This is great. I didn't want to clog up the blog, but I thought the top two choices were just perfect for our little website.
7 cool cities with cheap rents
Forget New York. Our top towns for young professionals are both fun and affordable.
By Jane Bennett Clark, Kiplinger.com
Tempting as it may be to launch your career in Boston, New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco, you may find it just as rewarding--and a heck of a lot cheaper--to look beyond the bright lights and high rents of those meccas for twentysomethings. We found seven locations that are perfect for young professionals. These cities all have a healthy head count of people under 30 and a solid or improving job market. Each city's cost of living is at or near the national average for students and young wage earners, based on numbers from the Economic Research Institute. For neighborhood and rental information, we culled local resources and Craigslist.org; recent listings are under "what you just missed." As a bonus, we asked relocation experts at Salary.com to calculate the extra money you'd pocket if you left a job that paid $35,000 in New York City and found a comparable position in one of our hip havens.
#1 Athens, Georgia
The town that gave the world R.E.M., the B-52's and Widespread Panic boasts 400 bands and more than a dozen recording studios. It also offers free Wi-Fi downtown, a thriving arts community and a college football team--the Bulldogs--that even the rockers root for. The University of Georgia and two regional hospitals help keep the city's unemployment rate impressively low.
Where to rent: Five Points, West Side, downtown
What you'll pay: $650-$750 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, or $750-$850 for a two-bedroom unit
What you just missed: a one-bedroom stone cottage with fireplace in Five Points, $750
Where to be at 11 p.m.: 40 Watt Club, Georgia Theatre Not-in-NYC bonus: $8,752
#2 Atlanta
Southern hospitality here means serving up free Wi-Fi: Atlanta ranks fourth among U.S. cities for wireless hot spots, according to MetroFreeFi.com. A magnet for college-educated young people, the area has lost jobs in technology but added them in the fields of education, hospitality and government. The city's serious side includes Emory University and the Carter Center. Scene hoppers hit Buckhead for the clubs and Little Five Points for the coffeehouses, bars and restaurants.
Where to rent: Midtown, Virginia Highlands, East Atlanta
What you'll pay: $600-$900 a month for a one-bedroom, $800-$1,350 for a two-bedroom
What you just missed: a three-bedroom house with a fireplace and front porch in Virginia Highlands, $1,650
Where to be at 11 p.m.: Django, Bazzaar, Compound Not-in-NYC bonus: $10,735
1 comment:
I also noticed Nashville and Raleigh were both on the list. Two other cities I have considered moving to. Good to know they, and Atlanta, are still considered up and coming. PS- if you look at the Raleigh write up, the article says that Cameron Village is one of the cool areas. That's where Ann just bought a restored mill village condo. It is a very sweet area.
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