly housing that has gotten expensive lately, though still not as bad as the DC area. Other aspects aren't so bad; there are still reasonably cheap grocery stores, etc., and no one is forcing you to eat out or shop at Whole Paycheck all the time.

In addition to the impact of UVa, it's also worth noting that the surrounding county is somewhat of a haven for very wealthy folks and their sprawling horse-farm "estates". That has an effect on both housing prices (you generally have to go all the way to the next county before property/land gets cheaper) and culturally (increasing the general air of pretension in the area). Then again, those folks don't make into the city all that often, so their effect on day to day life may be more perception than reality.